SOSS Seminar | Are There “Progressive Maharajas”?

Are There “Progressive Maharajas”?

In a famous debate in the 1990s, Amartya Sen challenged Lee Kuan Yew’s praise for what would come to be termed the East Asian Miracle. For Sen, the East Asian Miracle was defective because true development requires extensive political and civil liberties, which authoritarian regimes in the region lacked. In his best-selling book, Development as Freedom Sen then went on to offer two reasons why this was so. Only liberal democracy can ensure that government policies are oriented toward the particular needs of citizens, he argued, because only this kind of regime allows them to articulate and press their interests. Sen substantiated these claims, which were first articulated by John Stuart Mill, by highlighting the example of Kerala, whose human development indicators are far higher than those of countries with greater per capita incomes. The ’Kerala Model’ shows, Sen argued, how “effective” liberal democracy can be in securing development. There is one problem with Sen’s argument, however. The historical evidence shows that Kerala’s advantage in human development predates the advent of democracy in India. In fact it owes substantially to the policies enacted in the 19th century by its “enlightened” monarchs. Marshalling the relevant evidence, including the newly uncovered first modern treatise on good government, which was written by Madhava Rao, the official responsible for these “enlightened” policies, this talk shows why democracy is evidently not a prerequisite for development. From the perspective of development there can indeed be such things as “benevolent autocrats”—contrary to what contemporary democratic theory assumes.

SPEAKER

Rahul Sagar

Associate Professor of Political Science
New York University Abu Dhabi

Rahul Sagar is Global Network Associate Professor of Social Science at NYU Abu Dhabi. This talk draws on his most recent book The Progressive Maharaja: Sir Madhava Rao’s Hints on the Art and Science of Government (OUP, 2022).

MODERATOR

Christine Dunn Henderson

Associate Professor of Political Science
Singapore Management University

Christine Dunn Henderson is Associate Professor of Political Science at Singapore Management University. She has published extensively on Alexis de Tocqueville, Gustave de Beaumont, French liberalism, and politics and literature. Her edition, as editor and translator, of Tocqueville's Memoirs on Pauperism and Other Writings (University of Notre Dame Press, 2021) opens a window into Tocqueville’s thinking about economic inequality and the social question. Her most recent publications have focused on Tocqueville and race, the literary structure of Democracy in America, and Tocqueville and gender. She is presently writing a book about the dangers to freedom in the democratic age.

Remarks: Due to limited seats, registration is on a first come first served basis.