Webinar: Rutger Claassen’s ‘Capabilities in a Just Society’

On February 12, Dr Rutger Claassen(Philosophy and Religious Studies) will be giving a Webinar on his new book Capabilities in a Just Society. A Theory of Navigational Agency.

What sort of entitlements should citizens have in a just society? In this Webinar, Rutger Claassen sets out a theory of what he terms ‘navigational agency’, whereby citizens should be able to navigate freely between social practices. This shows how individuals can be at the same time free and autonomous in striving for their own goals in life, but also embedded in social practices in which they have to cooperate with others.

Core Capabilties
Claassen argues that for navigational agency, people need three sets of core capabilities: those which allow human empowerment in civil society, a decent level of socio-economic subsistence, and political participation in democratic decision-making procedures. The idea of navigational agency provides an alternative to currently dominant versions of the capability approach to social justice, and strengthens its liberal foundations.