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]
Alkire, Sabina (1998). Operationalizing Amartya Sen's capability approach to human development: a framework for identifying valuable capabilities (D.Phil. thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC43087376.
Books
Alkire, Sabina (2002). Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780199245796. Hardback.
Alkire, Sabina (2005). Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780199283316. Paperback.
Alkire, Sabina; Comim, Flavio; Qizilbash, Mozaffar (2008). The capability approach: concepts, measures and applications. Cambridge etc: Cambridge University Press. ISBN9780521154529.
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. ISBN9789993614661.
Alkire, Sabina; Wangdi, Karma; Zangmo, Tshoki (2012). An extensive analysis of GNH index. Thimphu, Bhutan: Centre for Bhutan Studies. ISBN9789993614678.
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, ISBN9780754612629
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, ISBN9780199256921
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, ISBN9780748615476
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, ISBN9780674014541
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, ISBN9780804747875
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, ISBN9780415499781
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, ISBN9780521678445
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, ISBN9781402044328
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, ISBN9780754646921
Alkire, Sabina (2007), "Religion and development", in Clark, David A (ed.), The Elgar companion to development studies, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, pp. 502–510, ISBN9781847206244
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, ISBN9780521857512
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, ISBN9780230004900
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, ISBN9780521154529
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, ISBN9780521154529
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, ISBN9780199239115
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, ISBN9781845429362
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, ISBN9780896296602
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, ISBN9781844078066
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, ISBN9781844078066
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, ISBN9781844078066
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, ISBN9788838002649
Alkire, Sabina (2009), "Development: 'a misconceived theory can kill'", in Morris, Christopher (ed.), Amartya Sen, Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 191–220, ISBN9780521618069
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, ISBN9780521618069
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, ISBN9781847424815
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, ISBN9781105531750
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
Agence Française de Développement and European Development Research Network (AFD-EUDN) Conference Paper
Alkire, Sabina (2011). "Beyond monetary poverty: multidimensional poverty and its discontents"(PDF). Measure for Measure: How Well do We Measure Development?, Proceedings of the 8th Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and European Development Research Network (EUDN) Conference 1 December 2010 Paris.
Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI) Working Papers
^ abcdefgh"Sabina Alkire". ophi.org.uk. Oxford Poverty & Human Development Initiative (OPHI). Retrieved 17 April 2014.
^Alkire, Sabina (1998). Operationalizing Amartya Sen's capability approach to human development: a framework for identifying valuable capabilities (D.Phil. thesis). University of Oxford. OCLC43087376.
^Alkire, Sabina (2002). Valuing freedoms: Sen's capability approach and poverty reduction. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN9780199245796.
