The worlds of Indian industrial labour: Preface (original) (raw)

The ‘Economic’ in Indian Sociology: Genealogies, Disjunctions and Agenda

Sociological Bulletin, 2021

A cursory glance at the century-old history of Indian sociology reveals its relative under-engagement with economic phenomena and processes. Although the ‘economic’ did get studied under the influence of agrarian and village studies, and certain apparently economic themes such as industry and labour did attract scholarly attention from some sociologists, we notice the absence of a sustained and robust academic tradition of sociological studies of the economy in India. There appears to have been an intellectual division of labour, where the study of economic issues was ceded to economists whereas sociologists remained jubilant with their studies of primordial institutions. This study attempts to locate this persistent disjunction between the social and the economic from the perspective of the disciplinary history. Of necessity, this calls for an examination of the relationship between sociology and economics, and the way it unfolded in post-independence India. To this end, this study...

Dubious Biography of a Discipline: Sociology in/of India

‘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.

Hundred Years of Sociology in India: Mapping the Trajectory

Sage , 2023

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.

Towards a Praxiological Understanding of Indian Society

Anthropology in the East: Founders of Indian …, 2007

Portrait of s.c. Dube 445 l3 Group picture including M.N. Srinivas 497 I This essay has benefited from discussions with friends, comrades, colleagues, and students of A.R. Desai. I am particularly grateful to Neeraben Desai for spending time to answer detailed questions despite her ill health. Interviews were conducted with Iairus Banaji,