Capability Deprivation vs Social Capital Deprivation | Chronic Poverty | UPSC Sociology PYQ 2025

Contact us-8138000360 For Upcoming Mains Companion Webinar- https://civils360.com/upsc-m-organic/ To Join Sociology Companion Webinar- https://civils360.com/lw-organic/ Sociology Youtube Channel-    • How Priya (AIR 232) Scored 274 in Sociolog...   To join our upcoming workshop https://civils360.com/upsc-prep-works... Follow our PSC Channel    / @civils360psc   Contact us-8138000360 Follow our Instagram page   / civils360     / ziasafir   Why does poverty continue for years or even across generations despite economic growth, welfare schemes, and rising national income? In this UPSC Sociology Optional lecture, we compare two important approaches to understanding chronic poverty: Amartya Sen’s Capability Deprivation Approach and the Social Capital Deprivation Approach associated with thinkers such as Pierre Bourdieu, James Coleman, and Robert Putnam. The lecture is based on the UPSC Sociology Paper-I PYQ 2025: “Compare Capability Deprivation Approach with Social Capital Deprivation in understanding chronic poverty.” (2025/1/3a/20 Marks) Chronic poverty is not merely temporary income shortage. It refers to persistent deprivation that continues for years or generations and affects education, health, employment, social networks, participation, opportunities, and human dignity. Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach explains poverty as the absence of real freedoms. A person may possess income but still remain deprived if they cannot access education, healthcare, employment, political participation, or a dignified life. Thus, Sen shifts the discussion from income to capabilities and from resources to actual human freedom. The Social Capital Deprivation Approach explains poverty through the absence of networks, trust, reciprocity, social connections, and community participation. Social capital can provide access to jobs, credit, information, support, influence, and opportunities. When individuals or communities remain excluded from these networks because of caste, gender, ethnicity, religion, or social marginalization, poverty can become chronic. This lecture provides a detailed comparison between the two approaches across several dimensions: • Unit of analysis • Meaning and nature of poverty • Causes of persistent poverty • Measurement of deprivation • Role of education and health • Importance of networks and trust • Social exclusion and discrimination • Policy implications • Empowerment and human development • Limitations of both approaches The Capability Deprivation Approach focuses more strongly on individual freedom, health, education, skills, and the capacity to achieve valuable outcomes. It supports policies such as better schooling, healthcare, nutrition, welfare services, and skill development. The Social Capital Approach focuses on collective relationships, networks, civic participation, community institutions, cooperatives, and self-help groups. Examples such as Kudumbashree, the Self-Help Group movement, cooperatives, and participatory governance demonstrate how social networks can create opportunities and reduce vulnerability. The lecture also explains the common ground between the two perspectives. Both reject a narrow income-based definition of poverty. Both view poverty as multidimensional and emphasize empowerment, inclusion, participation, human dignity, and sustainable development. However, both approaches also have limitations. Sen’s framework may give comparatively less attention to power relations and social networks. Social capital theory may romanticize community networks, even though closed caste, religious, ethnic, or elite networks can reinforce exclusion and inequality. The most important conclusion is that capability and social capital are complementary. Education and health may enhance an individual’s capabilities, but supportive networks are often necessary to convert those capabilities into employment, entrepreneurship, social mobility, and meaningful participation. Similarly, strong networks without education, health, and skills cannot eliminate poverty. This lecture is highly useful for UPSC Sociology Optional aspirants preparing Paper-I, poverty, social exclusion, development, inequality, human development, and contemporary sociological theory. #CapabilityApproach #SocialCapital #ChronicPoverty #AmartyaSen #SociologyOptional #CapabilityDeprivation, #SocialCapitalDeprivation, #ChronicPoverty, #AmartyaSen, #CapabilityApproach, #PierreBourdieu, #RobertPutnam, #JamesColeman, #SocialCapital, #MultidimensionalPoverty, #HumanDevelopment, #SocialExclusion, #IntergenerationalPoverty, #PovertyInIndia, #SociologyOptional, #UPSCSociology, #SociologyPYQ, #UPSC2025, #UPSCMains, #SociologyPaper1, #AnswerWriting, #SafeerSir, #Civils360IAS, #PovertyAlleviation, #DevelopmentSociology