Bhabatosh Datta Memorial Lecture

Professor Bhabatosh Datta was a noted economist, academic and writer. He studied BA in Economics at the Presidency College and later obtainedhis Ph.D from the London School of Economics. His dissertation was later published as the much celebrated book The Economics of Industrialisation (1952). He had taught at several institutions across West Bengal and also served for a year at the International Monetary Fund before embarking on a long and distinguished career as Professor of Economics at Presidency College. During his tenure at Presidency, he produced a galaxy of eminent students like Amartya Sen, Sukhamoy Chakraborty, Bimal Jalan and so on. Subsequently he served the government with distinction in various capacities namely, as the Director of Public Instructions and the Secretary of Education for the Government of West Bengal and as a member of the Finance Commission of India during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1990, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award, by the government of India. Till his death in 1997, he continued to publish regular columns on the state of Indian economy and society.

Bhabatosh Datta Memorial Lecture 2024

The Bhabatosh Datta Memorial Lecture for 2024 was held on 7th at 11:00 AM IST via Zoom. This year the lecture was given by Prof. Amitava Krishna Dutt, Professor of Economics and Political Science Emeritus, University of Notre Dame, USA.

Title: A Structuralist Analytical Political Economy Perspective on Economic Development with Special Reference to India.

Abstract: The terms structuralist approach, political economy, analytical and economic development are first defined in the sense in which they are used in this lecture. The chosen definitions are explained and justified in terms of different dimensions of analysis. The approach is then compared to a few widely-used approaches, including the classical, neoclassical, Marxian, institutionalist, behavioral feminist and ecological ones. Finally, an outline of a structuralist political economy approach for India is briefly presented and its main implications discussed, focusing on the problem of the inequality of income and wealth. The intention is not to develop and present well-defined and definitive theories and models, but on providing a framework with which students and scholars can develop their own ideas.

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Bhabatosh Datta Memorial Lecture 2023

The Bhabatosh Datta Memorial Lecture for 2023 was held on 1st November 2023 at 6:00 PM IST via Google Meet. This year the lecture was given by Prof. Amit Bhaduri of Jawaharlal Nehru University. The title of his lecture was "Development with Full Employment".

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Bhabatosh Datta Memorial Lecture 2022

The Bhabatosh Datta Memorial Lecture for 2022 was held on October 14, 2022, at 7:00 PM IST via Google Meet. The inaugural lecture, titled "Behind the crisis: Two histories of knowledge production for Indian agriculture," was delivered by Barbara Harriss-White, an Emeritus Professor and Fellow at Wolfson College, Oxford University. The lecture aimed to examine the processes of knowledge production in the context of Indian agriculture.

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