The Capabilities Perspective: A Framework for Social Justice

The concept of social justice is deeply rooted in social work. The theoretical framework most often embraced by the profession is John Rawls' A Theory of Justice. However, like most frameworks it has limitations. This paper examines Rawls' social justice framework as interpreted by social work and offers an alternative, called the “capabilities” perspective, that emerged nearly a decade after Rawls' 1971 seminal work. Developed by welfare economist Amartya Sen and further articulated by political philosopher Martha Nussbaum, this perspective builds on Rawls' distributive justice approach and adds the dimensions of human dignity, self-determination, and well-being to its justice framework.