Understanding Social Dynamics in South Asia: Essays in Memory of Ramkrishna Mukherjee

Description

This volume includes fourteen essays by eminent sociologists in memory of Ramkrishna Mukherjee (1919–2017), the last of the founding architects of sociology in India. It also includes two interviews with Ramkrishna Mukherjee by senior sociologists. The essays cover a variety of themes and topics close to the works of Ramkrishna Mukherjee: the idea of unitary social science, methodology of social research, the question of facts and values, rural society and social change, social mobility, family and gender, and nationalism. In the two interviews included here Mukherjee clarifies his intellectual trajectory as well as issues of methodology and methods in social research. Overall, this volume endorses his emphasis on the need for social researchers to transcend the ‘what’ and ‘how’ to ‘why’ in the pursuit of sociological knowledge. The volume is a valuable addition to the history of sociology in India. Students of sociology and other social sciences will find it useful as a book of substantive readings on social dynamics; those researching the social world will find in it a useful guide to issues in designing and execution of social research projects. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Remembering Ramkrishna Mukherjee: A Scholar Extraordinaire (Partha Nath Mukherji, N. Jayaram, Bhola Nath Ghosh)....Pages 3-17 Ramkrishna Mukherjee: An Accomplished Academic Amphibian (T. K. Oommen)....Pages 19-30 Front Matter ....Pages 31-31 Unitary Social Science: An Idea and Its Prospects (N. Jayaram)....Pages 33-49 Ramkrishna Mukherjee on Fact–Value Relations in Social Research (Haribabu Ejnavarzala)....Pages 51-65 Ramkrishna Mukherjee on Indian Sociology: A Review (Biswajit Ghosh)....Pages 67-80 Front Matter ....Pages 81-81 Caste, Economy and Power: Changing Rural Bihar (Gaurang R. Sahay)....Pages 83-106 Dynamics of Social Mobility in an Emerging Knowledge Society: The Case of Rural India (Debal K. SinghaRoy)....Pages 107-124 Panchayat Elections and Democratic Decentralisation in West Bengal (Partha Nath Mukherji)....Pages 125-143 Front Matter ....Pages 145-145 Family Matters in India: A Sociological Understanding (Ravinder Kaur)....Pages 147-159 Women’s Autonomy and Spousal Violence in India: An Analysis of NFHS–3 Data (Bhola Nath Ghosh, Samba Siva Rao Pasupuleti)....Pages 161-174 Front Matter ....Pages 175-175 Social Change in India: Reconsidering Ramkrishna Mukherjee (Surendra Munshi)....Pages 177-188 Some Unity in Diversity: Analysing Inequality, Change and Mobility in Rural South India (Staffan Lindberg)....Pages 189-201 Ecological Changes and Underdevelopment of North-Eastern Bihar in a Historical Perspective (Hetukar Jha)....Pages 203-211 The Ethno-Class Formation and Contemporary National Identity in Bangladesh (A. I. Mahbub Uddin Ahmed)....Pages 213-237 Front Matter ....Pages 239-239 Ramkrishna Mukherjee in Conversation with Anjan Ghosh (Anjan Ghosh)....Pages 241-263 On Methodology of Social Research: Conversations with Ramkrishna Mukherjee (Partha Nath Mukherji, Chandan Sengupta)....Pages 265-276 Back Matter ....Pages 277-280