About the Book

This book seeks to capture illustratively some of the ongoing intellectual and institutional practices in sociological teaching and research in the current context of globalization. It attempts to both document and theorize the ongoing changes. The central contention here is that an earlier nationalist vision of education that informed much of social science practice in independent India is challenged from two very different sources: radical and local social movements on the one hand; and the imperatives of global capital on the other hand. It further argues that sociology in India needs to engage at once with its routine, everyday banal practices and its unique theoretical possibilities which allow for an active involvement in broader questions about the role of social sciences.

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Contents

1       Introduction          

PART I  :  Sociology and Society: Different Takes

2       Disciplinary Trajectories and Social Trends: Sociology and Social Thought in Tamil Nadu  /  V. Sujatha

3       Sociology, Sociologists, Seng Samla and Seng Kynthei of Meghalaya  /  A.K. Nongkynrih

4       The Making of a Syllabus: An Issue beyond Academics  /  Dalia Chakrabarti

PART II  :  Sociology in the Margins: The Local and the Banal

5      Practising Sociology on the Outside Edge  /  Santosh Kr. Singh

6      Sociology in the ‘Regional’ Backwoods: A Fictional Rendering  /  Pushpesh Kumar

7      Sociology in Northeast India: A Synoptic View  /  Subrat K. Nanda

PART III  :  Sociology in Professional Institutions: Global Brands and Disciplinary Marginality

8      Of Mainstream and Margins: Sociology in Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs)  /  Manish Thakur

9      Nurturing Sociology among Nurses: The Case of West Bengal  /  Ramanuj Ganguly

10    Integrating Sociology in a Law School Curriculum: Discontent, Dilemma, Direction  /  Rukmini Sen

11    The Challenges in Teaching Sociology at IIT: Are “Karl” and “Max” Relevant?  /  Kushal Deb

PART IV  :  New Sites and Modes of Doing Sociology

12    New Locations and New Articulations: Practice of Sociology in a Metropolitan Autonomous Institution  /  Shaji Varghese and R. Santhosh

13    Social Research and the New Centres of Knowledge Production  /  Ravi Kumar

14    Why Choose Sociology?: Tamil Nadu in Global Times  /  Madhu Sharan

15    Sociology and the Practice of Social Compliance Auditing  /  Archana Prasad

PART V  :  Tracking Concepts: Of Intellectual Journeys

16    Rethinking Community: In the Discipline and within Development Practices  /  Amites Mukhopadhyay

17    Tribes as Indigenous People of India  /  Virginius Xaxa

18    Teaching Caste and the Hindu Social Order: Dalits in Indian Sociology  /  Vivek Kumar

19    The Concept of Gender: Its Travels and Travails  /  Maitrayee Chaudhuri

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About the Author / Editor

Maitrayee Chaudhuri teaches sociology at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She has written and published widely in the areas of gender, culture, globalization and media. Her published works include “Feminism in India, The Women’s Movement in India: Reform and Revival and The Practice of Sociology.”

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