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A Nobel Prize–winning economist who is equally fluent in social and political philosophy, Amartya Sen smashes stereotypical cultural assumptions in this dazzling rebuttal of identity politics. Rejecting the thinking that pigeonholes people into "little boxes," Sen draws on history, science, and literature to illustrate the diversity of so-called monolithic cultures. Briefly but elegantly stated, this treatise examines the violence that accompanies the assertion of traditional identities and suggests that peace can prevail if people are free to choose their own identity affiliations.
Foreign Affairs
Why is the world racked by barbarity and violence? In this provocative little book, the Nobel laureate economist argues that the causes are as much distorted identities as nasty intentions. When people acquire a strong and exclusive sense of belonging to a single group, Sen notes, the conditions ripen for conflict and violence; when shrunken and shorn of its layered complexity, identity can kill — Hutus massacre Tutsis, for example, when they no longer see themselves also as Rwandan, African, laborers, and human beings. Sen suggests that sectarian hatreds around the world — in places such as Kosovo, Bosnia, Rwanda, Timor, Israel, Palestine, and Sudan — are ignited or exacerbated by illusions of unique and choiceless identities, leading Sen to take issue with Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations" thesis. When civilizations conflict it is because of a failure — often a cultivated failure — to appreciate the true diversity of identities that infuse them. Sen eloquently describes the dangers of this flattening of human identity. He is less clear, however, about how to nurture a global environment where the richness and multiplicity of identities can thrive.
From the Publisher
"Sen is now Asia’s preeminent philosopher of freedom. . . . This is an indispensable book."— Anwar Ibrahim, former deputy prime minister of Malaysia
"Amartya Sen brings to our generation a new and modern vision of how to obtain peace."— George Akerlof, Nobel Laureate in Economics
"Amartya Sen, one of the world’s great thinkers, tells us how to go about building a more peaceful world. I hope the book will be read by all."— Ted Turner
