Society and Politics in India: Essays in a Comparative Perspective (LSE Monographs on Social Anthropology)

Society and politics are subjects of continuous and animated discussion in contemporary India. The essays brought together in this collection were written or published between 1964 and 1990. In this case it was also a period of many changes in the disciplines of social anthropology and sociology, as well as in the social and political environment. Cover 1 Series Page 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 7 Dedication Page 9 Introduction 10 1 Race, caste and gender 24 2 Race, caste and ethnic identity 46 3 The concept of tribe with special reference to India 66 4 Caste and politics in Tamilnadu 88 5 The politics of 'non-antagonistic' strata 131 6 Networks in Indian social structure 149 7 The future of the Backward Classes: the competing demands of status and power 159 8 Equality as a right and as a policy 201 9 Individualism and equality 224 10 Individual and person as subjects for sociology 259 Notes and sources 285 Index 312 This volume brings together some of the lost important essays written over the last two decades by one of India's most distinguished social scientists. They focus upon the relationship between various forms of inequality and distinction (race, caste, tribe, ethnicity and gender) and on concepts of the person; on the relationship between the values of equality and individualism; and on the ambivalent role of the modern Indian state as the guuarantor of these values.