This short article reviews unique strengths and areas to be aware of when using SenseMaker for development research. SenseMaker is a research tool designed for social complexity. It fits a unique niche. Firstly, its indicators are easily visualized and dis-aggregated which makes it ideal for pragmatic development needs. Secondly, answers to questions emerge from peoples’ experiences which increases trustworthiness of the data. Thirdly, it asks questions in such a way that causes people to answer based on complexity science principlesRead more
Posts filed in: Capabilities
Capability Calculation: When people choose between vital parts of being human
A capability calculation is how people make choices when faced with limits to fulfill their capabilities. Ideally in a flourishing society people have the opprotunity to fulfill all their capabilities. All capabilities are important. However, sometimes fulfilling one capability can put another at risk. When fulfilling one capability puts another at risk people choose which part of their personhood will increase and which will decrease. Because capabilities are interconnected when people are forces to choose -especially below a certain threshold- allRead more
Resilience, Capabilities and Complexity: The face of bouncing-back.
Resilience is the ability for people to self-organize their capabilities and bounce-back after a shock. The human capabilities and development approach (i.e. Sen, Nussbaum, Alkire and others) is helpful in understanding resilience in a human centered way. Connecting capabilities to resilience leads to understanding which capabilities are most vital for people to secure in order to bounce-back and flourish. This is different from a perspective that places economic development -Livelihood- as the ends rather than the means towards resilience. This shift may seem subtle but it is substantialRead more
Islam, Human Capabilities and Development: A perspective from Basilan, Mindanao
Islam is important to development because it is important to people. The Islamic discourse –often defined differently by different groups- guides how people develop. This article shows that for many people Islam guides the development or lack of development of their capability domains. An understanding of Islam and development derived from the Yakan can guide development policy and practice in Mindanao as well as inform the larger Islam and development discussion. There are approximately 181,000 Yakan. The Yakan live inRead more
Flourishing is…? The Good Life in Conflict: A Perspective from South-East Asia
The flourishing project. For over a year I asked people to tell stories of their best moments in life. I asked people -young and old, female and male- who would have a unique perspective. Their perspective is unique because of their social disadvantage and the conflict that surrounds them. Because of their ethnicity the people I asked face many hurtles. However, -possibly as a result of the disadvantage- they are resilient, strong, friendly, and respectable people. I asked people who are of Yakan decentRead more
The Gendered Results of Conflict: “We Live in Hell” vs. We were “Revolutionaries”.
Long-term conflict or crisis can cause women to fall below the human security threshold in many key domains and not recover as quickly as men. Unequal recovery negatively impacts women’s opportunities to develop their capability domains compared to the opportunities of men. The Mindanao conflict is a story of conflict with disproportionate affects on women. The history of the Mindanao conflict is a reminder that conflict can increase male privilege and lead to unequal access to women’s capabilities development. The conflictRead more
The Respect Principle -Fertile or Corrosive- Key to Peace in Mindanao
This article explores the idea of the respect principle which if understood -in policy and development practice- would have major impact for peace in Mindanao. Short-term justice must look towards long-term flourishing. Nine months ago, I did research titled “Flourishing Amid Conflict” in Mindanao. Within this research, I worked with Yakan (residents of Basilan Island with a majority of Yakans identifying as Muslim by birth and choice). They defined what they viewed as the good life. The participants explained howRead more
THE MODEL FLOURISHING: Tipping Points for Social Innovation
A model to create flourishing societies Grounded in context and necessity, THE MODEL FLOURISHING is a powerful method for social change. It originally was developed for use with socially excluded people who live with the ebb and flow of conflict. Using a combination of human capabilities, human rights, human security, complexity theory, and grounded theory, the model takes a participatory action research approach to increase people’s agency and to create organizational and societal change. Previous capabilities approaches have been theoretical—notRead more
A Tipping Point in Terror: “Those who Tell the Stories Rule Society.”
The discourse of terror is vicious cycle- moving from bad to worse. After writing the article Mistaken Identity and the Discourse of Terror I began to think of other tipping points research I had done revealed. Local terrorist movements that have been developing for many years can shed light on the global crisis. The local stories reflect global the global story. The local story I am most familiar with is the Southern Philippines. One tipping point is that the discourseRead more
flourishing and disadvantage 