Jean Dreze has a rare and distinctive understanding of the Indian economy and its relationship with the social life of ordinary people. He has travelled widely in rural India and done fieldwork of a kind that few economists have attempted. In Dreze offers unique insight on issues of hunger, inequality, conflict, and the evolution of social policy in India over roughly the past two decades. Historic legislations and initiatives of the period, relating for instance to the right to food and the right to work, are all scrutinised and explained, as are the fierce debates that often accompanied them. "Jholawala" has become a disparaging term for activists in the Indian business media. This book affirms the learning value of collective action combined with sound economic analysis. In his detailed introduction, the author argues for an approach to development economics where research and action are complementary and interconnected. spans the gamut of critical social policies, from education and health to poverty, nutrition, child care, corruption, employment, and social security. There are also less predictable topics such as the caste system, corporate power, nuclear disarmament, the Gujarat model, the Kashmir conflict, and universal basic income. enlarges the boundaries of social development towards a broad concern with the sort of society we want to create.