Freedom, Sen argues, is both the end and most effective means of sustaining economic life and the key to securing the general welfare of the world's entire population. Releasing the idea of individual freedom from association with any particular historical, intellectual, political, or religious tradition, Sen clearly demonstrates its current applicability and possibilities. In the new global economy, where, despite unprecedented increases in overall opulence, the contemporary world denies elementary freedoms to vast numbers--perhaps even the majority of people--he concludes, it is still possible to practically and optimistically retain a sense of social accountability.

Introduction: development as freedom -- The perspective of freedom -- The ends and the means of development -- Freedom and the foundations of justice -- Poverty as capability deprivation -- Markets, state and social opportunity -- The importance of democracy -- Famines and other crises -- Women's agency and social change -- Population, food and freedom -- Culture and human rights -- Social choice and individual behavior -- Individual freedom as a social commitment.