Roberts, LillianMoore, Kevin2019-08-122018-09-062018-092018-05-21https://hdl.handle.net/10182/10868Policy work on wellbeing indicators has been inspired, in part, by the work of Amartya Sen and his conclusion that the wellbeing of people is dependent on their capability to live a life they value and have reason to value. Here we argue that Sen’s focus on personal agency is a contemporary expression of an intellectual process begun several centuries ago that gives primacy to the individual self and its supposed inherent capacities to determine its own life (and hence wellbeing). The assumption flowing from this is that to enhance a society’s wellbeing, the primary social and economic responsibility is to build the capabilities of individuals to achieve their own wellbeing. We challenge this with an understanding of wellbeing inspired by critiques of Sen’s work in the sustainability literature, studies on the connection between individual wellbeing and the health of communities and ecosystems, and renewed focus in psychology and the social sciences on both sociocultural and evolutionary theories of personhood and the self. Such a conceptualisation forefronts the sociocultural influences on both personhood and agency, and so suggests a more complex relationship between personal capacities and wellbeing than is often currently assumed. We draw conclusions based on this novel understanding of wellbeing and persons and suggest implications for public policy.93-93 (1)enwellbeingpersonhoodsustainabilityAmartya SenJohn LockeindividualismConference Contribution - published