disadvantage jun 2007

[...]... FUNCTIONINGS APPROACH 1 2 3 4 THE PLURALISM OF DISADVANTAGE FUNCTIONINGS RISK OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY 21 36 63 74 PART 2: APPLYING THEORY TO PRACTICE 5 THE INDEXING PROBLEM 6 MEASURING FUNCTIONINGS 7 CLUSTERING OF DISADVANTAGE AND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH 89 108 119 PART 3: PUBLIC POLICY 8 DE-CLUSTERING DISADVANTAGE 9 PRIORITY TO THE LEAST ADVANTAGED 10 ADDRESSING DISADVANTAGE WHILE RESPECTING PEOPLE Conclusion... declustering of disadvantage to the point where we can no longer say who in society is worst off overall, then they have every reason to claim that they have moved society significantly in the direction of equality Moreover, we suggest that a good way of doing this would be to search for what we call ‘corrosive disadvantages’ (namely, disadvantage the presence of which yields further disadvantages) and... has to index disadvantages This appears highly complex but we argue that the complexities would be mitigated if disadvantages cluster, in the sense that some people suffer multiple disadvantage, and therefore it is rather clear who are the least advantaged (Chapter 5) After considering the question of how to measure performance on (secure) functionings (Chapter 6) we present evidence that disadvantages... yields much richer rewards, and that the elements of a complex theory of advantage and disadvantage emerge.6 Our hope is to demonstrate this over the chapters of Part One CHAPTER 1 The Pluralism of Disadvantage 1.1 Towards Understanding Disadvantage To get started let us review the task that confronts us A theory of disadvantage is needed for our project, and it appears that it must meet two constraints... caused by taking such risks Disadvantages and risks compound each other and cluster together.11 From this we derive a powerful policy proposal: a society of equals is a society in which disadvantages do not cluster, a society where there is no clear answer to the question of who is the worst off To achieve this, governments need to give special attention to the way patterns of disadvantage form and persist,... are also compatible with alternative interpretations of the strength of priority 3 The Nature of Disadvantage If government is to take steps to improve the lives of the least advantaged, it needs, first of all, an understanding of what it is to be disadvantaged It is, currently, very common to think of disadvantage in terms of poverty, and poverty in terms of low income Obviously there are very good... policy makers cannot meet the challenge of designing policies for rectifying disadvantage without a proper philosophical and conceptual discussion of what disadvantage is Furthermore questions of priority setting between different calls for resources requires a philosophical consideration of the various techniques in which disadvantages can be indexed To be sure, the idea of linking theory and practice... together The book falls into three parts In the first we set out our account of the nature of advantage and disadvantage We argue that disadvantage is plural (Chapter 1) and, in the first instance, is a matter of low functioning (Chapter 2) However, we argue that a further essential compounding aspect of disadvantage is that an individual’s functionings are or become insecure involuntarily and in a manner... back to the question of why we chose to call this book Disadvantage if it is about equality – framing our theory around the concept of disadvantage follows our assumption that the distributional and social approaches need not be at odds with each other By designating those who lack access to some goods (for example, those lacking employment) ‘disadvantaged’ we immediately locate these people in relation... methods and problems of comparing disadvantages in Part 2 However, following our analysis of many samples of empirical research, we come to the conclusion that there is a sense in which there is no need to attempt to settle the question of which is the most important functioning For the most serious disadvantage 10 Introduction occurs when for some reason several disadvantages cluster together We have . 108 7. CLUSTERING OF DISADVANTAGE AND EMPIRICAL RESEARCH 119 PART 3: PUBLIC POLICY 8. DE-CLUSTERING DISADVANTAGE 133 9. PRIORITY TO THE LEAST ADVANTAGED 155 10. ADDRESS ING DISADVANTAGE WHILE RESPECTING. York ß Jonathan Wolff and Avner de-Shalit 2007 The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2007 All rights reserved. No part of. lacks employable skills and opportunities. Hence her disadvantage is multi- faceted, and for reasons such as this we will argue later that disadvantage is plural in nature. Clearly providing Leah