Abstract

LEVITAS, Ruth. Florecimiento humano: ¿una agenda utopista?. Desacatos [online]. 2007, n.23, pp.87-100. ISSN 2448-5144.

This paper argues that 'happiness' and 'well-being' in contemporary political discourse stand in ambiguous relation to poverty. It is claimed that money cannot buy happiness, yet research on poverty and social exclusion demonstrates that these are detrimental to human flourishing and well-being. It moves from these discussions to questions of human need, capability and capacity; looks at the conceptualization of human wealth, poverty and flourishing in the work of Julio Boltvinik. It concludes with a plea for more explicitly utopian thinking to enable a reflexive dialogue about valued capabilities and the conditions of their development.

Keywords : happiness; well-being; utopia; poverty; social indicators.