Inquiry into well - being and destitution

This volume is a seminal work dealing comprehensively with the problem of poverty. It is an analytical and an empirical inquiry into human well-being and the phenomenon of destitution. Professor Dasgupta's aim here is to offer a description of destitution as it occurs among rural populations of the poor countries of Asia, Africa, an Latin America; to give an account of the forces at work which perpetuate destitution; and to offer prescriptions for both the public and private spheres of life.

A central concern of the author has been to reconcile theoretical considerations with the empirical evidence that has been obtained in the several disciplines this work encompasses: anthropology, demography, Cology, economics, epidemiology, geography, moral and political philosophy, and the environmental, nutrition and political sciences. The entire discussion is designed to provide a political philosophy for human well-being that can guide public policy in poor countries. Thus the role of the State, of communities, of households, and of individuals, is studied in considerable detail.

The author reveals an empirical link between greater political and civil liberties and improvements in life expectancy at birth, national income per head, and infant survival rates. He identifies patterns of asset redistribution that promote economic growth by raising labour productivity; and argues that democratic participation in the design of public policies is not only intrinsically valuable, but has strong instrumental virtues: it allows privately held information to be put into effective use. Professor Dasgupta presents evidence to show that significant reductions in the military budgets of governments would free the resources needed for the satisfaction of citizens' basic economic needs; and he provides guidance for the motivation and necessary focus of governments. He also opens the 'black box' of the household, by providing an account of empirical findings on the allocation of food, work,

health care, education, and income across the genders, among the old and the young, and across orders of birth. He puts the findings of nutritionists on the link between food needs and work capacity to use in reconstructing modern resource allocation theory so that it is better able to provide an account of transactions undertaken by poor people in rural communities. The author also develops a language that would allow the environment to be included in social policies and calculations: from improving agricultural productivity to protecting local commons; and from sustaining the local environmental resource base to

using a new definition of net national product that allows for environmental degradation. Thus covering an unprecedented range of material, An Inquiry into Well-Being and Distitution is required reading for all those concerned with the human situation, and the plight of the destitute.