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Nobel laureate Amartya Sen Live!

Last updated on: March 15, 2010 15:10 IST

World renowned economist and Nobel laureate Dr Amartya Sen will be giving the annual lecture for UK-based think tank Demos at 1830 GMT on March 15 (12am IST on March 16 and 1430 EST on March 15).

The lecture will reflect on his political philosophy, as revealed in his book, 'The Idea of Justice'. Dr Sen's philosophy is based on the need for each citizen to have broad enough set of 'capabilities' to be 'responsible for their own wellbeing.'

He defines capability as 'the power to do something' and, in this lecture, he will examine how ideas of justice relate to ideas of power, capability and democracy.

At a time when confidence in many of the institutions of economic and political life has been ebbing, Dr Sen will argue for a people-focused, rather than an institutionalist view of democracy and power.

After the lecture, Dr Sen will take questions from both his 'live' and 'online' audience. You can post your questions on the message board after the lecture.

About Prof Amartya Sen:

Dr Amartya Kumar Sen received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his work on welfare economics. He is currently the Thomas W. Lamont University Professor and Professor of Economics and Philosophy at the Harvard University.

About Demos:

Demos is a London-based think tank that researches ideas of politics and policy. The research institute aims at building a democratic society of free citizens.