Inequality, Instability and Voice

 Amartya Sen : 

Amartya Sen is an Indian economist, writer and philosopher. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1998 in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory and also for his interest in the problems of society’s poorest members. Sen was called the “conscience of his profession” because he devoted his career to address the issues prevailing in the community. He’s a Fellow and former Master of Trinity College, Cambridge and was awarded India’s Bharat Ratna in the year 1999. He is currently working as a Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University and also the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor.

He was a Professor of Economics between 1963 and 1971 at the Delhi School of Economics where he completed his Collective Choice and Social Welfare in 1969. In 1981, he published Poverty and Famines: An Essay on Entitlement and Deprivation.  In this book he argued that famine also occurs from the inequalities built into mechanisms for distributing food and not just from lack of food. He also wrote a controversial article in The New York Review of Books titled “More Than 100 Million Women Are Missing” where he analysed the mortality impact of unequal rights between the genders in the developing world.

• Development as Freedom
• The Argumentative Indian
• The Idea of Justice
• Identity and Violence
• Commodities and Capabilities
• Rationality and Freedom and so on

Amartya Sen is best known for his work on human development theory, welfare economics, famine, and the underlying causes of poverty and hunger. His essay on famines was due to his exposure to the poor during his childhood as he witnessed the Bengal famine of 1943 in which three million people perished.

In 1970, his first book titled ‘Collective Choice and Social Welfare’, which is considered as one of his most influential monographs that addressed the issues of basic welfare, justice, equality and individual rights.

In 1984, his work developing economies, ‘Resources, Values, and Development’ was published. The publication focused on the investment design, shadow rating, employment policy, and welfare economics.

 His 1987 publication ‘On Ethics and Economics’, was a critical piece of writing that argued that welfare economics and modern ethical studies can benefit from each other.

In 1992, his book ‘Inequality Reexamined’ was published by the Harvard University Press. The book examined the notion of inequality and focused mainly on the ‘capability approach’.

 In 1998, his Nobel Prize Lecture publication titled ‘The Possibility of Social Choice’, in which he declared that welfare economics was a core theme in social change theory.

 In 1999, he came out with the publication titled ‘Development as Freedom’, in the book he focused on the concept of ‘international development’ and ‘developmental economics’.

In 2002, he came out with his book titled ‘Rationality and Freedom’, which is divided into two volumes on rationality, freedom, and justice. He brings a clear, clarified insight into each of these concepts.

In 2005, his popular book, ‘The Argumentative Indian’ was published. The book is a collection of essays on the history and identity of India and the need to understand contemporary India and its argumentative tradition.

 In 2009, his book ‘The Idea of Justice’ was published by Allen Lane and Harvard University Press. The book was a highlight on economic reasoning and a critique of John Rawls book, ‘A Theory of Justice’.

In his 2011 publication, ‘Peace and Democratic Society’, he explores the relationship between violence, peace and democracy. He delves into the concept of ‘organised violence’ and war, genocide and terrorism. 

The Argumentative Indian : 

The Argumentative Indian is a book written by Nobel Prize winning Indian economist Amartya Sen. It is a collection of essays that discuss India's history and identity, focusing on the traditions of public debate and intellectual pluralism. The essays are divided into four different parts, dealing with different aspects of India; its voice, culture, politics and reason. They outline the need to understand contemporary India in the light of its long argumentative tradition. This book is a mixture of clarity and humility. It offers an intelligent and unbiased view of what India symbolised in the past and what India means today, without flaunting Indian traditions and morals. It also does not manipulate that India is isolated. It puts India in view of the world and points to various foreign views of India. Questions and debates have been central pillars of Indian philosophy since antiquity, and the necessity of imitating one's knowledge. Sen followed and quite successfully emulated the present generation in his exceptional accounts of Indian culture, tradition, and philosophy. Sen argues for the success of India's democracy, the defence of its secular politics, the removal of inequalities related to class, caste, gender and community, and the pursuit of sub-continental peace. We need to be reminded of the vision of India that our leaders held 67 years ago. This book is a step in that direction. It is a must read for every Indian.

Inequality, Instability and Voice :

India is a country with many distinct traditions, widely divergent customs, vastly different convictions, and a veritable feast of viewpoints. In The Argumentative Indian, Amartya Sen draws on a lifetime study of his country's history and culture to suggest the ways we must understand India today in the light of its rich, long argumentative tradition. In the essay, Sen touches upon three issues. They are:

•   Inequality in the Indian society and the quest for equality;

•   Unity and diversity in India; and

•   Need for greater commitment to dialogue and solidarity in South Asia.

The millenia-old texts and interpretations of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Muslim, agnostic, and atheistic Indian thought demonstrate, Sen reminds us, ancient and well-respected rules for conducting debates and disputations, and for appreciating not only the richness of India's diversity but its need for toleration. Though Westerners have often perceived India as a place of endless spirituality and unreasoning mysticism, he underlines its long tradition of skepticism and reasoning, not to mention its secular contributions to mathematics, astronomy, linguistics, medicine, and political economy.

Recognition and Inequality 

The first section of Amartya Sen’s argues on how to eliminate inequality that India is known for by the concept of heterodoxy and also argues of its cons as often heterodoxy leads to oversimplification of the various cultures of India. He states that the goal of a flourishing pluralist society would be born from acceptance before recognition, the former which is often overlooked when talking about the deconstruction of social stratification. He proceeds to justify her statement by invoking the example of refugees from various geographic, ethnic and cultural backgrounds who have become a part of Indian society. If this could be achieved then the existing members of the society irrespective of their social class or caste can come forward to blend in a pluralist society. The current climate of political unrest with respect to the targeting of the Non-Hindus would be largely avoided by the practice of acceptance. But the application of acceptance solely to politics would reel the socio-economic aspect of the society to be untouched and unchanged. This could only be achieved through persistent public commitment. The vast number of different factions of the society should join together and argue against the orthodox social strata that are largely outdated. Even the concept that defines the caste system contains loopholes as it possesses the sense of equality, though is hides, that all the members of various castes come from the same god therefore they are all the same; he offers an argument for the agnostics, everybody are the same as long as they undergo human emotions. He urged the society to band and voice together and warned those belonging to the lower strata of the society to not fight among themselves to climb up the ladder and rather unite and voice against the ones that are in the top most position in the hierarchy of the society. Silence he says is the true enemy of any possible social justice that can be demanded for the welfare of the society.

Amartya Sen notes that India has had a bad record of social inequality of which the country's caste system is one aspect. But he also notes that the country through its history has had a tradition of accommodation towards others especially of religions. Muslims, Christians, Jews, Parsees were all allowed to live through a policy of 'swikriti' or equity of toleration. While he says that this was not any affirmation of equality it still meant acceptance of these groups.

He also notes that even after over fifty years of independence, the political equality that was given to all the Indians under the Constitution has not still brought about social and economic equality. He notes that in addition to the fundamental rights the Indian Constitution specifies certain social and economic entitlements. Progress on these fronts should go towards greater equality.

He also identifies the argumentative Indian tradition as a tool in the struggle towards greater equality. Voices of dissent and people and groups speaking against caste, class and gender barriers contribute in this area.

He is of the view that political groups fighting for greater equality for the underprivileged should be united in their fight if they need to make progress. Fighting among themselves would harm their goal.

According to the constitution of  India preamble contains. "Sovereign socialist secular democratic republic"

The word secular is inclusive in constitution to show the importance of secularism means accepting all religions and treating them equally.

India is known for its unity in diversity, but are we really being secular?. Due to vast diverse factors it is difficult for such a big country like India to achieve social economic. Social equality will start only  when everyone starts accepting. Accepting every sectors own belief will be the key to peaceful coexistence, our constitution makers understanding the inequalities prevalent in the society, strived hard while making constitution to wipe all the possible political inequalities.

Example : In fundamental rights (Ar 14-18) strives for equality and prohibition in discrimination (Ar 25-28) ensures religious rights for every religion.

The reservation for women and backward caste in administration, education ensures the prohibition of the respective, political discrimination.

Irrespective of all provisions provided in the constitution, social inequality and recognition are deep rooted and wiping out is completely difficult.it can only be done by voicing out the discriminations, arguing against wrong deeds and inequality.

Striving for justice and demanding equality, proper use of democracy by voicing out only will help to achieve the goal. Silence is the powerful enemy for social justice.

The Unity of India

He begins this section by drawing attention to the 16th century Mughal Emperor Akbar’s inter- community discussions in Agra in the 16th century. These discussions, Sen says, both emphasised on the plurality of beliefs (acceptance of plurality) in India and the need for dialogue among the different groups (dialogic commitment).

Pluralism of India, Sen says, ‘has baffled many’. He points out people from history who seemed to be either critical, like Winston Churchill, or awe struck, like Chinese Scholar Yi Jing, at the diversity of cultures one country could hold. He remains hostile towards the British Raj and their idea of having somehow created India but soon moves on to praise Akbar as one the most ambitious and energetic emperors to ever rule India, whose ultimate goal was to have India under Mughal’s unified regime.

Sen brings in a poem of Kalidasa titled “Meghadutam” which gives a united view of India as a country with very rich variations. The poem portrays Kalidasa’s typically style of adding a mystical feminine charm to Ujjain. Ujjain emerged into existence during the first millennium CE and has been considered as the principal meridian for India. During E.M. Forster’s visit to India he recollects Kalidasa’s description of the beauty of Ujjayini women. Kalidasa combines his observation of diverse charms and beauties across India with a determination to provide a full view of the entire land that lies on the way from one end of India to another.

Sen tells us that Akbar like Kalidasa recognizes this diversity among the country. His attempts to standardize while still trying to preserve the diversity sometimes failed. This recognition of heterogeneity, Sen gives as an example to justify his idea of a pluralist India that was well established even before Lord Clive began erecting the foundations of the Raj.

Solidarity and the Subcontinent

Sen raises an important issue of efforts to minimize inequality through sub continental solidarity. He specifically discusses the regional seminars and colloquy for peace and human rights in the sub-continent organized at the non-government level. He resorts to Akbar’s idea of “Dialogic commitment” as a way to preserve solidarity as well as national unity and social justice. He emphasizes the importance of India drawing on it’s dialogic heritage since India has a well-established set of traditions and its people need to be fortunate for it. “We can try to out-talk the 'unknown' - and dumb - power of Fate.” He quotes from Octavio Paz’s “In Light of India” to justify his comment.

“Of course, it is impossible to foresee the future turn of events. In politics and
history, perhaps in everything, that unknown power the ancients called Fate
is always at work. Without forgetting this, I must add that, in politics as well
as in private life, the surest method for resolving conflicts, however slowly, is
dialogue.”

Conclusion:

India is a plural society both in letter and spirit. It is rightly characterized by its unity and diversity. A grand synthesis of cultures, religions and languages of the people belonging to different castes and communities has upheld its unity and cohesiveness despite multiple foreign invasions.

National unity and integrity have been maintained even though sharp economic and social inequalities have obstructed the emergence of egalitarian social relations. It is this synthesis which has made India a unique mosque of cultures. Thus, India presents a seemingly multicultural situation within the framework of a single integrated cultural whole. The term ‘diversity’ emphasizes differences rather than inequalities. It means collective differences, that is, differences which mark off one group of people from another. These differences may be of any sort: biological, religious, linguistic etc. Thus, diversity means a variety of races, religions, languages, of castes and of cultures. Unity means integration. It is a social psychological condition. It connotes a sense of one-ness, a sense of we-ness. It stands for the bonds, which hold the members of a society together. Unity in diversity essentially means “unity without uniformity” and “diversity without fragmentation”. It is based on the notion that diversity enriches human interaction. When we say that India is a nation of great cultural diversity, we mean that there are many different types of social groups and communities living here. These are communities defined by cultural markers such as language, religion, sect, race or caste. In a heterogeneous, contemporary society like India, secularism and pluralism are indispensable elements for the smooth interaction and functioning of its organs. If no single tradition is represented, no one is excluded, this is the ideology vouched for by our democratic set-up, and is incontrovertible the most apt, considering the diversity of religious belief-systems prevalent in the sub-continent, and despite this diversity, the State chooses to represent none, stand for none, promote none and think of none as over and above the other, thereby fulfilling its secular vision.

Various aspects of this culture, such as the arts, press and media work constructively towards building this legacy of pluralistic thought and critical argument. Understanding that secularism and pluralism are compatible and striving to honor both of them simultaneously, needless to say, goes a long way to uphold social justice.

India, for the longest time has continued to be a standing example of this ideal of tolerance and pluralism, and, despite repeated assaults on its faith, has managed to bounce back and stand tall and proud as a pillar of unity.

The text looks at the conflicts of class and criticizes inequalities in Indian society and arguments that have been used to justify them. It explores modern cultures of secularism and liberalism in an Indian context.

The understanding and use of this argumentative tradition are critically important, Sen argues, for the success of India's democracy, the defense of its secular politics, the removal of inequalities related to class, caste, gender and community, and the pursuit of sub-continental peace. Through the partition of 1947, India as a country have had to undergo some cutbacks over the last century. To counteract the tensions created by and the actual dangers resulting from the development of nuclear bomb and deadly missiles in both India and Pakistan, long standing differences in Kashmir and other inter country affairs such between Sri Lanka and India, Bangladesh and India are the manifest problems to be addressed on the basis of fuller understanding. 

“If we understand and believe in one another, nothing can be destroyed." - Mahesh Dattani

The dialogic commitment related to the long multicultural history of the subcontinent is indeed deeply relevant for regional solidarity as well as national unity and social justice. The richness of the tradition of argument makes much difference to subcontinental lives in a great many different ways. It shapes our social world and the nature of our culture. It has helped to make heterodoxy the natural state of affairs in India; persistent arguments are an important part of our public life. It deeply influences Indian politics, and is particularly relevant  to the development of democracy in India and the emergence of its secular priorities.

Source : 

https://www.academia.edu/34995494/Amartya_Sen_Biography

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Amartya-Sen. Accessed 2 January 2022

https://www.scribd.com/document/48584474/Inequality-Instability-and-Voice

https://cs.brown.edu/~sk/Personal/Books/Sen-Argumentative-Indian/

And other research papers and educational websites were referred to by the students.