One of Amartya Sen's consistent themes is the importance of process justice as well as justice in outcomes. It is, he argues forcefully, the reason why freedom is so important an aspect of human well-being. This theme, which features in all his work but especially The Idea of Justice, is applied in a new volume he has edited, Peace and Democratic Society, just out from Open Book Publishers. (It can be read for free online, important to Sen with this volume so readers in India could access it freely, or bought as a download or physical volume.)

The introductory essay draws on the findings of the
Commonwealth Commission on Respect and Understanding, chaired
by Sen. In this new essay Sen underlines the importance of democracy as a process, rather than as a collection of formal institutions as it is conventionally understood. Simply put, democracy is the best set of arrangements for reaching a collective agreement, the best hope of averting violent conflict.

The report has one chapter specifically on the question of poverty, inequality and violence. It focuses on inequality rather than poverty as a contributory factor, and specifically the inequality of economic outcomes for specific groups when this forms one of several forms of unfairness or exclusion affecting specific groups. As it notes, the same degree of poverty, and even the same degree of inequality, is consistent with different patterns of violence. There is no simple formula linking the economic conditions of a society and the prevailing level of violence.

A couple of the other chapters, which I've not yet read, also look interesting. I'm not sure how fruitful the conclusions will prove. The recommendations are rather general, and it's always those who least need to bother who sign up first for motherhood and apple pie. But the key point, surely, is to focus on the process and keep on talking.