Sen + Appadurai: The Complete Capability Framework

How Amartya Sen’s Capabilities Approach and Arjun Appadurai’s Capacity to Aspire work together to explain digital equity—and why you need BOTH in your framework.

Two Complementary Theories:

Sen (1999): Capabilities approach—what people are able to do
Appadurai (2004): Capacity to aspire—what people are able to imagine and navigate toward

Together: A complete framework for understanding opportunity and equity

How They Relate:

Sen’s Framework:

Resources (broadband, devices)
  + Conversion factors (skills, support, social context)
  = Capabilities (what you CAN do)
  → Functionings (what you ACTUALLY do)
  = Well-being and freedom

Appadurai’s Addition:

Navigation capacity (aspiration) is a CRITICAL conversion factor

Without it:
  Resources + Other conversion factors → Capability exists BUT not realized
  
With it:
  Resources + Navigation + Other factors → Capability → Functionings

The Key Distinction:

Dimension Sen’s Focus Appadurai’s Focus
Question What CAN people do? What can people IMAGINE doing?
Level Individual capabilities Cultural navigation capacity
Conversion Skills, resources, context Navigation maps, practice, models
Barrier Lack of conversion factors Thin aspirational maps
Outcome Functionings (achieved outcomes) Aspirations (imagined futures)

Both necessary:

  • Sen: Provides opportunity to do X
  • Appadurai: Provides capacity to imagine and navigate toward X

Why You Need Both:

Sen alone:

"Provide broadband + skills + support = Capability to use digital tools"

Missing: Do people even imagine digital pathways for themselves?

Appadurai alone:

"Build aspiration capacity to imagine digital futures"

Missing: Do people actually have the resources and skills to realize aspirations?

Sen + Appadurai together:

Sen: Ensure capability exists (infrastructure + conversion factors)
Appadurai: Ensure navigation capacity exists (aspiration + pathway maps)

Result: People can imagine futures AND have capability to pursue them

The Complete Digital Equity Framework:

Stage 1: Opportunity (Sen’s Capabilities)

  • Provide resources: Infrastructure, devices, connectivity
  • Ensure conversion factors: Affordability, accessibility, availability
  • Result: Capability exists (CAN access digital tools)

Stage 2: Aspiration (Appadurai’s Navigation)

  • Build aspiration capacity: Show pathways, provide models, demonstrate relevance
  • Thicken navigation maps: Relevant examples, peer success stories, concrete routes
  • Result: People can imagine and navigate toward digital futures

Stage 3: Growth Mindset (Dweck)

  • Build confidence: “I can learn this”
  • Enable persistence: Support through difficulty
  • Result: People develop skills through sustained practice

Stage 4: Digital Equity

  • Outcome: Capabilities → Aspirations → Learning → Achievement
  • Measure: Are gaps closing? Is inclusion increasing?

Where Sen and Appadurai Overlap:

Both emphasize:

  1. Context matters
    • Sen: Conversion factors are contextual (social, environmental, personal)
    • Appadurai: Navigation capacity is culturally embedded
  2. Individual freedom and agency
    • Sen: Capabilities expand freedom to achieve valued functionings
    • Appadurai: Navigation capacity expands freedom to imagine futures
  3. Inequality is multidimensional
    • Sen: Not just income—capabilities across multiple dimensions
    • Appadurai: Not just resources—navigation capacity unequally distributed
  4. Development must be participatory
    • Sen: People must have agency in choosing functionings
    • Appadurai: People must practice aspiration to develop capacity

Where Sen and Appadurai Diverge:

Sen focuses on:

  • What exists: Current capabilities and achieved functionings
  • Removal of barriers: Ensuring conversion factors are present
  • Individual achievement: What people are able to do NOW

Appadurai focuses on:

  • What’s imaginable: Future possibilities and pathways
  • Building capacity: Developing navigation skills through practice
  • Cultural learning: How communities transmit aspiration capacity

Why both matter:

Sen answers: "Do people have the opportunity to do X?"
Appadurai answers: "Can people imagine themselves doing X?"

Digital equity requires BOTH:
  - Opportunity without imagination = Unused capability
  - Imagination without opportunity = Unfulfilled aspiration

Practical Example: Telehealth Access

Using Sen’s framework:

Resources: Broadband, device, healthcare portal access
Conversion factors: Digital literacy, health literacy, support
Capability: Able to use telehealth
Functioning: Actually uses telehealth

Question: Does this person HAVE THE CAPABILITY to use telehealth?

Adding Appadurai’s framework:

Navigation capacity: Can imagine telehealth as relevant pathway
Aspirational map: Knows telehealth can save time/money, has seen it work
Practice: Has models of successful telehealth use

Question: Can this person IMAGINE NAVIGATING telehealth successfully?

Both needed:

Scenario 1: High capability, Low navigation capacity
  - Has broadband, device, skills (Sen ✓)
  - But never imagined telehealth as option (Appadurai ✗)
  - Result: Capability unused, drives to doctor appointments

Scenario 2: High navigation capacity, Low capability
  - Sees telehealth value, wants to use it (Appadurai ✓)
  - But no broadband or device (Sen ✗)
  - Result: Aspiration unfulfilled, still drives to appointments

Scenario 3: High capability, High navigation capacity
  - Has resources and skills (Sen ✓)
  - Can imagine and navigate telehealth pathway (Appadurai ✓)
  - Result: Uses telehealth, saves time and money ✓

Hampton & Bauer Findings Through Both Lenses:

Three gaps identified:

  1. Missing infrastructure
  2. Unclear value
  3. Uncertainty about affordability

Sen’s interpretation:

1. Missing infrastructure = Lack of resources (capability gap)
2. Unclear value = Conversion factor missing (relevance)
3. Uncertainty about affordability = Conversion factor missing (economic)

All three are capability barriers

Appadurai’s interpretation:

1. Missing infrastructure = Can't practice navigation (no access to learn from)
2. Unclear value = Thin aspirational maps (can't see pathways)
3. Uncertainty = Navigation barrier (unclear if pathway is traversable)

All three are navigation capacity barriers

Both interpretations valid—that’s why you need both frameworks!

Building Complete Interventions:

Incomplete intervention (Sen only):

Deploy infrastructure ✓
Provide devices ✓
Offer training ✓

Result: Capability exists, but may not be used
Why: No navigation capacity built

Incomplete intervention (Appadurai only):

Show success stories ✓
Provide role models ✓
Demonstrate pathways ✓

Result: Aspiration exists, but can't be fulfilled
Why: No capability to realize aspirations

Complete intervention (Sen + Appadurai):

Deploy infrastructure (Sen: Resources)
  + Ensure affordability (Sen: Conversion factor)
  + Provide training (Sen: Skills conversion)
  + Show relevant pathways (Appadurai: Thicken maps)
  + Provide role models (Appadurai: Navigation practice)
  + Support navigation attempts (Appadurai: Build capacity)

Result: Capability + Navigation capacity = Actual use = Equity

Your Digital Navigator Role—Through Both Lenses:

Sen’s perspective on navigators:

Navigators are conversion factors:
  - Provide skills (conversion factor)
  - Offer support (conversion factor)
  - Enable access (conversion factor)

Function: Convert resources into capabilities

Appadurai’s perspective on navigators:

Navigators build aspiration capacity:
  - Show pathways (thicken maps)
  - Provide models (navigation examples)
  - Support practice (build capacity)

Function: Enable people to imagine and navigate futures

Together:

Navigator = Conversion factor (Sen) + Navigation capacity builder (Appadurai)

This is WHY navigators are so effective:
  - Build capability (Sen)
  - Build aspiration capacity (Appadurai)
  - Result: Complete pathway from opportunity to achievement

The Wealth Gap Through Both Lenses:

Sen’s explanation:

Wealthy people have more:
  - Resources (devices, connectivity)
  - Conversion factors (education, social capital)
  → More capabilities
  → More achieved functionings
  → Greater well-being

Appadurai’s explanation:

Wealthy people have more:
  - Practice with aspiration
  - Thick aspirational maps
  - Navigation examples and models
  → Greater navigation capacity
  → Can imagine and pursue more futures
  → Greater capacity to aspire

Together (explaining digital divide):

Wealthy family:
  Sen: More digital resources + conversion factors = More capability
  Appadurai: More digital navigation practice = Thicker aspirational maps
  
  Capability × Navigation capacity = High digital achievement

Poor family:
  Sen: Fewer resources + conversion factors = Less capability
  Appadurai: Less navigation practice = Thinner aspirational maps
  
  Capability × Navigation capacity = Low digital achievement
  
This is Toyama's amplification at the theoretical level!

Measurement Implications:

To assess Sen’s capabilities, measure:

  • Infrastructure availability (resources)
  • Affordability (conversion factor)
  • Skills levels (conversion factor)
  • Support access (conversion factor)
  • → Dagg Compass: Connectivity, Skills components

To assess Appadurai’s navigation capacity, measure:

  • Exposure to success models
  • Thickness of aspirational maps
  • Navigation confidence
  • Practice opportunities
  • → Dagg Compass: Application component

To assess outcomes:

  • Achieved functionings (what people DO)
  • Well-being improvements
  • Inclusion rates
  • → Dagg Compass: Outcomes component

Policy Framework Integration:

Your complete pathway integrates both:

Sen's Capabilities          Your Framework Stage
─────────────────────────   ────────────────────
Resources + Conversion  →   Opportunity ✓
  (Infrastructure, affordability, access)

Appadurai's Navigation      Your Framework Stage
─────────────────────────   ────────────────────
Aspiration Capacity     →   Aspiration ✓
  (Pathway maps, models, practice)

Dweck's Mechanism          Your Framework Stage
─────────────────────────   ────────────────────
Growth Mindset          →   Growth Mindset ✓
  (Confidence to learn, persistence)

Achieved Outcome           Your Framework Stage
─────────────────────────   ────────────────────
Capabilities → Functionings → Digital Equity ✓
  (Capability realized as achievement)

Why This Integration is Powerful:

Before Sen + Appadurai:

"Build infrastructure, people will use it"
→ Empirically false (Hampton & Bauer proved this)

With Sen only:

"Build infrastructure + provide conversion factors, people can use it"
→ Better, but still misses aspiration gap

With Sen + Appadurai:

"Build infrastructure + conversion factors + navigation capacity = people WILL use it"
→ Empirically validated (Hampton & Bauer shows all three needed)
→ Theoretically complete (capability + navigation)
→ Practically actionable (clear intervention points)

The Academic Integration:

Sen and Appadurai knew each other’s work:

  • Both worked on development theory
  • Both emphasized cultural dimensions of poverty
  • Both rejected purely economic explanations
  • Appadurai explicitly built on Sen’s capabilities approach

Appadurai’s contribution:

“Sen’s capabilities approach is powerful but incomplete. It tells us what people are able to do, but not what people are able to imagine. Navigation capacity is the missing piece.”

This is why they’re integrated in development literature—and should be in digital equity policy!

Common Misconceptions:

Misconception 1: “Appadurai just adds motivation to Sen’s framework”

  • Wrong: Navigation capacity ≠ motivation
  • Right: Navigation capacity = Cultural capability to imagine and navigate pathways

Misconception 2: “Sen is about resources, Appadurai is about culture”

  • Wrong: Sen includes cultural conversion factors
  • Right: Both emphasize culture, but Sen focuses on capability, Appadurai on navigation

Misconception 3: “If people have capabilities (Sen), they’ll automatically aspire (Appadurai)”

  • Wrong: Capability and navigation capacity are independent dimensions
  • Right: Need both—capability without navigation = unused, navigation without capability = unfulfilled

Bottom Line:

Sen provides the foundation:

  • Capabilities approach: Opportunity + Conversion factors = What people CAN do

Appadurai completes the framework:

  • Capacity to aspire: Navigation capacity = What people can IMAGINE doing

Together in your framework:

Sen:        Opportunity stage (capability exists)
Appadurai:  Aspiration stage (navigation capacity exists)
Dweck:      Growth Mindset stage (learning capacity exists)
Result:     Digital Equity (functionings achieved)

Without Sen: No foundation for opportunity (just “build infrastructure”)
Without Appadurai: Miss the aspiration gap (“unclear value”)
Without Dweck: Miss the learning mechanism (persistence through difficulty)

With all three: Complete pathway from opportunity → imagination → learning → achievement

Hampton & Bauer validated this with Michigan data.
Dagg et al. operationalized this with measurement framework.
Your system implements this for policy action.

This is the complete theoretical foundation for digital equity—grounded in two of the most influential development theorists of the past 30 years.

Version: 1.0
Last Updated: November 2025
Part of: Project Compass (Merit Network) - Digital Opportunities Intelligence Network (DOIN) • Working draft