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Development as Freedom | 
 enlarge | Author: Amartya Sen
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £4.35
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Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 3465
Media: Perfect Paperback
Edition: New Ed
Pages: 366
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0192893300
Dewey Decimal Number: 330
EAN: 9780192893307
ASIN: 0192893300
Publication Date: January 18, 2001
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Good Condition, Dispatch from our warehouse in the UK
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 thought provoking view on development May 28, 2008
Sen proposes an alternative to the obsession of conservative development theory with economic factors. In his view, development is the product of human agency or freedom i.e the more capable people are of living lives of their own choosing, the more benefits accrue to society. The objective of development policy must, therefore, be to remove constraints to human freedom.
Sen's point is that people need more than money to live qualitative lives. Even more, in many instances (and he gives numerous examples), other factors such as good health, basic education, political freedom would be more helpful than simply throwing money at the situation. Such factors are also "freedoms" which are essential in enhancing human capacity and producing tangible social benefits. A narrow focus on only economic factors would not produce a wholesome, sustainable effect on society.
Sen seeks to expand the boundaries of what development policy should focus on. The most obvious weakness of his paradigm is the lack of a set order of priorities. Even though Sen identifies 5 "key" freeedoms as fundamental to enhancing capacity, his paradigm, because of its focus on the factors affecting human capacity instead of specific macro-economic targets, lacks a concise, easily implementable agenda. However, Sen makes no apologies about this. It is, afterall, his point precisely; there is no single magic lever. For development to occur, governments must address the complex, inter-related, diverse factors (both economic and non-economic) that constrain the capacity of people to live highly productive and qualitative lives.
This is an excellent contribution to development studies and a highly informative read.
 Immeasurably dull March 2, 2007
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is a classic case of one of those social science/philosophy "masterpieces" that put forward an argument that can be accurately summarised on an A4 sheet of paper but that insist on stretching out a pretty straightforward proposition over hundreds and hundreds of pages (see also, for instance, Rawls' "A Theory of Justice"). The title states that freedom constitutes economic development, and that is really all you are going to get out of it even after investing the weeks it will take you to machete your way through Sen's neutron-star-dense prose. I like Sen's work in general and appreciate him very much as a lecturer (hence the second star), but stay away from this text unless you absolutely require it for an essay or so.
 Not for the casual reader IMO July 19, 2006
9 out of 14 found this review helpful
I found this book really slow; Amartya is basically saying that when evaluating economic development more than income should be considered, that freedom is both the means and end of development.
Amartya takes a ludicrously broad scope for freedom; including many health issues under a "freedom to avoid premature mortality" or other phrases to that effect.
So essentially all that is said is blatantly obvious; that health/social participation/other human "freedoms" (v.v. broadly interpreted) are equally important if not more so than mere development with the sole intent to raise incomes.
It takes 300 pages of (IMO) uninteresting and poorly structured argument to make this fundamental point.
Read this if you have a particular interest in development economics, but if you are looking for an interesting and thought-provoking read I don't feel this is your book.
Freedom as a better goal than GDP July 5, 2005
11 out of 11 found this review helpful
This book describes new concepts and presents important, controversial, conclusions. The concepts are relevant for developed and developing countries. The foundation is Sen's view of well-being formulated as follows: "We all want the capability to live long (without being cut off in our prime) have a good life (rather than a life of misery and unfreedom)" and "We would all like to lead a kind of life that we have reason to value". To achieve that goal requires the removal of unfreedoms like poverty, lack of ability to be accepted for a job, lack of economic opportunities, health problems, discrimination, repression and arbitrary justice.
Freedom is an end in itself a means to be able to lead a satisfactory life. Individual freedom is also a condition for being able to act responsibly. Without opportunities because of a lack of capability, no responsibility. Increasing freedom as a goal is more complete than increasing the GDP per person. People have good reason to want income and wealth precisely because it "produces" freedom. GDP/person and freedom are related. When people can act responsibly because they have capabilities and can a find job, the GDP will increase automatically. .
The book is very rich in "surprising" conclusions all convincingly documented and presented. Only a few will be referred to here.
(1) An important cause of poverty in Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia is explosive population growth. If women have the freedom to decide the number of children to have the explosive population growth stops. There is no justification for using violent means to reduce family size. (2) All poor countries can afford basic healthcare and basic education as these are labour intensive and therefore low cost. (3) The opinion that democracy with free speech and elections is not suitable for Asians because of different Asian values has no factual basis.
(4) One of the fundamental freedoms people cherish is to buy what they want from whom they want and sell what they can to whom the want, that is the"free market". The idea that the free market can be left alone and will function perfectly as it is based on self-interest and greed is false. It requires effective legal structures that support the rights ensuing from contracts, that people can trust each and behave decently. Sen warns on the danger of "high minded sentimentality, assuming that all people are peculiarly virtuous and keen to be just" or the equally unrealistic "Low-minded sentimentality, which some economists appear to prefer, that we are only influenced by crude consideration of personal advantage". The free market" to function requires freedom, regulations and ethical values beyond greed and self-interest.
The book is brilliant but requires effort to read. Read at least chapter 1 The perspective on freedom, 6 The importance of democracy, 9 Population, food and freedom, 10 Culture and human rights and 11 Social choice and individual behaviour (100 pages).
Very rewarding June 24, 2005
14 out of 14 found this review helpful
This is a superb book that sets out Sen's influential approach to thinking about economic development. In it he combines economics and political philosophy to show how thinking about what people have and what they are capable of attaining, given their situation, can yield important insights into the nature of development. The focus is not just on the material aspects of development, but also on considerations such as political and societal participation, human rights and institutions. Sen views the ultimate goal of development as maximising peoples' freedom to lead the lives they wish within the context of society.
Among the 12 chapters, a couple of my personal favourites include his analysis of the problem of "Missing Women" in China, a chilling illustration of the consequences that a prohibition of societal participation can bring about. Also, his discussion on famines, which views their possible cause not just as crop failiure, but as a failiure of democratic rights.
Sen's writes with the aplomb that one would expect from a philosopher (he is published in ethics and political philosophy as well as economics). There are many parts of the book, especially one of the earlier chapters, that require some concentrated reading (several times in my case!) to fully grasp the ideas, but the rewards to be had are more than worth any effort put in.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with any interest in the developing world. This is a human, hopeful, brilliantly lucid and intelligent read that does what all the best non fiction does: really makes you think.
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