Books, articles & talks Archive
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Finally a good book to read
Posted on May 7, 2007 | No CommentsI had almost become tierd of reading the last few months. Books were becoming repetitive, and arguments were being recycled at an alarming rate. Finally, I landed on a brilliantly written book by Jane Jacobs. I have by now heard a lot about her seminal book, Death and life of great American cities, and I saw some webcasts of her interviews. Finally, I decided that I want to read some good stuff and laid my hands on this book. Jane Jacob’s presentation is lucid and she has a highly engaging style. The content is very original and challenging, and on... -
Biographies I have read: A list
Posted on April 27, 2007 | 1 CommentA list of biographies I have read, many of which I enjoyed If there is one class of books I enjoy reading most, it’s biographies. Given below is a set of biographies I have read, many of which I enjoyed immensely. There are others that were a drag, such as the autobiography of Mussolini, but were rather instructive. As of now, it is just a list. Over time, I hope to write short blurbs about it – depending on how much I remember them now! Gandhi My experiments with truth Biography of Gandhi by Sushila Nair and Pyralal Volumes pertaining... -
Why I need biography to understand history
Posted on April 26, 2007 | No CommentsReading biographies has been a passion for me for a long time. I started as a fiction reader and soon realised that I need my “stories” to be “realistic”. I was reading a popular novel when I was finishing college. At one point the author mentioned that the handsome hero of the novel seduced women and converted them to believing in Castro – and was thus responsible for the success of his revolution. I closed that book with that sentence and gave up novels for a while. That’s when I started reading biographies. Incredible as they may be at times,... -
Best book on India’s development by Amartya Sen and Dreze
Posted on April 15, 2007 | No CommentsIndia: Development and Participation Rating: 5 out of 5 Author: Amartya Sen & Jean Dreze Year: 2002 Category: Development, Economics, India Publisher: Oxford My favourite book on India’s development issues. Provides a comprehensive overview of many important development issues In my opinion this book is gold standard and is a must read for anyone intersted in development issues. Amartya Sen is distinguished for his ability to incorporate a wide variety of concerns including growth, inequalities, gender issues, power relations, etc. Dreze complements these abilities and also brings in significant field-level experience apart from rigorous research. India: Development and Participation combines... -
Webcast of interview with Amartya Sen: Reflections on theory in social sciences
Posted on March 4, 2007 | No CommentsMany talks and interviews with well known people are now available online. I’ve put together a series of them that I have specially enjoyed. To see the rest, click here Amartya Sen, in my opinion, is the economist who has probed the limits of economics as a discipline. In this interview he talks of nature of theorising, especially in economics, and makes many interesting observations. The interesting feature of Sen’s analysis is that he rarely dismisses the philosophical basis of the discipline. Instead he brings out the limitations involved and the need to bring in greater diversity to the informational... -
Music, Space and Place – A brief description
Posted on March 2, 2007 | No CommentsMusic, Space and Place: Popular Music and Cultural Identity Rating: 3 out of 5 Editor: Sheila Whiteley, Andy Bennett, Stan Hawkins Year: 2004 Category: Music, Anthropology, Culture Publisher: Ashgate Publishing The book collects an assortment of articles under three broad heads: (1) music, space and place (2) rap and hip hop – community and cultural identity and (3) musical production and the politics of desire. The introductory chapter is fairly detailed and gives and good outline of all the chapters in the book. It also includes a quick theoretical outline. The first section, which is oriented mostly about issues of... -
Nancy Schepper-Huges’ graphic portrayal of hunger and violance in Brazil
Posted on February 25, 2007 | No CommentsDeath without weeping: The violence of everyday life in Brazil Rating: 4 out of 5 Author: Nancy Schepper-Huges Year: 1992 Category: Anthropology, hunger, violence, poverty Publisher: University of California Press Death without weeping is an ethnographic study of a town in North-Eastern Brazil. The theme of the book is hunger, child deaths and ‘every day violence’ in Brazil. The work is situated in a town she calls ‘Bom Jesus da mata’ in Pernambuco district of N.E. Brazil. The author visited the place first as a volunteer in 1964, and continued her association with the town ever since. After her training... -
Papers and Reports I was involved in
Posted on February 21, 2007 | No CommentsThe right to food has been my main academic preoccupation so far. The following are some of my pieces (many co-authored) on various themes surrounding the issue. Citizens’ Initiative for the Rights of Children Under Six. 2006. Focus on children under six. Delhi: Circus. This report looks at the status of children under six, and the status of India’s only major child care system – Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS). The report is based on a six-state survey and numerous other materials. The focus report is a joint work by a large team. My contribution was on the Tamil Nadu... -
Bibliography of Institutional Economics (downloadable)
Posted on February 16, 2007 | No CommentsThis bibliography covers most of the recent and classic works in institutional economics. I’ve included some reviews in the book review section. My other bibliographies can be seen under the bibliography category. Abraham, Anita, and Jean-Philippe Platteau. 2004. Participatory development: Where culture creeps in. In . Acemoglu, Daron. 2005. Politics and economics in weak and strong states. Journal of Monetary Economics 52, (7) (October): 1199-1226. Acemoglu, Daron, and James A. Robinson. 2006. Economic origins of dictatorship and democracy. Cambridge ; New York: Cambridge University Press. Alston, Lee J., Thráinn Eggertsson, and Douglass Cecil North. 1996. Empirical studies in institutional change.... -
Edward Said’s talk on ‘Clash of Civilizations’ by Samuel Huntington
Posted on February 7, 2007 | 4 CommentsMany talks and interviews with well known people are now available online. I’ve put together a series of them that I have specially enjoyed. To see the rest, click here This is a wonderful lecture by Edward Said on Samuel Huntington’s idea about “Clash of civilizations”. In this lecture Edward Said analyses in detail the arguments of Samuel Huntington in his paper on Clash of civilizations (with a question mark) that ultimately became his book (this time without a question mark!). Edward Said incisively analyzes Huntington’s notion that differences in culture between the ‘West’ and ‘Islam’ will lead to conflicts...
