Pranab Bardhan, Ashoka Mody, and more for PS Read More

The Passions and the Interests, by Albert O. Hirschman; Making Sense of Marx, by Jon Elster; and more. The PS Say More Newsletter [PS Read More]( In this week's edition of PS Read More, we share recommendations from Pranab Bardhan, Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. We also highlight a recent work by Ashoka Mody, Visiting Professor of International Economic Policy at Princeton University, and share the three finalists for the 2023 Project Syndicate Sustainability Book Award. [Ethics in the Real World by Peter Singer]( Sponsored by Princeton University Press [Ethics In The Real World]( By [Peter Singer]( Peter Singer is often described as the world’s most influential philosopher. He is also one of its most controversial. Singer helped launch the animal-rights and effective-altruism movements and contributed to the development of bioethics. Now, in Ethics in the Real World, Singer shows that he is also a master at dissecting important current events in a few hundred words. Available now. Pranab Bardhan Recommends... [The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism Before Its Triumph]( By Albert O. Hirschman One subject area that interests me is intellectual history and the origin of capitalism. And, here, this 1977 volume has truly stood the test of time. With lucidity, nuance, and irony, Hirschman describes the complex ideological changes that unfolded in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and that facilitated the early development of capitalism. His origin story stands in contrast to the more streamlined – even reductive – accounts provided by, say, Max Weber or Karl Marx. [Making Sense of Marx]( By Jon Elster Speaking of Marx, Elster’s 1985 book offers a sympathetic but nondogmatic account of Marx’s views, followed by a rigorous analysis using the tools of analytical philosophy. Elster ultimately finds that several of Marx’s propositions are not quite sustainable. Even readers who disagree with Elster’s findings are likely to be impressed by the comprehensiveness of his scholarly inquiry and, more broadly, the relentless search for micro-foundations in grand theories in social science. [Of Women, Outcastes, Peasants, and Rebels: A Selection of Bengali Short Stories]( Edited by Kalpana Bardhan This collection of 20 short stories written in Bengali by five authors between 1890 and the 1970s offers a splendid example of literature as social commentary – a domain often overlooked by social scientists. The stories vividly show the turmoil that accompanies change in a highly structured and oppressive society. They bring the intricate forms of oppression and resistance (both passive and active) that emerge in such contexts into sharper relief, and with more sensitivity, than social scientists’ data-oriented accounts ever could. Don't miss Bardhan's recent Say More interview, in which he highlights the costs of India’s crony oligarchy, assess the sources of China’s economic resilience, makes the case for a UBI in low-income countries, and more. [Read now](. By a PS Contributor [India Is Broken: A People Betrayed, Independence to Today]( By Ashoka Mody Mody says: "Indian elites, living in first-world gated communities, tout a narrative of India on the move. The global echoes of that narrative can be seen in predictions of an 'Indian century.' But look beyond the hype, and you see hundreds of millions of Indians who are struggling to find gainful employment, have access only to poor education and health care, and are continually exposed to polluted air and water. You see women facing endemic violence in their homes and in public spaces, agriculture in distress, harsh urban living conditions, and a coercive judicial system for all but the most privileged. Dying rivers and a marauding climate crisis are further damaging lives and livelihoods. India is Broken is my effort to tell the post-independence history of eroding social norms and public accountability, which leave the country and its people at a dangerous impasse." In "India’s Boom Is a Dangerous Myth," Mody dismantles the hype around a rosy economic narrative that is actually becoming bleaker by the day. [Read now](. Sustainability Book Award Finalists The Project Syndicate Sustainability Book Award, presented in partnership with La Banque Postale, recognizes one new book that offers uniquely valuable contributions to the public’s understanding of issues of global concern. Below we share the finalists. [Minding the Climate: How Neuroscience Can Help Solve Our Environmental Crisis]( By Ann-Christine Duhaime Duhaime says: “A fascination with brain design and function led me to a career in pediatric neurosurgery, which I have practiced for more than three decades. A concern about the future of the children we care for, as well as observations from my research on brain recovery and plasticity, led me to explore the relationship between evolutionary brain design and the difficult pro-environmental decisions we need to make as individuals and collectively in society. How does the human brain draw on the design of ancient organisms that use reward currencies to teach us what we need to know for short-term survival? What elements of life in the twenty-first century have amplified these tendencies, contributing to the acceleration of climate change? How malleable is our brain in changing its priorities and the equations it uses to make decisions? To help us face a crisis that evolution couldn’t have anticipated, knowledge of our inherited but interactive neural design can help equip us to work with the brains we have today to address this new kind of crisis. This understanding gives us hope that a better future is possible.” --------------------------------------------------------------- [Wild by Design: The Rise of Ecological Restoration]( By Laura J. Martin Martin says: “As an ecologist and historian, I study how people shape the habitats of other species. In Wild by Design, I examine the long history of ecological restoration, which shows that all ‘wild’ species and ‘natural’ habitats are, in fact, shaped by human activity and human desires. I also draw attention to the frequency with which ecological restoration projects have ignored questions of human social justice, even in the pursuit of justice for other species. With these important caveats in mind, I argue that restoration remains a hopeful science and the key science for sustainability, as we enter the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.” --------------------------------------------------------------- [How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We're Going]( By Vaclav Smil Smil says: “In software parlance, the book’s title is perfectly WYSIWYG: a brief but systematic, factual review of all basic factors – from food and commercial energies to the forces of globalization – that make the modern world work. Necessarily, this includes their interactions, historical perspectives, environmental impacts, and evaluations of associated risks. There are no long-range forecasts (these are bound to fail), no ideological perspectives, and no wishful thinking – just quantified realities.” [PS. 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