Reimagining Information Literacy as Capability (ILaC): A Conceptual Framework

Research on information literacy (IL) has long grappled with persistent tensions and diverse theoretical perspectives. Prominent debates revolve around whether IL should be viewed as a set of transferable generic skills or as a context-dependent practice; how agency in IL enactment should be theorised; and how IL intersects with political economy, social justice and ethics. This paper argues that the Capability Approach (CA) – a theoretical framework initially introduced by economist and philosopher Amartya Sen and further elaborated by philosophers and social scientists such as Martha Nussbaum and Ingrid Robeyns – offers valuable conceptual and theoretical resources for addressing these difficulties. Drawing on a critical examination of the CA, this study reconceptualises IL as ‘a set of combined capabilities for informed ways of doing and being’ and proposes the conceptual framework termed ‘Information Literacy as Capability (ILaC).’ The framework distinguishes information capabilities both from skills and practice, clarifies the relationship between informational well-being and informational agency, and integrates normative concerns in IL. The paper concludes by sketching research, education and policy implications for expanding real informational freedoms.