Capabilities for What? Developing Sen's Moral Theory For Communications Research

This article reviews debates about the application of Amartya Sen's capabilities theory to the understanding and regulation of media and communications. It argues that Sen's insistence on the complexity of ethical reasoning, and the underlying complexity of “the good,” makes the capabilities approach the most suitable general approach for considering what media justice is. In particular, the advantages of Sen's approach compared with Martha Nussbaum's specification of particular human capabilities are discussed. Possible supplements of capabilities thinking by the concept of recognition are also discussed, and their limits noted.