Amartya Kumar Sen is an Indian economist who was awarded the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to welfare economics and social choice theory, and for his interest in the problems of society鈥檚 poorest members.
Sen was best known for his work on the causes of famine, which led to the development of practical solutions for preventing or limiting the effects of real or perceived shortages of food. He is currently the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at Harvard University. He is also a senior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, where he previously served as Master from the years 1998 to 2004. He is the first Asian and the first Indian academic to head an Oxbridge college.
Amartya Sen's books have been translated into more than thirty languages. He is a trustee of Economists for Peace and Security. In 2006, Time magazine listed him under "60 years of Asian Heroes" and in 2010 included him in their "100 most influential persons in the world".
The points that Sen makes in this book are valid and I agree with his basic thesis that people inhabit many different identities and to box people into identities solely based on religious ones fails to acknowledge the many different ways in which people see themselves. This type of thinking contributes to the widespread "us vs. them" mentality that leads to greater violence and less understanding between people. Sen's corrective to the widely prevalent "clash of civilizations" thesis is greatly needed and he shows how there are no pure civilizatons to begin with - all are hybrids. This being said there were many times throughout the book that I felt I was reading a poor quality freshman seminar paper. Sen tends to repeat the same things again and again even to the point of including almost verbatim sentences within the same paragraph. I wondered how this book could have gotten published with such glaring sloppiness. I kept waiting for the "articulate voice" that Kofi Annan's excerpt from the back mentioned and never found it. If it is true as Annan wrote that "the world's poor and dispossessed could have no more articulate or insightful a champion" than in Sen, then the poor and dispossessed have a problem.
I guess that if you win a Nobel Prize as Sen did in 1998 in Economics you then have a license to write a book on any subject and get it published. Don't expect anything novel or earth shattering in this book. Sen probably would have done better to have just provided the reader with a one page outline of his points, each followed by mention of the historical examples. Instead he walks down a well trodden path and makes the reader wonder why he had to waste so much paper making such a simple and obvious point. On the other hand maybe that point needs to be repeated again and again because so few have been listening. But for those who are already familiar with critiques on the "clash of civilizations" thesis, made famous by Samuel Huntington, move on to more worthwhile reading or write something yourself that will move beyond these well-worn tropes of discourse and actually say something new.
It is rare that academics write in a way that the readers understand. Sen's intention is clear right from the first page. It is a book that reveals, and not conceals what so often is the case in academic writings. Most of the time academic writings are full of jargon and written in a style that no one understands except the faculty members. Sen is an exception.
He sets the tone of this book right in the beginning and tells us who he is and how he looks at himself in the world. Once at the airport he was asked by an immigration officer about his residence in England. To which Sen replied that he lives at Master Lodge in Oxford. The immigration officer then asked him if his Master treats him well.
In one of his very nuanced essay 'Globalization and Voices' in the book, he charts the history of Globalization. While we all know about the western contribution to the development of human civilization, Sen brings out the contribution of others which is so often dismissed as myth and fiction. He lists the contribution of Persia, China, India and Egypt. I am sure that any modern reader, especially in the west, will be surprised by these faded and forgotten histories.
Throughout this book, he maintains a reasonable and sane approach. There is nothing flamboyant and exaggerated. He draws from various sources and mentions different geographies and periods of history to make sense of the present. One of the key theses of the book is that it is not 'Globalization' that has failed; the failure lies in its implementation. It favored many but it also has ignored many.
I think a book like this is important because it shows us that dialogue and more inclusive approach is better than constant bickering over past, playing identity politics to hide failure, and claiming we are better than someone else. In a world which is already full of wars, genocides, and terrorist organizations, I hardly need to read, for instance, a book like ''The Clash of Civilizations.'' It is not the way forward.
Another important feature of the book is that the writer comes across as someone who belongs everywhere and nowhere. In other words, his agenda, whatever it might be, is not parochial; it does not deal with a particular community, nation or nations. He seeks to disseminate his understanding of the contemporary world in order to bring out the petty fictions and dangerous delusions of the propagators of 'Clash oriented theorists.'
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Amartya Sen makes one central, relatively novel argument that individuals have multiple components to their identities and problems arise when people are reduced to singular adjectives (whether Muslim, Hindu, Sunni, Shia, etc). Sen argues that periods of genocide are precipitated by pidgeonholing people into singular identities (ie. the relatively arbitrary distinction between Hutu and Tutsi in Rwanda). Sen also described Britain and India as two countries that have met the task of assimilating others with different indentities to foster a sense of national identity.
Sen makes some solid points about the anti-globaization movement and he reframes the argument as not whether globalization is good or bad, but instead whether the benefits of globalization have been equally distributed.
This 186 page sparesly dense text has as much substance as a 10 page position paper. Amartya Sen's writing style is atrocious. He sometimes goes to 50 words in a sentence before stopping.
This book is interested in the question of human identity, its inherent multiplicity, and the choices that we make in regard to aligning ourselves with certain identities over others. We all have multiple identities, which Sen repeatedly points out. For example, he says of himself that "I can be, at the same time, an Asian, an Indian citizen, a Bengali with Bangladeshi ancestry, an American or British resident, an economist, a dabbler in philosophy, an author, a Sanskritist, a strong believer in secularism and democracy, a man, a feminist, a heterosexual, a defender of gay and lesbian rights, with a nonreligious lifestyle, from a Hindu background, a non-Brahmin, and a non-believer in an after-life" (p. 19). To what extent do these identities compete with one another? And in which ways are our senses of self and community vitiated when, instead of recognizing the fullness of all of these aspects, we recognize just one or two (for example, religion or nationality)?
Seeing the world as just sets of different religions imposes a "divisive power of classificatory priority" on the world which distorts and misshapes understanding of the people in it. When we point out that a terrorist is Muslim (or overemphasize that aspect of their identity), we fall into a trap of identify someone by just one identity - often the most inflammatory, controversial one. Suggesting that "not all Muslims are violent," which sounds like a helpful corrective measure, commits the same fallacy of associating one aspect of someone's identity - their religion - with their behavior. This is one of the fundamental mistakes that Samuel Huntingdon makes in his influential book "Clash of Civilizations." In referring to various regions as "the Christian world," "the Muslim world," or "the Hindu world," his conclusions are largely drawn from skewed perceptions of one aspect of a community's identity.
While Sen hardly touches on this explicitly, it is obvious that this can have important consequences for how the media covers news. In a time where even the most important stories get only a few minutes of coverage on a national broadcast, it is easy to see how the complexities of both individuals and communities are ignored. Historical misunderstanding can result just as frequently, as when the tradition of democracy, or religious toleration, is identified solely with Europe or the Occident. Sen discusses some of these just before the book starts to go into an irrelevant tailspin at approximately its halfway point.
These ideas are important. However, there isn't a lot here that most intelligent people who have considered these things couldn't have concluded for themselves. It's already more than a little obvious how detrimental this for people who consume a lot of news - which is what probably spurred many thoughtful people to think about this issue in the first place. Also, this book is about twice as long as it needs to be. The last sections of the book, about globalization and multiculturalism, are tangentially related to the book's thesis but really need another book of their own. Sen said early on in the book that he would emphasize the role of choice-making in the book, so more on social choice theory would have been appreciated, instead of the aimless wandering from topic to topic that is all the second half of the book provides. This would have been a good, if uncontroversial, article aimed at a more scholarly audience. There was no practical use in doubling its length to make a book. Unfortunately, this seems to be a common trait in Norton's "Issues of Our Time" series, as Kwame Anthony Appiah's "Cosmopolitanism" suffers from similar shortcomings.
Sometimes it鈥檚 nice to read a book with which you wholeheartedly agree. Amartya Sen provides a very eloquent defence of recognising that humans have multiple identities and points out the sometimes dreadful results of only assigning one.
Sen seems to have an extremely good grasp of human psychology; a particularly rare attribute for an economist. He comes across as an eminently sensible and humane observer and is eloquent in his critique of both overt sectarianism, but also well meaning yet deeply flawed responses to ethnic/sectarian relations such as multiculturalism which he identifies as plural mono-culturalism rather than a genuine multiculturalism.
This is a well written and engaging work on one of the central political issues in the contemporary world. I highly recommend it.
Incredibly repetitive and overall not greatly illuminating (I had, surprisingly, concluded before reading Identity and Violence that individuals possess a variety of different identities, and should not be defined by one alone), Identity and Violence is, however, an interesting read.
Providing interesting snippets of Indian social and political history, Sen also offers (what I feel to be the strongest point of the book) a solid dismissal of the concept of the clash of civilisations and the idea of democracy as a solely Western construct.
This book could have done with being a great deal shorter, as Sen makes many of his points multiple times, even within the same chapter, but is never the less an intelligent essay on the blind and belligerent categorisation of peoples.
Strongly recommended. A book that asks you to reason with it.Discusses real world issues of multiculturalism, sectarianism, Islamic fundamentalism and globalization with a lucidity of expression that befits the writer. Sen's benevolent world view and optimism shines through regularly in his analysis. At some point of time, I could even map the issues the book raised to Hall 3 Hall 2 rivalry. :) In short, more easily written than Sen's other more arduous works and a pleasure to read and think over.
Amartya Sen discusses how the singular cultural meanings are not only constructed and politically pursued for identification, but how identifications lead to violence, constituting the cause of every war.
''The political instigators who urged the killing managed to persuade many otherwise peaceable people of both communities to turn into dedicated thugs. They were made to think of themselves only as Hindus or only as Muslims (who must unleash vengeance on 鈥渢he other community鈥�) and as absolutely nothing else: not Indians, not subcontinentals, not Asians, not members of a shared human race.''
It is, indeed, an art to make one think that he has only one identity, even temporarily. It serves, after all, to political and economical motives. '' The illusion of singular identity, which serves the violent purpose of those orchestrating such confrontations, is skillfully cultivated and fomented by the commanders of persecution and carnage. The advocacy of a unique identity for a violent purpose takes the form of separating out one identity group- directly linked to the violent purpose at hand.''
Andd it surely draws a kind of logic, a cultural narrow logic, often considered as 'the logic' faraway from practical reasoning or logic.
''The martial art of fostering violence draws on some basic instincts and uses them to crowd out the freedom to think and the possibility of composed reasoning. But it also draws, we have to recognize, kind of logic-a fragmentary logic.''
'' As an eleven year old boy I could not do much for Kader Mia as he lay bleeding with his head on my lap. But I imagine another universe, not beyond our reach, in which he and I can jointly affirm our many common identities. We have to make sure, above all, that our mind is not halved by a horizon''
Amartya Sen (who was born on the most awesome day of the year: November 3rd) is a wise man. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and has written several books (including the incredible 鈥淒evelopment as Freedom鈥�). 鈥淚dentity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny鈥�, published in 2006, is a super relevant book today, given the context of intolerance, violence, and ignorance in our current world. Sen challenges the reductionist division of people by race, religion, and origin. He reminds us that human beings are complex and intricate social creatures with plural affiliations and/or multiple identities, and that one cannot attribute a violent behavior to a simple label. In other words, when talking about identity, we don鈥檛 fall into ONE box, and we have the power to choose between competing affiliations, because in the end, we鈥檙e all part of humanity.
I noticed that some popular reviews in this platform criticized this book for being too repetitive. While it is true that Sen mentions his central argument several times the examples he gives, the reflections on different aspects related to the main thesis and the questions he proposes from well known theories defininitely make the book worth reading.
Yer yer Daryush Shayegan kitaplar谋n谋n havas谋, yer yer Sapiens, Uluslar谋n D眉艧眉艧眉 havas谋 verdi. Birlikte ya艧amaya dair makul a莽谋klamalar vard谋. Yazar谋n kendisi de farkl谋 k眉lt眉rlerin bir zamanlar 莽at谋艧ma ya艧ad谋臒谋 Hindistanl谋 olmas谋, anlams谋z ba臒nazl谋臒谋n herkes i莽in zarar vermesinden bahsediyor. Her hal眉karda bilgi edinmek isteyen, di臒erlerini anlamaya 莽al谋艧an, empati yetene臒i geli艧mi艧 entelekt眉el insanlar谋n varl谋臒谋 t眉m insanlar i莽in 枚nemli. Bu yazar da o t眉r bir insan. Theodore Zeldin'de bu havay谋 alm谋艧t谋m en son, "Farkl谋l谋klar 莽at谋艧ma de臒il, geli艧me unsurudur" ana fikrinde.
鈫� 陌nsan谋n kendisini "枚teki" olarak g枚rmesinin bir talihsiz sonucu, evrenselci politik fikirlerin (枚zg眉rl眉臒眉n veya demokratik akl谋n 枚nemi gibi) k眉resel miras谋na Bat谋l谋larca el konulmas谋n谋 莽ok daha zarar verici hale getirmesidir. "Bat谋n谋n" ne oldu臒una yanl谋艧 te艧his koyman谋n bedeli 莽ok y眉ksek olabilir, 莽眉nk眉 b枚yle bir te艧his Bat谋l谋 olmayan d眉nyadaki demokrasiye veya 枚zg眉rl眉臒e verilen deste臒i zay谋flat谋r.
鈫� 1852'de, Komodor Mathew Perry yeni tasarlanm谋艧, bacas谋ndan siyah dumanlar t眉ten buharl谋 gemisiyle Edo K枚rfezine dald谋臒谋nda, Japonlar sadece, bundan etkilenerek -ve bir miktar da deh艧ete kap谋larak- ABD ile diplomatik ve ticari ili艧kiler kurmay谋 kabullenmek zorunda kalmad谋lar, ayn谋 zamanda d眉nyaya kar艧谋 uygulad谋klar谋 zihinsel yal谋t谋lm谋艧l谋klar谋n谋 da g枚zden ge莽irip tekrar de臒erlendirmek zorunda kald谋lar. Bu durum Meiji restorasyonuna varan politik s眉rece katk谋da bulundu ve onunla birlikte Japon e臒itiminin 莽ehresini de臒i艧tirme kararl谋l谋臒谋 ba艧lad谋. O d枚nemin en etkili liderlerinden Kido Takayo艧i temel meseleyi 莽ok net ifade ediyordu: 鈥淗alk谋m谋z谋n g眉n眉m眉z Amerikal谋lar谋ndan ya da Avrupal谋lardan hi莽bir fark谋 yoktur; b眉t眉n mesele e臒itim ya da e臒itimsizlik meselesidir.鈥�
鈫� 脟e艧itlilik, ondan do臒rudan etkilenmeyen insanlar谋n 枚zg眉rl眉klerinin zenginle艧mesinde de pay sahibi olabilir. 脰rne臒in k眉lt眉rel 莽e艧itlili臒e sahip bir toplum, ba艧kalar谋na da keyfini 莽谋kartabilecekleri 莽ok 莽e艧itli deneyimler sunarak, onlar i莽in de yararl谋 olur. 脰rnek vermek gerekirse, Afrikal谋 Amerikan m眉zi臒inin zengin gelene臒inin sadece Afrikal谋 Amerikal谋lar谋n k眉lt眉rel 枚zg眉rl眉臒眉n眉 ve 枚z sayg谋nl谋klar谋n谋 zenginle艧tirmekle kalmay谋p, ayn谋 zamanda (Afrikal谋 Amerikal谋 olsunlar ya da olmas谋nlar) b眉t眉n insanlar谋n k眉lt眉rel se莽enek yelpazesini geni艧letti臒i ve Amerika'n谋n-asl谋nda t眉m d眉nyan谋n-k眉lt眉r co臒rafyas谋n谋 zenginle艧tirdi臒i rahatl谋kla s枚ylenebilir
鈫� E臒itim 莽ocuklar谋n b眉t眉n yeti艧kin insanlar gibi, almak zorunda olduklar谋 yeni kararlar hakk谋nda ak谋l y眉r眉tme yeteneklerini geli艧tirmelerine yard谋mc谋 olmakla da ilgili bir 艧eydir. 脰nemli olan hedef, form眉lsel bir "e艧itli臒e" ula艧mak de臒il, 莽ocuklar谋n entegre olmu艧 bir 眉lkede b眉y眉rken "sorgulanm谋艧 ya艧amlar" ya艧ama yeteneklerini en iyi geli艧tirecek 艧eyin ne oldu臒unu bulmakt谋r.
鈥淢ost people are other people鈥� 鈥淭heir thoughts are someone else鈥檚 opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.鈥� - Oscar Wilde
鈥淭he illusion of density, particularly about some singular identity鈥� natures violence in the world. 鈥� The neglect of plurality of our affiliations and the need for choice and reasoning obscures the world in which we live.鈥� - Amartya Sen
do i agree with everything discussed in this book? not really. but still, it鈥檚 one of the most thought-provoking books i鈥檝e read on identity. it鈥檚 really good :) especially the first few chapters which are a little more encapsulating. beyond that point it鈥檚 pretty repetitive saying the same things over and over but with different evidence/ examples/ case studies etc. it鈥檚 a bit much towards the end.
Amartya Senin identiteettej盲 ja v盲kivaltaa koskevan teoksen vaatimaton tavoite on maailmanrauhan rakentaminen. H盲nen mukaansa globalisoituneessa maailmassa ihmisten typist盲minen yksitt盲isiin identiteetteihin johtaa v盲kivaltaan, ja ett盲 ihmisiin tulisi ensisijaisesti suhtautua monimuotoisten ja p盲盲llekk盲isten identiteettien kokonaisuuksina. Huom. identiteetin k盲site eroaa t盲ss盲 siit盲, mit盲 se erilaisissa yksil枚- ja sosiaalipsykologisissa teorioissa tarkoittaa ja vastaa ilmeisesti pelkk盲盲 ryhm盲n j盲senyytt盲, oli se sitten itse m盲盲ritelty盲 tai ulkoa oletettua.
Kirjassa on hyvi盲 huomioita siit盲, miten maailmanpolitiikkaan liittyviss盲 keskusteluissa eri ihmisryhm盲t ja arvot pelkistet盲盲n liiallisesti uskonnollisiin identiteetteihin (鈥漣slamilainen maailma鈥�), vaikka todellisuudessa erilaisia jakolinjoja ja yhtym盲kohtia olisi lukemattomia. Jos ulkoryhm盲n edustajista puhutaan ainoastaan valtauskontonsa edustajina, keskustelu juuttuu 鈥漦ulttuurien yhteent枚rm盲yksen鈥� p盲ivittelyyn ja vastakkaisina n盲htyjen identiteettien sovitteluun. Kun uskontoon ei osata yhdist盲盲 p盲盲llekk盲isi盲 identiteettej盲, ryhm盲n j盲senten m盲盲rittely muuttuu huuto盲盲nestykseksi 鈥� esimerkiksi v盲itteeseen 鈥漣slam ei hyv盲ksy v盲盲r盲uskoisia鈥� vastataan usein yksik盲盲n todellinen skotti -tyylisesti 鈥漮ikeat muslimit ovat suvaitsevaisia鈥�, vaikka todellisuudessa muslimi (tai jonkin muun uskonnon edustaja) voi ihan hyvin olla esimerkiksi konservatiivi tai liberaali ja silti yht盲 lailla uskontonsa edustaja. T盲m盲 tuntuu itsest盲盲n selv盲lt盲, mutta mielipidekirjoitusten ja somekommenttien perusteella kaikki eiv盲t aina ole samaa mielt盲.
Minulle j盲i kuitenkin ep盲selv盲ksi, ett盲 miten t盲m盲n kirjan avulla saavutetaan maailmanrauha tai edes v盲hennet盲盲n v盲kivaltaa. Senin argumentteihin sis盲ltyy implisiittinen oletus siit盲, ett盲 moni-identiteettisyyden tunnistaminen johtaa v盲kivallan, ennakkoluulojen, syrjinn盲n, sotien, ihmisoikeusrikkomusten, taloudellisen hyv盲ksik盲yt枚n ja kaikenlaisten muidenkin ik盲vyyksien v盲henemiseen, mutta t盲t盲 hypoteettista tapahtumaketjua ei hahmotella mill盲盲n tavalla. Erityisen hankala oletus on siksi, ett盲 Sen muistuttaa pitkin kirjaa siit盲, ett盲 ihmiset voivat laittaa useat identiteettins盲 t盲rkeysj盲rjestykseen ja ett盲 yksitt盲isen identiteetin vaikutus voi vaihdella kontekstista toiseen (mik盲 on normaalia ja suotavaa). Jos asia on n盲in, niin kuin se onkin, miksi moninainen identiteettik盲sitys est盲isi v盲kivaltaa yht盲盲n sen enemp盲盲 kuin yksitt盲inen k盲sitys? Voinhan laittaa my枚s muiden ihmisten identiteetit t盲rkeysj盲rjestykseen ja n盲hd盲 heid盲t sen ryhm盲n j盲senin盲, mik盲 milloinkin sopii minulle parhaiten. Tunnen useita ihmisi盲, jotka ovat umpirasisteja ja siit盲 huolimatta hyv盲盲 pataa ty枚paikkansa ei-valkoisten maahanmuuttajien kanssa 鈥� ty枚paikan somali on nimitt盲in ensisijaisesti huoltomies tai duunari, mutta maahan pyrkiv盲 somali ensisijaisesti etnisen taustansa tai uskontonsa edustaja, eik盲 kenell盲k盲盲n ole miss盲盲n vaiheessa ep盲selvyytt盲 siit盲, ett盲 yksi ihminen voi olla samanaikaisesti monta eri asiaa.
Sortuipa Sen argumentaatiovirheeseen tai ei, kuvitellaan hetki, ett盲 h盲n on oikeassa: ihmisten typist盲minen yksitt盲isiin identiteetteihin johtaa v盲kivaltaan ja moninainen identiteettik盲sitys v盲hent盲盲 v盲kivaltaa. Olen valmis hyv盲ksym盲盲n t盲m盲n, ja sille voi varmasti l枚yt盲盲 sosiaalipsykologian perusteorioista tukea. Onko nobelistin mullistava ehdotus maailmanrauhan saavuttamiseksi tosiaankin, ett盲 鈥漚jatellaan ihmisist盲 v盲hemm盲n mustavalkoisesti鈥�? Sen toistaa toivetta moni-identiteettisyyden hyv盲ksymisest盲 hieman eri sanoin joka kappaleessa, mutta t盲m盲n pidemm盲lle h盲n ei tunnu p盲盲sev盲n. Ennakkoluuloista ja yksinkertaistavista stereotypioista on tietysti t盲rke盲盲 p盲盲st盲 eroon, mutta ei t盲m盲 minusta ole kiinnostava tai hy枚dyllinen lis盲ys keskusteluun. Sain itse asiassa kirjasta enemm盲n irti niist盲 osioista, jotka eiv盲t k盲sitelleet sen varsinaista aihetta. Senill盲 on selv盲sti laaja historiallinen asiantuntemus ja h盲n kritisoi vakuuttavasti esimerkiksi ideaa l盲nsimaisista arvoista (sanapari, joka on vilahdellut viime aikoina mm. Ylen set盲kolumneissa).
Tuntuu silt盲, ett盲 tulee kirjoitettua kunnollisia arvosteluja pelk盲st盲盲n niist盲 kirjoista, joista minulla on enemm盲n negatiivista kuin positiivista sanottavaa. Helppohan se on t盲盲lt盲 kotisohvalta huudella. Toisaalta enemm盲n n盲m盲 ovat omaksi iloksi kuin niille ehk盲 viidelle ihmiselle, jotka sattuvat arvostelun n盲kem盲盲n.
This book, as with most of Sen鈥檚 work, is incredibly well thought out. It draws from culture, history, economics and various other disciplines to attempt to explain the crisis of global identity at the turn of the century as seen in concepts like 鈥榯he end of history鈥�, 鈥榤ulticulturalism鈥� and 鈥榗lash of civilizations鈥� and their more material manifestations in the 鈥榳ar on terror鈥�, and 鈥榞lobalization/anti-globalization鈥�. While the world has moved on from this time the contradictions, disputes and epistemologies of this time continue to be deeply tied into the challenges of the present and this is what makes this book such an interesting read. Take for example the titular idea of 鈥榠dentity鈥�. The increase in 鈥榠dentity politics鈥� in public discourses represents both people taking on a more exclusive and singular form of identity, as warned against by Sen, as well as a recognition of how identities interact in the concept of intersectionality. Identity & Violence in this context can be read as a warning for both sides in what is known as the 鈥榗ulture war鈥� but is very much an 鈥榠dentity war鈥�. The breadth of examples he draws from help illustrate this point well, exploring the rise of Hindutva in India, the complexities of Islamic identity and the inconsistencies in many narratives of what is 鈥榳estern鈥�. While many of the discussions have moved on from the early noughties, it is very possible to see how they were in part formed there. If I were to have two notes it would be that I think his conceptualisation of 鈥榞lobalization鈥� lacks a specificity in the context it was used at the time. Although equally his point is right that many proponents for 鈥榞lobalization鈥� and 鈥榓nti-globalization鈥� lack a firm definition. However, I would argue that the globalization that emerged in the 19th century must be seen as something quite different to the circulation of ideas and resources that happened before such as the silk road. Many civilizations existed across the silk road at different times, but did not experience the flux, crisis and change that have been part of the past 200 years. That said his argument for reframing what the benefits and costs of globalization are is well thought through and poses useful questions applicable to current debates (Such as the rise of neo-optimism in globalists like and ). The second note would be that I think he is too complementary about British multi-culturalism. Maybe it鈥檚 better than most places in the west but it leaves a lot to be desired. The way this book draws from non-western perspectives to explain how the world has ended up how it is reminds me of books like Pankaj Mishra鈥檚 and Priyamvada Gopal鈥檚 . Further it is a wonderful companion to his more India specific book The Argumentative Indian, mapping out how many of the arguments in that book play out on a global scale. An absolute must read from one of the greatest living minds of our time.
A thought provoking, yet accessible read on an otherwise complex topic. Amartya Sen鈥檚 analysis of identity and violence prompts you to also think about identity more generally. An important reflection from this work, is on the dangers of isolating just one predominant identity, at the expense of all others - both as individuals and communities. Why do we give more emphasis to some identities and not others; why can鈥檛 we identify with our religious, cultural, intellectual, political, ethical,and other identities altogether? He challenges and suggests that in many societies we are seeing plural mono-culturalism rather than multiculturalism; cultural diversity rather than cultural liberty. This was one of the most important takeaways for me as his hypothesis and analysis, seem to bear fruit in many societies around us. He challenges readers to embrace the many different threads of identity that make us whole! The way he鈥檚 linked these contemplations of identity to violence around the world, is thought provoking as well. I felt wanting for something but I can鈥檛 pinpoint what it is (3.5 stars).