A core theme of research relating to cultures of care is cultural capability. This was an idea and subsequent focus that emerged through engaging with Amartya Sen’s (1999) groundbreaking work on capability and human development.
Capability: What can each person do or be that they have reason to value?
Ingrid Robeyns writes that the Human Development and Capability Approach provides ‘a focus on what people are able to do and be, on the quality of their life, and on removing obstacles in their lives so that they have more freedom to live the kind of life that, upon reflection, they have reason to value. (Robyeyns, 2005: 94, my italics)
What follows from this is the logical inference that we must in some way ‘recognise’, i.e., know, or come to know what we have reason to value in order to then ‘do or be’ what we have reason to value:
Cultural capability – the substantive freedom to recognise what we have reason to value.
Since introducing this notion in 2017 (with the wording ‘the substantive freedom to (individually and collectively) give form and value to our experiences of self and self-in-relation – presented at the Human Development and Capability Approach (HDCA) conference in Cape Town, South Africa) various subsequent iterations have been mooted. These include the substantive freedom to co-create versions of culture – as ‘cultural opportunities’…’giving form and value to our experiences’ (Wilson, Gross & Bull, 2017); as the substantive freedom to recognise what we have reason to value (Wilson & Gross, 2022a; 2024), and more recently, the substantive freedom to (come to) know what we genuinely value, and/or the substantive freedom to acknowledge our being…to live with humanity (work in progress).
References relating to cultural capability:
Wilson, N. and Gross, J. (2017a) ‘The Case for Cultural Capability’, presentation at Human Development & Capabilities Association Conference, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 6-8 September.
Wilson, N. and Gross, J. (2017b) Caring for Cultural Freedom: An Ecological Approach to Supporting Young People’s Cultural Learning. London: A New Direction (AND). October. (96 pages)
Wilson, N., Gross, J. and Bull, A. (2017) Towards Cultural Democracy: Promoting Cultural Capabilities for Everyone. London: King’s Cultural Institute.
Gross, J. and Wilson, N. (2018) Cultural democracy: An ecological and capabilities approach. International Journal of Cultural Policy. DOI: 10.1080/10286632.2018.1538363.
Wilson, N., Gross, J., Dent, T., Conor, B. and Comunian, R. (2019) Re-thinking Inclusive and Sustainable Growth for the Creative Economy, DISCE. [Available here]
Wilson, N. (2019) Connecting capabilities: “A reason to value” (aesthetic) experience. HDCA Conference 2019, September 11th, UCL, London.
Wilson, N. (2020) The Space that Separates: A Realist Theory of Art. Abingdon: Routledge.
Wilson, N., Gross, J., Dent, T. C., Conor, B. & Comunian, R. (2020). Re-thinking Inclusive and Sustainable Growth for the Creative Economy: A Literature Review. DISCE Publications. https://disce.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/DISCE-Report-D5.2.pdf.
Wilson, N. (2022) ‘What is the creative economy – really?’ In Comunian, R., Faggian, A., Heinonen, J. & Wilson, N. (Eds.) A Modern Guide to the Creative Economy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. Chapter 16. pp.269–285. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789905496.00027
Wilson, N. & Gross, J. (2022) Cultural Development and a New Culture of Care: Policy Recommendations. DISCE Publications. [Available here]
Wilson, N. et al. (2022) The Cultural Development Index: Theorisation and Implications. DISCE Publications. [Available here]
Wilson, N. and Gross, J. (2024) Beyond “policy-based” cultural governance: caring for cultural needs. In Bailey et al. (eds.) Cultural Governance. Current and Future European Perspectives. Abingdon: Routledge. Chapter 4.
Wilson, N. (Ongoing) We Don’t Know! The Wisdom of Humanity. Unpublished.