Hi -- I'll forward your message about the website to Rukun Advani, I'm sure he'll appreciate the feedback. Yes, Permanent Black has been cornering many of the best social science / history publications recently. I have also sent them my book proposal, on none other than IT Bangalore!
Carol ----- Original Message ----- From: Abhishek Hazra <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 1:56 pm Subject: Re: [silk] Failure of Sociology in India? To: [email protected] > thanks carol for the post. > yes, i have been waiting to get my hands on this volume. > and of late, Permanent Black has been coming out with so many > interesting titles... > i just wish they update their website to include more of the past > volumes.http://permanent-black.blogspot.com/ > i thought that this site gives a better feel for the titles than > the catalogue > > they had a slim volume on South Asian scholars in the west [1] - which > was more of a collection of personal recollections by scholars like > Appadurai, Gyan Prakash, Partha Chatterjee, tracing their own > intellectual history and how they see their engagement with the > "western academia". so though they were not strictly academic papers, > they nevertheless gave you a sense of how these practitioners have > framed their engagement with their respective discipline - history, > anthropology, cultural studies. > > [1] At Home in Diaspora : South Asian Scholars and the West > by Jackie Assayag and Veronique Benei > http://www.biblio.com/details.php?dcx=7349674&aid=frg > > > On Dec 12, 2007 1:16 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hello, from the resident sociologist on silklist. > > > > Shiv is quite correct -- sociology is a tired, underdeveloped, > nelected, and largely irrelevant discipline in India, despite the > fact that (I think) it produces more PhDs than any other. There > are many reasons for this, and I would not like to bore members > with a long discussion of these. It has to do with the history of > the discipline in India, institutional problems, and many others. > The language problem is also acute -- most of the 'good' sociology > is carried out in English, with little link to debates going on in > regional/ Indian languages. > > > > But there are nonetheless some sociologists around who are doing > relevant and interesting work (in a few good centres such as DU > and JNU), and who are also concerned about this problem -- hence > the frequent lamentations from sociologists themselves about the > state of the discipline. (To its credit, sociology is probably the > most reflexive discipline around; we do a lot of navel gazing.) > And quite a few sociologists do actually carry out important > policy-related research, sit on government committees, submit > reports on current issues (never read!) and so on. But there is > much more that needs to be done. > > > > There is some research funding available from ICSSR and others > bodies, even Tatas and others do cough up money sometimes; but > most of us seek outside sources of funding (ie, outside of India). > > > > Another problem is that many of the best social scientists have > flown the coop, and teach in western universities (I am a reverse > migrant!), so we are not reproducing outselves. But now we see > some returnees, coming back as fresh PhDs or with a few years of > teaching -- this may change the picture ... > > > > A perennial conundrum for Indian sociology has been figuring out > the correct frame of analysis; if all the theories and categories > of sociology are imported from the West, how can they help us to > undestand India? On the other hand, it has tended to be insular, > looking only at India, without a sufficient comparative > perspective. An unresolved debate ... and there are many others. > > > > Thanks to Shiv for highlighting this issue, since the general > public, including intellectuals, seem to think that disciplines > like sociology are quite irrelevant and unimportant. With the > unbridled faith in science, technology and economic growth that > seems to have gripped the middle classes, some critical reflection > on India's current development trajectory is in order -- which is > precisely what sociologists (and others) are supposed to be good > at. Yet they do not often enough air their views, or their > knowledge, in public. > > > > May I recommend a recently published book -- Anthropology in the > East edited by Patricia Uberoi et al (Permanent Black, 2007). It's > a collection of articles about important figures in the history of > Indian sociology / social anthropology, and one of its purposes > was to make a beginning at trying to understand the reasons for > the sorry state of the discipline, by tracing its history. I also > have a piece in this volume, in which I try to understand certain > aspects of the discipline by looking at the work of one of the > founding 'fathers', GS Ghurye. But you might find such a tome > rather boring! > > > > Carol > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: shiv sastry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 8:15 pm > > Subject: [silk] Failure of Sociology in India? > > To: [email protected] > > > > > I don't mean to hurt anyone, although it is possible that people > > > may feel > > > hurt. > > > > > > I apologize in advance for any hurt I may cause as I post > > > opinions. > > > > > > What I write below are OPINIONS. Not research findings. > > > > > > Using Google it is easy to find references that point to the > > > failure of > > > Sociology in India. One paper spoke of sociology in India > being a > > > "tired" > > > specialty. Another spoke of failure to address really big issues. > > > > > > My life revolves around talking to people and hearing their > > > innermost secrets > > > and I am faced with a whole lot of questions. Sometimes, answers > > > to those > > > questions seem come by chance when I am reading Western > > > literature. At other > > > times people make serendipitous observations that seem to have > > > truth in them > > > > > > I tend to think that India has a very narrow base of scholarship. > > > In the last > > > 60 years the entire country has rushed headlong into technical > > > education and > > > the humanities have been badly neglected. Day to day issues > > > affecting Indian > > > society are not addressed at all by the miniscule body of Indian > > > sociologists. Some questions have no answers except the chance > > > observations > > > by Western sociologists studying India and Indians. Neither the > > > government > > > nor corporate bodies come forward as far as I can tell to fund > > > research in > > > departments of sociology, and I suspect that the little sociology > > > there is in > > > India is funded by meager grants from some NGO or the other. I > > > don't really > > > know for sure. > > > > > > I believe that sociology in India is "massive work waiting to be > > > done". None > > > of the major issues that crop up have been addressed at all even > > > though they > > > stare you in the face or hit you between the eyes. > > > > > > I saw one reference that said that India had 15,000 sociologists, > > > but only > > > 1700 had registered with the association, and the number of papers > > > being > > > published was far fewer than that from a Finland. The blame for > > > that is laid > > > on the forced need for English and th lack of English competence > > > among Indian > > > sociologits, with no mechanism for them to write in their mother > > > tongues. > > > Is sociology neglected or not in India? > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------- > > Carol Upadhya > > Fellow, School of Social Sciences > > National Institute of Advanced Studies > > Indian Institute of Science Campus > > Bangalore-560 012 > > phone: +91-80-2218-5000/ 5141 > > cell: 93413-11453 > > > > > > > > -- > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > does the frog know it has a latin name? > - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > >
