Entitlements Analysis. Relating Concepts and Contexts

Sen's entitlements approach has attracted much attention and imitation, including attempted extensions beyond its original context in the explanation of famines. It has evolved in various ways as it is applied to new regions, purposes and subjects - beyond South Asia, to policy design and to matters of routine hunger, environment, gender and overall intra-societal distributions. For analysis of famines, the approach provides a valuable set of concepts and questions in expanation and policy design; but it gives a general frame rather than a comprehensive theory or detailed explanatory model. For wider subjets, this general approach - a socially disaggregated, institutionally aware analysis of effective command over specific necessities - is again valuable. However, difficulties may arise with its concept of entitlement relations', and with confusions related to the label and the referent of the 'entitlement' concept and to the original 'exchange entitlement' label. Sen's concepts and labels reflected, naturally enough, the purposes in his study of the 1940's Bengal famine and its specific conditions. A modified set of concepts and labels may be more helpful, together with an underlining of the variety of contexts and of the limits to any one theoretical frame.