• Akshay Ramanlal Desai (1915-1994) was born on April 16, 1915, in Nadiad, Gujarat.
• He passed away on November 12, 1994, in Baroda, Gujarat.
• Desai was influenced by his father, Ramanlal Vasantlal Desai, a well-known litterateur who inspired youth in Gujarat in the 1930s.
• He participated in student movements in Baroda, Surat, and Bombay.
• He graduated from the University of Bombay, obtained a law degree, and earned a PhD in sociology under G.S. Ghurye in 1946.
• Desai taught at Bombay University and eventually became the head of the department.
• In 1947, he married Neera Desai, a pioneering figure in women’s studies.
• In 1953, he joined the Trotskyites Revolutionary Socialist Party and resigned from it in 1981.

Methodology

• A.R. Desai consistently advocated and applied the dialectical-historical model in his sociological studies.
• He was influenced by Marx, Engels, and Leon Trotsky, and was one of the pioneers in introducing the modern Marxist approach to empirical research.
• Desai is considered a doctrinaire Marxist, applying Marxist methods to analyze Indian social structures.
• He rejected interpretations of tradition based on religion, rituals, and festivities, considering it a secular phenomenonrooted in economics.
• Desai’s studies included nationalism, community development, state-society relations, urban slums, and peasant movements, all based on historical-dialectical materialism.
• He argued that contradictions in Indian social transformation arose from the growing nexus between the capitalist bourgeoisie, the rural petty-bourgeoisie, and the state apparatus.
• This nexus undermined the aspirations of the working classes, resulting in social unrest and protests.
• The contradictions did not resolve but evolved, re-emerging as social movements. The capitalist path of development followed by India was a legacy of the national movement.

Writings of Desai

• A.R. Desai brought a refreshingly new perspective to evaluate changes in Indian society, particularly through his Marxist approach.
• His key works include The Social Background of Indian Nationalism (1948), Slums and Urbanization of India(1970, 1972), Peasant Struggle in India (1979), Rural India in Transition (1979), and India’s Path of Development(1984).
• Desai contributed significantly to political sociology in the 1960s and examined peasant struggles, a topic also explored by historians and social scientists from various perspectives.
• He studied Indian society from a Marxian perspective and integrated history into his analysis, similar to D.P. Mukerji.
• Desai and Pillai (1972) conducted a significant study on slums as a category within city studies.
• In 1969, Desai published Rural Sociology in India, a major work in agrarian studies.
• His work also addressed social movements, especially among the peasantry, a previously neglected area in sociology.
• Desai’s study of the Indian National Movement (1948) analyzed its class character and inherent contradictions, marking a pioneering contribution.
• Key themes in Desai’s contributions include: village structure, transformation of Indian society, social background of Indian nationalism, peasant struggles, and state and society.