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Development of sociology in india.

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The origin of sociology and social anthropology in India can be traced to the days when the British officials realized the need to understand the native society and its culture in the interest of smooth administration. However, it was only during the twenties of the last century that steps were taken to introduce sociology and social anthropology as academic disciplines in Indian universities.

The popularity that these subjects enjoy today and their professionalization is, however, a post-independence phenomenon. Attempts have been made by scholars from time to time to outline the historical developments, to highlight the salient trends and to identify the crucial problems of these subjects.

Sociology and social/cultural anthropology are cognate disciplines and are in fact indissoluble. However, the two disciplines have existed and functioned in a compartmentalized manner in the European continent as well as in the United States. This separation bears the indelible impress of western colonialism and Euro-centrism.

However, Indian sociologists and anthropologists have made an attempt to integrate sociology and anthropology in research, teaching and recruitment. They have made a prominent contribution to the development of indigenous studies of Indian society and have set an enviable example before the Asian and African scholars.

Another significant contribution of Indian sociology and social/cultural anthropology lies in their endeavor to synthesize the text and the context. This synthesis between the text and the context has provided valuable insights into the dialectic of continuity and change to contemporary Indian society (Momin, 1997).

It is difficult to understand the origin and development of sociology in India without reference to its colonial history. By the second half of the 19th century, the colonial state in India was about to undergo several major transformations.

Land, and the revenue and authority that accrued from the relationship between it and the state, had been fundamental to the formation of the early colonial state, eclipsing the formation of Company rule in that combination of formal and private trade that itself marked the formidable state-like functions of the country.

The important event that took place was the revolt of 1857, which showed that the British did not have any idea about folkways and customs of the large masses of people. If they had knowledge about Indian society, the rebellion of 1857 would not have taken place. This meant that a new science had to come to understand the roots of Indian society. The aftermath of 1857 gave rise to ethnographic studies. It was with the rise of ethnography, anthropology and sociology which began to provide empirical data of the colonial rule.

Herbert Risley was the pioneer of ethnographic studies in India. He entered the Indian Civil Services in 1857 with a posting in Bengal. It was in his book Caste and Tribes of Bengal (1891) that Risley discussed Brahminical sociology, talked about ethnography of the castes along with others that the importance of caste was brought to colonial rulers. Nicholas Dirks {In Post Colonial Passages, Sourabh Dube, Oxford, 2004) observes:

Risley’s final ethnographic contribution to colonial knowledge thus ritualed the divineness of caste, as well as its fundamental compati­bility with politics only in the two registers of ancient Indian monarchy or modern Britain’s ‘benevolent despotism’.

Thus, the ethnographic studies came into prominence under the influence of Risley. He argued that to rule India caste should be discouraged. This whole period of 19th century gave rise to ethnographic studies, i.e., studies of caste, religion, rituals, customs, which provided a foundation to colonial rule for establishing dominance over India. It is in this context that the development of sociology in India has to be analysed.

Sociology and social anthropology developed in India in the colonial interests and intellectual curiosity of the western scholars on the one hand, and the reactions of the Indian scholars on the other. British administrators had to acquire the knowledge of customs, manners and institutions of their subjects.

Christian missionaries were interested in understanding local languages, folklore and culture to carry out their activities. These overlapping interests led to a series of tribal, caste, village and religious community studies and ethnological and linguistic surveys. Another source of interest in Indian studies was more intellectual.

While some western scholars were attracted by the Sanskrit language, Vedic and Aryan civilization, others were attracted by the nature of its ancient political economy, law and religion. Beginning from William Jones, Max Muller and others, there was a growth of Indo logical studies. Karl Marx and Frederic Engels were attracted by the nature of oriental disposition in India to build their theory of evolution of capitalism.

Similarly, Henry Maine was interested in the Hindu legal system and village communities to formulate the theory of status to contract. Again, Max Weber got interested in Hinduism and other oriental religions in the context of developing the theory, namely, the spirit of capitalism and the principle of rationality developed only in the West.

Thus, Indian society and culture became the testing ground of various theories, and a field to study such problems as growth of town, poverty, religion, land tenure, village social organization and other native social institutions. All these diverse interests – academic, missionary, administrative and political – are reflected in teaching of sociology.

According to Srinivas and Panini (1973: 181), the growth of the two disciplines in India falls into three phases:

The first, covering the period between 1773-1900 AD, when their foundations were laid;

The second, 1901-1950 AD, when they become profession­alized;

and finally, the post-independence years, when a complex of forces, including the undertaking of planned development by the government, the increased exposure of Indian scholars to the work of their foreign colleagues, and the availability of funds, resulted in considerable research activity.

Here, three major phases in the introspection in sociology, which have been discussed by Rege (1997) in her thematic paper on ‘Sociology in Post-Independent India’, may also be mentioned. Phase one is characterized by the interrogations of the colonial impact on the discipline and nationalist responses to the same, phase second is marked by explo­rations into the initiative nature of the theoretical paradigms of the discipline and debates on strategies of indigenization.

This phase also saw critical reflections on the deductive positivistic base of sociology and the need for Marxist paradigms and the more recent phase of post-structuralism, feminist and post-modern explorations of the discipline and the field. Lakshmanna also (1974: 1) tries to trace the development of sociology in three distinctive phases. The first phase corresponds to the period 1917-1946, while the second and the third to 1947-1966 and 1967 onwards respectively.

Sociology in the Pre-Independence Period:

As is clear by now that sociology had its formal beginning in 1917 at Calcutta University owing to the active interest and efforts of B.N. Seal. Later on, the subject was handled by Radhakamal Mukerjee and B.N. Sarkar. However, sociology could not make any headway in its birthplace at Calcutta.

On the other hand, anthropology flourished in Calcutta with the establishment of a department and later on the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI). Thus, sociology drew a blank in the eastern parts of the country. But, the story had been different in Bombay. Bombay University started teaching of sociology by a grant of Government of India in 1914.

The Department of Sociology was established in 1919 with Patrick Geddes at the helm of affair. He was joined by G.S. Ghurye and N.A. Toothi. This was indeed a concrete step in the growth of sociology in India. Another centre of influence in sociological theory and research was at Lucknow that it introduced sociology in the Department of Economics and Sociology in 1921 with Radhakamal Mukerjee as its head.

Later, he was ably assisted by D.P. Mukerji and D.N. Majumdar. In South India, sociology made its appearance at Mysore University by the efforts of B.N. Seal and A.F. Wadia in 1928. In the same year sociology was introduced in Osmania University at the undergraduate level. Jafar Hasan joined the department after he completed his training in Germany.

Another university that started teaching of sociology and social anthropology before 1947 was Poona in the late 1930s with Irawati Karve as the head. Between 1917 and 1946, the development of the discipline was uneven and in any case not very encouraging. During this period, Bombay alone was the main centre of activity in sociology. Bombay attempted a synthesis between the Indo-logical and ethnological trends and thus initiated a distinctive line of departments.

During this period, Bombay produced many scholars who richly contributed to the promotion of sociological studies and research in the country. K.M. Kapadia, Irawati Karve, S.V. Karandikar, M.N. Srinivas, A.R. Desai, I.P. Desai, M.S. Gore and Y.B. Damle are some of the outstanding scholars who shaped the destiny of the discipline. The products of this university slowly diffused during this period in the hinterland universities and helped in the establishment of the departments of sociology.

Certain trends of development of sociology may be identified in the pre-independence period. Sociology was taught along with economics, both in Bombay and Lucknow. However, in Calcutta, it was taught along with anthropology, and in Mysore it was part of social philosophy.

Teachers had freedom to design the course according to their interests. No rigid distinction was made between sociology on the one hand and social psychology, social philosophy, social anthropology, social work, and other social sciences such as economics and history, on the other. The courses included such topics as social biology, social problems (such as crime, prostitution and beggary), social psychology, civilization and pre-history. They covered tribal, rural and urban situations.

At the general theoretical level, one could discern the influence of the British social anthropological traditions with emphasis on diffusionism and functionalism. In the case of teaching of Indian social institutions the orientation showed more Indo-logical emphasis on the one hand and a concern for the social pathological problems and ethnological description on the other. Strong scien­tific empirical traditions had not emerged before independence. Sociology was considered a mixed bag without a proper identity of its own.

Sociology in the Post-Independence Period:

The next phase, as mentioned by Lakshmanna (1974: 45), in the growth of the subject, corresponds to the period between the attainment of independence and the acceptance of the regional language as the medium of instruction in most states of the country. Towards the end of this period, we also witnessed the interest on the part of the Central Government to promote social science research through a formal organization established for the purpose.

This phase alone experienced tremendous amount of interaction within the profession as two parallel organizations started functioning for the promotion of the profession. In Bombay, Indian Sociological Society was established and Sociological Bulletin was issued as the official organ of the society. This helped to a large extent in creating a forum for publication of sociological literature.

Lucknow school, on the other hand, started the All India Annual Sociological Conference for professional interaction. Lakshmanna identifies that the research efforts mainly progress on three lines. First, there was large-scale doctoral research in the university. Second, the growing needs of the planners and adminis­trators on the one hand and the realization of increasing importance of sociological thinking and research in the planning process on the other, opened up opportunities for research projects.

Third, during this period, the growing importance of social science research also resulted in the establishment of research institutes. The development of research activity also meant the enlargement of the employment opportunities at all levels.

Correspondingly, there was also an increase in the number of universities and college departments. This period also noticed considerable vertical and horizontal mobility in the profession. Teaching of sociology got well established in the fifties. This period reflected three things as marked by Rao (1982).

First, sociology achieved greater academic status. Not only many more universities and colleges began to teach at the postgraduate and graduate levels but the discipline itself became more focused in theoretical orien­tation and highly diversified in its specialization. Secondly, sociology established its identity as discipline by separating itself from psychology, anthropology, social philosophy and social work.

Although, in some universities, still social pathology and social psychology are taught as a part of sociology courses. In many others, a highly diversified curriculum structure in proper sociology exists including such specialization as rural and urban sociology, sociology of kinship, sociology of religion, sociology of stratification, sociology of education, political sociology, medical sociology, social demography and sociology of economic devel­opment.

Thirdly, diversification followed the lines of extension of sociological approach to different areas of social life. It was related to the growing needs of development in independent India. Colonial legacy became a thing of the past and democratic processes were introduced at all levels.

Sociologists soon become sensitive to problems of development in the contexts of tribal, rural and urban situations. Problems of rural development, industrialization, and expansion of education, control of population, new political processes and institutions, social and political movements attracted their areas of social life. They started conducting empirical research with a view to understand the structure, dynamics and problems of development. All these concerns had a feedback on the teaching of sociology at various levels.

Another important change in the teaching of sociology, which came after independence, has been in regard to the external intel­lectual influences. Before independence the teaching of sociology and social anthropology was mainly, if not wholly, influenced by the then current theoretical concerns in Great Britain.

We have already mentioned the influence of diffusionism and functionalism (of Malinowski). The syllabi also reflected traditions of ethnology, evolutionism and Indology. After independence, however, American sociological traditions had a major impact on the teaching of sociology in India. This is evident from such topics in the syllabi as structural-functional theory (Parsons and Merton) and research methodology.

Besides the American, the French, German and Marxian intellectual influences also had an impact. In the midst of such diverse intellectual stimuli, Indian sociologists began to criticize, modify and develop diverse sociological approaches in the study of Indian society and culture, and these are reflected in the course of study of different universities.

Developments in the Seventies:

There have been a few reviews of developments in sociology and social anthropology since earlier times till 1970s and onwards (see, for example, the collection of essays in Unnithan, Singh et al., 1965; ICSSR, 1971, 1974, 1985; Rao, 1974; Mukherjee, 1977; Mukherjee, 1979; Singh, 1986; UGC, 1978, 1979, 1982; Lele, 1981; Oommen and Mukherjee, 1986; Dhanagare, 1993; Singhi, 1996). Of these, Ram Krishan Mukherjee’s review has been more exhaustive and substantial for the discipline as a whole.

The ICSSR trend reports covered in detail the developments in each of specializations. Rao (1982: 16-23) reviewed the developments in the seventies under three heads:

(i) areas of the interests and specialization which got crystallized;

(ii) areas of interest which has developed but not got crystallized; and

(iii) emergence of new approaches in the estab­lished areas.

The seventies of the last century saw a further continued diver­sification of interests and specialization in substantive areas of research and teaching in the sixties. While, earlier, village community studies dominated researches, but the interests in the areas of agrarian relations, land reforms, peasants, agricultural labourers, and scheduled castes and tribes began to attract greater attention of sociologists and social anthropologists in the seventies.

The problems of rural society were formulated in the Marxian framework of analysis emphasizing conflicts and contradictions. The other areas of interests that were crystallized in the seventies were industrial sociology, urban sociology and social stratification. Secondly, there were six areas of interest that started getting some attention in the seventies but have not really got off the mark.

These were: sociology of profession, sociology of organization, medical sociology, social demography and studies on women, Muslims and Hindu-Muslim relations. Thirdly, it is significant to note that the seventies saw new approaches and foci in the large areas of research and teaching such as caste, kinship, religion, politics and tribal studies.

Perspectives in the Eighties:

Many of the areas of specialization mentioned in the foregoing account, no doubt, gained strength in the eighties of the last century. Some areas of enquiry, such as social demography and medical sociology, were crystallized. A few other areas of investigation opened up and more research in the established areas was undertaken on new lines. Some of the new areas have been introduced.

These were: sociology of deviance, sociology of knowledge, sociology of science and technology, and historical sociology. Rao (1982) anticipated these areas for research in the eighties. There was an indication that interest in sociology of science and technology might get more widespread (Uberoi, 1978; Vishwanathan, 1977). The growing interest in historical sociology was reflected in Fox (1977).

Damle (1982: 57-58) anticipated the task of sociology for the eighties in India, which was to analyse (1) the transformation of Indian society, (2) the limits of such transfor­mation, and (3) the impact of these limits to such transformation, which was reflected either in the frustrations of the efforts to surmount the obstacles. In this context, new ideologies and protest movements acquired a special significance.

In many of the newly developing branches of sociology, scholars have made notable but isolated contributions. There has been thinking that research should be promoted in the nineties in the areas of sociology of planning and development, sociology of professions, sociology of organizations, social dimensions of poverty, law and social change, sociology of national integration etc.

Imperatives in the Nineties:

The country during the nineties of the last century was passing through radical political, economical and socio-cultural changes as a result of which the scope and focus of Indian sociology has expanded. Under the influence of such developments, the Indian government that adored the policy of mixed economy ever since independence and cherished the ideals of welfarism proceeded to allow the market-oriented policy to prevail.

To achieve this goal, the government adopted a new policy of economic reforms in the year 1991 with a view to globalize its economy (Singh, 1997). Globalization is a move prompted by the leaders of the developed world. Liberalization policy, including the freedom accorded to the foreign companies and capital to enter into Indian market, is the two major steps of the government in this direction.

The impact of globalization on Indian cultural heritage and general life situation of the people of the country has generated new areas that deserve the attention of Indian sociologists who do seem to be attentive to such relevant areas as civic society (Gupta, 1997), crisis and resil­ience in the process of social change (Singh, 1993) and secularism and national integration 0oshi, 1997) but specific social impli­cation of the new economic policy is yet to be analysed.

A few courses have been introduced recently on global themes in some of the universities. They are as follows: ecology and society, issues of human rights, sociology of management, human resource devel­opment, media and society, action sociology etc. There is also need to start some more new courses like sociology of public order; peace, security and development; security management and infor­mation technology etc. These courses are not only important for teaching but also for research in the construction of society and useful for the modern occupation and profession.

Teaching of Sociology in India:

The origin of sociology in India as a distinct discipline can be traced back to the period around 1920s. Teaching of sociology started in Bombay University as early as 1914 but the birth of current academic sociology took place only with the establishment of departments of sociology in Bombay and Lucknow.

As for teaching and research, nothing such happened except nominal teaching of the discipline wherever it was introduced for almost a quarter of a century. What Parvathamma states about Mysore University remains true for the entire country and for the discipline of sociology as a whole. “The undergraduate syllabi in sociology as framed by Wadia continued almost for a quarter of a century.

Only in the late 1950’s, it was changed (Parvathamma, 1978). Though one finds a nominal beginning, nothing of any consequence happened in the realm of sociology. It remained more or less static during the 1920-47 periods. This was the last phase of the colonial rule in India when the national leaders were preoccupied with the liberation movement.

Pre-independence scholars have contributed to the foundation of sociology by providing a tradition in which sociology in India could grow and evolve (Unnithan et al., 1967). Their contributions, however, began to make an impact only after independence, though the number of universities increased from 11 in 1920 to 16 in 1945. However, the number of sociology depart­ments remained just two and of these, only one was concerned for independent degree in sociology (Unnithan, 1982).

The percentage of universities, having sociology department, had been falling during 1920-50. It began to show a trend towards regular increase after 1950. By 1960, 23.8 per cent of universities in India had sociology departments. By 1965, this number rose to 29.6 per cent. Now, there are 95 universities including institutions that are deemed to be universities. Fifty-one of them or about 54 per cent accommodate departments of sociology.

In spite of their relatively greater growth in sociology departments, it is interesting that 44 (46.3%) out of 95 universities do not have any sociology teaching at all. Of the 51 universities that teach sociology, only 32 have separate departments, whereas 14 conduct undergraduate and postgraduate programmes including PhD.

There are 16 universities where sociology is combined with other social science departments but an independent degree is awarded; in three departments no degree is awarded though the subject is taught (Unnithan, 1982: 64). Besides these, according to the Universities Handbook of India, 1973, the 16 Agricultural Universities, the five All India Institutes of Technology, the three Institutes of Technology, the three Institutes of Management, the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and the Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad also offered sociology as a subject of study and/or research.

Sociology is very popular subject in the universities and colleges of India today. Currently, out of 133 traditional univer­sities, about 85 have departments of sociology apart from other departments of social sciences related to sociology like population studies and women studies.

A majority of students opt for sociology as one of their subjects at graduation level. It is considered as an easy subject to get through in examination. It is usually preferred by girls particularly those who are not much career conscious. Similarly, at the postgraduate level too, sociology receives a large number of students.

The rank of sociology comes fifth in terms of the number of the universities offering social sciences and allied subjects. This shows that from the quantitative point of view, the position of sociology as an academic discipline is not very low in spite of the fact that it entered the university curriculum only very recently.

It is also seen that at the postgraduate level, sociology has established itself as a subject of major importance, attracting the largest number of students next only to economics, history and political science. Postgraduate enrolment in the year 1969-70 was alone 4,918 – taking sociology (4,442) and anthropology (476) together which contributed 11.57 per cent of the total enrolment (42,479) for postgraduate education in social sciences.

However, the percentage was a little higher for PhD (16.34%). Of the 2,153 students enrolled for PhD in social sciences, 352 were in the field of sociology alone. According to the UGC report, out of total 2,582 faculty members of the postgraduate departments in social sciences in the universities and colleges, 243 were sociologists and 119 anthropologists. Until 1971, the country has produced a total of 485 PhD scholars in the fields of sociology, social anthropology, criminology and social work.

Since 1968, the average rate of PhDs in sociology was 46 per year. This is an impressive figure, indeed, compared to the figures for previous periods. Thus, 34 PhDs were submitted during the decade 1931-40 and 79 in the subsequent two decades of 1941-60.

There were more than a hundred PhDs from the universities of Uttar Pradesh and of Maharashtra up to 1970 whereas the position in other states was as follows: Bihar (43), Delhi (42), Madhya Pradesh (23), Gujarat (15), West Bengal (14), Rajasthan (12), Punjab (9), Karnataka (7) and others (13).

The courses and the syllabi in sociology of the various univer­sities reveal yet another dimension of development of the discipline in India. Sociology is being taught at all levels in the universities – from graduation to MPhil/MLitt level. Some courses give special emphasis to research methodology.

As regards the subject matter taught at the graduate and postgraduate levels, there seems to be some rough similarity between universities in the course. Principles of Sociology, Indian Social Institutions and Social Change are offered at both the BA and MA levels in most universities while Research Methods, Rural and Urban Sociology, Social Anthro­pology and Social Psychology are among the other subjects included in the core courses at MA level.

The rest of the subjects cover a wide range of special areas in the discipline, namely, political sociology, educational sociology, industrial sociology, sociology of kinship, religion, marriage and family, and so on. It seems that from the national point of view, there is a wider choice of optional subjects for the students of sociology than is available to students of other disciplines.

An analysis of the courses reveals several deficiencies. At present, there is a lack of integration of syllabi at all levels that could ensure a standard of uniform minimal knowledge in sociology along with possibilities for specialization and advance training in sociology. Hardly any effort is noticed to introduce new courses on the basis of rationale societal consider­ations.

Largely, the old courses continue. The gravity of problem is accentuated by the contents of the courses and the textbooks prescribed. The contents of the courses are often irrelevant to the students of sociology in India as instruction is based mostly on books written by foreign scholars for students elsewhere. All these points reflect to the overall underdeveloped nature of sociology in India (Unnithan, 1982: 68).

Overall, the quantitative expansion of sociology is increasing but the quality aspect of the development of sociology as an academic discipline in colleges and universities is appalling. Except a few prestigious universities, the status of sociology in most of the universities in the country is really degraded.

Hence, the quality research and teaching in sociology has considerably slumped. Singh (1997) writes: “Professional anxiety, achievement, motivation, entrepreneurial aspiration and changing mode of consumption have immensely affected the standard of sociology.”

Therefore, the teachers and other scholars of sociology will have to take care and pains for its revival. Importantly, and specifically, we need to be academically and politically active to influence the development of a ‘new’ sociological curriculum.

Sociological Research in India:

Since independence, with the rapid development of the teaching of sociology in Indian universities and colleges, there has been a concomitant increase in the number of research studies on different aspects of sociology, resulting in doctoral dissertations and in the publication of many volumes and articles in various professional journals. Several previous surveys of the development of sociology in India present the process in different phases and trends, notably those by Becker and Barnes (1961), Saran (1958), Bottomore (1962), Clinard and Elder (1965), Vidhyarthi (1972), and the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research (ICSSR) (1972).

Despite these attempts, little attention has so far been paid in the direction of proper research taking steps of methods of data collection, techniques, degree of quantity and quality, arial unit of study, and theoretical orientations in specific substantive areas of sociology.

Usually, it is seen that while at the university department level, there are facilities of doing research which do not exist at the college level. Even at the department level there is no system of sabbatical leave where the teacher can take time off for the research. Fieldwork is an essential aspect of research in sociology and unless a teacher has a year or nine months off, he cannot conduct research.

The ICSSR and the UGC have suitable schemes for providing these facilities. There is thus now no dearth of money to conduct research. The problem is to control spurious research. The ICSSR, which is the main agency for promoting research in sociology and social anthropology, has laid down priorities in keeping with social goals. It is necessary to initiate research to teach new courses as research and teaching are intimately related in the development of the discipline.

Research in sociology got a considerable boost in the country since independence. Several studies conducted by sociologists were financed, sponsored and supported by several agencies. There was another welcome trend in the introduction of the courses on methods of social research as part of the MA syllabus. In fact, this was also emphasized by the UGC Review Committee on Sociology (1960).

Significant sophistication in research methodology is an urgent desideratum for present assessment of the rapidly changing and complex social organization to which we belong. In the field of doctoral research, the progress in sociology has been remarkable.

In spite of the fact that almost till the middle of the fifties, a much less number of recognized supervisors were available for the guidance of the doctoral research students in the departments of the univer­sities. Besides these limitations, sociology and other allied fields granted as many as 438 doctoral degrees up to 1970 and economics and political science exceeded these figures.

The personnel position in sociology is still on the lower side. There are only 243 sociology teachers as compared to larger number in economics and political science, psychology and geography. This has to be further viewed in the light of the numbers of the university and college departments.

In terms of the number of departments at the university level, sociology (51) is behind only from economics (72), political science (59) and commerce (56). The position at the college level is roughly the same. When we try to match the spread of the discipline and its manpower requirements, it becomes clear that there had been some defect in the recruitment pattern as revealed by the existence of a large number of unfilled professorial posts in several universities.

Senior members of the profession should take note of this unsatis­factory situation. In spite of the limitation of personnel, a very large number of research projects (50), constituting the highest share (25.5%) of the ICSSR grants, were undertaken by the scholars belonging to the sociology discipline.

A total of 19 theses were published in sociology. The position is still brighter if we add in it social anthropology. In fact, the acceptance of the largest number of projects (above 20%) in sociology was a matter of satisfaction because the formulations of the problems were realistic and sound.

There has been a realization that diverse research methods were complimentary rather than conflicting. The early seventies saw a bitter debate between the surveyors and participant observers. But, both realized that the two could be complementary. There has been more researches using statistical surveys methods.

There were a number of training courses in quantitative methods including computer programming. Besides quantitative techniques, other techniques such as historical analysis, case studies and partic­ipant observation are also increasingly used by sociologists and social anthropologists depending on the nature of the problem of investigation and its aim.

Sociological Research in India: The State of Crisis:

The recent years have seen the publications in EPW of a number of articles discussing and for the most part deploring the current state of research and teaching in sociology. Speaking especially of the situation in western India, they support the view that sociology in India has become a rather lacklustre disci­pline, its leading concepts presented through outdated mass-market American texts, and notably devoid of engagement with the social world outside the classroom.

The 1990s have seen engaged debate on the crisis in the discipline. This debate saw a series of responses from the scholars in the field assessing the ‘tiredness of the disci­pline’ (Deshpande, 1995), the possibilities of ‘a community of discourse’ , the dangers of ‘uncritical metropolitanism’ (Murthy, 1993) and the relevance of gender and feminist pedagogues as strategies to confront the crisis (Rege, 1994; Uberoi, 1994).

The discussion has been made on the construction of socio­logical discipline (Thappan, 1991; Hegde, 1992) and teaching of sociology in Indian universities (Uberoi, 1989-90; Deb 1997). In the recent years, a new dimension has been reflected in the debate taking the issue of gender studies (Dube, 1986, 1996, 1997; Desai, 1997; Bhagwat and Rege, 1991; Patel 1994; Uberoi, 1994) and women’s movement (Niranjana, 1992; John, 1996).

Veena Das (1993) tries to locate the crisis in sociological research in India in three institutional structures – the universities, the UGC and the professional bodies such as the Indian Socio­logical Society. At the level of the universities, the proliferation of the subject has simply not been matched by the will to ensure competence in teaching and research. In several universities, textbooks such as that of MacIver and Page, written almost 50 years ago, continue to be taught.

Second, where teaching and research are conducted in regional languages, students do not acquire profi­ciency even in reading in the English language. This is in fact that rhetorical statements about national self-respect notwithstanding, neither the translations of competent sociological works in the regional languages nor original contributions add up to a sufficient body of literature that may be available in these languages.

Thus, a student fails to acquire competence in his subject on the basis of this literature. Third, the policies for recruitment and promotion of teachers increasingly sacrifice academic competence for political expediency. Fourth, the examination of PhD dissertations is managed within small coterie of scholars.

If the universities are to take a share of the blame for the falling standards for research, the UGC cannot escape its major responsi­bility either. The decision-making bodies in the UGC seem to have completely misguided notions about the state of social science research in the country. Finally, the professional bodies have done little to salvage the situations. The interests of the profession lie not only in producing greater number of jobs for sociologists but in ensuring that ethical practices in the discipline are maintained.

Possible Sociological Discourses:

We need to concentrate on some of the essentials of sociological discourses to develop sociology in India. They are:

(1) The development of sociology in India may be viewed in terms of the historicity of social conditions that have shaped the sociological perspectives from time to time. The theoretical and cognitive systems of sociology are socially conditioned (Singh, 1986).

It is to be hoped that thinking in this direction will result in the concentration of contested themes and in the recovery of key Indian socio-cultural realities and textual tradi­tions, traditions that have remained or continue to remain as an excluded part of hegemonic sociology or its margin (Nadarajah, 1996). Perhaps, this is the right time to resume the ‘Indian sociology’ by recognizing context and culture of the society and to overcome from the identification of sociology as solely a western.

(2) The production of sociological knowledge can be qualitatively changed with a sociological curriculum helping the multi- faceted contestation of western sociological knowledge. There is a need to consider not only the content of social science education in our universities but also the methodology used in the production of such knowledge (Nadarajah, 1996).

(3) Institutionalization of research requires a proper fit between the growing needs of theory and the increasing demands of society. Generally, public funds are made available by the government, UGC, ICSSR and other agencies in terms of the criteria set out for priorities. The question of priorities has to be answered in the context of the relevance of research.

(4) While paying attention to research priorities, the needs of individual scholars pursuing a promising but out-of-the- way enquiry should not be neglected. Research efforts involving interdisciplinary approach or bold methodological innovation should, on principle, be encouraged. The ICSSR standing committee has also recommended these suggestions in the eighties.

To conclude, the history of the development of sociology has not been much encouraging. At its beginning anthropology and ethnology helped the colonial rule to establish its foundation. In other words, the discipline of sociology was partly responsible for the survival of colonialism and feudalism in princely states. The feudal mentality of Indian people is thus due to sociology, anthro­pology and ethnology. It must be said that this discipline has not been worth its salt in India.

If we make a survey of the sociological literature which has cropped up during the last about 100 years does not take into account any massive event which took place in India. India’s freedom struggle was a long struggle and it sought the participation of the masses. All the people participated in the movement notwithstanding the plural character of the Indian society.

It was a great event in the history of India. The sociologists did nothing to analyse the freedom struggle. It is difficult to find any book on sociology written by our so-called sociologists. When the masses were busy fighting for their freedom, our sociologists such as N.K. Bose and G.S. Ghurye were writing on caste and ethnicity. Such a record of sociology can easily be called ungrateful to the nation. How can we be proud of such sociologists?

Another memorable event in India’s history has been the mass exodus of people from Pakistan after the division of country between India and Pakistan. Burning trains from Pakistan were coming to India and the blood-stained trains were leaving India for Pakistan. Lakhs of refugees crossed the borders. It never happened earlier but the sociologists who claimed to be the analysts of Indian society did not mention anything about this tragic event.

Besides, an event, which is a remarkable in the building of our nation-state, is the era of building modern India. Nehruji and his generation of national leaders started Five-Year Plans for the devel­opment of industry and village agriculture. The sociologists again turned their eyes to this era of development.

It is discouraging to learn that the sociologists observed silence on this process of devel­opment. However, the sociologists made some village studies. Actually, there was a flood of such studies. These studies made some contributions. But, these contributions have false theoretical claims. Dominant caste, sanskritization, westernization, parochialization and universalization are some of the contributions which have not proved to be of any help for the development of villages. They have proved to be Utopian for the nation.

There are several problems for the country. The problems are multi-ethnic, multi-caste, multi-religion, multi-region and multi-linguistic. Economic problems coupled with unemployment are disasters. It is expected of sociology to analyse the social ills and bring out some solutions. In the present work, we are discussing social thinkers of contemporary India. They are also responsible to relax-in comfortable armchairs and enjoy the academic status.

Related Articles:

• How Rural Sociology is Developed in India?
• Rural Sociology – As a Science

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Emergence and Development of Sociology in India

Unearthing the Emergence and Journey Sociology in India:  From a Biased, Prejudiced Opinion to a Flourishing Academic Discipline

Sociology came about as an academic discipline post World War 1, however, it was initially faced by neglect and prejudices. It gained prominence post-independence when new bouts of nationalist and anti-colonial thoughts ensued, as a result of which practices of untouchability were abolished and other measures for the protection of the marginalized societies were being taken up. These measures influenced sociological thought and further the advancement of the discipline. Works such as ‘Orientalist-Eurocentric framing of Sociology in India: A Discussion on Three Twentieth-Century Sociologists’ by Sujata Patel and ‘Colonialism and its Forms of Knowledge’ by Bernard S. Cohn, help assess the anticolonial sentiments and the emergence and development of sociology as an academic discipline in the Indian Society.

Introduction

The advent of sociological studies and research in the Indian subcontinent was a consequence of the nationalist spirit and the need to erode the narrative cast upon the Indian society through the condemnatory eyes of the West. In the West, India was studied under anthropology, the study of rural societies; and later on, when sociology emerged within India, it took the form of a mix of sociology and anthropology; or social anthropology. “The pressures for rethinking sociology came from two directions. The educated segments of the middle class who had come to occupy the enlarging ranks of the welfare state demanded new information for their programmes and new theories for their justification” (Lele, 1981, p. 42).  “The greatest of all the evils that the British did to India, according to Bhaskar Pandurang Tarkhadkar (1816-1847), an uncompromising rationalist at the time; was to falsify her history in order to brighten their own record in the eyes of contemporaries” (Naik, 2002, p. 590). The provocative works of the colonial historians and anthropologists, condemning and castigating everything Indian with a motive to promote and defend the ‘civilizing mission’ of the colonial rule, provoked the enlightened angered Indians to take a stand to defend the history and culture of their country. In this essay, I will be examining the works of Sujata Patel, ‘Orientalist-Eurocentric framing of Sociology in India: A Discussion on Three Twentieth-Century Sociologists’ and Bernard S. Cohn, ‘Colonialism and its Forms of Knowledge’.

Also Read: 10 Famous Sociologists in India and Their Contributions

Orientalist-Eurocentric framing of Sociology in India: A Discussion on Three Twentieth-Century Sociologists

Orientalism is innately a direct by-product of colonialism and imperialism. Patel, in her work explains how through Orientalism, the West essentializes and demeans societies different from them as static and unchanging, barbaric and undeveloped therefore tainting the view of the Orient (The East) to glorify the name and status of the Occident (TheWest). She traces the growth and development of disciplines like sociology and anthropology in India, and how they were a consequence of colonial processes and derivative nationalist ideas. She goes on to say how “all knowledge was structured in terms of the master binary of the West (which had history, culture, reason, and science) and the East (which was enclosed in space, nature, religion, and spirituality). This binary linked the division and subsequent hierarchization of groups within geo-spatial territories in the world in terms of a theory of temporal linearity: The West was modern because it had evolved to articulate the key features of modernity as against the East which was traditional” (Patel, 2013, p. 109). G.S Ghurye’s and D.P Mukherji’s contribution to Indian sociology is also highlighted in the work. She examines how Ghurye understood the concept of ‘civilization’, a more traditionalist approach that emerged from a reconstructed understanding of the past and the influence it had on the sociological study of India, as opposed to D.P Mukherji’s more modern-traditionalist views who argued the need for sociology to be learned and understood in a holistic manner giving importance to the interdisciplinarity of the discipline. Through the latter part of the chapter, she also analyzes the contributions of historians like D.D Kosambi who believed in using a large number of sources like numismatics, literary sources and archaeological sources to trace the long history of India. The chapter ends with analyzing and criticizing T. N. Madan’s ideologies who believed that religion had immense importance in the lives of people in South Asia.

Colonialism and its Forms of Knowledge

Cohn’s work traces the British colonialism in India and the methods that they used to take control such as, by defining and classifying space, creating separations between the private and the public spheres and recording transactions and financial flows. He goes on to explain investigative modalities that the British made use of to collect facts about the Indian society to aid its colonizing mission. “An investigative modality includes the definition of a body of information that is needed, the procedures by which appropriate knowledge is gathered, its ordering and classification, and then how it is transformed into usable forms such as published reports, statistical returns, histories, gazettes, legal codes, and encyclopedias” (Cohn, 1996, p. 5).

Investigative Modalities

The investigative modalities that he has explored in his book are the Historiographic Modality – which included collection of facts in the form of enquiries, the ideological construction of the nature of Indian civilizations and study of representations of specific events; Observational Modality- as the name suggests is characterized by the observations and study of the structure of practices and underlying theories of classifications and their implications for the governing of India; Survey Modality- which encompassed the mapping of India, collection of botanical specimens, recording of architectural and archaeological sites of historical significance etc.;  Enumerative Modality- which consisted of compilations of lists of products, price, customs and duties, weights and measures, the values of various coins and even enumeration of the population in various localities etc.; Museological Modality- which comprised the mapping of various archaeological sites, and excavations and the consequent collection of specimens, manuscripts, oral histories etc.;  and lastly Surveillance Modality- characterized by the need to have a constant surveillance of India from a distance, like on a horse to keep tabs on any irregular or deviant behaviors and constantly keep check (Cohn, 1996, pp. 5-10). In the colonial periods, anthropologists played a major role in bridging the gap between the ‘metropoles’ and the colonial ‘natives’. Anthropologists of the post-colonial era mainly focused on the investigative modality of ethnographic fieldwork. While examining the investigative modalities of the post-colonial world he shines light on the HRAF’s creation as a significant development for anthropology. The HRAF set criteria for ‘delineating cultural units’. “The underlying logic of the HRAF was the need to define universals, to “discriminate between superficial and fundamental differences in ways of life. It was then necessary to define and classify that which is comparable from one society to another” (Cohn, 1996, p. 13). Furthermore, he states that the clearly evolutionary model for social change had a hidden or shadow side which was the threat of a loss or disruption of equilibrium in the evolving system- a Durkheim notion of ‘social anomie’.

“Eurocentrism, is defined as a thought style in which the assessment and evaluation of non- European societies is couched in terms of the cultural assumptions and biases of Europeans and, by extension, the West. Eurocentrism is a modern phenomenon and cannot be dissociated from the political, economic, and cultural domination of Europe and, later, the United States. Eurocentrism is a wider concept that includes Orientalism which in itself caused the othering of societies that were different from the Orient (The West)” (iresearchnet, 2017). “Contemporary analysis of Eurocentrism continues to remain enclosed within the circuits of knowledge defined by received colonial geopolitical enclaves with very little assessments of the way production, distribution, and consumption of Orientalist-Eurocentric perspectives have organized sociological traditions across the world including the Global South” (Patel, 2013, p. 107). Although the gaps and weaknesses in Eurocentrism outweigh the strengths, one of the main strengths of Western sociological and anthropological studies of the Indian societies is the fact that it created the spark of aggressive nationalist ideas and gave rise to several educated middle-class sections of the society to rewrite the regressive dehumanizing accounts written by western scholars and replace it with accounts that would defend the rich culture and history of their country. One of the demerits of the Eurocentric beginning of Indian sociology is the fact that, many of the young Indian scholars who wished to pursue the discipline lacked the access to many original Indian artifacts, manuscripts and accounts of the real condition of the society that were ruined during the colonial rule, and were left with only the British reinterpretations of the same which was mostly in favour of themselves. The Eurocentric origin of Indian sociology creates issues when a lot of the othering created by the Eurocentric view pushes new sociologists and researches to view the country through the same lens. Whether or not they choose to do it, this Orientalist-Eurocentric pair of eyes and perception almost become ingrained in our systems. This Eurocentric past creates gaps in research as well where some sociologists feel the need to combine modern European ideas with Indian ones like Mukerji trying to ‘Indianize’ socialism and some others like Ghurye wanting to purely focus on the country’s past and cultures in a more traditionalist perspective.

It is important for us as a society to be able to possess a highly critical of the various academic and non-academic sources of knowledge that we come across. One must be cautious enough to identify the orientalist lens through which multiple societies are viewed and written on paper. Although there is a lot of scope for new learning and understandings through various researches, and we must encourage ourselves to explore multiple outlooks on the same society, issue etc. eventually forming an understanding of our own, without our knowledge being tainted by one viewpoint alone.

Alvares, C. (2011, May 28). A critique of eurocentric social science and the question of alternatives: https://www.epw.in/journal/2011/22/special-articles/critique-eurocentric-social-science-and-question-alternatives.html.

Anonymous, o. (2017, January 17). Eurocentrism – sociology of race – iresearchnet . http://sociology.iresearchnet.com/sociology-of-race/eurocentrism/.

Cohn, B. S., Dirks, N. B., & Eley, G. (1996). Introduction. In S. B. Ortner (Ed.), Colonialism And Its Forms (pp. 1–15). Princeton University Press.

Patel, S. (2013). Political Power and Social Theory. In Orientalist-Eurocentric Framing of Sociology in India: A Discussion on Three Twentieth-Century Sociologists (pp. 105–128). essay, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Angela Roy is currently pursuing her majors in Sociology and minors in International Relations and History, as a part of her BA Liberal Arts Honors degree in SSLA, Pune. She has always been driven to play a part in changing and correcting the social evils that exist in society. With a driving passion for breaking down harmful societal norms and social injustices, she seeks to learn and understand the different social institutions that exist in society like family, marriage, religion and kinship, and how they influence the workings and functioning of various concepts like gender, sexuality and various types of socializations in an individual’s life. She envisions herself to play a vital role in building safe places for today’s marginalized communities and creating a world that is characterized by equity and inclusiveness, free of discrimination and exploitative behaviors.

• Indian Sociology

Theories, Domains and Emerging Concerns

• © 2023
• B. K. Nagla 0 ,
• Kameshwar Choudhary 1

Formerly Department of Sociology, M. D. University, Rohtak, India

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Formerly Department of Sociology, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India

• Features diverse essays, from early Indological reviews to contemporary discussions on modernity and globalization
• Presents work from top researchers in sociology academia
• Provides a framework to blend universal principles of global sociology with localized concerns of Indian sociology

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

Front matter, introduction.

• B. K. Nagla, Kameshwar Choudhary

Theoretical Orientations

• Indology and Sociology
• Pradip Kumar Bose

The Civilizational Approach: Contributions of Surajit Sinha

• Biswajit Ghosh

A. K. Saran on Modernity, Indian Tradition and Sociology in India

• Ajit Kumar Pandey

Sociology and Public Life: Professor Yogendra Singh and His Contribution to Liberal Democracy

• Dipankar Gupta

Re-visiting Islamization as a Contribution to Indian Sociology and Yogendra Singh

• K. M. Ziyauddin

Exploring B. R. Ambedkar’s Sociology: A Biographical Approach

• Swapan Kumar Bhattacharyya

Thematic Domains

Power in caste: the decline of the dominant caste in a village in eastern uttar pradesh, village meaning home: the exodus from urban india during the pandemic of covid-19.

• Tulsi Patel

The Text and Context of Tribal Studies in India

• Vidyut Joshi

Changing Issues in Population Research in India

• A. K. Sharma

Disability, Social Inequalities, and Intersectionality in India

• Ritika Gulyani, Nilika Mehrotra

Some Emerging Concerns

Orientations and futures of indian and south african sociologies.

• Kiran Odhav, Jayanathan P. Govender

Globalization of Sociology to the Sociology of Globalization

• Habibul Haque Khondker

Rethinking and Transforming Area Studies and Indian Studies: A New Cosmopolitanism and the Challenges of Planetary Realizations

• Ananta Kumar Giri
• Theoretical Orientations in Indian Sociology
• Tradition and Modernity in India
• Caste, Class, and Power in Indian Society
• Tribal Studies in India

About this book

This book presents a critical and reflective view of fundamental theoretical orientations, thematic domains, and current debates in Indian sociology. It covers the growth of sociology as an academic and pedagogical subject, with four main parts. Part I discusses important theoretical orientations in Indian sociology, including Indological and civilizational approaches, as well as the contributions of an eminent sociologist and pioneer in Indian sociology, Professor Yogendra Singh, concerning the sociology of knowledge, liberal democracy, and the relevance of his concept of Islamization in the study of Indian society. Part II examines substantive areas of study such as caste, class, and tribe. Part III reflects on specific topics of current concern in Indian sociology, such as emerging vistas and futures, globalization, and rethinking area studies for planetary conversations. This book is highly relevant for postgraduate students and researchers in sociology, social anthropology, andsocial sciences.

Editors and Affiliations

B. K. Nagla

Kameshwar Choudhary

About the editors

Bibliographic information.

Book Title : Indian Sociology

Book Subtitle : Theories, Domains and Emerging Concerns

Editors : B. K. Nagla, Kameshwar Choudhary

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-5138-3

Publisher : Springer Singapore

eBook Packages : Social Sciences , Social Sciences (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023

Hardcover ISBN : 978-981-99-5137-6 Published: 01 November 2023

Softcover ISBN : 978-981-99-5140-6 Due: 02 December 2023

eBook ISBN : 978-981-99-5138-3 Published: 31 October 2023

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XXI, 238

Number of Illustrations : 1 b/w illustrations

Topics : Social Sciences, general , Anthropology

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ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIOLOGY IN INDIA: A CRITICAL INQUIRY

2019, IJCIRAS

This paper has attempted to understand the origin and development of sociology in India. In the west the emergence of sociology as a discipline could be traced back to the 19 th century. But, the 'political philosophy' and 'philosophy of history' of the discipline sociology goes back to the deep past. Therefore, the social thinkers who contributed to the origin and growth of sociology have given more importance to the 'social history' throughout ages. In India, the roots of sociology could be better located post-1857, when the first war of independence happened against British. But, during medieval India the reformist movements were sociological in nature. Later, the sociology writings have given more consideration to them. This paper critically evaluates two things. One; to understand the origin of sociology in India and second, it discusses the development in India, both in academic and research. It critically evaluates the various challenges the sociology is facing in India.

Related Papers

Abha Chauhan

Hundred years is not a very long time in the journey of any discipline. Yet, sociology in India seems to have covered a considerable distance in a comparatively short time as the country witnessed unprecedented incidents in the 19th and 20th centuries of colonial rule, the rise of nationalism leading to India's independence and subsequent efforts at development and nation-building. The works of the British administrators, orientalists, missionaries, and Western scholars earlier, and of the Indian pioneers and other sociologists soon after provided fertile ground for the establishment of sociology in India. The first department of sociology and civics was started in 1919 at Bombay University and since then there has been no looking back as the subject has been established well in the country, academically, and professionally. Besides the role of educational institutions and government bodies, the Indian Sociological Society (ISS) set up in 1951 provided a platform for scholars from across the country and outside to discuss, debate, share and write about contemporary issues. As the context of Indian society changed, the subject matter, methods, theoretical perspectives and debates around the discipline also went through a transformation. This article is an attempt at mapping the trajectory of 100 years of sociology in India and discerning its status as an academic discipline, as well as its relevance for policymaking, and for society at large.

Sujata Patel

‘Sociology of/in India’ is arguably a vexed issue expressed in an overused phrase unless it is cast in a new light. The enormity of volumes, of debates and writings, adds to the phrase an uncanny posterity and illusive exoticness despite the fact that there are only eight (nine on stretch) decades in the backdrop. The neophytes of the discipline learn of it with a sense of disciplinary pride and scholars speak of it with due prejudices. It hinges upon the key term that is self-reflexivity innate to the discipline that invites every old and new scholar to ‘sociologise sociology’ by (re)visiting the debates and historical-intellectual trajectory of the discipline. The selfreflexivity of a discipline is indeed a point of celebration. Arguably, a little too self-reflexive a discipline as sociology is also likely to degenerate into self-fulfilling prophecies. The blowing of trumpet, to count the brownie points pertaining to the ‘glorious past of the discipline’, or the mourning of the end of the glory in the time of the banality in the institutional and disciplinary practices, both refuse to reckon with the spontaneous growth in the nature and scope of sociology. On the other hand, yet another attempt at ‘sociologising sociology’ could also aid in putting the contemporary, with reference to the bygone, in the right perspective.

Prof. Manish A . Thakur

Asian Journal of Social Science

Surendra Munshi

Challenges for Indian Sociology* The failure of sociology to come to grips with larger societal issues is not just a failure of sociology in India. A widespread problem faced by the discipline at present is the reluctance to raise ‘big questions’. Quite apart from the problem of ‘Euroschauism’ which imposes partial views as the universal view, it is necessary for sociologists in a country like India to raise the issue of social change in India and the rest of the world as a theoretical issue that demands adequate conceptualisation. Such a task demands a critical perspective. It is possible to be critical of one’s culture while being rooted in it. The first step to take is to study the concerns of the average person and to look at one’s society critically, not as an outsider who finds the country of his birth difficult to take but as an insider who chooses to live in his country and undergoes what everyone else is going through. Along with this is the ability to step outside one’s own society, not to go away but to return. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *This is a revised version of the paper presented at the seminar on ‘Global Challenges and Local Responses: Trends and Developments in Society and Sociologyin Asia and Beyond’, Singapore, March 14 to 16, 2004. The seminar was organised jointly by the Department of Sociology, the Asia Research Institute (both of National University of Singapore), and the International Sociological Association

isara solutions

International Research Journal Commerce arts science

Political sociology in India emerged after India gained independence and became a democratic republic. For the disciplines in the social sciences, especially political science and sociology, such a transformation made necessary the need to not only understand the functioning of modern political institutions, but also how the traditional social base of Indian society would function within such modern political system. It is this particular emphasis on the social in the understanding of the political in India that gives rise to the discipline of political sociology. In the period after Independence a number of sociologists and social scientists sought to understand the changing social context of political behaviour in India. It is this inter-disciplinary terrain of the interface between the political and the social that resulted in the need for a separate discipline of political sociology. However, this neither reduced the relevance of sociology nor of political science as political sociology developed as a sub-discipline of sociology, notwithstanding the fact that both are closely inter-related. Dipankar Gupta (1996) provides an excellent understanding for the development of Political Sociology in India. His book gives us a clear idea on the social and political conditions that prevailed before and after independence and how the modern principles that were adopted after independence managed to survive along with the traditional ones that already existed.

Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 24 (Jun. 10-16, 2000), pp. 1998-2002

Abhijit Guha

There is need of a rigorous and comprehensive history of Indian sociology-anthropology, constituted as a full-fledged research area, to study the material, ideological and institutional context in which these disciplines developed. A report on a national workshop on the issue.

Contributions to Indian Sociology

This article suggests that paradigmatic changes took place in sociological traditions in India from the late 1970s to the 1990s in a manner similar to the catalytic changes occurring in the same period in different sociological traditions across the globe. In the case of sociology in India, it was feminist questionings of the systems of family, caste, religion and other tradition–modern dualities that introduced key re-conceptualisations. The article suggests that feminist studies posed theoretical and methodological challenges at four levels: first, these theories have argued that institutional and non-institutional forms of power flow through all forms of economic, social and cultural relationships; second, given that in India these inequities were organised during the colonial period, they assert that a historical and an interdisciplinary approach is imperative for the study of the ‘social’; third, these positions outlined a theory of intersection that explored the way economic a...

Asian Review of Social Sciences

Rishvanth Reddy Mucheli

The growth trajectory of Indian Sociology in the past few decades is unsurpassed. From being treated as a 'residual category' and a subordinate disciple, it is now a well-developed and self-sustaining discipline. There are various demands placed on sociology after Independence which explicitly contributed to its development. But this development of Indian sociology is not free from certain dominations: (1) Domination of popular trends in sociology produced by western scholars, (2) Domination of certain sections in India, (3) Domination of State and Identity Politics. These domains of domination are significantly hindering the development of Indian sociology in an inclusive manner and degrading the efficacy of the knowledge produced in this field. The only way forward for Indian sociology is to develop indigenous sociological traditions, concepts, and methods to explain the social reality of India, to recognize the diverse trends of sociological knowledge being produced and promote civility, reason, and reflexivity among diverse perspectives of sociological knowledge.

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Course Name: Development of Sociology in India

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The objective the course is to sensitize the participants about the trajectory of sociology in India, pioneers of Indian sociology, spread of sociology in various universities/institute. It also sketch the profile of the social scientist and their significant contribution in developing sociology in India

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Teaching assistant(s),  course duration : jan-feb 2021,   view course,  syllabus,  enrollment : 18-nov-2020 to 25-jan-2021,  exam registration : 15-jan-2021 to 12-feb-2021,  exam date : 21-mar-2021,   course statistics will be published shortly, certificate eligible, certified category count, successfully completed, participation.

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St. John College of Humanities and Sciences

BHARATHI K 87%

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12 Approaches to the study of Indian society

Poulomi Ghosh

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Construction of gender in the Hindu context.

2. Women and Kinship

3. Anthropological Explorations into Gender

  INTRODUCTION:

Leela Dube1 has perhaps been the first anthropologist in the country, whose work has centered on gender and kinship underlined by explicit feminist perspective. It is reckoned that both Irawati Karve and Kathleen Gough had studied kinship systems and women’s positions within them, and they both hugely influenced Leela Dube. Leela Dube was different on account of having the advantage of being part of the initiation of the women’s studies movement in India in the context of the second wave of feminism. This led to her having wider and more critical frameworks for viewing gender relations in kinship systems.

The systematic study of gender and kinship together is of relatively recent vintage, catalyzed by the women’s movement and women’s studies scholarship. In India, the public discourses in the 1970s and 1980s on Personal Laws and the Uniform Civil Code, on dowry and domestic violence, and on the imbalance in sex ratio inevitably led to questions about the nature of marriage and the ideological constitution of the household-family. But among the core group of early women’s studies scholars, there was little cognition of ethnographic materials or anthropological approaches. Conversely, in the existing vast anthropological literature on kinship and sociological literature on family, there were descriptions of the role of women but no problematization of gender. Leela Dube bridged these fields, catalyzing the development of gender and kinship studies in India. She sensitized women’s studies scholarship to the methods and theoretical insights of anthropology, not to mention the reverse, alerting anthropology to the possibilities of women’s studies scholarship. In the early debate about multi-disciplinarity and inter-disciplinarity in women’s studies, she held that feminists must also engage with the fundamental debates of their own primary disciplines to avoid being ghettoized and marginalized (Ganesh, 2012).

This paper will situate Leela Dube’s feminist perspective in social anthropology by discussing some of her most important works. Thus, for the sake of clarity, the paper is classified into three parts based on her major works:

Construction of Gender in the Hindu context Women and Kinship Anthropological Explorations into gender

1.  CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER:

In her article “The Construction of Gender: Hindu Girls in Patrilineal India”, Dube discusses the mechanisms through which women acquire the cultural ideas and values through which they shape their own image. She focuses on aspects of the process of socialization of Hindu girls through rituals, ceremonies, use of language and narratives, and practices within and in relation to the family (Dube, 1988).

1  Dube was a student of Nagpur University, where she read Sanskrit, Philosophy, and English literature for her bachelor’s and political science for her Master’s degree. She came into anthropology quite late in her life, for her PhD degree, influenced by her husband, S.C. Dube. Her feminist concerns were shaped out of observations and experiences of her own family life. She was born in a Maharashtrian Brahmin family who, though were liberal about women’s education, were not so liberal about their careers. Leela Dube taught at the Sagar University from 1957 to 1975, and has been a visiting professor at institutes and universities throughout India.

Dube uses various cultural idioms and expressions to convey how language too is a tool through which the subsidiary position of women is constructed in daily life. To extrapolate, she gives the example of a Telugu expression which translates into “Bringing up a daughter is like watering a plant in another’s courtyard”. This expression brings to attention the clear dissent of having to bring up daughters or being parents of only daughters. This one sentence summarizes the problems of dowry, inequality experienced by women and the lack of support that parents might feel in their old- age if they only have daughters. It also points to the expected short stay of a girl in her natal home. The birth of her girl and her socialization is underlined by the norm of patri-locality which is largely followed in the Indian sub-continent. Therefore girls grow up with the notion of temporary membership with their natal home (Dube, 1988).

The relationship of a girl with her natal home is further explained by Leela Dube by using the metaphor of Durga Puja or Gauri Puja that is celebrated in various parts of the country. It is a festival which commemorates Gauri’s (Shiva’s wife in Hindu mythology) visit to her natal home after marriage. Songs sung by women during the festival describe how Gauri implores to Shiva to let her go home for a short visit and he replies with a series of arguments which encapsulate the duties and responsibilities of a good wife. According to Leela Dube (1988), one interesting argument put forth by Shiva is that Ganesha (their son) is used to luxuries and can make some demands which might prove to be embarrassing for Gauri’s parents since they were poor. This metaphorical visit lasts for a brief period of three to four days and is celebrated with a lot of enthusiasm. Then is the stage of the farewell, which is dramatized as a sad and heavy atmosphere.

The entire celebration establishes, re-instates and perpetuates the temporary connection of the girl with her natal home. It also signifies the lack of autonomy on part of the girl to decide whether to visit her natal home, and for how long. The ideals of a good wife narrated by Shiva are a metaphor on how much weight the wish and demands of a husband carries over his wife and her autonomy regarding mobility, and her submissiveness and obedience as feminine attributes.

Another interesting wedding ceremony Leela Dube looks into is the ritual of a bride throwing rice over her shoulder while leaving her natal home after marriage in Bengali weddings. This is a symbolic metaphor for the bride acknowledging that she has eaten and lived in her parent’s house for all the years before marriage and she throws the rice as gesture of returning her debt to her parents and thus terminating all possibilities of further economic dependence on them. The dowry giving in marriage is another important custom with its own consequences. It implies that once a woman has taken her dowry and left her natal home, she has no further obligations towards the maintenance of that household. It also raises the issue of why boys don’t react against dowry. Considering they are seen as the future providers of the home, there is huge pressure on them to live up to that expectation. He is induced to do well not just for himself but for his family which makes it more difficult to say no to dowry because it has the capability of improving one’s lifestyle overnight (Dube, 1998). These practices, construed into the everyday language of people constructs an unequal social reality for women.

The construction of femininity is another important topic covered under this paper. Dube gives numerous examples of various customs and rituals which mark the pre-pubertal and post-pubertal phases of girls. Beginning from Kashmir in the north-west the custom of worshipping and the ritual feeding virgin girls (kanya) on special occasions is widespread in India. In most of the pre-pubertal rituals, the girl is worshipped as a form of some Devi or goddess, which is mostly a feminine role and the purity and consecrated position assigned in these rituals help make a stark contradiction in the post-pubertal rituals. The onset of puberty is a tremendous change for girls and is likened to the processes of flowering or blooming. It signifies the readiness for marriage and fertility. In Andhra Pradesh, pre-pubertal girls wear a long skirt and a blouse but after puberty, she is gifted a half-sari, which is shorter in length and easier to manage but also serves the function of covering the upper portion of the body. It is a sign of acknowledging publicly that the girl has come of age. The post-pubertal phase then is characterized by restrictions on movements and on interaction with males and by the imposition of special safeguards. This is done to manage her sexuality which is tied to her future as wife and mother.

The discussion of controlling women’s sexuality brings in the concept of ‘boundary maintenance’ which is crucial element in the definition of the cultural vulnerability of young women and emphasis on their purity and restraint in behavior. This leads to the construction of ‘legitimate’ and ‘proper’ codes of conduct that young girls have to adhere to, not only in terms of their behavior but also in their organization of space and time. The need to control female sexuality is construed as protection for the girl from not only other males but also from her own sexuality. This is expressed in metaphors such as, the need to emphasize the maintenance of a physical distance between a man and a woman, it is said that, unless a physical distance is maintained between hay and fire, there is nothing to prevent the hay from catching fire. A girl is often demanded to create a separate space for herself even in public or when with strangers because the prescriptions regarding the ways girls behave and act are set out in the context of space and time. If the space outside the house has to be negotiated in determinate ways by girls, this is also true of spatial divisions within the house (Dube, 1998).

Socialization is undertaken through ideology disseminated through gender specific tasks. Such as, girls are taught to do household work from a young age and this gets cemented as they grow up. The notions of tolerance and self-restraint are also rooted in a consciously cultivated feminine role which is legitimized through cultural ideology. Thus according to Leela Dube (1988), the structuring of women as gendered subjects through Hindu rituals and practices is fundamentally implicated in the constitution and reproduction of a social system characterised by gender asymmetry and the overall subordination of women.

2.  WOMEN AND KINSHIP:

According to Leela Dube, Gender relations are constructed differently in different cultures. A key area of cultural diversity is kinship, which form important systems which form the context within which gender relations are located. In her Women and kinship: Perspectives on Gender in  South and South-east Asia (1997), she focuses on the institutions that make up the structural and cultural dimension of kinship systems. According to her, kinship is often left out of gender studies because of deficient understanding of the organizing principles of kinship on everyday living. Kinship systems determine the allocation of resources, constitution of production relations, immediate context of women’s lives, and sustaining a specific ideology of gender. Thus, for Dube, studying kinship systems can better illuminate the location of gender relations in different cultures.

Her basic argument in the book is that differences in kinship systems and family structures account for some critical differences among societies in the ways in which gender operates (Dube, 1997). Her central concern in the book was to bring out how gender roles are conceived of and enacted, the processes through which men and women are turned into gendered subjects who are then implicated in the maintenance and sustenance of a social system. She studied family and kinship among some populations of Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, The Philippines, and Thailand- a comparative perspective. According to Dube, Asia has mainly three kinds of kinship systems: patrilineal, matrilineal, and bilateral. South Asia is predominantly patrilineal, with two pockets of matrilineal systems in the south-west and the north-east. South Asia is predominantly bilateral, with both parents being important for reckoning kinship and claiming rights to resources, but there are also certain populations that follow either matriliny or patriliny.

Dube argues in her book that it is not enough to just confine one’s study to the structural characteristics of these institutions but to also look into their interplay with religion and wider political and economic structures. Following from this, her work also assesses the relevance of family and of the ideological and material aspects of kinship to understand the nature of gender relations. To elucidate, she mentions in her introductory chapter that at any point in time, the composition of a family is not just a function of demography but it also reflects the rules of marital recruitment, residence, and the normative and actual patterns of re-arrangement of the family structure. She further points out that her endeavor is not to study kinship in isolation, as relevant to understanding gender relations. She mentions the importance of looking at cultural conceptions of biological processes and the nature of male and female sexuality.

Dube points towards the inherent dangers of such a study, like while comparing and contrasting patrilineal and bilateral kinship systems, one should keep in mind that there are no uniform, undifferentiated patterns for either. This also applies to matrilineality. She also warns against the danger of using a single generalized Asian model. For example, the apparent commonality in religious norms and legal codes- as among the Muslims of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia- tends to fog the interplay between the cultural and structural matrices of societies and religions practiced in them. For instance, whereas there is corporate or individual control over female sexuality and a strong emphasis on seclusion and segregation among the patrilineal Muslim populations of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, the situation among the Muslims of Indonesia and Malaysia and also on the Lakshadweep islands are very different. South Asia shows a special kind of male control over female sexuality, rooted in the patrilineal ideology and consciousness of territoriality and group solidarity. Dube terms it as corporate control . In South-East Asia however, women are not placed under such severe restrictions. Besides the absence of caste, other  factors which contribute to this are the system of descent, inheritance, group membership, as well as residence and nature of conjugal relations (Dube. 1997).

The notion of protection of women and control over them by men seems alien to the bilateral systems of kinship that exist in South-East Asia. The placement of children also does not create an acute problem as it would in India or most of the rest of South Asia.

Her book assesses the various implications that different kinship systems can have for understanding gender in terms of differing economic and productive roles that women can have, management of female sexuality, differing patterns of seclusion and segregation, and the limitations imposed on the female body. It tries to provide a comprehensive reading of the intersections of kinship, gender, religion, location, economic and political implications, etc. It talks about the nuances of power or control through ideology- exercising control over distribution of resources, women’s bodies and sexuality through ideology.

3.  ANTHROPOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS INTO GENDER:

The process of forming a gendered identity begins much prior to the birth of a child. It is a part of collective cultural consciousness of a particular group or society. This process is encapsulated in the dictum ‘Gender is a social construct and sex is a biological phenomenon’. It is a process of gender socialization, which is not just a consequence of the belief system, culture and ritual practices, but also determines the structural needs of production relations of a society’s economy (Datar, 2001). With the progression of society, there is constant restructuring of these cultural practices.

With the beginning of the women’s movement in the 1970’s, many women anthropologists led the search for the beginning of gender subordination in order to provide evidence for a much needed theory of gender transformation. The sources for these explorations were mostly traditional texts such as the manusmriti and puranas, which gave numerous examples of practices of gender discrimination. There had been a lack of comparative studies of diverse gender socialization processes, reflected through anthropological investigations of different groups in one place, till Leela Dube’s ‘Anthropological Explorations in Gender: Intersecting Fields’ (2011). According to Chaya Datar, this book is interesting in the way it compares South-Asian women’s situation (strong matrilineal traditions) to the patrilineal and patrilocal backgrounds of women in India. It highlights the role of culture in maintaining property structures and economic processes that inherited from one generation to another.

Anthropological Explorations represents over 50 years of Leela Dube’s work. A common thread running through the essays is the complex and diverse relationship between gender and other axes of stratification like caste, class and religion, and the significant role of kinship organization in determining structures of power that keep women subordinated in the family and community. It becomes important to note that not only are the contents of the book a very important contribution to the beginning of feminist theory building in India but also she bring to the forefront a different array of sources that can be brought to an analysis of women’s status and kinship relations: insights from ethnographies, autobiography and biography, folklore, texts, rituals, myths, beliefs and practices of everyday life.

In the first essay, ‘Women’s worlds- Three encounters’, she gives a narrative on the ethnographic fieldwork within the ‘gendered field’ of anthropology. She discusses three of her fieldworks: her doctoral fieldwork experience among Gond women in the late 1940s; fieldwork in a village in western Uttar Pradesh in the 1950s to assess women’s responses to  government-sponsored community development programmes; and her work on matriliny and Islam in Lakshadweep in the 1970s. Each of these experiences derives from the perspective of a woman ethnographer exploring the inner worlds of women, which are usually inaccessible to male ethnographers. She delicately identifies her location as a researcher who is Brahmin, married and employed and the impact that has on her data gathering and interactions with the groups she visited. In case of the Lakshadweep population, she found herself having greater freedom in movement and notes that because of religious differences, there were some initial skepticism regarding her kumkum (Sindoor) but removing it had the desired effect of free conversation.

In her fieldwork experience in Uttar Pradesh, she was expected to conform to certain patterns of behavior, given her Brahmanical background which was not expected of the American women on the research team.

In the second essay, ‘On the Construction of Gender’, Dube portrays the everyday life of girls and women in Hindu patrilineal households by interpreting rituals, songs, ceremonies and other practices which help in determining the religious-cultural aspect of defining gender relations and gender roles. Dube asserts that an analysis of kinship is necessary to understand family ideology and how it impacts the socialization patterns of women which lead to their devaluation within the structure. Her essay provides insight into how women are central to boundary maintenance between castes, through regulation and control over their sexuality. Thus, kinship and caste becomes the larger contextual framework within which the social relationships for women are defined. According to Dube, kinship is also the organizing principle for allocation of resources within the family, duties and responsibilities of the members towards the maintenance and production value of the family unit, which in turn leads to the segregation or differentiation of work based on gender. She analyzes all these interconnections through folklore and rituals in different communities (Datar, 2001).

In her third essay, ‘Seed and Earth’, She analyzes this largely used metaphor of role of the man and the woman in reproduction. The general saying is that man provides the seed for sowing and the woman is the earth/soil in which the seed is sown. The implicit idea of this saying is that the nature of the crop (off- spring/child) depends largely on the seed which is the most important contribution while the earth provides only nutrition to the seed. Therefore, the child owes his/her identity to his father, whereas the mother has no material rights but only moral rights to the child. This idiom is used by Dube to explore the Materiality of patrilineal kinship that exists in the country since a paternal identity is most important in securing group placement and rights to resources (like inheritance).

The fourth essay in the book, ‘Caste and Women’, Dube examines how women are implicated in three overlapping areas: occupational continuity and the reproduction of caste; food and rituals; marriage and sexuality. The first area of occupational continuity is self-explanatory in the sense that women help in reproduction and extension of the family line and thereby the caste line. Food and rituals is the domain of women. Restrictions on commensality are a common way of maintaining caste boundaries and women’s knowledge of food and the rituals associated with it help in maintaining the hierarchical caste boundaries. This area leads to the formation of an active role which enhances the self-esteem of women. Their control over the domain of domestic amongst the subordination and discrimination caused by the patrilineal structure will obviously have implications for the  construction of the self-identity. Dube mentions the need to further study this particular field. Control over women’s sexuality is central to the maintenance of caste hierarchy and can transgression can lead to extremely severe measure. This is because the reproductive value of the woman in terms of caste line extension and also collective sentiment of honor, based on the ritualistic notion of purity and pollution, make women the centre of all mechanism of sexual control. Ritualization of virginity (purity), glorification of marriage and motherhood are all methods of exerting sexual control. By looking at the complexity of caste in relation to female sexuality, Dube is able to bring out an analysis of primary and secondary marriages, caste endogamy and its relation to dowry and the violence against women that is underwritten in all these articulations of caste and gender (Manjrekar, 2002)

Her fifth essay, ‘Who gains from matriliny?’ is an investigation on how asymmetry of gender is based on the biological difference between man and women. It provides insight into the life of women in the matrilineal island of Lakshadweep. It looks at how a matrilineal structure functions within a religion marked by patrilineal emphasis. Women in this community, yield considerable power as originators of lineages, but matrilineally related men manage property and are the more visible decision makers in public. Although, there is a marked sexual division of labor present here as well, women lead a qualitatively more autonomous life than the ones within the patrilineal systems of South Asia. Administrative and legal interventions like the prohibition of polygamy, marriage and divorce laws, inheritance and property laws have led to a transformation within the community but there are still instances of matrilineal backdrop to all this. For example, men of Kalpeni (location of research on Lakshadweep) refused the amendment to the system of inheritance of the Taravad property, because under the pressure of changing economic and social aspects, men could draw support and security from the closely knit matrilineal units of the island.

The last essay in her book entitled ‘Kinship and gender in South and South-East Asia’ accounts for a comparative perspective of kinship systems. She comes to the conclusion that matrilineal and bilateral kinship systems offer women more autonomy than the patrilineal way of kinship in South Asia.

Her book helps to raise questions which can be taken up for further feminist research. It leads to questions like how do structures of power and domination influence the socialization of women and their responses. It brings to the front the intersecting fields of anthropology and gender, feminist scholarship and the discipline, caste, religion and gender, various others which have been important to the development of the feminist perspective of the discipline.

CONCLUSION- LEELA DUBE’S FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE OF FEMINIST SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY:

Leela Dube’s feminist perspective comes not only from anthropological studies of different groups but also from how she takes into account her own life and the context that it provides for her anthropological explorations. For example, In ‘The Construction of Gender: Hindu girls in patrilineal India (1988)’, she restricts her focus on the socialization of Hindu girls for two reasons: Firstly, because most of her data was gathered from Hindu informants, and secondly, because of her own upbringing in a Hindu family gave her first hand information for understanding and interpreting the collected data. Her methodology resonates the feminist view that personal is political and that the researcher’s position and life history provides contextual framework to the research undertaken by one. Dube has also written an auto -biographical account on her work and experience and their interaction with her personal life in a paper entitled “Doing Kinship and Gender (2000)”, where she relates her personal experiences to her academic pursuits and also to her field experiences. The article is an activity of self-reflexiveness, which is also seen in most of her works.

Leela Dube’s methodology of a feminist social anthropology helps to identify and investigate the myriad of ways in which women are in-subordinated. In the introduction to ‘Visibility and power’, Leela Dube emphasized the harm done in social sciences by using the term “man” in a generic sense, since it resulted in getting the term ‘woman’ subsumed under it. This was decades before the notion of gender as different from biological sex had established itself in the discipline in the country. She analyzed the inadequacy of academic literature in incorporating non-exclusive concepts and theories which do not take cognizance of the existence of women. She provided social sciences with new analytical frameworks by bringing in folklore and symbolic representations in society about women’s position in order to show they have ideological hold and influence customs and practices.

Dube’s work on kinship and its importance also opened up an alternative world view from that of western theories which postulated that patriarchy was a universal category unmediated by anything else. It opened up the pathways to look at caste and class as mediating factors which contribute to the degree and nature of subordination for women, which later scholars have taken up and highlighted. She opened a new area of research within the discipline of social anthropology, which earlier was taken as the study of tribes, in distant locations, with their different customs and exotic practices. She demystified this ‘exotic’ nature of traditional anthropology by relating and comparing it to everyday lived reality of one’s own society (Krishnaraj, 2012). Her analysis of gender based division of labor of work and consideration of issues of women in household management have opened up debate and discussion regarding the ‘value of work’ done by women and their contributions to the field of economy. Its provided a more inclusive framework of analysis of social reality. Dube has played an important role in enriching the fields of social sciences and social anthropology by employing and thus making known multiple sources of knowledge such as symbolic representations and their ideological significance, kinship and its perpetuation of sexual asymmetry in everyday lives of women, and that notion that generalizations and theoretical formulations developed in specific regional contexts are not always to be transformed into universalities. Her work has helped transform social anthropology as a discipline which used to study other cultures to one which can be used to explore and interpret one’s own as well.

2.1  Did you know?

1 .  She was associated with ICSSR in different capacities: as Senior Fellow, Director (Sociology) and National Fellow. In women’s studies, her journey started with her nomination as a member of the National Committee on the Status of Women, Government of India which produced the landmark report Towards Equality . Subsequently, she continued in the field with her involvement with the Indian Association of Women’s Studies and her stewardship of a major IAWS conference Women and the Household in Asia which resulted in five edited volumes that were early milestones in the field. She was part of the global women’s studies community, as Vice President of the International Women’s Anthropology Conference, Chairperson of the Commission on ‘Women of the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences’, and other honorary positions .

2 .   Taravad is the common or corporate property for residential purposes among the Nayyars of Kerala and also the Muslims in Lakshadweep, studied by Leela Dube. The Nayyars of North Kerala followed matrilineal descent and inheritance but men brought their wives to live with them on their taravad land, which they shared with their matrilineal kin. The maternal uncle wielded authority. The couples usually lived in a separate conjugal household but were surrounded by the man’s matrilineal kin. The Nayyars of central Kerala had a different system of taravad organization owing to their practices of visiting marriage, polyandry, and the absence of nuclear families. The “ideal-typical” household was a segment of the matrilineage with up to six generations where both men and women were permanent residents. The eldest male was the legal guardian. Both men and women were allowed multiple spouses, where marital relationships were effected by the husband’s visit to their wives, generally at night. The matriliny of the Muslims of Lakshadweep islands is in a way an extension of the Nayyar matriliny. Amongst their taravad system, descent is traced through the mother and property is divided equally among a woman’s children. A person has inalienable right of use over the matrilineal group’s property; but whereas a woman’s share automatically passes on to her children a man’s share reverts to the matrilineal group after his death. The distribution of individually acquired property is governed by the Islamic law of inheritance (Dube, 2009). Taravad property was theoretically indivisible; any divisions were only for the better utilization of the property.

REFERENCES:

•  Dube, Leela. “Women and Kinship: Perspective on women in South and South-East Asia”. New Delhi. Rawat Publications. 2009
• Datar, Chaya. “Being and Identity”, (Review of “Anthropological exploration in Gender: Intersecting Fields”, by Leela Dube. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol 37, No. 30 (Jul. 27- Aug. 2, 2002).
• Dube, Leela. “Doing Kinship and Gender: An Autobiographical Account”. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol.35, No. 46, (Nov 11-17, 2000).
• Ganesh, Kamla. “Obituary- Leela Dube, 1923-2012”. Contributions to Indian Sociology. Vol. 46, No. 3 (2012). Pp399-403.
• Palriwala, Rajni. “Remembering Leela Dube”. Economic and Political Weekly. Vol. 47, No. 26, (2012).
• Desai, Neera. Review of ‘Anthropological Exploration in Gender: Intersecting Fields’ by Leela Dube. Sociological Bulletin. Vol. 51, No.2 (September 2002). Pp290- 292.
• http://www.jstor.org/stable/4412412
• http://www.jstor.org/stable/4409954
• http://www.jstor.org/stable/23619986

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Introduction: Sociology of Education in India—Trajectory, Location, and Concerns

• Published: October 2012
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The Introduction discusses the themes covered by the essays in this volume about the history of the development, the trajectory, location, and contemporary concerns of the sociology of education (SoE) in India. The essays included are based on the presentations made at the March 2006 seminar held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, titled ‘Sociology of Education in India—Looking Back, Looking Ahead’. The content of SoE courses taught in universities today are rarely a matter of discussion for scholars, and the work of internationally known classical thinkers on SoE have been largely ignored. In this volume, many contributors reflect critically on the work of these scholars in the context of contemporary concerns in education in India. Some chapters focus on the need to include courses on SoE in teacher preparation in India while others attempt to ‘counter neoliberal and intellectually conservative onslaughts on knowledge generation, which…deflects attention from increasing inequality in society and education.’ The Introduction outlines the content of the two sections of the volume. The first deals with disciplinary trajectory of SoE and analyses its journey and theoretical and methodological concerns. This is followed by chapters on emerging discourses and contemporary concerns about SoE in India. The second section brings together contributions that break new ground in theoretical and empirical engagement with equality, identity, and exclusions in education.

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Essay on Development of India

Students are often asked to write an essay on Development of India in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Development of India

Introduction.

India, a nation with rich history, has transformed remarkably over the years. From an agrarian society, it has become a global player in technology, manufacturing and services.

Post-Independence Era

Post-independence, India focused on self-sufficiency. Five-year plans were introduced to boost sectors like agriculture, industry, and education.

Economic Liberalization

In 1991, India adopted economic liberalization. This opened doors for foreign investments, boosting the economy and creating job opportunities.

Technological Advancements

In the 21st century, India emerged as a technological powerhouse. Innovations in IT, space research, and biotechnology have put India on the global map.

India’s development journey is ongoing, with a focus on sustainable growth and inclusive development.

Also check:

• Speech on Development of India

250 Words Essay on Development of India

India, the world’s largest democracy and second-most populous country, has witnessed substantial development since gaining independence in 1947. The development trajectory of India is a unique blend of rapid economic growth, significant strides in technology, and persistent social challenges.

Economic Development

India’s economy has evolved from an agrarian society to a modern, service-driven economy. Post-liberalization in 1991, India’s GDP has grown exponentially, making it one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies. The IT industry, pharmaceuticals, and manufacturing sectors have contributed significantly to this growth.

India’s technological landscape has seen a dramatic transformation. The successful launch of Mars Orbiter Mission, the thriving startup ecosystem, and the digital revolution, marked by initiatives like ‘Digital India’, bear testimony to India’s technological prowess.

Social Development

Despite economic and technological progress, social development has been uneven. While literacy rates have improved, gender disparity, poverty, and health issues persist. The government’s initiatives such as ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ and ‘Ayushman Bharat’ aim to address these challenges.

India’s development is a story of resilience and potential. The country has made significant strides in economic and technological domains, but social development remains a challenge. The future of India’s development lies in inclusive growth, sustainability, and leveraging technology for social good.

500 Words Essay on Development of India

India, one of the world’s oldest civilizations, has been a crucible of economic, social, and cultural development for thousands of years. Today, it stands as the world’s largest democracy and one of the fastest-growing economies. The journey of India’s development, however, is a complex tale of triumphs and challenges.

Post-Independence, India adopted a mixed economy approach, combining features of both capitalism and socialism. The Green Revolution in the 1960s marked a significant turning point, enhancing agricultural productivity and ensuring food security.

In 1991, India embarked on a path of liberalization, privatization, and globalization (LPG), opening up its economy to foreign investments. As a result, sectors like IT, telecommunications, and manufacturing witnessed unprecedented growth. The IT industry, in particular, has put India on the global map, contributing significantly to its GDP and employment.

India’s social development has been marked by efforts to uplift the marginalized sections of society. Initiatives like the Right to Education Act, Mid-Day Meal Scheme, and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act aim to address issues of education, malnutrition, and unemployment respectively.

However, social development has also been hindered by persistent challenges like poverty, illiteracy, and gender inequality. To overcome these, the government has launched programs like Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao, and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, focusing on female empowerment and financial inclusion.

Technological Development

India’s technological development has seen a significant leap in recent decades. The success of ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission, digital initiatives like Aadhaar and UPI, and the burgeoning startup ecosystem reflect India’s technological prowess and innovation.

Environmental Development

India’s development narrative also includes a focus on sustainable growth. The country has made substantial strides in harnessing renewable energy, especially solar power. However, environmental concerns like pollution, deforestation, and climate change pose serious threats. Initiatives like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and Jal Shakti Abhiyan have been launched to address these issues.

India’s development journey is a tale of remarkable achievements and formidable challenges. The key to future progress lies in inclusive and sustainable development. While the road ahead is arduous, the nation’s rich history and resilient spirit give hope for a future where India can fully realize its immense potential.

This essay explores the multifaceted nature of India’s development, touching upon economic, social, technological, and environmental aspects. It highlights the strides made and the challenges faced, providing a comprehensive understanding of India’s journey and the path ahead.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Agriculture in India
• Essay on India in 2047: The Global Power House
• Essay on Clean India

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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