Political Economy of Hunger

Description

This volume is the first of three addressing a wide range of policy issues relating to the role of public action in combating hunger and deprivation in the modern world. It deals with the background nutritional, economic, social, and political aspects of the problem of world hunger.

Topics covered include the characteristics and causal antecedents of famines and endemic deprivation, the interconnections between economic and political factors, the role of social relations and the family, the special problems of women's deprivation, the connection between food consumption and other indicators of living standards, and the medical aspects of undernourishment and its consequences.

Several contributions also address the political background of public policy, in particular the connection between the government and the public, including the role of newspapers and the media, and the part played by political commitment and by adversarial politics and pressures. Taken together, these essays provide a comprehensive and authoritative analysis of the problem of hunger and deprivation, and an important guide for action.

About the Editor

Jean Drèze, development economist, has taught at the London School of Economics and the Delhi School of Economics and is currently Visiting Professor at Ranchi University. He has made wide-ranging contributions to development economics and public policy, with special reference to India. He is co-author (with Amartya Sen) of Hunger and Public Action (Oxford University Press, 1989), An Uncertain Glory: India and Its Contradictions (Penguin, 2013), and Sense and Solidarity (OUP: 2019).

Amartya Sen teaches economics and philosophy at Harvard University, and was previously Master of Trinity College, Cambridge. He has served as President of the American Economic Association, the Indian Economic Association, the International Economic Association, and the Econometric Society. His awards include the Bharat Ratna (India), Commandeur de la légion d'honneur (France), the National Humanities Medal (USA), Honorary Companion of Honour (UK), Ordem Nacional do Mérito Científico (Brazil), and the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Contributors:

Jean Drèze, Amartya Sen, S. M. Ravi Kanbur, Rehman Sobhan, Kirit S. Parikh, N. Ram, Partha Dasgupta, Debraj Ray, S. R. Osmani, Sudhir Anand, Christopher Harris, Barbara Harriss, Ann Whitehead

Reviews

"Review from previous edition What makes the work of Drèze and Sen so worthy of respect is that it is not reliant on theory or on indignation but firmly based on detailed research and analysis of all aspects of the problem." - William St Clair, Financial Times "the authors are highly respected and the series draws on an extraordinary data base and comparison between countries. Bringing all this together is Amartya Sen. Lamont University Professor at Harvard, who has an unparalleled reputation for his work on famine, equity, and development economics ... This series forms the most definitive recent analysis of the problems of hunger and deprivation in the three continents of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The range of issues and countries covered is nothing short of extraordinary." - Dissent "This is an uncommonly fine collection of papers by prominent authors. A valuable addition to upper-division undergraduate and graduate collections in development economics." - C.L. Nelson, Davidson College, CHOICE, Dec '91 "the most ambitious treatment of the intertwined issues of hunger, famines and well-being currently in print ... Drèze and Sen's collection is a massive achievement and will doubtless become an obligatory reference for every student on the subject. Certain essays, notably those by Jean Dréze himself, should also become obligatory reading for all practitioners in the field." - Development and Change, Vol. 24 (1993)

Table of contents

1: Introduction, Jean Drèze and Amartya Sen
2: Food, Economics, and Entitlements, Amartya Sen
3: Global Food Balances and Individual Hunger: Three Themes in an Entitlements Based Approach, S. M. Ravi Kanbur
4: The Politics of Hunger and Entitlement, Rehman Sobhan
5: Chronic Hunger in the World: Impact of International Policies, Kirit S. Parikh
6: An Independent Press and Anti Hunger Strategies: The Indian Experience, N. Ram
7: Adapting to Undernourishment: The Biological Evidence and its Implications, Partha Dasgupta and Debraj Ray
8: Nutrition and the Economics of Food: Implications of Some Recent Controversies, S. R. Osmani
9: Food and Standard of Living: An Analysis Based on Sri Lankan Data, Sudhir Anand and Christopher Harris
10: The Intrafamily Distribution of Hunger in South Asia, Barbara Harriss
11: Rural Women and Food Production in Sub Saharan Africa, Ann Whitehead