MGF5020 Chap.7 Recognition, Relationality and Representation: Sen's Capability Approach and Fraser's Justice in Stakeholder Governance
Recognition, Relationality and Representation: Sen's Capability Approach and Fraser's Justice in Stakeholder Governance
The open Week 2 materials connect Sen's capability approach to recognition and representation, and the schedule names Week 4 as recognition, relationality and representation. The detailed Sen–Fraser synthesis here is standard disciplinary canon because Weeks 3–12 are unavailable. Sen distinguishes resources from capabilities: the same formal entitlement can create unequal real opportunities because personal, social and environmental conversion conditions differ. Capability analysis asks what people are substantively free to be and do and whether they can shape goals as agents.
Recognition concerns institutional status, not only interpersonal courtesy. Misrecognition occurs where patterns of value treat some people, identities or knowledge as inferior and prevent peer participation. Fraser's multidimensional justice grammar distinguishes maldistribution, misrecognition and misrepresentation. Redistribution addresses economic resources and independence; recognition addresses status order; representation addresses membership, agenda and political voice. The normative centre is parity of participation: people should be able to interact as peers.
Stakeholder governance therefore requires more than a list or meeting. Affected people need resources, security, accessible information, independent representation, agenda rights, influence, reasoned response and remedy. Relationality asks how dependency, historical connection, benefit and capacity generate responsibility. Groups are internally diverse, so disaggregate evidence and provide plural voice without assuming one spokesperson represents everyone. A good recommendation states whether the process provides information, consultation, consent, joint decision or delegated authority and justifies that level by severity, rights, dependency and reversibility.
What this chapter covers
- 01Resources, functionings and capabilities
- 02Personal, social and environmental conversion
- 03Recognition as institutional status
- 04Fraser's redistribution–recognition–representation framework
- 05Parity of participation in stakeholder governance
- 06Relational responsibility, intersection and plural voice
Audit a worker council for parity
- 2Map elections, constituency contact, agenda access, information and response rights.
- 2Use capability to test paid time, security, language, data and protection from deactivation.
- 2Use recognition to test whether worker knowledge has equal institutional credibility.
- 2Use representation to distinguish presence, voice, influence and accountability.
- 2Recommend independent elections, resources, data, protected communication and defined joint decisions.
Key terms
- Functioning
- A valued state of being or doing that a person actually achieves.
- Capability
- A substantive opportunity to achieve combinations of valued functionings.
- Conversion factor
- A personal, social or environmental condition shaping how a resource becomes real opportunity.
- Recognition
- Equal institutional status and credibility required for peer participation.
- Representation
- Membership, agenda, voice and influence in decisions to which people are subject.
- Parity of participation
- Fraser's condition in which people can interact as peers under adequate resource and status conditions.
Recognition, Relationality and Representation: Sen's Capability Approach and Fraser's Justice in Stakeholder Governance FAQ
Why are resources not enough?
People face different conversion conditions, so equal formal provision can create unequal substantive freedom.
Is recognition just respect for identity?
No. It concerns institutional status, credibility and whether people can participate as peers.
What are Fraser's three justice dimensions?
Redistribution, recognition and representation, organised around parity of participation.
Does consultation equal representation?
No. Test membership, safe voice, agenda rights, influence, reasoned response, review and remedy.
What does relationality add?
It traces dependency, history, contribution, benefit and capacity, showing why responsibility can persist across organisational boundaries.
How should group difference be handled?
Use disaggregated evidence and plural routes for voice while avoiding the assumption that one representative or average captures everyone.
Is an achieved outcome proof of free choice?
No. Separate functioning from capability and examine the alternatives, conversion conditions, coercion and agency surrounding the outcome.
What makes voice materially effective?
Timely information, safe and resourced participation, agenda access, decision influence, reasoned response, independent review and remedy after exclusion.
Can one policy address all three Fraser dimensions?
Sometimes, but test each separately. Resources, institutional status and political representation often require connected yet distinct mechanisms.
How is a capability indicator selected?
Begin with the valued freedom, identify relevant conversion conditions and choose evidence of real options and agency rather than resource delivery alone. Disaggregate results and include affected interpretation. Attendance at training, for example, cannot establish freedom to use the skill under unchanged scheduling or status barriers.
Why does history matter to present representation?
Past exclusion, broken commitments or dependence can shape trust, safety and practical willingness to speak. A formally open meeting may therefore remain inaccessible. Analyse the relationship, resource participation, protect dissent and create a response and appeal structure capable of rebuilding rather than merely requesting trust.
Assessment move
Choose one valued capability or participatory condition, then trace formal resource, conversion factors, real opportunity, achieved outcome and agency. Add Fraser's three columns: resources, status and representation. For every engagement process, record constituency, selection, information, paid time, agenda, decision authority, response and remedy. Identify historical and relational conditions affecting trust or exit. In AT2, examine how your own capability and status affect judgement; in AT3, turn the audit into specific representation and resource policy. Verify assigned Week 4 readings on Moodle. Build the analysis from a concrete freedom rather than an abstract list of benefits. Ask what a person is actually able to do or be, which resources are offered and which personal, social, environmental or institutional conversion factors shape the result. Separate real opportunity from achieved functioning so a chosen outcome is not confused with absence of choice. Test agency: can the affected person influence the terms, refuse safely and pursue goals beyond the organisation's preferred metric? Add redistribution, recognition and representation as distinct but connected diagnoses. A training stipend may address resources while schedules still block participation; respectful language may address status while workers remain excluded from agenda setting. For engagement, identify the constituency, representation rule, information timing, paid participation, authority, required response and appeal. Look for people who are structurally absent, not merely quiet. In a recommendation, match each justice diagnosis to a mechanism: resources and time, status-changing institutional practice, or a durable decision right. End with an indicator of real capability and a remedy after exclusion. Do not claim that consultation itself proves representation or that equal formal provision creates equal freedom.
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