Amartya Sen on Democracy, Dissent and Autonomy of Universities

Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen, talks about re-releasing his seminal work on collective choice and social welfare in the form of a new book and what situations drove him to add further to this work. According to Sen, people have confused 'state' with 'government', but the state does not only include the government. It also includes the media, the courts and multiple other dimensions. On being asked about the fragmentation in Indian polity in today's time, Sen explains the distinction between 'majority' and 'plurality'. Sen has been an active advocate of the idea of dissent and he has voiced his concern whenever any university has come under attack by the government. In this conversation as well, he reiterates his stand on dissent and advocates for the educational universities to get autonomy.