Development Economics & Philosophy
Amartya Sen
The Economist Who Measured What Matters
Where to Start Reading
Development as Freedom
The essential Sen — the argument that development means expanding human capabilities, not just growing GDP. Accessible, humane, and the best introduction to his thinking. No economics background required.
The Idea of Justice
Sen's alternative to Rawlsian ideal theory — an approach to justice that starts from actual injustices rather than imagining a perfect society. More philosophical than Development as Freedom, but equally clear.
Identity and Violence
Sen on the danger of reducing people to a single identity — religious, national, ethnic. Short, urgent, and prescient about the identity politics that would dominate the following decades.
“Development consists of the removal of various types of unfreedoms that leave people with little choice and little opportunity.”