CHAPTER 1: THEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK: BIBLICAL AND THEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES CONSIDERED IMPORTANT IN THE SCOPE
1.5 Self-determination (freedom) and Self-reliance
Se1f-detennination is one of the most fundamental prerequisites of human dignity. This principle is centered on the freedom of individuals to organize their own lives, either alone or in cooperation with others. The Roman Catholic liberation theologian, Gustavo Gutierrez, argues that:
46Exod.20:16; Deut.5:20
47
48Ps.ll~:90.1~2; Prov.8:?;.2 Sam 7:28; Lk.l:50; Jnl:14; 8:12.32; 12:46; 14:6; 17:17; 16:13; Mt.5:37.
Interdlcastenal COmmISSIOn,Ibid. p.572.
49Ibid., pp.572ff.
Freedom implies the capacity we all possess in principle to be our own person and to act on our own initiative, so that we can go on fashioning community and participation to be embodied in definitive realities ... the freedom to which we are called presupposes the going out of oneself, the breaking down of our selfishness and of all the structures that support our selfishness; the foundation of this freedom is openness to others. The fullness of liberation - a free gift from Christ - is communion with God and with other human beings and environment.50
Similarly, a nobel prize-winning economist, Amartya Sen, observes that the capability of f'~
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people to achieve something in life is influenced by economic opportunities, political freedoms, social facilities and that individual persons with adequate social opportunities r can effectively shape their own destiny.51 This is seen as both the primary end and primary means of development, -called the 'constitutive role' and the 'instrumental role,' respectively.52 Sen's freedom-centered understanding of economics and the process of development is very much an agent-oriented view. It provides a profound basis of evaluation of development or means and methods of agricultural production in terms of individual and community freedom and sovereignty, rather than in terms of the growth of GNP per capita, industrialization or technological advance.53 This relates to Sen's understanding of the whole point of development, which is ultimately to improve the quality of life. In this perspective, then, markets, global corporations and states have an important role in promoting what people are capable of in view of achieving qualitative life.
From the Roman Catholic perspective, this is expressed in the idea that social and economic justice and equity cannot meaningfully exist in the absence of true freedom. As we know, God created human beings as rational beings, conferring upon them the dignity of persons, who can initiate and control their own actions. Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and to perform deliberate actions on one's own responsibility. Authentic freedom attains its perfection when directed towards God. It is important to see that freedom makes a person a moral subject.
Following this proposition, then, human acts, that is, acts that are freely chosen III 50Gutierrez, G., 1990. The Truth Shall Make You Free: Confrontations. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books,
~.127.
5~Sen, A, 1999. Development as Freedom. New York: Anchor Books, pp.5.43ff.
Sen, A, Ibid., p.36ff
53Ibid., pp.19-20
consequence of a judgment of conscience, can be morally evaluated. They are either good or evil.
This notion finds its ground in the Bible and Christian theology. God created us in freedom and out of love. The entire creation is the result of God's free will to love. He did not only create us all in freedom, but also endowed us with this precious gift of freedom - the freedom to choose. He intended human beings to make rightful decisions and choices so as to live qualitative life. Clearly, then, freedom is at the very heart of created reality, and authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of the divine image within a human being. In this perspective, the Vatican IT Council stipulates that: "God has willed that a human being remain under the control of his own decisions so that he can seek his Creator spontaneously, and come freely to utter and blissful perfection through loyalty to Him."s4
But, freedom, self-determination and responsibility can only be acquired where the space for actual exercise of freedom, self-determination and responsibility is granted to the population at all levels of life.
Along these lines, it is important to see that to be fully and authentically human, human beings need three things: empowerment, that is, control over their own lives and their environment; confirmation of their right of existence; and the meaningfulness of their lives and their world. All these three are deeply connected with creative activity. Hence, human beings are called to become subjects, and not objects of production. Self- determination entails control over the instruments or tools with which to earn livelihoods, so that people are to be agents or decision-makers in a realm such as agricultural production.
Self-determination leads to the principle of self-reliance. According to the principle of self-reliance, nations or communities should mobilize their own resources rather than depending on external forces. Self-reliance, as advocated by Julius Nyerere, (himself deeply influenced by Roman Catholic spirituality), was a communal, rather than an
54GS,no.17
individual principle, which had to move from bottom Up.55 For him, the basis for self- reliance is family, then the ward, the district, the region and finally the nation. These two principles are rooted in the Christian faith since God created human beings in freedom and endowed us with the gift of freedom in view of meaningfully becoming creative so as to sustain their communities.