Amartya Sen. The name immediately conjures up the idea of an ace economist, a Nobel laureate in the field and a pioneer as far as the conception of developmental economics goes. And yet, with recent works such as The Argumentative Indian and The Idea of Justice, Sen reveals himself to be far more diverse in knowledge as well as analysis than what one would traditionally expect from a Nobel Laureate in economics.
The Argumentative Indian is a work demonstrative of how far stretch the connection between history, philosophy, science, culture, religion, identity and politics, examining these issues and much more in a series of essays on India. The essays are a collection of writings, most of which have been published elsewhere in the past, but which are woven together with brief modifications to form a brilliant exposition of the connections between bodies of knowledge seen as rather diverse.
This work sees Sen examining issues ranging from the political implications of nuclear deterrence in South Asia and Secularism to the criticisms of Enlightenment philosophy and the ideas of Indian identity in the West, switching gears seamlessly, the only hiccup being the constant repetitions of certain incidents, people and ideas when giving examples to buttress his most coherent arguments. Most powerful are the critiques Sen launches against the proliferation of nuclear arms in the subcontinent and the rampant and virulent spread of communal divisiveness, instances where he showcases the full breadth of his knowledge to reveal glaring inconsistencies as well as bare bloody-mindedness of certain elements in Indian society today.
The book is interspersed with anecdotes and humour, and laced with instances of personal experience that Sen uses most convincingly to buttress his arguments. The book is rather informal, but can easily be treated as scholarly reading for the discerning academic, supported as it is with voluminous references from EM Forster and Marco Polo to Ashis Nandy and Mary Wollstonecraft. This book sees Sen demonstrating that India is a culture that has for years celebrated heterodoxy and scepticism, and that modern portrayals of India as a land purely of reliogosity and mysticism are vastly misplaced. In accomplishing this mission, Sen leaves us with a masterpiece that traverses issues that would interest almost everyone, with an intensity and depth hard to find elsewhere.
Definitely a must read for any Indian interested in a keen understanding of the historical-philosophical underpinnings of diversity in India.
