Introducing Society 1 · Section 15

In keeping with contemporary- Victorian-evolutionary ideas, western writers saw in the Indian village a remnant or survival from what was called “the infancy of society”. They saw in nineteenth-century India the past of the European society. Yet another evidence of the colonial heritage of countries like India is the distinction often made between sociology and social anthropology. A standard western textbook definition of sociology is “the study of human groups and societies, giving particular emphasis to the analysis of the industrialised world” (Giddens : ).

A standard western definition of social anthropology would be the study of simple societies of non-western and therefore “other” cultures. In India the story is quite different. M.N. Srinivas maps the trajectory: In a country such as India, with its size and diversity, regional, linguistic, religious, sectarian, ethnic (including caste), and between rural and urban areas, there are a myriad ‘others’...

In a culture and society such as India’s, ‘the other’ can be encountered literally next door... (Srinivas : ). Furthermore social anthropology in India moved gradually from a pre- occupation with the study of ‘primitive people’ to the study of peasants, ethnic groups, social classes, aspects and features of ancient civilisations, and modern industrial societies. No rigid divide exists between sociology and social anthropology in India, a characteristic feature of the two subjects in many western countries.

Perhaps the very diversity of the modern and traditional, of the village and the metropolitan in India accounts for this. X THE SCOPE OF SOCIOLOGY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCE DISCIPLINES The scope of sociological study is extremely wide. It can focus its analysis of interactions between individuals such as that of a shopkeeper with a customer, between teachers and students, between two friends or family members. It can likewise focus on national issues such as unemployment or caste conflict or the effect of state policies on forest rights of the tribal population or rural indebtedness.

Or examine global social processes such as: the impact of new flexible labour regulations on the working class; or that of the electronic media on the young; or the entry of foreign universities on the education system of the country. What defines the discipline of sociology is therefore not just what it studies (i.e. family or trade unions or villages) but how it studies a chosen field. Sociology is one of a group of social sciences, which also includes anthropology, economics, political science and history.

The divisions among the various social sciences are not clearcut, and all share a certain range of common interests, concepts