About the Book
Despite immense potential for ideological and theoretical discourse regarding India’s intellectual tradition, worldview, cultural pluralism and historical continuity, there is dearth of serious sociological work in this area. The erudite contribution of some Indian sociologists has provided a neat conceptual categorization, theoretical and philosophical discussion and a critique of Indian sociology. Yet, the vast and immense potential for cognitive reconstruction as a self-conscious reaction to overwhelmingly privileged colonial-imperial dominant knowledge, necessitates understanding and interpretation through not only contemporary empirical studies but also classical texts, regional literature and oral traditions. A composite worldview of a society with fathomless historical past, cultural diversities and cognitive pluralism necessitates alternatives in institutional academics and intellectual rediscovery which is possible in a milieu where mind is freed from given paradigm. The sharp polarity between ideology, theory and life could be as misleading as to view them as synonymous. The structural, cultural and historical specificities influence the formation of a society and shape the process of its change.
Ideology and theory influence both life and knowledge. They provide cues for ethno- sociological formulation and influence the theoretical and methodological orientations. Ideology and theory work as critique as well as help in construction of alternatives in cognitive orientations and vision for social transformation.
The present volume consists of articles which have raised and discussed issues related to ideology and theory in Indian sociology with varying perspectives, differentiated focuses and highlight the strength, canvas and limitations, explicitly or implicitly, and bring out relevant cognitive gaps in the discipline.
Contents
1 In Pursuit of Indigenization: Trends and Issues on Building Sociology for India / Jaganath Pathy
2 Pluralism and Education in India: Problems and Possibilities / Suresh Chandra Shukla
3 Sociologism, Marxism and the Anthropological Imagination / Dipankar Gupta
4 Reciprocity in Social Science: Gender Issues / Patricia Uberoi
5 Craft of Sociology in India: An Autobiographical Perspective / I.P. Desai
6 Indian Sociology at the Turning Point / S.C. Dube
7 Reflections on Social Science Research in India / P.C. Joshi
8 Sociology in India: A Plea for Contextualization / T.K. Oommen
9 Ramkrishna Mukherjee’s Sociology: A Sociological View / Nirmal Singh
10 Justice Model and Social Conflicts in Contemporary India / R.S. Shrivastava
11 Time and Value / Sheo Kumar Lal
12 Ethnic Challenge to Indian Identity: Rethinking Culture-Polity Interface / S.L. Sharma
13 Study of Social Change and Social Development in the Developing Societies / Ramkrishna Mukherjee
14 History and Sociology / A.M. Shah
15 Gandhian Social Thought in Relation to Non-Violence and Social Change / Narendra K. Singhi
16 Professions and their Co-optation in State and Polity: The Case of Legal Profession / J.S. Gandhi
17 Dialectic of Tradition and Modernity / T.N. Madan
18 G.S. Ghurye on Culture and Nation-building / C.N. Venugopal
19 Toward Reconstructing National Traditions in Sociology / Dan A. Chekki
20 Dialectics Between Theory and Social Reality / Y.B. Damle
21 Indian Social Reality: For Paradigm-Bridging / H.C. Srivastava
22 Sociology in India: A Sociology of Knowledge Perspective / Surendra Sharma
About the Author / Editor
N.K. Singhi did his post-graduation from School of Economics and Sociology, University of Bombay, Bombay. He was Fulbright Scholar at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA; Visiting Fellow at Maison Des Sciences, Paris; and Wallace Foundation Fellow at Cambridge University, Cambridge. Dr. Singhi was UGC National Lecturer; Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Simla; and ICCR Visiting Professor at the University of West Indies, Trinidad. He also served as Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur and Hony. Senior Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur.
His published works include Bureaucracy: Positions and Persons, Education and Social Change, Towards a Theory of Alternative Society, Sociology for India (co-editor),
Folk, Faith and Feudalism (co-editor), Ideal, Ideology and Practice (editor), and
Samaj Sastra Vivechan (co-author).
