ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates how a foundation of human development and capabilities offers a tremendous resource to support universities committed to the public good in their own countries and also to global development. It presents a human development and inside this, the capability approach can comprehensively contribute to defining and characterising what a good university should be the kind of social change universities should work towards and how this can be responsive to the world and pressing development challenges. In the next section presents human development approach and the underpinning values, followed by a description of what we consider are the core elements of its theorisation as capabilities: capabilities and functionings, conversion factors, agency and public deliberation. Finally, the chapter presents some indications of how this approach could be helpful in analysing educational interventions and also contributing to global development. We recognise the strain between a global dominant human capital policy agenda for universities and human development.
