DEVELOPMENT

as FREEDOM
SW108: Social Change and Development Perspectives
Rico A. Apelado BSSW AS2-3
Outline:
I. Introduction
II. Forms of Unfreedom
III. Reasons of Freedom
IV.Roles of Freedom
 What is
Freedom?
• the state of being free or
at liberty rather than in
confinement or under
physical
• exemption from external
control, interference,
regulation, etc.
• the power to determine
action without restraint.
• political or national
independence.
• personal liberty, as
opposed to bondage or
slavery:
 THE 1987 CONSTITUTION OF THE
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

PREAMBLE

. . . secure to ourselves and our

posterity the blessings of
independence and democracy
under the rule of law and a
regime of truth, justice,
freedom, love, equality, and
peace, do ordain and
promulgate this Constitution.
ARTICLE II, SECTION 5. The maintenance of peace and
order, the protection of life, liberty, and property, and the
promotion of the general welfare are essential for the
enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy.

ARTICLE III, SECTION 1. No person shall be deprived of life,

liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall
any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.

ARTICLE XIII, SECTION 2. The promotion of social justice

shall include the commitment to create economic
opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-
reliance
Types of
Liberty
by: Isaiah Berlin
In a famous essay first published in 1958,
Isaiah Berlin called these two concepts of
liberty negative and positive respectively
(Berlin 1969).[1] The reason for using these
labels is that in the first case liberty seems to
be a mere absence of something (i.e. of
obstacles, barriers, constraints or interference
from others), whereas in the second case it
seems to require the presence of something
(i.e. of control, self-mastery, self-
determination or self-realization).
 Introduction
It is only when society is
liberated from the domination
both outside and within, that
the development in the more
normal sense is possible
Growth of GNP or of individual
incomes can, of course, be very
important as means to expanding
the freedoms enjoyed by the
members of the society. But
freedoms depend also on the other
determinants, such as social and
economic arrangements as well as
political and civil rights.
Concepts of
Freedom
There must be:

• Liberation of marginal men and marginal groups.

Marginal men are those who do not enter into the
decision-making processes of their communities, have
precarious economic existence and do not relate to
other groups.

• Participation in national and local decision-making

(internal political and economic freedom)

• Relationships between developed and developing

countries (external political and economic freedom)

• Redistribution of economic and political power.

• Individual’s awareness of himself as a creative and

responsible being
 FORMS OF
UNFREEDOM
Poverty is a state or condition in
which a person or community lacks
the financial resources and
essentials for a minimum standard
of living. Poverty means that the
income level from employment is so
low that basic human needs can't
be met.
• Tyranny- A tyranny is a cruel,
harsh, and unfair government in
which a person or small group of
people have power over everyone
else.
• Exploitation-
Exploitation occurs when one social
group is able to take for itself what is
produced by another group. The
concept is central to the idea of social
oppression, especially from a Marxist
perspective, and can also include
noneconomic forms, such as the
sexual exploitation of women by men
under patriarchy.
Others are:
• Poor economic
opportunities
• Social Deprivation/
injustice
• Neglect of public
facilities
• Overactivity of
repressive states
Freedom is central to the process of
development for two distinct reasons:

The Evaluative reason: assessment of

progress has to be done primarily in terms of
whether the freedoms that people have are
enhanced;
The Effectiveness reason: achievement of
development is thoroughly dependent on the
free agency of people.
The Constitutive
and Instrumental
Roles of Freedom
CONSTITUTIVE ROLE
To say that freedom is constitutive of
development is to say that the use of
freedom is part of what well-being is. The
constitutive role relates o the importance
of substantive freedom in enriching
human life. The substantive freedoms
include elementary capabilities like being
able to avoid such deprivations as
starvation, undernourishment, escapable
morbidity and premature mortality.
INSTITUTIVE ROLE

The instrumental role of freedom

concerns the way different kinds of
rights, opportunities, and
entitlements contribute to the
expansion of human freedom in
general and thus to promoting
development.
FIVE GROUPS OF INSTITUTIVE ROLE
1.Political Freedoms-- The opportunities that
people have to determine who should govern
and on what principles, and also include the
possibility to scrutinize and criticize authorities,
to have freedom of political expression and an
uncensored press, to enjoy the freedom to
choose between different political parties, and
so on.
 ARTICLE V
SUFFRAGE
Section 1. Suffrage may be exercised by all
citizens of the Philippines not otherwise
disqualified by law, who are at least eighteen
years of age, and who shall have resided in the
Philippines for at least one year, and in the place
wherein they propose to vote, for at least six
months immediately preceding the election. No
literacy, property, or other substantive
requirement shall be imposed on the exercise of
suffrage.
FIVE GROUPS OF INSTITUTIVE ROLE

2. Economic Facilities- The

opportunities that individuals enjoy to
utilize economic resources for the
purpose of consumption, or
production, or exchange." The quantity
of income as well as how it is
distributed is important.
FIVE GROUPS OF INSTITUTIVE ROLE

3. Social Opportunities- refer to the

arrangements that society makes
for education, health care and so
on, which influence the individual’s
substantive freedom to live better.
FIVE GROUPS OF INSTITUTIVE ROLE

4. Transparency Guarantees- These relate

to the need for openness that people can
anticipate; the freedom to deal with one
another with a justified expectation of
disclosure and clarity. These guarantees play
a clear role in preventing corruption,
financial irresponsibility, and violation of
society's rules of conduct for government
and business.
FIVE GROUPS OF INSTITUTIVE ROLE
5. Protective Security- A social safety net that
prevents sections of the population from being
reduced to abject misery. Sen refers to "fixed
institutional arrangements such as
unemployment benefits and statutory income
supplements to the indigent as well as ad hoc
(temporary) arrangements such as famine relief
or emergency public employment to generate
income for destitutes.
 “Life can only be
understood
backwards;
but it must be lived
forwards.”

~Soren Kierkegaard
Thanks!
Any questions?