From Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian Culture, History and Identity brings together an illuminating selection of writings on contemporary India. India is an immensely diverse country with many distinct pursuits, vastly different convictions, widely divergent customs and a veritable feast of viewpoints. Out of these conflicting views spring a rich tradition of skeptical argument and cultural achievement which is critically important, argues Amartya Sen, for the success of India's democracy, the defence of its secular politics, the removal of inequalities related to class, caste, gender and community, and the pursuit of sub-continental peace. 'Profound and stimulating ... the product of a great mind at the peak of its power' William Dalrymple, Sunday Times 'One of the most influential public thinkers of our times...This is a book that needed to have been written...It would be no surprise if it were to become as defining and as influential as work as Edward Said's Orientalism' Soumya Bhattacharya, Observer 'The winner of the 1998 Nobel prize in economics is a star in India ... he deserves the recognition ... shows that the argumentative gene is not just a part of India's make-up that can easily be wished away' The Economist Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor at Harvard. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge 1998-2004. His most recent books are The Idea of Justice, Identity and Violence and Development as Freedom. His books have been translated into thirty languages.

Penguin Random House The Argumentative Indian: Writings On Indian History, Culture And Identity

History

SEN, AMARTYA

Asia

Penguin Uk

K. M. Sen discusses the evolution of Hinduism's central systems of belief and codes of conduct, as well as popular cults and sects such as Bhakti, Tantrika and the mystics of North India, and describes the varying incarnations of its supreme deity, Krishna and Rama among them. He recounts its history from the Indus Valley civilization c 2500 BC and the Vedic age nature gods to its relationship with Buddhism and Jainism and the impact of western culture. And he describes the day-to-day practice of Hinduism - customs, festivals and rituals; the caste system; and its philosophies and exponents. In a new foreword, the author's grandson Amartya Sen brings his work right up to date, examining the role of Hinduism in the world today.

Hinduism

Sen, Kshiti Mohan

Religion & Spirituality

In this elegant critique, amartya sen argues that a closer contact between welfare economics and modern ethical studies can substantively enrich and benefit both disciplines

On Ethics & Economics

Business & Money

Business Culture

Oxford

India's success in reducing endemic deprivation since Independence has been quite limited. Recent diagnoses of this failure of policy have concentrated on the counterproductive role of government regulation, and on the need for economic incentives to accelerate the growth of the economy. This book argues that an assessment of India's failure to eliminate basic deprivations has to go beyond this limited focus, and to take note of the role played in that failure by inadequate public involvement in the provision of basic education, health care, social security, and related fields, Even the fostering of fast and participatory economic growth requires some basic social change, which is not addressed by liberalization and economic incentives. The authors also discuss the historical antecedents of these political and social neglects, including the distortion of policy priorities arising from inequalities of political power. Following on from this, the book considers the scope for public action to address these earlier biases and achieve a transformation of policy priorities. Beginning with an introductory chapter presenting the motivation, focus, and approach of the book, it discusses the respective roles of the market mechanism and government action in economic development and discusses the particular role of public involvement in the fields of health and education. International comparisons of development experiences are brought to bear on the diagnosis of India's successes and failures, and the work discusses the lessons to be learnt from the contrasting development experiences of different states within India, with particular attention to Kerala's outstanding success in social fields. The authors consider the role of public action and political organization in promoting social opportunities. Attention is drawn, in particular, to the part played by widespread illiteracy in suppressing that process and perpetuating social inequalities. The work also looks at the issue of basic education, including a critical assessment of public policy in this field. The issue of gender inequality is discussed, and the role of women's agency in the expansion of social opportunities for both women and men is explored. The work concludes by consolidating the argument and discussing the policy implication of the analyses presented. A statistical appendix presents a comparative picture of India and other developing countries, and also the comparative performance of different states within India. This new work by two internationally renowned economists is an important and relevant argument for promoting human welfare.

India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity

Drèze, Jean

Economics

Oxford University Press

The Sen and Drèze omnibus comprises three outstanding works by two of the world's finest economists. The volume is a trilogy on the causes of hunger, the role public action can play in its alleviation, and the Indian experience in this context. Together the three works provide a comprehensive theoretical and empirical analysis of relevant developmental issues.

The Amartya Sen and Jean Drèze Omnibus: (comprising) Poverty and Famines; Hunger and Public Action; India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity

Commodities and Capabilities presents a set of inter-related theses concerning the foundations of welfare economics, and in particular about the assessment of personal well-being and advantage. The argument presented focuses on the capability to function, i.e. what a person can do or can be, questioning in the process the more standard emphasis on opulence or on utility. In fact, a person's motivation behind choice is treated here as a parametric variable which may or may not coincide with the pursuit of self-interest. Given the large number of practical problems arising from the roles and limitations of different concepts of interest and the judgement of advantage and well-being, this scholarly investigation is both of theoretical interest and practical import.

Commodities and Capabilities

Focusing on the inter-relationship between institutions, technology, and employment, the author investigates the institutional factors which affect policy-making: modes of production, patterns of ownership, and systems of employment.

Employment, Technology and Development (Oxford India Paperbacks)

On economic inequality (Radcliffe lectures)

In this classic text, first published in 1973, Amartya Sen relates the theory of welfare economics to the study of economic inequality. He presents a systematic treatment of the conceptual framework as well as the practical problems of measurement of inequality. In his masterful analysis, Sen assesses various approaches to measuring inequality and delineates the causes and effects of economic disparities. Containing the four lectures from the original edition as well as a new introduction, this timeless study is essential reading for economists, philosophers, and social scientists. In a substantial new annexe, Amartya Sen, jointly with James Foster, critically surveys the literature that followed the publication of this book, and also evaluates the main analytical issues in the appraisal of economic inequality and poverty.

On Economic Inequality (Radcliffe Lectures)

Clarendon Press

Examining the problem of hunger in the modern world and the role public opinion might play in combatting it, Dreze and Sen here provide a coherent perspective on the complex nutritional, economic, social, and political issues involved in the analysis of hunger. They explore famine prevention through a series of case studies in Africa and elsewhere, and discuss the problem of chronic undernourishment. Sen was awarded the second Agnelli Prize for the Ethical Dimension in Advanced Societies in March 1990 in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the understanding of the ethical dimension in modern society.

Hunger and Public Action (WIDER Studies in Development Economics)

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