Abstract
The book under review, a compilation as well as presentation of the contributions of the prominent sociologists from North-west India, is a reflection of the author’s persuasive power and the information he stocked on who’s who of sociology of India as well. Sociology as a discipline has made great strides in the North-west of India. The North-west region includes Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. Obviously, the focus of the work is on the university departments from where the sociological knowledge has originated. Presently, this region has departments of sociology in 14 universities—state, central, private and agriculture—some old and some new ones. For this work, the author has chosen to discuss only a few sociologists from universities, who have made notable contributions to the development of sociological knowledge. At the first glance, it appears as if there are only male sociologists in the region though the subject is more popular amongst female students. Nevertheless, the author is committed to bring out another book on women sociologists as well.
After an introductory section on the development and social transformation in North-west region of India in general and the emergence of sociology in it, the book is divided into four parts, namely, development and modernisation, urban studies, Dalit studies, and social movements and political sociology. Such a restricted classification looks intriguing, for an examination of the profiles of the sociologists reveals that they have been sensitive and actively responding to the emerging issues and challenges the North-west society faced over time. It also reflects that sociologists have been continuously and consistently exploring, carrying out research and regularly publishing since the emergence of sociology in the region with the opening up of the department of sociology at Panjab University, Chandigarh, in 1960. This department remained the epicentre of doing sociology for a long time in the sense that most of the sociologists were groomed here, and in the next three decades, their work created a visible space in Indian sociology.
In the first part, the contributions of S. L. Sharma, S. R. Mehta and B. A. Dabla have been elucidated under the broad theme of challenges of development process and concerns of modernisation in which a range of emerging issues in the context of women, children, transgender, diaspora, population, communication and leisure have been critically examined. S. L. Sharma has made notable contributions to the analysis of the process of development. His passionate engagement with development starts with modernisation and goes on to social development, sustainable development, ethno-development and globalisation. S. R. Mehta starts from rural development and moves on to examine health and communication in the broader context of development. B. A. Dabla, the only sociologist from Jammu and Kashmir, needs special mention in the sense that he extensively explored the challenges the Muslim society and the marginalized sections have been encountering.
The journey from urban sociology to urban studies began from Victor S. D’Souza, followed by Jaspal Singh and culminated into Ranvinder Singh Sandhu’s work. All of them studied the city by examining the structures, patterns and network of relationships. D’Souza has greatly emphasised on the use of an appropriate methodology in social research. He may be credited with laying the foundations of urban research. He strongly pursued empirical research in the region – the reason that the sociologists of North-west region have been sensitive and actively responding to new challenges. Jaspal Singh’s contribution to the sociology of work and organisations is unparalleled. The study of R. S. Sandhu on drug abuse provides illuminating insights into an existing social problem of the region, in addition to his active engagement with contemporary urban concerns.
Dalit studies in the region depict the issues of inequalities, discrimination and social exclusion of the scheduled castes. P. N. Pimpley has been the pioneer in the area of Dalit studies and he was the first to start teaching a course on sociology of underprivileged in the 1970s. His deep understanding of sociological theory led him to effortlessly interpret any sociological phenomena by putting it in a proper perspective much to the benefit of his students and scholars. Nagla has rightly pointed him as a trainer of sociologists. Perhaps he is the only sociologist in the region who supervised doctoral research on the most diverse type of social issues. His scholars carried forward his legacy and one among others is Satish K. Sharma who continued to examine the concerted collective action of the underprivileged to improve their status. His empirical studies on the struggle of untouchables, Hijras and Chamar artisans inform us about their status enhancement. He explored multiculturalism and pioneered the study of visual expressions as a text and method of understanding and reconstruction of culture and structure.
The studies on social movements and political sociology include the most versatile critical analysts. Paramjit S. Judge’s diverse areas of interest depict his analytical approach to extensively grasp the social reality as a trajectory of individual, community and society. His pioneering work on diaspora and explorations of social movements, strategies of social change and processes of exclusion gave him unchallenging recognition. He very passionately tried to construct society through literature and also created pieces of literature based on his understanding of various nuances of social life. The Marxian/Gandhian framework of analysis used by Birinder Pal Singh in understanding the social formation of the region, its tribes, peasantry and other communities, besides sociology of violence, builds a very interesting binary of his research. His studies on de-notified tribes of Punjab and Sikhs in the Deccan and North-east India are conspicuously valuable. A much grounded field researcher B. K. Nagla provides a deeper understanding of factions and factionalism and its interplay with politics. Though he has explored multiple topics such as role of social media, social transformation, globalisation, social exclusion, leisure, health and professions, his work on Indian sociological thought has made him like a household name with the students of sociology. It would not be refuted by saying that Nagla is a living encyclopaedia of Indian sociologists.
At the end of the book, two challenges —identity crisis and existential problems on the future challenges for North-west Indian sociology–have been put forward. Teaching of sociology in terms of its content, orientation, approach and language poses other critical challenges. Multidisciplinary understanding of sociological issues has strengthened the subject. The need of the time is to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to carry out social research. The vibrant North-west Indian Sociological Association has been disseminating sociological insights, information and knowledge through its conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures to every part of the region.
A cursory look at the broad categorisation of the book into four parts seems a little superfluous, as it conceals the real worth of the contributions, but the author has handled a herculean task and has meticulously brought forth the contribution of sociologists of North-west region in the landscape of Indian sociology. For students, scholars and teachers alike, the book can be a kind of pocketbook on North-west Indian sociology.