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The Amartya Sen and Jean Drèze Omnibus: (comprising) Poverty and Famines; Hunger and Public Action; India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity
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.
theoretical and empirical analysis of relevant developmental issues.
966 pages, Hardcover
First published September 9, 1999
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320 people want to read
About the author
Jean Drèze
26 books117 followersPublications
Dreze, Jean "Patterns of Literacy and their Social Context", (originally written 199?), in Veena Das (ed.), 2004, Oxford Handbook of Indian Sociology, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Dreze, Jean, 2002, "On Research and Action", Economic and Political Weekly, March 2, 37 (9). New Delhi.
Dreze, Jean and Haris Gazdar, 1997. "Uttar Pradesh: the Burden of Inertia", in Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, (eds) Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Dreze, Jean and Amartya Sen, (eds), 1997, Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Drèze J. and Sen, A.K. 1989. Hunger and Public Action. Oxford University Press.
Drèze J. and Sen, A. (eds.). 1990. The Political Economy of Hunger. 3 volumes, Oxford University Press.
Drèze, J. 1990. Famine Prevention in India. In Drèze J. and Sen, A. (eds.) The Political Economy of Hunger. vol 2. Oxford University Press.
Stern, N. and Drèze J. 1991. Policy Reform, Shadow Prices and Market Prices. Journal of Public Economics.
Ahmad E, Drèze J, Hills J, Sen A K (eds.) 1991. Social Security in Developing Countries. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Drèze J., 1991. Public Action for Social Security: Foundations and Strategy. In Ahmad E, Drèze J, Hills J, Sen A K (eds.). Social Security in Developing Countries. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Drèze J. and H. Gazdar. 1992. Hunger and Poverty in Iraq, 1991. World Development.
Drèze J. and Sen, A.K. 1995. India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. Oxford University Press.
Drèze J., M. Murthi and A-C. Guio. 1995. Mortality, Fertility and Gender Bias in India. Population and Development Review.
Drèze J. and P.V. Srinivasan. 1997. Widowhood and Poverty in Rural India. Journal of Development Economics.
Drèze J., M. Samson and S. Singh. 1997. The Dam and the Nation: Displacement and Resettlement in the Narmada Valley. Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-564004-7.
Dreze, Jean and Naresh Sharma, "Palanpur: Population, Society Economy", chapter 1 in Peter Lanjouw and Nicholas Stern, eds., Economic Development in Palanpur over Five Decades, 1998. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Dreze, Jean, Peter Lanjouw and Naresh Sharma, "Economic Development in Palanpur, 1957-93", chapter 2 in Peter Lanjouw and Nicholas Stern, eds., Economic Development in Palanpur over Five Decades, 1998. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Dreze, Jean and Naresh Sharam, "Tenancy", chapter 8 in Peter Lanjouw and Nicholas Stern, eds., Economic Development in Palanpur over Five Decades, 1998. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Dreze, Jean, Peter Lanjouw and Naresh Sharma, "Credit", chapter 9 in Peter Lanjouw and Nicholas Stern, eds., Economic Development in Palanpur over Five Decades, 1998. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Drèze J. and Sen, A.K. (eds.) 1997. Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Baland, J-M. Drèze J. and L. Leruth. 1999. Daily Wages and Piece Rates in Agrarian Economies. Journal of Development Economics.
A. De and J Drèze. 1999. Public Report on Basic Education in India. The PROBE report. Oxford University Press. 0195648706
Drèze J. (ed.) 1999. The Economics of Famine. International Library of Critical Writings in Economics. London: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Dreze, Jean and Naresh Sharma, 1996, "Sharecropping in a North Indian Village", Journal of Development Studies, 33(1):1-40.
Drèze J. and R. Khera. 2000. Crime, Gender and Society in India. Population and Development Review.
Bhatia B, J. Drèze & K. Kelly. 2001. War and Peace in the Gulf: Testimonies of the Gulf Peace Team. London: Spokesman Books. [published on the tenth anniversary of the Team's attempt to stop the Gulf War through non-violent occupation].
Drèze J. and G.G. Kingdon. 2001. School Participation in Rural India. Review of Development Economics 5(1), 1-24.
Drèze J. 2001. Fertility, Education and Development: Evidence from India. Population and Development Review.
Drèze J. and Sen, A
Dreze, Jean "Patterns of Literacy and their Social Context", (originally written 199?), in Veena Das (ed.), 2004, Oxford Handbook of Indian Sociology, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Dreze, Jean, 2002, "On Research and Action", Economic and Political Weekly, March 2, 37 (9). New Delhi.
Dreze, Jean and Haris Gazdar, 1997. "Uttar Pradesh: the Burden of Inertia", in Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen, (eds) Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Dreze, Jean and Amartya Sen, (eds), 1997, Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Drèze J. and Sen, A.K. 1989. Hunger and Public Action. Oxford University Press.
Drèze J. and Sen, A. (eds.). 1990. The Political Economy of Hunger. 3 volumes, Oxford University Press.
Drèze, J. 1990. Famine Prevention in India. In Drèze J. and Sen, A. (eds.) The Political Economy of Hunger. vol 2. Oxford University Press.
Stern, N. and Drèze J. 1991. Policy Reform, Shadow Prices and Market Prices. Journal of Public Economics.
Ahmad E, Drèze J, Hills J, Sen A K (eds.) 1991. Social Security in Developing Countries. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Drèze J., 1991. Public Action for Social Security: Foundations and Strategy. In Ahmad E, Drèze J, Hills J, Sen A K (eds.). Social Security in Developing Countries. Clarendon Press, Oxford.
Drèze J. and H. Gazdar. 1992. Hunger and Poverty in Iraq, 1991. World Development.
Drèze J. and Sen, A.K. 1995. India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. Oxford University Press.
Drèze J., M. Murthi and A-C. Guio. 1995. Mortality, Fertility and Gender Bias in India. Population and Development Review.
Drèze J. and P.V. Srinivasan. 1997. Widowhood and Poverty in Rural India. Journal of Development Economics.
Drèze J., M. Samson and S. Singh. 1997. The Dam and the Nation: Displacement and Resettlement in the Narmada Valley. Delhi: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-564004-7.
Dreze, Jean and Naresh Sharma, "Palanpur: Population, Society Economy", chapter 1 in Peter Lanjouw and Nicholas Stern, eds., Economic Development in Palanpur over Five Decades, 1998. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Dreze, Jean, Peter Lanjouw and Naresh Sharma, "Economic Development in Palanpur, 1957-93", chapter 2 in Peter Lanjouw and Nicholas Stern, eds., Economic Development in Palanpur over Five Decades, 1998. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Dreze, Jean and Naresh Sharam, "Tenancy", chapter 8 in Peter Lanjouw and Nicholas Stern, eds., Economic Development in Palanpur over Five Decades, 1998. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Dreze, Jean, Peter Lanjouw and Naresh Sharma, "Credit", chapter 9 in Peter Lanjouw and Nicholas Stern, eds., Economic Development in Palanpur over Five Decades, 1998. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Drèze J. and Sen, A.K. (eds.) 1997. Indian Development: Selected Regional Perspectives. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Baland, J-M. Drèze J. and L. Leruth. 1999. Daily Wages and Piece Rates in Agrarian Economies. Journal of Development Economics.
A. De and J Drèze. 1999. Public Report on Basic Education in India. The PROBE report. Oxford University Press. 0195648706
Drèze J. (ed.) 1999. The Economics of Famine. International Library of Critical Writings in Economics. London: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Dreze, Jean and Naresh Sharma, 1996, "Sharecropping in a North Indian Village", Journal of Development Studies, 33(1):1-40.
Drèze J. and R. Khera. 2000. Crime, Gender and Society in India. Population and Development Review.
Bhatia B, J. Drèze & K. Kelly. 2001. War and Peace in the Gulf: Testimonies of the Gulf Peace Team. London: Spokesman Books. [published on the tenth anniversary of the Team's attempt to stop the Gulf War through non-violent occupation].
Drèze J. and G.G. Kingdon. 2001. School Participation in Rural India. Review of Development Economics 5(1), 1-24.
Drèze J. 2001. Fertility, Education and Development: Evidence from India. Population and Development Review.
Drèze J. and Sen, A
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August 18, 2017'A list of major famines during British rule', Shashi Tharoor says, in An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India, 'makes for grim reading: the Great Bengal Famine (1770), Madras (1782–83), Chalisa Famine (1783–84) in Delhi and the adjoining areas, Doji bara Famine (1791–92) around Hyderabad, Agra Famine (1837–38), Orissa Famine (1866), Bihar Famine (1873–74), Southern India Famine (1876–77), the Indian Famine (1896–1900 approx.), Bombay Famine (1905–06) and the most notorious of the lot, the Bengal Famine (1943-44).
The fatality figures are horrifying: William Digby pointed out that in the entire 107 years from 1793 to 1900, only an estimated 5 million people had died in all the wars around the world combined, whereas in just ten years 1891–1900, 19 million had died in India in famines alone. While comparisons of human deaths are always invidious, the 35 million who died of famine and epidemics during the Raj does remind one of the 25 million who died in Stalin’s collectivization drive and political purges, the 45 million who died during Mao’s cultural revolution, and the 55 million who died worldwide during World War II. The death toll from the colonial holocausts is right up there with some of the most harrowing examples of man’s inhumanity to man in modern times.
It is striking that the last large-scale famine to take place in India was under British rule; none has taken place since, because Indian democracy has been more responsive to the needs of drought-affected and poverty-stricken Indians than the British rulers ever were. As the scholar and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has explained, there has never been a famine in a democracy with a free press, because public accountability ensures effective response. Sen’s work, informed by compassion as well as solid quantitative research, has established the now widely-accepted doctrine that famines are nearly always avoidable; that they result not from lack of food but lack of access to food; that distribution is therefore the key, and that democracy is the one system of government that enables food to be distributed widely and fairly. Lack of democracy and public accountability, however, is what characterized British rule in India.'
The fatality figures are horrifying: William Digby pointed out that in the entire 107 years from 1793 to 1900, only an estimated 5 million people had died in all the wars around the world combined, whereas in just ten years 1891–1900, 19 million had died in India in famines alone. While comparisons of human deaths are always invidious, the 35 million who died of famine and epidemics during the Raj does remind one of the 25 million who died in Stalin’s collectivization drive and political purges, the 45 million who died during Mao’s cultural revolution, and the 55 million who died worldwide during World War II. The death toll from the colonial holocausts is right up there with some of the most harrowing examples of man’s inhumanity to man in modern times.
It is striking that the last large-scale famine to take place in India was under British rule; none has taken place since, because Indian democracy has been more responsive to the needs of drought-affected and poverty-stricken Indians than the British rulers ever were. As the scholar and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has explained, there has never been a famine in a democracy with a free press, because public accountability ensures effective response. Sen’s work, informed by compassion as well as solid quantitative research, has established the now widely-accepted doctrine that famines are nearly always avoidable; that they result not from lack of food but lack of access to food; that distribution is therefore the key, and that democracy is the one system of government that enables food to be distributed widely and fairly. Lack of democracy and public accountability, however, is what characterized British rule in India.'
August 28, 2017
To be read, re-read and re-read again and again..
November 3, 2024
অমর্ত্য সেনের বয়ানে যারা ফেসবুকে দেখেছেন যে, “যে দেশে গণতন্ত্র আছে, সে দেশে দুর্ভিক্ষ হয় না” বা “গণতন্ত্রহীনতাই দুর্ভিক্ষের কারণ”, তাদের কাছে আমার সবিনয় নিবেদন এই যে, বইটি পড়ুন। প্রায় হাজার পৃষ্ঠার এই বই (মূলত তিনটি বইয়ের সংকলন) থেকে যারা আপনাদের এ ধরনের বাক্যগুলো শোনাচ্ছেন, তারা ঠিক বলছেন না- এ আমি দায়িত্ব নিয়ে বলছি। পৃথিবীর অন্যতম শ্রেষ্ঠ একটি কাজ বলে আমি মনে করি এই বইটিকে। দুজন প্রণম্য অর্থনীতিবিদ, কিন্তু আমার দৃষ্টিতে এ দুজনকে কেবল একাডেমিক বারান্দায় আটকে রাখার কৌশল ষড়যন্ত্রমূলক, কেননা তাঁরা এ ধরনের চৌহদ্দির অনেক বাইরে, অনেক উপরে এবং অবশ্যই প্রচলিত ধারণা বিবর্জিত।
সামাজিক নিরাপত্তার প্রশ্নে রাজনীতির বাতাবরণ ও অর্থনৈতিক মুক্তি কীভাবে সম্পর্কযুক্ত, সেন ও জেন তার অনুপুঙ্খ আলোচনা করেছেন। আলোচনার ধরণ একাডেমিক, ভাষাও বিষয়কেন্দ্রীক। অর্থনীতিশাস্ত্রের শিক্ষার্থী হলেও পড়ার সময় মনে হতে পারে, অনেক বিষয় বোঝা যাচ্ছে না। সেক্ষেত্রে গুগল করতে পারেন বা আরেকটি উপায় হচ্ছে হাতের কাছে অ্যাডাম স্মিথের The Wealth of Nations বইটি রাখতে পারেন।
উপরে লিখেছি, এই বইটি হলো দুজন অর্থনীতিবিদের মোট তিনটি বইয়ের সংকলন। ১৯৮১ সালে প্রকাশিত অমর্ত্য সেনের Poverty and Famine, আর বাকি দুটো সেন ও জেনের যৌথ কাজ: Hunger and Public Action (১৯৮৯) ও India: Economic Development and Public Action (১৯৯৫)। দারিদ্র্য ‘দূরীকরণ’ কথাটি তাঁরা বলেননি, বলেছেন ‘সংকোচন’ এবং এর জন্য সরকার ও বাজারের প্রতিক্রিয়া কী হওয়া উচিত, তার একটি সার্বিক চিত্র এ বইটিতে পাওয়া যাবে। কেবল ‘সরকার’ কিন্তু নয়, তার সঙ্গে বাজারও আর বাজারের সীমানায় কী কী বিষয় ধর্তব্য, তারও সবিস্তারিত বর্ণনা আছে।
আর দুটো বই আমার কাজে লেগেছিল এ বইটির তৃতীয় অর্থাৎ India: Economic Development and Public Action শীর্ষক অধ্যায়টি বুঝতে। অরবিন্দ পানাগ্রিয়ার The Nehru-Era Economic History and Thought & Their Lasting Impact এবং সুনীতি কুমার ঘোষের The Indian Big Bourgeoisie : Its Genesis, Growth and Character.
সামাজিক নিরাপত্তার প্রশ্নে রাজনীতির বাতাবরণ ও অর্থনৈতিক মুক্তি কীভাবে সম্পর্কযুক্ত, সেন ও জেন তার অনুপুঙ্খ আলোচনা করেছেন। আলোচনার ধরণ একাডেমিক, ভাষাও বিষয়কেন্দ্রীক। অর্থনীতিশাস্ত্রের শিক্ষার্থী হলেও পড়ার সময় মনে হতে পারে, অনেক বিষয় বোঝা যাচ্ছে না। সেক্ষেত্রে গুগল করতে পারেন বা আরেকটি উপায় হচ্ছে হাতের কাছে অ্যাডাম স্মিথের The Wealth of Nations বইটি রাখতে পারেন।
উপরে লিখেছি, এই বইটি হলো দুজন অর্থনীতিবিদের মোট তিনটি বইয়ের সংকলন। ১৯৮১ সালে প্রকাশিত অমর্ত্য সেনের Poverty and Famine, আর বাকি দুটো সেন ও জেনের যৌথ কাজ: Hunger and Public Action (১৯৮৯) ও India: Economic Development and Public Action (১৯৯৫)। দারিদ্র্য ‘দূরীকরণ’ কথাটি তাঁরা বলেননি, বলেছেন ‘সংকোচন’ এবং এর জন্য সরকার ও বাজারের প্রতিক্রিয়া কী হওয়া উচিত, তার একটি সার্বিক চিত্র এ বইটিতে পাওয়া যাবে। কেবল ‘সরকার’ কিন্তু নয়, তার সঙ্গে বাজারও আর বাজারের সীমানায় কী কী বিষয় ধর্তব্য, তারও সবিস্তারিত বর্ণনা আছে।
আর দুটো বই আমার কাজে লেগেছিল এ বইটির তৃতীয় অর্থাৎ India: Economic Development and Public Action শীর্ষক অধ্যায়টি বুঝতে। অরবিন্দ পানাগ্রিয়ার The Nehru-Era Economic History and Thought & Their Lasting Impact এবং সুনীতি কুমার ঘোষের The Indian Big Bourgeoisie : Its Genesis, Growth and Character.
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