• Development as Freedom

  • By: Amartya Sen
  • Narrated by: Byron Wagner
  • Length: 11 hrs and 22 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (134 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Development as Freedom  By  cover art

Development as Freedom

By: Amartya Sen
Narrated by: Byron Wagner
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $24.95

Buy for $24.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

By the winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Economics, an essential and paradigm-altering framework for understanding economic development - for both rich and poor - in the 21st century.

Freedom, Sen argues, is both the end and most efficient means of sustaining economic life and the key to securing the general welfare of the world's entire population. Releasing the idea of individual freedom from association with any particular historical, intellectual, political, or religious tradition, Sen clearly demonstrates its current applicability and possibilities. In the new global economy, where, despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to vast numbers - perhaps even the majority of people - he concludes it is still possible to practically and optimistically restain a sense of social accountability. Development as Freedom is essential reading.

©1999 Amartya Sen (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Development as Freedom

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    85
  • 4 Stars
    26
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    2
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    62
  • 4 Stars
    28
  • 3 Stars
    13
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    71
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    8
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The book that launched a field

The breadth and depth of Sen's thinking is astounding - there's a reason he got a Nobel. Impressive erudition conveyed eloquently.

Be warned: this book is dense. Those without a philosophy or economics background may struggle digesting some of the message; it is very esoteric. However, those willing to do so will certainly glean much from it irrespective of their background.

That said, the book itself is brilliant; an exposition of Sen's seminal capabilities approach.

I'm also biased. This is one of my favourite books and I study development. I've read it multiple times (though it is sufficiently dense that you can continue getting something out of it with each read) and bought the audiobook to supplement.

The book and author are world class.

It's not a light read, but it does systematically go through how to best think about development raising a number of questions that have since been pursued by many other scholars and practitioners.

I've read well over 1,000 books and this is in my top five alongside Sen's The Idea of Justice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A must read for anyone interested in Development

This book is basically the Bible for anyone interested in human Development. It outlines freedom and equality as means of development as well as goals.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Interesting core idea but very boring

Interesting core idea but very boring and repetitive. I'm not an economist so perhaps I am not the target audience but the core idea seemed rather obvious, but there are many interesting stories in the book to support why this approach is needed, which I did value.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful