Development as freedom – Contributions and Shortcomings of Amartya Sen’s Development philosophy for Feminist Economics

Amartya Sen does not perceive women's oppression to be a miniscule dilemma. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the context of women's income disparity is fundamental to the Nobel laureate's concerns, and he considered himself as a proponent of so-called feminist economy. To what proportion can Amartya Sen's proposals about autonomy, — particularly his conception of development as freedom, strengthen millennial economic analysis? Sen's premise of inclusive freedom has many parallels and offers significant avenues for analysing gender discrimination. Sen's growing focus on equality as the overarching perceived norm for assessing interpersonal well-being and social sustainability adds complexity, not just for feminist research. We advocate a more explicitly secular democratic critique of competence, quality of life, and worth, reflecting on Sen's oeuvre and multiple feminist philosophers. In this study, we aim to evaluate the magnitude to which Sen's highly intensified emphasis on autonomy benefits feminist economists.