Abstract

In the dissertation, I examine what a good development ethic should include. For this, I analyze two definitions of development, Martha Nussbaum's Aristotelian approach to capabilities theory and the Christian Latin American liberation theology approach of Gustavo Gutierrez, and argue that together they provide necessary resources for addressing economic and gender justice in economic development I show how both of these approaches challenge notions of development that are based simply on growth, efficiency and profit by using criteria from their work to assess the effects of structural adjustment policies on rural families and women in Central America. Furthermore, I argue that their approaches go further than a "basic needs" development ethic does in critiquing current neoliberal economic development policies. From my analysis, I outline a development ethic of empowerment that incorporates both the notions of "capabilities" and "liberation."