A Capabilities Approach to Local and Regional Development in Europe Evidence from Alentejo, Portugal John Huw Edwards School of Geography, Politics and Sociology Newcastle University Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September, 2011 ABSTRACT This thesis examines the potential of the Capabilities Approach for the study and practice of local and regional development in Europe. It is based on the work of Amartya Sen, the Nobel Prize winning economist who has applied the approach most notably in the field of Development Studies. Sen argues that expanding people’s freedom to live a life they value is the principal means and end of development, a conceptual position that helps to fill a void in the current literature in Regional Studies. His focus on the expansion of freedoms (capabilities) is extended to the context of local and regional development: It is shown that Sen’s five “instrumental freedoms” can be used as a method for development and his “intrinsic freedoms” form a better framework to evaluate progress than traditional indicators. The goal of regional development should be to allow as many people to live a life they value in the largest number of places, not merely a rise in individual utility. Following Sen’s call for vigorous enquiry into how capabilities are experienced, the thesis draws on empirical fieldwork from the Portuguese region of Alentejo. It explores how geography affects capabilities and identifies a number of social, physical and scalar factors. Moreover it shows how these factors interact in particular places. Together with the finding that collective capabilities can largely determine individual capabilities, the notion of ‘net regional capabilities’ is elaborated. Yet, this is a sum of capabilities and a second crucial factor is how they are distributed within a region. Indeed, Alentejo demonstrates a strong heterogeneity in relation to the distribution of capabilities. As Evans suggests, Sen’s work is promising because of what it fails to answer as much as the groundbreaking framework that it develops and in this respect the thesis highlights several missing aspects to the Capabilities Approach. Based on the observation that individual capabilities often depend on collective action, it agrees with Corbridge that Sen underestimates the role of power and inevitability of conflict. It also finds that gains in individual capabilities do not always increase the overall sum; in other words there are trade-offs that have to be addressed in development dilemmas. The main contributions of this thesis are thus to adapt the Capabilities Approach to Regional Studies and add to Sen’s work through the consideration of geography as an important influence on capabilities. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I should like to thank John Tomaney and Andy Pike from CURDS for supervising this research project and sticking with me until the end. They have been my main source of advice and support, in particular at the beginning when I was framing the research questions and during the writing up stage. I received a great deal of help from many people in Portugal during my fieldwork. I gained very useful advice and a warm welcome during a three month visit at Lisbon University’s Centro de Estudos Geográficas (CEG). Two people at the CEG were particularly helpful and extremely generous with their time: Mário Vale facilitated the initial contact and helped me select the case study by putting me in touch with several experts of regional development in Portugal. Jorge Gaspar not only offered his vast expertise but also provided accommodation in Alvito. He used his local contacts in this special town to arrange interviews with all candidates in the forthcoming municipal election, a feat that an Englishman would certainly not have achieved alone! I should also like to thank all those who I met and interviewed during the fieldwork. Although there are too many to name, a couple stand out as particularly helpful and who offered me much more than a research interview: José da Veiga from the regional office of the Ministry of Agriculture organised and accompanied me on a tour of two projects which provided very useful material. João Cordovil from Alentejo’s CCDR hosted me in both Évora and Safara, introducing me to many interesting and useful people in those places and elsewhere in Alentejo. He was particularly welcoming and took a real interest in my research. Finally, I would not have been able to complete the research and write this thesis without the unending support of my family. My parents have helped enormously in ensuring that my research has not stood in the way of starting my own family which has itself been a source of great motivation. Neither should I forget my large and colourful Portuguese family which has allowed me to understand how the country ticks. Most of all, my wife Leonor has been very understanding and supportive in helping me achieve my aspirations and for this I am truly thankful. This research was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Award number: PTA-031-2006-00277) ii CONTENTS Abstract...................................................................................................................... i Acknowledgements................................................................................................... ii Contents..................................................................................................................... iii List of figures and tables........................................................................................... vii Glossary of Portuguese names and terms.................................................................. ix Chapter 1: Introduction: Rethinking ‘Development’………………………….. 1 Preamble.................................................................................................................... 1 Outline of the chapters............................................................................................... 4 Chapter 2: The Capabilities Approach and its Relevance for Regional Studies……………………………………………………………………………... 8 2.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 8 2.2 The paradigm of endogenous development in Regional Studies........................ 9 2.2.1 Institutionalism..................................................................................... 12 2.2.2 New Regionalism.................................................................................. 16 2.2.3 Empowerment and good governance................................................... 17 2.2.4 Social capital........................................................................................ 18 2.2.5 Problems with the endogenous development paradigm....................... 23 2.3 The Capabilities Approach.................................................................................. 25 2.3.1 From capitals to capabilities............................................................................ 25 2.3.2 The Capabilities Approach to development..................................................... 27 2.3.3 Existing work on capabilities in Europe.......................................................... 32 2.4 Conclusion and research questions: In search of a geographical understanding of the Capabilities Approach .................................................................................... 36 Chapter 3: Methodology of an Exploratory Case Study………………………. 39 3.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 39 3.2 The case study as a methodological approach..................................................... 41 3.2.1 Why use a case study?.......................................................................... 41 3.2.2 Selecting the case................................................................................. 44 3.3 Methods of data collection.................................................................................. 47 iii 3.3.1 The advantages and disadvantages of semi-structured interviews...... 47 3.3.2 Selection and conduct of the interviews............................................... 49 3.3.3 Documentation and other secondary sources...................................... 50 3.4 Analytical framework.......................................................................................... 51 3.5 Conclusion........................................................................................................... 52 Chapter 4: Alentejo in Context………………………………………………….. 54 4.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 54 4.2 The macro and space economy of Portugal......................................................... 55 4.2.1 A brief political and economic history................................................. 55 4.2.2 Current situation and future outlook.................................................... 59 4.2.3 Inequalities and development............................................................... 64 4.2.4 Space economy and regional development........................................... 66 4.3 Local and regional governance in Portugal......................................................... 68 4.3.1 Continuity and centralisation............................................................... 68 4.3.2 Local government................................................................................