Social Change

Regional inequality, in terms of cross-district variations, has attracted the attention of researchers and policy-makers alke, helping them to understand horizontal differences and provide alternatives in removing disparities. Several studies have indicated that such variations are an important reason behind the ethnic and political strife found in such regions—a problem that gets accentuated when these areas are dominated by the tribal and are simultaneously underdeveloped. Apart from historical and social factors and the endowment of natural resources, government policies and programmes have also contributed in creating unequal levels and trends in the socio-economic development of a region. Arunachal Pradesh, one of the least studied states in India and located in the north eastern part of the country, is in a transitional phase of its socio-economic development and has shown variations in the levels of development across districts. Given the quality of social capital available in the state, it seems that development is required not only to increase an adequate resource flow, but also to create an enabling environment to attract people towards realising the importance of social capital. For such an understanding, a mapping of cross-district variations in the development of the social sector in Arunachal Pradesh is vital. This study tries to assess the disparity in the social sector across Arunachal Pradesh’s districts by using the principal component analysis (PCA) method to rank districts. On the basis of ranks, the study attempts to analyse reasons behind the levels of disparity. In conclusion, on finding conceptual problems in traditional indicators of social sector development, some alternatives have been outlined.

This article has tried to assess the state of women’s health in Nepal by examining their anaemic condition in order to understand certain aspects of their reproductive system. The probability of heightened reproductive health problems has been associated with the prevalence of anaemia. This study focuses on a specific area in which it examines the gross and net effect of women’s autonomy and the working status of women against the presence of anaemia in women between the ages of 15 and 49 years. For this analysis, information has been sourced from the women’s data file of the Nepal Demographic Health Survey, 2011. Bivariate and multivariate analysis results reveal that the effect of women’s autonomy in reducing anaemic situation has been significant while looking at different models. No such significant result, however, has been assessed among working women. Considering this, it seems that a woman’s level of autonomy in society, along with other social–economic variables, can have a positive result on her health. Finally, the article concludes that an integrated health approach is a vital instrument in reducing anaemia among currently married women and reducing the burden of ill health on the government, the woman’s family and on her.

This essay on Sachidananda Routray, the famous poet and radical intellectual activist of modern Odisha, is based on an interpretation of his literary works as well as archival documents. It profiles and analyses his leading role as a harbinger of progressive and marxist ideas in Odisha, as can be seen in the reports written on him by the colonial administration and from his articles and poetry that appeared in the 1930s in Nabeen, a weekly Odia newspaper, and Krushak, a prominent progressive Odia monthly magazine. He combined his considerable literary talents with his organisational abilities which could be seen in his mobilisation of students, peasants and other marginalised sections all of which established him as a front-ranking figure in the history of modern Odisha.

Social reality in India is pre-determined by a hierarchy of caste and class that denies rights to people living at the bottom of the Hindu social order. In this micro-regional study, we attempt to show how continuing caste rigidity hinders social interaction, which, in turn, strengthens social exclusion, thus preventing the growth and development of certain communities. We set out to examine and analyse how social interaction, and its effect on social exclusion, historically exists amongst the Dalits in Varanasi district of East Uttar Pradesh. The article, developed out of extensive empirical fieldwork and based on a primary data interview schedule, focused interviews and a quasi-participatory observation method, initially contextualises linkages between social interaction and social exclusion. Then, we observe the proximity and locations of different communities in the surveyed villages. Next, we examine the kinds of village activities the lower caste Dalits participate in or do not have access to, and the reasons for their non-participation. Finally, through some observations, we outline how equal access to services and society are imperative for democratic participation and the overall development of society.

This article, examining the interface of research university and knowledge society, argues that India will have to build a strong research base in its universities since a modern research-oriented university is the mother of knowledge society—a society in which knowledge industry plays a vital role in enhancing its power and wealth. Universities play an important role in sustaining the knowledge society as well, since the universities, through their research activities, train students who are capable of original thinking and can become the next generation’s elites, that is, scientists, engineers, teachers, industrial entrepreneurs and political leaders, enabling society to adapt to rapid changes. Furthermore, taking the USA as a paradigm of knowledge society, it asserts that the country has become rich and powerful by promoting scientific research in its universities. Concurrently, while appraising India’s progress towards knowledge society, the article concludes that if India aspires to be a world power in the 21st century, it will have to become a knowledge society by promoting research not only by guaranteeing substantial financial support, but also by regenerating a research culture and ceaselessly transmitting it among the coming generations of students.

This article is a commentary on Praveen Patel’s article, ‘Research Culture in Indian Universities’, appearing in this issue. Patel’s thesis that knowledge creation through scientific research in our universities is a key to economic development is unexceptionable. However, there are conditions under which the above relationship will hold good. It is also argued that scientific research outside of the university system too should be taken into account in any discussion of the above relationship. Patel calls the United States as the ‘paradigm of knowledge society’. Arguments against this statement are presented. The hierarchy between data, information, knowledge and wisdom is pointed out.

The rapid growth of economy in the 20th century is largely due to the accelerative development of scientific achievement and technology. Modern educational system–especially research universities–has played a key role. Today’s world is led by knowledge society. China developed her manufacture sector recently, but the difference in labour productivity between China and the US increased significantly during the same period. Therefore, in order to catch up with progress of western countries, improving their research universities and research culture are great challenges faced by both China and India.

The success of India’s democracy has evoked widespread interest. It is rightly regarded as a postcolonial success story—a functioning democracy that has held free and fair elections and managed to remain pluralist and inclusive. Indian democracy has offered huge opportunities to confront and address the challenges on the development front through policies and practices evolved in the past six decades. Its numerous achievements notwithstanding, the failure to remove the division between the privileged and the rest is largely responsible for the inability to extend the reach of India’s economic and social development. The persistence of inequalities of various kinds is a major contributory factor in holding back the full potential of democratic politics. What follows is not a comprehensive account or stocktaking of India’s democratic experience and its impact on inequalities and vice versa. This lecture attempts to situate issues of inequality in the wider context of political democracy to explore the interaction between the two processes. It concludes with a brief discussion on the emerging relationship between democracy and inequality in the contemporary moment.

Arup Maharatna, India’s Perception, Society, and Development: Essays Unpleasant, New Delhi, Springer India, 2013, xvii + 183 pp., $129, ISBN: 978-81-32210-17-7.

Nigel Dodd, The Social Life of Money, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, ix + 444 pp., $35, ISBN: 978-0-691-14142-8 (Hardcover).

Manoranjan Mohanty, Red and Green: Five Decades of the Indian Maoist Movement, Kolkata, Setu Prakashani, vii + 498 pp., ₹950, ISBN: 9789380677699.

Thongkholal Haokip, India’s Look East Policy and the Northeast, New Delhi, SAGE Publications, 2015, 212 pp., ₹795, ISBN: 978-93-515-0101-5.

K. C. Sivaramakrishnan, Governance of Megacities—Fractured Thinking, Fragmented Setup, New Delhi, Oxford University Press, 2014, 372 pp., ₹895, ISBN 978-01-99454-13-6.

Jonathan D. James, A Moving Faith: Mega Churches Go South, New Delhi, SAGE Publications, 2014, 260 pp., ₹795, ISBN: 9789351500582.

Christel R. Devadawson, Out of Line: Cartoons, Caricature and Contemporary India, Delhi, Orient BlackSwan, 2014, xiv + 278 pp., ₹650, ISBN: 9788125055136.