Citizenship as the Normative Implication of Phronetic Development

The relationship between political philosophy and development, as the creation of conditions that would lead to "life betterment", was marginalized in the beginnings of the development of modern political thought. Due to the influence of ideas such as utilitarianism and the market economy, the twentieth century witnessed the re-emergence of the concept of development as growth. The mentioned concept claimed what civic/political knowledge sought from the beginning, namely "Good living". This paper is an attempt to rebalance this situation by developing a theory of phronetic development based on the Aristotelian concept of phronesis. Using an implicative approach, the paper argues for using the concept of citizenship as the normative implication of phronetic development. In order to do so, the paper deconstructs economic growth theory, exposes its reductionist conception of development, and reestablishes the link between moral philosophy, economy, politics, and development. In this conception, democracy as public reasoning, participation as empowering citizens' phronesis, and freedom are the main constitutive elements of phronetic development. Therefore, appropriate policies and measures should be put in place to promote citizenship that induces phronetic development.