Sabina Alkire

The Reverend
Sabina Alkire
Alkire in 2019
Born1969 (age 54–55)
Göttingen, Germany
Academic career
FieldWelfare economics, development economics, Ethics
Institution
School or
tradition		Capability approach
Alma mater
InfluencesAmartya Sen
Martha Nussbaum
ContributionsHuman development theory
Information at IDEAS / RePEc
Notes

Sabina Alkire is an American academic and Anglican priest, who is the director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI), an economic research centre within the Oxford Department of International Development at the University of Oxford, England, which was established in 2007.[1] She is a fellow of the Human Development and Capability Association.[2] She has worked with organizations such as the Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, the United Nations Human Development Programme Human Development Report Office, the European Commission, and the UK's Department for International Development.[3]

Alkire and fellow OPHI member economist James Foster developed the Alkire Foster Method, a method of measuring multidimensional poverty. It includes identifying ‘who is poor’ by considering the range of deprivations they suffer, and aggregating that information to reflect societal poverty.[4] The application and implementation of the Alkire-Foster (AF) method produced a Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), a tool to identify the range of poverty among a population based on specified indicators.[5]

Biography

Born in Göttingen, West Germany, she left to the United States of America as a baby when her father took up a role teaching chemical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.[6] Alkire studied at the same university, graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and pre-medicine.[7] Afterwards, Alkire moved to England and attended the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where she obtained a diploma of theology with a distinction in Islam in 1992, then a Master of Philosophy in Christian political ethics and a Master of Science in economics for development in 1994 and 1995, respectively.[7] For her Master of Science thesis, "The Full or Minimally Decent Life: Empiricization of Sen’s Capabilities Approach in Poverty Measurement", she was awarded the George Webb Medley Graduate Prize by the university. Later, she gained her doctorate in economics from Magdalen College, University of Oxford in 1999.[7] Her doctoral thesis, which demonstrated how the work of Indian economist and philosopher Amartya Sen could be coherently and practically put to use in poverty reduction activities,[8] was later published as a monograph with the title Valuing Freedoms: Sen's Capability Approach and Poverty Reduction (2002).[9]

From 1999 to 2001, Alkire worked as the coordinator for Culture and Poverty Learning-Research Program, PREM, World Bank.[7] From 2001 to 2003, she moved on to working for the Commission on Human Security as a research writer.[7] From 2003 to 2013 Alkire continued her career as a research associate at the Harvard Global Equity Initiative at Harvard University.[5] During her time there she won the Thulin Scholar of Religion and Contemporary Culture award from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign and was listed in Foreign Policy Magazine "100 global thinkers 2010".[7]

She served as the Oliver T. Carr, Jr. Professor in International Affairs at the Elliott School at The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. from 2015 until 2016.[7] She currently holds positions as the director of OPHI, associate professor at the Department of International Development at the University of Oxford, and is a distinguished research affiliate of the Kellogg Institute for International studies at the University of Notre Dame.[7] Recently, as director of OPHI, Alkire has led research teams to aid with publications such as "The real wealth of nations",[10] for the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report.

In May 2020, Alkire was awarded the Boris Mints Institute Prize for Research of Strategic Policy Solutions to Global Challenges for her contribution to the understanding of the dynamics and implications of poverty.[11][12][13] Alkire’s research interests include, multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis, welfare economics, the capability approach, and the measurement of freedoms and human development.[5]

Ordained ministry

Alkire was ordained in the Episcopal Church (United States) as a deacon in 2000 and as a priest in 2002. From 2000 to 2003, she was a non-stipendiary minister at St. Alban's Episcopal Church and St. Philip the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. She then moved to St. Stephen's Episcopal Church, Boston, in the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts. Having returned to England, she has been an honorary chaplain and chapel associate of Magdalen College, Oxford. In addition, from 2008 to 2019, she was a non-stipendiary minister in the benefice of Cowley St John in the Church of England's Diocese of Oxford; she continues as an associate priest.[14][15]

Bibliography

Thesis

  • Alkire, Sabina (1998). Operationalizing Amartya Sen's capability approach to human development: a framework for identifying valuable capabilities (D.Phil. thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 43087376.

Books

  • Alkire, Sabina (2002). Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199245796. Hardback.
  • Alkire, Sabina (2005). Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199283316. Paperback.
  • Reviewed by Robeyns, Ingrid (October 2003). "Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction, by Sabina Alkire". Economics and Philosophy. 19 (2): 371–377. doi:10.1017/S0266267103231229. S2CID 153529212.
  • Alkire, Sabina; Comim, Flavio; Qizilbash, Mozaffar (2008). The capability approach: concepts, measures and applications. Cambridge etc: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521154529.
  • Alkire, Sabina; Ura, Karma; Zangmo, Tshoki (2012). GNH and the GNH Index: A short guide to gross national happiness index. Thimphu: Centre for Bhutan Studies. ISBN 9789993614661.
  • Alkire, Sabina; Wangdi, Karma; Zangmo, Tshoki (2012). An extensive analysis of GNH index. Thimphu, Bhutan: Centre for Bhutan Studies. ISBN 9789993614678.

Chapters in books

2000–2004

  • Alkire, Sabina (2000), "The basic dimensions of human flourishing: a comparison of accounts", in Biggar, Nigel; Black, Rufus (eds.), The revival of natural law: philosophical, theological, and ethical responses to the Finnis-Grisez School, Aldershot, Hants, England Burlington, VT: Ashgate, pp. 73–100, ISBN 9780754612629
  • Alkire, Sabina; Deneulin, Séverine (2002), "Individual motivation, its nature, determinants and consequences for within-group behaviour", in Heyer, Judith; Stewart, Frances; Thorp, Rosemary (eds.), Group behaviour and development: is the market destroying cooperation, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 51–73, ISBN 9780199256921
  • Alkire, Sabina (2002), "Global citizenship and common values", in Dower, Nigel; Williams, John (eds.), Global citizenship: a critical reader, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp. 169–182, ISBN 9780748615476
  • Alkire, Sabina (2003), "Public debate and value construction in Sen's approach", in Chen, Lincoln C; Fukuda-Parr, Sakiko; Seidensticker, Ellen (eds.), Human insecurity in a global world, Cambridge, Mass: Global Equity Initiative, Asia Center Harvard University Distributed by Harvard University Press, pp. 15–40, ISBN 9780674014541
  • Alkire, Sabina (2004), "Public debate and value construction in Sen's approach", in Rao, Vidjayendra; Walton, Michael (eds.), Culture and public action: a cross-disciplinary dialogue on development policy, Stanford, California: Stanford University Press Stanford Social Sciences, pp. 185–209, ISBN 9780804747875
  • Alkire, Sabina (2004), "Public debate and value construction in Sen's approach", in Kaufman, Alexander (ed.), Capabilities equality basic issues and problems, City: Routledge, pp. 133–154, ISBN 9780415499781

2005–2009

  • Alkire, Sabina (2005), "Needs and capabilities", in Reader, Soran (ed.), The philosophy of need, Cambridge, U.K. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 229–252, ISBN 9780521678445
  • Alkire, Sabina (2006), "Structural injustice and democratic practice: the trajectory in Sen's writings", in Deneulin, Séverine; Nebel, Mathias; Sagovsky, Nicholas (eds.), Transforming unjust structures: the capability approach, Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer, pp. 47–62, ISBN 9781402044328
  • Alkire, Sabina; Chen, Lincoln (2006), "Medical exceptionalism in international migration: should doctors and nurses be treated differently?", in Tamas, Kristof; Palme, Joakim (eds.), Globalizing migration regimes new challenges to transnational cooperation (research in migration and ethnic relations series), Aldershot, Hants, England Burlington, VT: Ashgate, pp. 100–117, ISBN 9780754646921
  • Alkire, Sabina (2007), "Religion and development", in Clark, David A (ed.), The Elgar companion to development studies, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 502–510, ISBN 9781847206244
  • Alkire, Sabina (2007), "Measuring freedoms alongside well-being", in Gough, Ian; McGregor, J. Allister (eds.), Wellbeing in developing countries: from theory to research, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 93–108, ISBN 9780521857512
  • Alkire, Sabina (2007), "Choosing dimensions: the capability approach and multidimensional poverty", in Kakwani, Nanak; Silber, Jaques (eds.), The many dimensions of poverty, Basingstoke England New York: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 89–119, ISBN 9780230004900
  • Alkire, Sabina; Comim, Flavio; Qizilbash, Mozaffar (2008), "Introduction", in Alkire, Sabina; Comim, Flavio; Qizilbash, Mozaffar (eds.), The capability approach: concepts, measures and applications, Cambridge etc: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–25, ISBN 9780521154529
  • Alkire, Sabina (2008), "Using the capability approach: prospective and evaluative analyses", in Alkire, Sabina; Comim, Flavio; Qizilbash, Mozaffar (eds.), The capability approach: concepts, measures and applications, Cambridge etc: Cambridge University Press, pp. 26–50, ISBN 9780521154529
  • Alkire, Sabina (2009), "Concepts and measures of agency", in Basu, Kaushik; Kanbur, Ravi (eds.), Arguments for a better world: essays in honor of Amartya Sen, volume 1 ethics, welfare and measurement, Oxford New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 455–474, ISBN 9780199239115
  • Alkire, Sabina (2009), "Amartya Sen", in Peil, Jan; van Staveren, Irene (eds.), Handbook of economics and ethics, Cheltenham, UK Northampton, Massachusetts: Edward Elgar, pp. 484–492, ISBN 9781845429362
  • Alkire, Sabina; Foster, James (2009), "Counting and multidimensional poverty", in von Braun, Joachim; Hill, Ruth Vargas; Pandya-Lorch, Rajul (eds.), The poorest and hungry: assessments, analyses, and actions: an IFPRI 2020 book, Washington, D.C: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), pp. 77–90, ISBN 9780896296602
  • Alkire, Sabina (2009), "A normative framework for development", in Deneulin, Séverine; Shahani, Lila (eds.), An introduction to the human development and capability approach freedom and agency, Sterling, Virginia Ottawa, Ontario: Earthscan International Development Research Centre, pp. 3–21, ISBN 9781844078066
  • Alkire, Sabina (2009), "The human development and capability approach", in Deneulin, Séverine; Shahani, Lila (eds.), An introduction to the human development and capability approach freedom and agency, Sterling, Virginia Ottawa, Ontario: Earthscan International Development Research Centre, pp. 22–48, ISBN 9781844078066
  • Alkire, Sabina; Santos, Maria E (2009), "Poverty and inequality measurement", in Deneulin, Séverine; Shahani, Lila (eds.), An introduction to the human development and capability approach freedom and agency, Sterling, Virginia Ottawa, Ontario: Earthscan International Development Research Centre, pp. 121–161, ISBN 9781844078066
  • Alkire, Sabina (2009), "The capability approach as a development paradigm", in Chiappero-Martinetti, Enrica (ed.), Debating global society: reach and limits of the capability approach, Milan: Fondazione Giangiacomo Feltrinelli, ISBN 9788838002649
  • Alkire, Sabina (2009), "Development: 'a misconceived theory can kill'", in Morris, Christopher (ed.), Amartya Sen, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 191–220, ISBN 9780521618069

2010 onwards

  • Alkire, Sabina (2009), "Development: a misconceived theory can kill", in Morris, Christopher W (ed.), Amartya Sen: contemporary philosophy in focus, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 191–120, ISBN 9780521618069
  • Alkire, Sabina; Roche, José Manuel (2012), "Beyond headcount: measures that reflect the breadth and components of child poverty", in Minujin, Alberto; Nandy, Shailen (eds.), Global child poverty and well-being: measurement, concepts, policy and action, Bristol, UK Chicago, IL: Policy Press, pp. 103–134, ISBN 9781847424815
  • Alkire, Sabina; Roche, José Manuel (2012), "Beyond headcount: the Alkire-Foster approach to multidimensional child poverty measurement", in Ortiz, Isabel; Daniels, Louise M; Engilbertsdóttir, Sólrún (eds.), Child poverty and inequality: new perspectives, New York: UNICEF, pp. 18–22, ISBN 9781105531750
  • Alkire, Sabina; Ura, Karma; Zangmo, Tshoki (2012), "5. Case study Bhutan: gross national happiness and the GNH index", in Helliwell, John; Layard, Richard; Jeffrey D, Sachs (eds.), World happiness report, New York: Earth Institute, Columbia University

Journal articles

1990–1999

2000–2009

2010 onwards

Other publications

Human Development and Capability Association Briefing Note

Agence Française de Développement and European Development Research Network (AFD-EUDN) Conference Paper

Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) Working Papers

Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) Research in Progress Papers

Forthcoming

  • Alkire, Sabina; Ballon, Paola; Foster, James; Roche, José Manuel; Santos, Maria Emma; Seth, Suman (2014). Multidimensional poverty measurement and analysis: a counting approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sabina Alkire". ophi.org.uk. Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  2. ^ "HDCA fellows". hd-ca.org. Human Development and Capability Association. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Dr Sabina Alkire". www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/find-an-expert/dr-sabina-alkire Retrieved 21 April 2019
  4. ^ "Alkire Foster Method". ophi.org.uk. Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Dr Sabina Alkire". Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  6. ^ Wheatley, Alan. "True Calling". International Monetary Fund. FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT, September 2015, Vol. 52, No. 3. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h "Sabina Alkire". ophi.org.uk. Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
  8. ^ Alkire, Sabina (1998). Operationalizing Amartya Sen's capability approach to human development: a framework for identifying valuable capabilities (D.Phil. thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC 43087376.
  9. ^ Alkire, Sabina (2002). Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199245796.
  10. ^ "The real wealth of nations - Sustainable Goals | Kellogg Institute For International Studies". kellogg.nd.edu. Retrieved 2021-12-07.
  11. ^ "History tells us pandemic could lead to global reduction in poverty, Oxford academic says". The Independent. 2020-05-29. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  12. ^ "Sabina Alkire and the Boris Mints Institute Prize". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  13. ^ "How will COVID-19 impact global poverty? Live event on JPost.com". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 14 May 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-07.
  14. ^ "Sabina Marie Alkire". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  15. ^ "Meet the Team". Cowley St John. Retrieved 3 February 2024.