Amartya Sen’s book “ Development as Freedom” is a collection of his lectures given while he was a Presidential Fellow of the World Bank from 1996 to 1997.
It is a technical discussion around five distinct types of freedom as an economist what he thinks are instrumental for development of any nation such as political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees and protective security.
The focus of the book is development as a freedom , basically it is a debate whether freedoms are only the primary ends of development, or they are also among its principal means.
There are 12 chapters covering all aspects of development and freedoms.
Image taken by my brother
He also discussed key points of utilitarian philosophy of Jeremy Bentham and John Steuart Mill and libertarian philosophy of John Rawls along the lines of Adam Smith’s concept of economics.
He described in the book that individual capabilities critically depend on , among other things, economic, social and political arrangements.
He emphasised that the ends and means of development call for placing the perspective of freedom at the center of the stage.
He agrees that per capita income is a reasonable measure of development but he argues it is not the only parameter to consider, the freedoms and choices of people are equally important while evaluating development indices.
He not only describes efficiencies of the economic activities he also values equity, on the chapter of poverty he proposes some fundamental take aways for his readers.
Though the book is for economists and policy makers, our leaders must read it if they want to understand complexities of the development and freedom and how they are entwined
