Human Development and Capability Association

Journal of Human Development and Capabilities Education, Sustainability and Social Justice: Lessons for Capability Development and Expansion of Opportunities for Authorship from the Global South, Part 2. Guest Editors: Fenella Somerville and Sarah Ward. Volume 27, Issue 1 of Journal of Human Development and Capabilities

🔎 Topics include:
• Gaza and the human development imperative
• Sustainability education & relational capabilities
• Ecological heritage & youth learning
• Gender, farming & collective capabilities
• And more!

🔗 https://shorturl.at/4QjRI

📣 Which topic resonates most with your work right now?

📘 Have you checked out the new issue of the Journal of HDCA?

Volume 27, Issue 1 is out: #Education, #Sustainability and #SocialJustice
Guest editors: Fenella Somerville & Sarah Ward 🌍

Voices and lessons from the #GlobalSouth on expanding #HumanCapabilities through education and sustainability.

Update! ⏰✨
We’ve extended the deadline for the HDCA #MentorshipProgram to give you more time to apply

🆕 New deadline: 8 Feb 2026
If you’ve started an application (or were planning to), now’s your chance!

📝 Apply: forms.gle/qeyLMBkKeHaF...

Don’t miss out & feel free to boost this for your networks

Dr. Bitar will share key ideas from her paper, followed by reflections from Prof. Jean-Michel Bonvin, and then we’ll open the floor for an informal, off-record discussion.

📖 Reading ahead encouraged, questions very welcome.

👉 Register here: us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

📢 Online discussion coming!
From Critique to Action: A #CapabilityApproach (CA) to Reimagining #HumanRights Due Diligence

We’re excited to host Dr. Bitar for a conversation around her recent article, bringing the CA into business & human rights debates.

🗓 Mon, 2 Feb 2026
⏰ 14:00–15:00 UTC
💻 Online

Applications are open for the OPHI Summer School 2026.

Do you currently work in - or want to gain skills in - multidimensional poverty measurement? Apply now to join us on between 20 - 31 July 2026 at Universidad Latina, San José, Costa Rica.

Apply now: ophi.org.uk/event/ophi-s...

New to the Capability Approach? This session is for you 🌱
Learn key concepts and how CA is used in research, policy & practice.

🎤 Speakers: Raphael Ng & Dorothy Ferary
💬 Moderator: Erdal Bayraktar

#HDCA #CapabilityApproach #Webinar #HumanDevelopment #EarlyCareer

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: HDCA APRN 2026 Webinar Series #1: Introduction to the Capability Approach. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webina... Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: HDCA APRN 2026 Webinar Series #1: Introduction to the Capability Approach. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webina...

🌟 Kickstart 2026 with a deep dive into the Capability Approach!

We’re launching the HDCA Asia-Pacific Regional Network 2026 Webinar Series with:
🎉 Introduction to the Capability Approach

🗓 Sat, 24 Jan 2026 | 08:00 UTC
📍 Online (Zoom)
🔗 Register: shorturl.at/oGKqz

Who can apply? 👇
✔️ Undergraduates & graduate students
✔️ Early-career researchers
✔️ Early-career practitioners

🌍 Priority to applicants without access to senior capabilities scholars at their institution.
Questions? 📩 hdca.ecrpn@gmail.com

Please share with your networks! 💬✨

Deadline approaching!🚨
Applications are open for the HDCA #MentorshipProgram🎓✨

Are you an early-career researcher or practitioner using the #CapabilityApproach? Get paired with advanced scholars for mentorship, guidance, and collaboration.

📝 Apply: https://shorturl.at/cUru6
⏰ Deadline: 25 Jan 2026

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Engaging Capabilities Worldwide: Participatory Methodologies in Comparative Perspective. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting. Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: Engaging Capabilities Worldwide: Participatory Methodologies in Comparative Perspective. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

🎙️ Speakers:
• Dr. Peter Gutwa Oino 
• Dr. Juan Ignacio Lozano 
🧭 Moderator: Dr. Tatiana Bruni

Comparative insights from #Kenya, #Chile & #Argentina on #ChildProtection, #HealthPolicy & #participation.

🔗 Register:

🌍 Engaging #Capabilities Worldwide: Participatory Methodologies in #ComparativePerspective

The HDCA Thematic Group on #ParticipatoryMethods launches its first Speaker’s Corner of 2026!

📅 Fri, 23 Jan 2026 | 🕒 15:00–16:15 CET
💻 Online (Zoom)
A global conversation on participatory action research!

Widening university access and participation in the global south: using the Zambian context to inform other developing countries, Published in Journal of Human Development and Capabilities: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal for People-Centered Development (Vol. 26, No. 4, 2025)

2/2
Drawing on the Zambian context, the book moves beyond mere enrollment figures to explore how access to university transforms lives.

🌍 Essential reading for policymakers, researchers, and educators in higher education and development studies!
👉 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Widening university access and participation in the global south: using the Zambian context to inform other developing countries, Published in Journal of Human Development and Capabilities: A Multi-Disciplinary Journal for People-Centered Development (Vol. 26, No. 4, 2025)

What does meaningful access to university really look like?

📚 "Widening University Access and Participation in the Global South" by Edward Mboyonga, PhD offers a fresh, capability-focused lens on #HigherEducation in low-income countries... 1/2

#CapabilityApproach

HDCA - The Human Development and Capability Association

2/2
Whether you’re working on #sustainability, climate justice, equitable wellbeing, or the #CapabilityApproach, this group is your platform for collaboration.

Join a global community shaping research and dialogue on sustainable human development. 🌱🤝

🔗 hd-ca.org/thematic_gro...
#HumanDevelopment

HDCA - The Human Development and Capability Association

🌍🌱 Join the HDCA Sustainable Human Development Thematic Group — connecting researchers, practitioners and change-makers from all disciplines working on #sustainability, wellbeing, and #HumanDevelopment from interdisciplinary perspectives.

Subscribe to stay updated... 1/2
🔗 hd-ca.org/thematic_gro...

Comments and Addendum to “Why Economic Inequality Should be Central to Strategies for the Future” by Ingrid Robeyns The comments offer what may be considered minor criticisms of how Robeyns presents her arguments in the first and second sections. As an addendum to the final section on what should we do, I propos...

2/2
... to deepen our understanding of inequality and its role in shaping human development policies.

📘 A must-read for anyone interested in #HumanDevelopment, #SocialJustice, and equitable policy frameworks.

🔗 Full article: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
#PolicyResearch

Comments and Addendum to “Why Economic Inequality Should be Central to Strategies for the Future” by Ingrid Robeyns The comments offer what may be considered minor criticisms of how Robeyns presents her arguments in the first and second sections. As an addendum to the final section on what should we do, I propos...

💡 Have you read the latest scholarly Comments and Addendum to “Why Economic Inequality Should be Central to Strategies for the Future” by Werner Neu?

Neu offers thoughtful critique on core arguments and expands the discussion by proposing alternative framing strategies... 1/2

HDCA - The Human Development and Capability Association

2/2
Fostering collaboration on big topics like poverty, education, environment, indigenous issues, and more, the network supports dialogue, seminars, workshops, & future regional conferences.

Join the conversation 👉 hd-ca.org/region/asia-...
#HumanDevelopment #CapabilityApproach #AsiaPacific

HDCA - The Human Development and Capability Association

🌏 Calling all researchers, practitioners & changemakers in the #AsiaPacific!

Why not connect with the HDCA Asia-Pacific Regional Network! A space for collaboration on human development & the #CapabilityApproach across research, policy & practice... 1/2

Dive in 👉 hd-ca.org/region/asia-...

Adaptive Preferences as Constraints on Self-Development The problem of adaptive preferences (APs) played a central motivating role in the Capability Approach, since these internalised preferences were seen as one of the causes of the perpetuation of the...

2/2
...rather than merely reflect disadvantage?

The article offers a new framework for understanding adaptive preferences as barriers to autonomy and human flourishing.

A must-read for work on human development, ethics, and social justice.
🔗 www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Adaptive Preferences as Constraints on Self-Development The problem of adaptive preferences (APs) played a central motivating role in the Capability Approach, since these internalised preferences were seen as one of the causes of the perpetuation of the...

📢 New #Research: “Adaptive Preferences as Constraints on Self-Development” by Azizjon Bagadirov.

The paper revisits the concept of adaptive preferences—desires shaped by unjust or limiting conditions—and asks the question: how do these preferences actively constrain self-development... 1/2

HDCA - The Human Development and Capability Association

2/2
Connect with global colleagues and enrich your research with diverse perspectives.

👉 For early-career researchers, seasoned academics, or practitioners applying human rights in your work.

📌 Learn more and connect here: hd-ca.org/thematic_gro...
#CapabilityApproach #InterdisciplinaryResearch

HDCA - The Human Development and Capability Association

🌍 Join the HDCA Human Rights Thematic Group!

Are you passionate about #HumanRights and expanding our understanding of rights-based approaches across disciplines?

This group brings together scholars, policy-makers & educators to collaborate on theory, practice, & action in #HumanDevelopment... 1/2

2/2
🔗 Watch the full recording here:
hd-ca.org/videos/conte...

📌 91-min session from the HDCA #HumanRights Thematic Group.

👉 Great watch for researchers, students, and anyone interested in #CorporateResponsibility, participatory research, and #SocialJustice.

#CapabilityApproach #SocialScience

🎥 Now Available Online!

Lecture: Contesting Corporate Responsibility from the Margins — Reflexive Lessons from Co-Produced Research

Prof. Rajiv Maher explores how #CorporateResponsibility is challenged & reshaped through research with communities often on the margins of corporate influence...

1/2

Educational Institutions and Epistemic Freedom: The Experiences of Second-generation Zimbabwean Immigrants in England Guided by a decolonial lens and Fricker’s [2007. Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press] capability for epistemic contribution, this paper explores ho...

2/2
🔍 Key themes

• Epistemic freedom & inclusion in #education
• Narratives of second-gen Zimbabwean immigrants in England
• How institutional cultures privilege or marginalize ways of knowing
• The need for diverse & equitable knowledge practices

#Decolonial #Inclusion

📄 Read the full article ⬇️

Educational Institutions and Epistemic Freedom: The Experiences of Second-generation Zimbabwean Immigrants in England Guided by a decolonial lens and Fricker’s [2007. Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing. Oxford: Oxford University Press] capability for epistemic contribution, this paper explores ho...

📢 New #Research Alert! 🧠✨

Patience Mukwambo explores how #education can either ENABLE or LIMIT students’ freedom to contribute meaningfully.

Drawing on personal narratives, the paper highlights how race, identity, & institutional norms shape learning & participation in educational spaces...

1/2

HDCA: Is AI transformative for human flourishing? Phillipa Shepherd, Université Grenoble Alpes, FranceCaroline Kuhn, Bath Spa University, UK Understanding AI’s role in human development requires more than [...]

2/2
🤖 Is #AI transformative for human flourishing?

Transformative technologies can lead to practically irreversible change in the most important aspects of life. And such technologies tend to come as “clusters”...

Read the article here: hd-ca.org/is-ai-transf...
#CapabilityApproach #SocialScience

HDCA: Is AI transformative for human flourishing? Phillipa Shepherd, Université Grenoble Alpes, FranceCaroline Kuhn, Bath Spa University, UK Understanding AI’s role in human development requires more than [...]

🌱 What will happen to human possibility when #AI reshapes the very capabilities that define our lives?

This article considers AI’s role in human development, & how these systems may transform our freedoms, relationships, & futures... 1/2

hd-ca.org/is-ai-transf...
#CapabilityApproach #SocialScience