An Uncertain Glory (Penguin Orange Spines)

UPDATED WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION

'Magnificent ... a major work by two of the world's most perceptive and intelligent India-watchers writing today' William Dalrymple, New Statesman


From two of India's leading economists, Jean Drèze and Nobel Prize-winner Amartya Sen, An Uncertain Glory is a passionate, considered argument for the need for a greater understanding of inequalities in India.

When India regained independence from colonial rule in 1947, it immediately adopted a firmly democratic political system, with multiple parties, freedom of speech and extensive political rights. The famines of the British era disappeared, and steady economic growth replaced stagnation, accelerating further over the last three decades to make India's growth the second fastest among large economies. Despite a recent dip, it is still one of the highest in the world.

Maintaining rapid yet environmentally sustainable growth remains an important and achieveable goal for India. Drèze and Sen argue that the country's main problems lie in the disregarding of the essential needs of the people. There have been major failures both to foster participatory growth and to make good use of the public resources generated by economic growth to enhance people's living conditions; social and physical services remain inadequate, from schooling and medical care to safe water, electricity, and sanitation. In the long run, even high economic growth is threatened by the underdevelopment of infrastructure and the neglect of human capabilities, in contrast with the holistic approach pioneered by Japan, South Korea and China.

In a democracy, addressing these failures requires not only significant policy change, but also a clearer public understanding of the abysmal extent of deprivation in the country. Yet public discussion in India tends to be constricted to the lives and concerns of the relatively affluent. This book presents a powerful analysis not only of India's deprivations and inequalities, but also of the restraints on addressing them - and of the possibility of change through democratic practice.

ACTUALIZAT CU O NOUA INTRODUCERE „Magnifica ... o lucrare majora a doi dintre cei mai perspicace si mai inteligenti observatori din lume din lume care scriu astazi„ William Dalrymple, nou om de stat Din doi dintre cei mai importanti economisti din India, Jean Drèze si laureatul premiului Nobel Amartya Sen O glorie incerta este un argument pasionat, considerat, pentru necesitatea unei mai bune intelegeri a inegalitatilor din India. Cand India si-a recapatat independenta fata de stapanirea coloniala in 1947, a adoptat imediat un sistem politic ferm democratic, cu mai multe partide, libertate de exprimare si politici extinse. drepturi.