• The origin of sociology and social anthropology in India dates back to when British officials realized the need to understand native society for smooth administration.
• Sociology and social anthropology were introduced as academic disciplines in Indian universities in the 1920s, but their professionalization is a post-independence phenomenon.
• Indian scholars have contributed to the development of indigenous studies of Indian society, integrating sociology and anthropology in research, teaching, and recruitment.
• Indian scholars have emphasized the synthesis of text and context, providing insights into the dialectic of continuity and change in contemporary Indian society.
• The development of sociology in India is linked to its colonial history, with the colonial state transforming after the 1857 revolt, highlighting a lack of understanding of the folkways and customs of the Indian masses.
• The revolt of 1857 revealed the need for a new science to understand Indian society, leading to the rise of ethnographic studies, anthropology, and sociology.
• Herbert Risley, a pioneer in ethnographic studies in India, emphasized the importance of caste and its role in colonial rule.
• Ethnographic studies focused on caste, religion, rituals, and customs, providing the foundation for colonial dominance.
• Sociology and social anthropology in India developed due to the colonial interests of Western scholars and the reactions of Indian scholars.
• British administrators needed to understand the customs, manners, and institutions of their subjects, while Christian missionaries were interested in local languages, folklore, and culture.
• The overlapping interests of Western scholars in Sanskrit, Vedic, and Aryan civilization, and the nature of India’s political economy influenced the development of Indology and theories on capitalism and evolution.
• Karl Marx and Frederic Engels were influenced by India’s oriental disposition to build their theory of the evolution of capitalism.
• Max Weber was interested in Hinduism and oriental religions in relation to the development of the spirit of capitalism and the principle of rationality.
• Indian society and culture became the testing ground for various theories on town growth, poverty, religion, land tenure, and village social organization.
• Srinivas and Panini (1973) divided the growth of sociology and anthropology in India into three phases:
  • Phase one (1773-1900): Foundation laying.
  • Phase two (1901-1950): Professionalization.
  • Phase three (post-independence): Research activity and exposure to foreign scholars.
• Rege (1997) identified three phases in the introspection of sociology:
  • Phase one: Colonial impact and nationalist responses.
  • Phase two: Theoretical paradigms, indigenization, and Marxist paradigms.
  • Phase three: Post-structuralism, feminism, and post-modern explorations.
• Lakshmanna (1974) traced the development of sociology into three phases:
  • Phase one: 1917-1946.
  • Phase two: 1947-1966.
  • Phase three: 1967 onwards.

Sociology in the Pre-Independence Period

• Sociology had its formal beginning in 1917 at Calcutta University due to the efforts of B.N. Seal.
• The subject was later handled by Radhakamal Mukerjee and B.N. Sarkar, but sociology did not make significant progress in Calcutta.
• Anthropology flourished in Calcutta, with the establishment of a department and later the Anthropological Survey of India (ASI).
• Bombay became a key centre for sociology, with Bombay University starting sociology teaching in 1914, funded by the Government of India.
• The Department of Sociology was established in 1919 at Bombay University, led by Patrick Geddes, later joined by G.S. Ghurye and N.A. Toothi.
• Lucknow University introduced sociology in the Department of Economics and Sociology in 1921, with Radhakamal Mukerjee as head, followed by D.P. Mukerji and D.N. Majumdar.
• Mysore University introduced sociology in 1928 through the efforts of B.N. Seal and A.F. Wadia.
• Osmania University also started teaching sociology in 1928 at the undergraduate level, with Jafar Hasan joining after his training in Germany.
• Poona University introduced sociology and social anthropology in the late 1930s, led by Irawati Karve.
• Between 1917-1946, the development of sociology was uneven and not very encouraging, with Bombay being the main centre of sociological activity.
• Bombay University attempted a synthesis between Indo-logical and ethnological trends, creating a distinctive line for departments.
• Notable scholars from Bombay include K.M. Kapadia, Irawati Karve, S.V. Karandikar, M.N. Srinivas, A.R. Desai, I.P. Desai, M.S. Gore, and Y.B. Damle, who shaped the discipline.
• These scholars helped spread sociological studies and research across other universities.
• Trends in pre-independence sociology included teaching sociology alongside economics (Bombay and Lucknow), anthropology (Calcutta), and social philosophy (Mysore).
• Teachers had freedom to design courses based on their interests, with no rigid distinction between sociology and related fields like social psychology, social philosophy, social anthropology, social work, economics, and history.
• Courses covered topics like social biology, social problems (e.g., crime, prostitution, beggary), social psychology, civilization, and pre-history, including tribal, rural, and urban contexts.
• At a general theoretical level, the influence of British social anthropological traditions was evident, with an emphasis on diffusionism and functionalism.
• The study of Indian social institutions had a more Indo-logical emphasis and a focus on social pathological problems and ethnological descriptions.
• Before independence, a strong scientific empirical tradition had not emerged, and sociology was seen as a mixed bagwithout a distinct identity.

Sociology in the Post-Independence Period

• The period between independence and the acceptance of regional language as the medium of instruction saw significant growth in the sociological field.
• Central Government showed interest in promoting social science research through formal organizations.
• Two parallel organizations played a key role in professional interaction: the Indian Sociological Society in Bombay, which published the Sociological Bulletin, and the Lucknow school, which started the All India Annual Sociological Conference.
• Research efforts progressed on three lines:
  1. Large-scale doctoral research in universities.
  2. Research projects driven by the needs of planners and administrators.
  3. The establishment of research institutes due to the growing importance of social science research.
• Growth in research activities created employment opportunities at all levels, along with the establishment of new universities and college departments.
• The fifties saw the solidification of sociology as a teaching discipline, with greater academic status.
• Sociology became more focused in theoretical orientation and highly diversified in specializations.
• Sociology achieved its identity by distinguishing itself from psychology, anthropology, social philosophy, and social work.
• Specializations in sociology included 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.
• The diversification of sociology followed the lines of development needs in independent India, with a focus on tribal, rural, and urban situations.
• Sociologists began researching problems of development, such as rural development, industrialization, education expansion, population control, political processes, and social movements.
• Empirical research aimed to understand the structure, dynamics, and problems of development.
• Post-independence teaching of sociology was influenced by external intellectual sources.
• Before independence, British theoretical traditions, such as diffusionism and functionalism (e.g., Malinowski), influenced sociology.
• After independence, American sociological traditions had a significant impact, particularly structural-functional theory (e.g., Parsons and Merton) and research methodology.
• Additionally, French, German, and Marxian intellectual influences shaped the discipline.
• Indian sociologists began to criticize, modify, and develop new sociological approaches to the study of Indian society and culture, which were reflected in university syllabi.

Developments in the Seventies

• Reviews of developments in sociology and social anthropology have been conducted since earlier times, with key contributions from Unnithan, Singh, ICSSR, Rao, Mukherjee, and others.
• Ram Krishan Mukherjee’s review is considered the most exhaustive and substantial for the discipline.
• The ICSSR trend reports provided detailed insights into developments in various specializations within sociology and anthropology.
• Rao (1982) categorized the developments of the 1970s into three heads:
  1. Crystallized areas of interest and specialization.
  2. Developing areas of interest that had not fully crystallized.
  3. Emergence of new approaches in established areas.
• The seventies saw further diversification in research and teaching, continuing the trends from the 1960s.
• Village community studies were once dominant but were overshadowed by growing interest in areas such as agrarian relations, land reforms, peasants, agricultural laborers, and scheduled castes and tribes.
• The problems of rural society were analyzed using a Marxian framework, emphasizing conflicts and contradictions.
• Other crystallized areas of interest in the 1970s included industrial sociology, urban sociology, and social stratification.
• Six areas of interest began to gain attention but did not fully develop: sociology of profession, sociology of organization, medical sociology, social demography, and studies on women, Muslims, and Hindu-Muslim relations.
• The 1970s introduced new approaches and focuses in research and teaching in large areas such as caste, kinship, religion, politics, and tribal studies.

Perspectives in the Eighties

• In the eighties, several areas of specialization gained strength, including social demography and medical sociology, which became more crystallized.
• More research was undertaken in established areas, and new areas of investigation opened up.
• New areas introduced in the eighties included sociology of deviance, sociology of knowledge, sociology of science and technology, and historical sociology.
• Rao (1982) had anticipated these emerging research areas, and interest in the sociology of science and technologybecame more widespread (e.g., Uberoi, 1978; Vishwanathan, 1977).
• The growing interest in historical sociology was reflected in Fox (1977).
• Damle (1982) anticipated the key tasks for sociology in India in the eighties:
  1. Analyzing the transformation of Indian society.
  2. Understanding the limits of such transformation.
  3. Examining the impact of these limits, particularly the frustrations in efforts to overcome obstacles.
• In this context, new ideologies and protest movements became significant.
• Many new branches of sociology saw notable but isolated contributions from scholars.
• Research promotion was encouraged in the 1990s in areas such as sociology of planning and development, sociology of professions, sociology of organizations, social dimensions of poverty, law and social change, and sociology of national integration.

Imperatives in the Nineties

• In the nineties, India experienced radical political, economic, and socio-cultural changes, expanding the scope and focus of Indian sociology.
• The Indian government, which had followed a policy of mixed economy and welfarism since independence, shifted towards a market-oriented policy.
• In 1991, the government adopted a new economic reform policy aimed at globalizing the economy (Singh, 1997).
• Globalization was driven by the leaders of the developed world, and the liberalization policy allowed foreign companies and capital to enter the Indian market.
• The impact of globalization on Indian cultural heritage and the general life situation of people led to new areas of interest for sociologists, such as civic society (Gupta, 1997), crisis and resilience in social change (Singh, 1993), and secularism and national integration (Joshi, 1997).
• The specific social implications of the new economic policy are yet to be fully analyzed.
• Some courses on global themes were introduced in universities, including ecology and society, human rights issues, sociology of management, human resource development, media and society, and action sociology.
• There is a need to introduce more courses such as sociology of public order, peace, security and development, security management, and information technology.
• These courses are important for both teaching and research, and they are also useful for modern occupations and professions.

Teaching of Sociology in India

• The origin of sociology in India as a distinct discipline dates back to the 1920s.
• Teaching of sociology began in Bombay University in 1914, but academic sociology developed with the establishment of sociology departments in Bombay and Lucknow.
• Sociology remained nominal for nearly a quarter of a century, with little progress in teaching and research.
• Pre-independence scholars laid the foundation for sociology, but their impact was felt only after independence when the number of universities increased from 11 in 1920 to 16 in 1945.
• Despite this, only two universities had sociology departments, and just one offered an independent sociology degree (Unnithan, 1982).
• The percentage of universities with sociology departments declined during 1920-1950, but began increasing after 1950. By 1960, 23.8% of universities had sociology departments, rising to 29.6% by 1965.
• Currently, there are 95 universities (including deemed universities), and 54% offer sociology departments. 44 universities (46.3%) still lack sociology teaching.
• 51 universities teach sociology, but only 32 have separate departments, while 14 offer undergraduate, postgraduate, and PhD programs.
• 16 universities combine sociology with other social science departments, and in three universities, sociology is taught without granting a degree (Unnithan, 1982).
• Other institutions like Agricultural Universities, Institutes of Technology, Indian Statistical Institute, and Tata Institute of Social Sciences also offer sociology studies and research.
• Sociology is a popular subject in Indian universities and colleges today, with 85 of 133 traditional universitiesoffering sociology or related subjects like population studies and women studies.
• A majority of students opt for sociology at the undergraduate level, viewing it as an easy subject for examinations, often preferred by girls who are not career-conscious.
• Sociology has become a major subject at the postgraduate level, ranking fifth in terms of the number of universities offering social sciences and allied subjects.
• At the postgraduate level, sociology attracts the largest number of students after economics, history, and political science.
• In 1969-70, 4,918 students enrolled for postgraduate education in social sciences, with 11.57% (4,442 sociology students) of the total enrollment. The percentage for PhD was 16.34%.
• By 1971, 485 PhDs were awarded in sociology, social anthropology, criminology, and social work.
• The average rate of PhDs in sociology since 1968 has been 46 per year, showing growth compared to earlier decades (34 PhDs from 1931-40, 79 from 1941-60).
• Universities in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra produced more than 100 PhDs by 1970, with other states like Bihar(43), Delhi (42), and Madhya Pradesh (23) contributing smaller numbers.
• Sociology is taught at all university levels, with some courses focusing on research methodology.
• Common subjects in sociology syllabi include Principles of Sociology, Indian Social Institutions, Social Change, and Research Methods, with special areas such as political sociology, educational sociology, industrial sociology, kinship, religion, marriage, and family.
• The national curriculum offers a wider range of optional subjects for sociology students compared to other disciplines.
• Deficiencies include a lack of integration in syllabi, leading to minimal standardization of sociology education across universities.
• Existing courses are often outdated and irrelevant, with textbooks largely written by foreign scholars for other contexts (Unnithan, 1982).
• Despite quantitative growth, the quality of sociology as an academic discipline remains poor in most universities, with some exceptions.
• Research and teaching quality has declined, as noted by Singh (1997), who attributes it to factors like professional anxiety, achievement motivation, and changing consumption patterns.
• Teachers and scholars of sociology need to focus on reviving the discipline, with an emphasis on developing a new sociological curriculum that is both academically and politically active.

Sociological Research in India

• Since independence, there has been significant growth in the teaching of sociology in Indian universities and colleges, leading to an increase in research studies, doctoral dissertations, and publications in professional journals.
• Previous surveys of sociology’s development in India include works 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 efforts, there has been insufficient attention to key aspects of research such as data collection methods, techniques, quality and quantity, unit of study, and theoretical orientations in specific areas of sociology.
• University departments provide more research facilities compared to college level, but there is a lack of sabbatical leave for faculty members to take time off for research.
• Fieldwork is an essential aspect of sociology research, requiring long periods (e.g., nine months or a year) to conduct properly.
• ICSSR and UGC have schemes to support research, addressing the issue of funding; however, spurious researchremains a concern.
• The ICSSR promotes research aligned with social goals, emphasizing the relationship between research and teachingin advancing the discipline.
• Research in sociology received a significant boost after independence, with numerous studies financed and supported by various agencies, and courses on research methods integrated into MA syllabi.
• Research methodology in sociology has become more sophisticated, especially in response to the rapidly changing and complex social organization.
• Progress in doctoral research has been significant, although there were limited recognized supervisors available until the mid-1950s.
• By 1970, 438 doctoral degrees in sociology and related fields were awarded, though economics and political science had more degrees.
• The number of sociology teachers is still limited, with 243 teachers compared to other fields like economics, political science, psychology, and geography.
• Sociology departments at universities (51) rank behind economics (72), political science (59), and commerce (56), but the number of unfilled professorial posts indicates issues with recruitment.
• Despite personnel limitations, sociology scholars undertook 50 research projects, receiving 25.5% of the total ICSSR grants.
• 19 theses were published in sociology, with the discipline’s progress further enhanced by the inclusion of social anthropology.
• The largest share of research projects (above 20%) was in sociology, reflecting the realistic and sound formulation of problems.
• A growing realization occurred that diverse research methods can be complementary, rather than conflicting. Early debates between surveyors and participant observers were resolved by recognizing the complementary nature of these approaches.
• The use of statistical survey methods has increased, and there have been many training courses in quantitative methods and computer programming.
• In addition to quantitative techniques, other methods such as historical analysis, case studies, and participant observation are being increasingly used by sociologists and social anthropologists based on the nature of the research problem.

Sociological Research in India: The State of Crisis

• Recent articles in EPW discuss the declining state of sociological research and teaching in India, particularly criticizing the lacklustre nature of the discipline, its reliance on outdated American texts, and its disconnection from the social world outside the classroom.
• In the 1990s, there was an engaged debate on the crisis in the discipline, with responses highlighting the tiredness of the discipline (Deshpande, 1995), the potential of creating a community of discourse, the risks of uncritical metropolitanism (Murthy, 1993), and the relevance of gender and feminist pedagogy (Rege, 1994; Uberoi, 1994).
• Discussions emerged on the construction of sociology as a discipline (Thappan, 1991; Hegde, 1992) and the teaching of sociology in Indian universities (Uberoi, 1989-90; Deb, 1997).
• A new dimension in the debate appeared, focusing on gender studies (Dube, 1986, 1996, 1997; Desai, 1997; Bhagwat and Rege, 1991; Patel, 1994; Uberoi, 1994) and the women’s movement (Niranjana, 1992; John, 1996).
• Veena Das (1993) identifies three institutional structures contributing to the crisis in sociological research in India: universities, UGC, and professional bodies like the Indian Sociological Society.
• In universities, the proliferation of sociology has not been matched by a commitment to competence in teaching and research, with outdated textbooks, such as MacIver and Page, still being used.
• In universities teaching in regional languages, students lack proficiency in English, limiting their access to important sociological literature and hindering their competence in the subject.
• Political expediency in recruitment and promotion policies of university teachers is undermining academic competence, leading to a decline in research quality.
• PhD dissertation examination is often managed by a small group of scholars, further limiting rigorous evaluation and oversight.
• The UGC shares responsibility for the decline in research standards, with decision-making bodies displaying misguided notions about the state of social science research in the country.
• Professional bodies have done little to address the crisis, failing to ensure ethical practices and instead focusing on increasing job opportunities for sociologists.

Possible Sociological Discourses

• Development of sociology in India is shaped by the historicity of social conditions, with sociological perspectives being socially conditioned (Singh, 1986).
• Acknowledgment of context and culture in Indian sociology is necessary to move away from the Western dominance of the discipline (Nadarajah, 1996).
• Sociological knowledge can be qualitatively changed by revising curricula to contest Western sociological knowledge, considering both content and methodology in social science education (Nadarajah, 1996).
• Institutionalization of research requires a proper balance between the growing needs of theory and the increasing demands of society.
• Public funds for research are provided by government bodies like UGC, ICSSR, and others, but priorities need to be set in terms of the relevance of research.
• Individual scholars should not be neglected, especially those pursuing interdisciplinary research or innovative methodologies; this approach has been recommended by the ICSSR standing committee.
• The history of sociology in India has been discouraging, with its early association with colonial rule, contributing to the survival of colonialism and feudalism in princely states.
• Sociology, anthropology, and ethnology contributed to the feudal mentality of Indian society and did not analyze crucial events such as India’s freedom struggle.
• Sociologists like N.K. Bose and G.S. Ghurye focused on caste and ethnicity, neglecting the major societal events like the freedom struggle.
• The partition of India and the mass exodus from Pakistan were ignored by sociologists, despite the tragic nature of these events.
• The development era under Nehru and the initiation of Five-Year Plans for industrial and agricultural developmentwere largely overlooked by sociologists.
• While village studies were conducted, they often lacked theoretical value, with concepts like dominant caste, sanskritization, westernization, parochialization, and universalization proving unhelpful to development.
• India’s issues are multi-ethnic, multi-caste, multi-religious, multi-regional, and multi-linguistic, with economic problems and unemployment exacerbating the crisis.
• Sociology should analyze social ills and propose solutions, but contemporary Indian sociologists are criticized for remaining in comfortable academic positions without addressing these issues.