Which one of the following books written by Noble Laureate Amartya Sen and published in July, 2021 ?

The correct answer is C) Home in the World. It is Amartya Sen's memoir, covering his childhood in Santiniketan and Dhaka, his Cambridge years and his early academic life. It was published in 2021, which is why the question picks it out from his older works.

• A) Development and Freedom is wrong. It was published in 1999 and argues that development means expansion of capabilities and freedoms, the basis of the human development approach.
• B) The Argumentative Indian is wrong. Published in 2005, it defends the tradition of public reasoning, debate and tolerance in Indian history.
• D) The Idea of Justice is wrong. Published in 2009, it sets out his comparative theory of justice and contrasts it with Rawls' transcendental approach.

Core concept: Sen's works bridge economics and political philosophy. For Mains GS-I and GS-IV, his capability approach and ideas on public reasoning recur in questions on development, welfare and ethics.

Trap: Candidates often pick The Argumentative Indian because it is his best-known book, and the publication-year cue gets lost. Keep a year-wise list of Sen's titles in your notes.