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Book Review: Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen: A new approach to development
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Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen advocates a new outlook on development: whereas orthodox development thinking has a one-sided focus on economic development as the goal of the process of development, Sen’s development as freedom framework sees the expansion of human freedom as both the goal and primary means of human development. He notes the “unfreedoms” that deprive millions of citizens around the world of the right to live the life they would choose, and suggests that economic indicators alone are insufficient as a measure of development. Sen is a major figure in the fields of development economics and welfare economics, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998.
This book review and analysis is perfect for:
• Students of economics and international development
• Students of philosophy and politics
• Anyone who wants to understand the relationship between development and freedom
About 50MINUTES.COM | BOOK REVIEW
The Book Review series from the 50Minutes collection is aimed at anyone who is looking to learn from experts in their field without spending hours reading endless pages of information. Our reviews present a concise summary of the main points of each book, as well as providing context, different perspectives and concrete examples to illustrate the key concepts.
Development as Freedom by Amartya Sen advocates a new outlook on development: whereas orthodox development thinking has a one-sided focus on economic development as the goal of the process of development, Sen’s development as freedom framework sees the expansion of human freedom as both the goal and primary means of human development. He notes the “unfreedoms” that deprive millions of citizens around the world of the right to live the life they would choose, and suggests that economic indicators alone are insufficient as a measure of development. Sen is a major figure in the fields of development economics and welfare economics, and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998.
This book review and analysis is perfect for:
• Students of economics and international development
• Students of philosophy and politics
• Anyone who wants to understand the relationship between development and freedom
About 50MINUTES.COM | BOOK REVIEW
The Book Review series from the 50Minutes collection is aimed at anyone who is looking to learn from experts in their field without spending hours reading endless pages of information. Our reviews present a concise summary of the main points of each book, as well as providing context, different perspectives and concrete examples to illustrate the key concepts.
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Book Review - 50minutes
DEVELOPMENT AS FREEDOM
A NEW WAY OF UNDERSTANDING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT BEYOND PURELY ECONOMIC INDICATORS
Development as Freedom is the economist Amartya Sen’s take on the issue of human development. Combining different strands of scholarship, he argues that we should move towards a much more expansive notion of human development, one that goes beyond a mere focus on economic indicators such as GDP per capita or disposable income.
What is key in advancing human development is whether or not people’s freedoms are being expanded. According to Sen, this expansion of freedom is both the ultimate end of the process of development and the primary means to achieving it. In other words, freedom has both a constitutive role and an instrumental role respectively. Seen from this perspective, economic freedom is just one of several possible kinds of freedom, and an instrumental one at that.
This expansion of people’s freedoms will ultimately serve to enhance their capabilities and subsequently their ability to choose between different sorts of lifestyles as they wish.
KEY INFORMATION
Reference edition: Sen, A. (1999) Development as Freedom. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
1stedition: 1999
Author: Amartya Sen (Indian economist and philosopher, born in 1933).
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