This book is a result of the second and third Cambridge Capability Conferences (CCCs), held in 2017 and 2018. It is a continuation of a new phase of capability conferences in Cambridge, following the early Capability Conferences in the first half of the 2000s, which preceded the creation of the Human Development and Capability Association (HDCA). It can be seen as follow-up of a previous publication, New Frontiers of the Capability Approach (2018), co-edited by the same group of editors. It marks new perspectives in the way that the approach can be used to tackle a wide range of social issues related to its foundations, operationalization and applications. For the 2017 CCC we had the honour to have Professor Wulf Gaertner from the University of Osnabruck, one of the leading social choice theorists in the world, as our keynote speaker. The main objective of that conference was to examine social choice theory (SCT) as the main engine of Amartya Sen’s approach. For the 2018 CCC we had the privilege of having Professor Mozaffar Qizilbash from the University of York, a distinguished capability scholar, to deliver the conference keynote speech. The main focus in this third conference was on discussing new perspectives of the capability approach, exploring concrete debates related to sustainability, poverty and inequality. We were very fortunate to have renowned capability scholars as participants of these two conferences, including the keynote speaker of our first CCC, Dr Gay Meeks. We are very grateful to all our keynote speakers for their participation. During these two conferences Professor Sen kindly accepted our invitation to come during the main break for a cup of tea and to catch up with old and new friends. We are very grateful for his time and consideration.

Putting together a small selection of papers to include in this book was an extremely hard task, given the high quality of submitted papers. We privileged the elaboration of a homogeneous narrative, selecting chapters after very rigorous scrutiny and detailed work, putting the different pieces of a complex puzzle together. We would like to thank a group of eminent capability scholars who wrote referee reports, including Bina Agarwal, Paul Anand, Izete Bagolin, Jérôme Ballet, Morten Byskov, Mario Biggeri, Mihály Borsi, Tania Burchard, Cristina Devecchi, Marc Fleurbaey, Des Gasper, Caroline Hart, Pushpam Kumar, Enrica Chiappero Martinetti, Santosh Mehrotra, Mathias Nebel, Teresa Herrera Rendon, Rosie Vaughan and Andrea Vigorito. These reports were invaluable, and we appreciate the expertise, time and attention that these scholars have dedicated to this project. We are in debt to our editor, Phil Good, who continues to believe in the value of our endeavours and has supported this second book based on our Capability Conferences.

This book should be of interest to capability scholars who wish to reflect further on themes related to Sen’s work on SCT and its links to the capability approach. It can also be of interest to social choice scholars who wish to consider broader issues related to SCT, and in general to anyone interested in human development and its links to the capability approach.