India: Development and Participation

I have to agree with one of the other reviewers - this is THE book on development in India and how it has progressed during the reform period. I recently wrote a paper for a master's course on the global economy and development and found this to be an extremely useful resource. It ended up providing the backbone of a 40+ page analysis of Indian development. This is not, however, a book solely on "economic" development. Dreze and Sen take a much more holistic approach. The first edition of this book was written before Sen wrote "Development as Freedom" but the work roughly follows his arguments there - and from other writings by Dreze, I take it that they are in agreement about the holistic nature of development. Dreze is likewise a well-known scholar about India and an excellent economist. My only caveat about this book is that, in part due to Sen and Dreze's training, the approach is lacking in an assessment of more "personal" case studies relating to different sectors, and is confined mostly to official numbers for analysis. Additionally, the environment is given light treatment, perhaps because the first edition came out in 1996 - but given the significant environmental damage done in recent years, it deserves more significant treatment. However, from what I have seen, this work is perhaps the only substantial and holistic treatment of Indian development in the post-reform era. It is a breath of fresh air in a period when Indian development literature is overrun by shallow analysis focusing on the "universal benefits" of liberalization - and it emphasizes significant weaknesses and poor prioritization on the part of the Indian state in harnessing economic growth to fuel real social development as well.

The chain is as strong as its weakest link. A nation as rich as its poorest person. Sen understands that no nation can be genuinely proud unless it takes care of basic things like education and offers genuine opportunities to the marginalized. The book is a must read for everyone who are on the 'India Shining' bandwagon. True that the middle class in India is growing, but so is the Maoist threat. Great social engineering by noble souls like Anna Hazare, Bindeshwar Pathak, Baba AMte is the answer. Unfortunately Sen misses that. The book doesnt deal with such solutions. Nevertheless it does deserve 5 stars because it astutely analyzes the existing problem. We need more people like Sen to bring forth the truth.

This is possibly THE book you want to read if you want to read ONE book on economic development (or lack thereof) in India. Prof. Sen and Dreze are among the best scholars when it comes to the problems of the Indian subcontinent. Another reviewer seems to completely disregard the fact that this book is not by Sen alone, but it is a result of a joint effort with Jean Dreze. Whoever cares about India and know a bit about the Economics literature on this country will KNOW that Dreze is a first rate scholar who has *literally* devoted his life (professional AND personal) to this country, and disregarding his contribution to this volume is not only wrong but also very disrespectful. This is a deep, extremely informed, very well written book that anyone who cares about Indian economic, political, and social development should read. Even if both Sen and Dreze are economists (Sen is also a Nobel prize winner), the book is accessible to anyone, as it contains virtually no math or statistics. An outstanding list of references will provide an excellent guide to the reader interested in knowing more about the topics covered here. Here is the table of content. I particularly recommend Chapter 7, on gender inequality: 1 Introduction and Approach 2 Economic Development and Social Opportunity 3 India in Comparative Perspective 4 India and China 5 Basic Education as a Political Issue 6 Population, Health, and the Environment 7 Gender Inequality and Women's Agency 8 Security and Democracy in a Nuclear India 9 Well Beyond Liberalization 10 The Practice of Democracy An excellent book by two outstanding authors who not only know what they are talking about, but they also deeply care about India. Highly recommended.

This book is Sen at his best. The current 2002 edition is an update of a 1995 edition entitled "India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity." The modification of the title reflects a move to make the notion at the center of Sen's thinking more precise. For those not involved in the public policy debate in India itself, this is the central notion and the real value of Sen's work and finds its best exposition in this broad-ranging, political-economic commentary on development in Sen's native land. By contrast, the exposition it has Sen's more "theoretical" works such as the recent "Rationality and Freedom" is desperately inadequate.Sen is very much not someone inclined towards a single solution to social problems, or a single rule-of-thumb for such solutions, but there is nevertheless a strong, unitary theme to Sen's commentary.The discussion (in Chapter 7) of "Gender Equality and Women's Agency" is paradigmatic. It is not only paradigmatic though, for Sen believes that the eradication of the anti-female bias which pervades much of Indian society is itself central to the solution of all the social problems in India in its own right.Still, in large measure what Sen has to say about how women's oppression in India can be overcome, applies also to what he has to say about the plight of low caste people, people living in poor areas of the country and poverty and oppression in general.Sen's notion could be summarised by means of a series of five concepts, each of which in turn takes a step closer to the essential notion of what is needed to lead a good life in society: (1) commodities, wealth and value, (2) functioning, (3) capability, (4) voice and finally (5) critical voice.The problem is that the notion of "critical voice" (subjectivity) cannot be developed within the framework of utilitarian economics and social-choice theory as Sen seems determined to do.