Sen exclusively uses the term agent to describe a person who is empowered to make free decisions for themselves. He argues that development happens most effectively when poor or marginalized people are treated as agents in development rather than mere recipients of aid.

Sen’s capabilities approach posits that human welfare and social development should be measured by increases in people’s “capacities.” He defines a capacity as the concrete or substantive freedom to choose a life that a person has reason to value. Capacities include but are not limited to the ability to eat sufficient and nutritional food, access education and healthcare, social acceptance, and freedom to participate in public political discussion.

An entitlement is the ability to secure “title” or ownership to something (most often food, in the context of this book). Unlike popular uses of the term, entitlements here may be earned and is not limited to benefits given by the government or by birth.