India's Social Landscape
Contestations, Resistance, and Transformation
Pushpendra(Editor)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 21. April 2026
Book
Hardback
244 pages
978-1-041-14615-5 (ISBN)
Description
This book examines some of the social dimensions of Indian society and the challenges therein. It explores various themes, including the rules and norms governing people's lives, the rhythm of village life, mythology and folk narratives, as well as social structures, institutions, and processes like caste, class, gender, religion, family formation, conjugality, dialect-language dichotomy, and the Indian diaspora.
Written in honour of Professor Hetukar Jha, renowned for his pioneering contributions to historical sociology and the integration of historical methods with sociological analysis, this collection presents theoretical and empirical articles examining India's complex social landscape. The contributors explore fundamental questions about Indian society's cultural dynamics, the interplay between tradition and modernity, evolving norms and values, and the manifestation of social cohesion and conflict across gender, caste, class, and religion. The book addresses transformations in key social institutions like marriage and language while representing India's spatial diversities and distinct regional cultural practices across its vast geographical expanse. The chapters take a long view on social transformations since India confronted Western "modernity" during British rule and the post-independence period up to the present era of globalisation and liberalisation.
The book will be of interest to research scholars and faculty in the fields of sociology, social anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, Dalit studies, literature, South Asian studies, and political science.
Written in honour of Professor Hetukar Jha, renowned for his pioneering contributions to historical sociology and the integration of historical methods with sociological analysis, this collection presents theoretical and empirical articles examining India's complex social landscape. The contributors explore fundamental questions about Indian society's cultural dynamics, the interplay between tradition and modernity, evolving norms and values, and the manifestation of social cohesion and conflict across gender, caste, class, and religion. The book addresses transformations in key social institutions like marriage and language while representing India's spatial diversities and distinct regional cultural practices across its vast geographical expanse. The chapters take a long view on social transformations since India confronted Western "modernity" during British rule and the post-independence period up to the present era of globalisation and liberalisation.
The book will be of interest to research scholars and faculty in the fields of sociology, social anthropology, cultural studies, gender studies, Dalit studies, literature, South Asian studies, and political science.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic, General, and Postgraduate
Illustrations
6 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 2 s/w Tabellen, 6 s/w Abbildungen
2 Tables, black and white; 6 Halftones, black and white; 6 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
650 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-041-14615-5 (9781041146155)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
04/2026
1st Edition
Taylor & Francis
€60.99
Available for download

E-Book
04/2026
1st Edition
Taylor & Francis
€60.99
Available for download
Person
Pushpendra, formerly Professor and Chairperson of the Patna Centre of Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), India. His recent publications include Home, Belonging and Memory: Leaving and Living (Routledge 2022); Beyond Consumption: India's New Middle Class in the Neo-Liberal Times (Routledge 2022); and Migrants on the Move: Precarity in Times of the Pandemic (Aakar 2022). He is the former editor of the Journal of Migration Affairs. His research interests include migration, agrarian relations, rural labour, human rights, and social policy.
Content
List of figures. List of tables. List of contributors. Acknowledgements. Preface. 1. Intersecting Contests: The Frayed Edges of Indian Society Section I Rhythms of Resistance: Gender, Ritual, and the Critique of Modernity 2. The Unwanted Aspect: Normative Fetish and Epistemological Deceit 3. Mythical Love and Conjugality in Everyday Life: Gender and Politics in India 4. Doing Compensatory Masculinity: Rural Men Negotiating Cross-region Marriages in Haryana 5. Temporal Rhythms in Village Life: Stories of Abundance and Lack in Purulia, West Bengal 6. Harparauri: Echoes of an Extinct Women's Folk Ritual in the Bhojpuri World Section II Contested Belongings: Identity, Language, and Diaspora in Contemporary India 7. Neither Rural, Nor Urban: Incomplete Migration in Dalit Life-narratives 8. Bengali Muslims in Assam and 'Miyah' Poetry: Walking on the Shifting Terrains of 'Na-Asamiya' and 'Infiltrator' 9. Negotiating Community: Narratives around Locating the 'Professed' Rangrez Identity 10. Away from Hindi's Shadow: Census and Bhojpuri in Bihar 11. Indian Diaspora's Journey into Neo-Conservatism Section III Tribute to Hetukar Jha 12. Professor Hetukar Jha's Contributions to the Study of Historical Sociology 13. Indian Sociology, Village Structures, and Regional Imagination: Reflections on Hetukar Jha's Critical Works 14. Hetukar Jha: A Biographical Note and Select Bibliography