On the other hand, using instances, mainly drawn from China and India, Corbridge (2002a) argues that some examples that Sen uses suggest that the curtailment of individual freedoms can have beneficial impacts on the poor, or on a certain, prescribed social grouping. And there are further points: individual freedoms may be enhanced by social mobilisations, some of which may be anything but liberal and democratic. These do not invalidate Sen's argument, but they do limit the agency of individual freedoms.

Critical reflection What are the relative freedoms that you most enjoy day to day and in what areas of your life and do you consider that you experience 'unfreedoms', or a relative lack of freedom? Dependent on where you live in the world, how do you feel these compare with somebody living in another part of the world? Thinking about the freedoms you most enjoy, do you feel that some of them might be bought at the expense of someone else's freedoms?