Book Review-Sense and Solidarity: Jholawala Economics for everyone by Jean Drèze
- Vedant Deshpande
- Aug 26, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 15, 2020
In a year when India has experienced the largest mass migration since the Partition, the economy is in free-fall, unemployment is at a 45-year-high, hundreds of millions of people are being pushed back into poverty and are on the brink of starvation, the role of the State in ameliorating these conditions has regained importance. No academic economic work can overlook these issues. A book that delves into these problems with a human touch and highlights the utility of the interventionist approach is required reading in these unprecedented times.
Sense and Solidarity: Jholawala Economics for Everyone deals with these persistent socio-economic problems of our country—drought, hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy, poverty, bureaucracy, communalism, casteism and others. First published in 2017, it is a collection of essays written by the author, Jean Drèze along with the various co-authors he has worked with. Drèze, a development economist, is himself known for his commitment to social justice—having written extensively in the field. Published in newspapers such as The Hindu over the course of more than two decades, the book reflects his extensive experience working at the grassroots level, examining these issues at length through the eyes of the most marginalised of communities, often overlooked in the mainstream. The essays cover a dazzling array of issues and a wide range of states, delving into each of them through a characteristically empathetic approach.
The principles guiding the book, described succinctly by Drèze in the introduction, are condensed in the words ‘Research for Action’. They describe a method of research that moves away from the conventional focus on abstract principles and academic jargon towards meaningful engagement with the communities that research is based on. The research is meant to contribute to practical change through democratic action, based on ethics and grassroots mobilization. A necessary component of this, thus, involves challenging the status quo and advocating for more interventionist state policies, which often earn the advocates of these the moniker of ‘Jholawalas’, a pejorative used for any social scientist who does not adhere to a corporatist neoliberal paradigm. Drèze’s own lived experiences, adopting a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity despite coming from an elite academic background, reflect that.
The issues raised in the book are increasingly relevant, notwithstanding the length and breadth of the topics they cover. The journeys through overlooked areas in the hinterland provide a searing portrait of how the absence of any positive intervention by the government and decades of neglect have left the communities there struggling for their survival. Drèze describes in detail how policy interventions could dramatically improve the lives of these communities, including a well-developed Public Distribution System, a designed-to-include rather than exclude poverty line, mid-day meals, anganwadis and employment guarantee schemes. He also talks about the government programmes developed along these lines, such as the NREGA and the ICDS.
Drèze also does not shy away from an extensive critique of overreaching government policies that he sees as doing more harm than good, whether they may be Aadhar, bullet trains, nuclear weapons or military interventions. These reveal an approach towards promoting a public-spiritedness that is meant to foster the common good. Only adding to the relevance is the fact that Jean Drèze has served on the National Advisory Council of India, with his approach significantly influencing governmental policy formulation. Whether or not you agree with these policy interventions and critiques, this book is a must-read purely for the insights it provides into the lives of Dalits, Adivasis and the many marginalised communities that we in our privileged bubbles overlook.
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Cover image credits: Manoramaonline.com
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