ISBN : 9780198738183
Time and again Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate and polymath, has stimulated our thoughts and world-view through his ideas. In his new collection of cultural essays Sen examines social justice and welfare, by addressing some of the fundamental issues of our time like deprivation, disparity, hunger, illiteracy, alienation, globalization, media, freedom of speech, injustice, inequality, exclusion, and exploitation. Sens deeply informed and humane writing connects history, culture, literature, economics, and politics. Several of the essays are concerned particularly with India - its historical traditions and the issues it faces today; many - such as his address to the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2004 - engage with global concerns. All are written with a passion and conviction, a gently persuasive style, and a characteristically undogmatic engagement with differing points of view. Most of these essays were first published in the Indian literary publication The Little Magazine. Others are published here for the first time. The book is introduced by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former Indian diplomat and governor of West Bengal, who is also the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.
Foreword by Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Editors' Preface
Introduction by Amartya Sen
1.India Through Its Calendars
2. The Play's the Thing
3. The Smallness Thrust Upon Us
4. Hunger: Old Torments and New Blunders
5. Speaking of Freedom: Why Media Is Important for Economic Development
6. Sunlight and Other Fears: The Importance of School Education as a Source of Nourishment for Indian Children
7. Sharing the World: Interdependence and Global Justice
8. The Country of First Boys
9. Poverty, War and Peace
10. What Should Keep Us Awake at Night
11. What Difference Can Tagore Make?
12. A Wish a Day for a Week
13. On Nalanda University
Name Index
Subject Index
About the Author