A Capabilities Approach to Trade and Sustainable Development : Using Sen's Conception of Development to Re-Examine the Debates

This paper is a thought piece that accepts the thinking of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on the subject of development, and asks what that new conception of development means for trade and sustainable development. That is, if we conceive of development as Sen does, how can this conception help us better define sustainable development? And what role is there for the trade regime and trade policy in the service of sustainable development so defined (the paper starts from the basic premise that sustainable development is the appropriate goal of trade and investment policies)? Further, what would this new conception mean to those non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who seek to harness international trade and investment in the service of sustainable development?