Of the five major sociologists whose views on Indian society are assessed in this work, originally published in 1979, Marx and Weber made a special study of the subject and had something definite to say about the future of Indian society. Herbert Spencer was primarily concerned with the effects of colonial rule on India’s progress, while Durkheim and Pareto tended to observe Indian society from a comparative point of view. However, as this study shows, all five sociologists touched on two special aspects of Indian society – Indian religion and the caste system. The other features of Indian society which they discussed in their various writings range widely from marriage and family structure, through village communities and the social structure of cities, to political organization, the educational system, economic conditions, and the future progress of Indian society. Dr Madan demonstrates the correctness of Marx’s contention that the political subordination of India was the one great hindrance to the future progress of Indian Society. He points out, though, that Marx failed to see clearly the effects of the caste system on economic development, and shows that this aspect was more correctly assessed by Max Weber. On the other hand, in Dr Madan’s view, Weber’s observation that Indian religion was ‘other-worldly’ and therefore a great obstacle to progress in Indian society lacked incisiveness. By focusing on a neglected aspect of the writings of five of the great figures in sociology, the book gives a new insight into their work, and at the same time highlights many hitherto unrecognized facets of India’s complex social structure.

First Published in 1980, Manfred S. Frings’ translation of Problems of a Sociology of Knowledgemakes available Max Scheler’s important work in sociological theory to the English-speaking world. The book presents the thinker’s views on man’s condition in the twentieth-century and places it in a broader context of human history. This book highlights Scheler as a visionary thinker of great intellectual strength who defied the pessimism that many of his peers could not avoid. He comments on the isolated, fragmented nature of man’s existence in society in the twentieth century but suggests that a ‘World-Age of Adjustment’ is on the brink of existence. Scheler argues that the approaching era is a time for the disjointed society of the twentieth-century to heal its fractures and a time for different forms of human knowledge to come together in global understanding.

First published in 1962, this seminal work is an introduction to sociology in a world context, and a sophisticated guide to the major themes, problems and controversies in contemporary sociology. The book remains unique in its organisation and presentation of sociological ideas and problems, in it s lack of insularity (its wide coverage of diverse types of society and of sociological thought from various cultural traditions), and in its systematic connection of sociology with the broad themes of modern social and political thought.

First published in 1962, this seminal work is an introduction to sociology in a world context, and a sophisticated guide to the major themes, problems and controversies in contemporary sociology. The book remains unique in its organisation and presentation of sociological ideas and problems, in it s lack of insularity (its wide coverage of diverse types of society and of sociological thought from various cultural traditions), and in its systematic connection of sociology with the broad themes of modern social and political thought.

First published in 1974, this book gives a detailed and thoughtful examination on immigration in Britain, specifying the experiences of non-white intellectuals. In the first section – Viewpoint – each contributor, who was born and raised outside Britain, articulates and analyses the tensions generated by the conflict between his own native culture and that dominant in Britain, and the way in which, and the degree to which, he has coped with them. Each contributor observes English culture, elucidating its distinctive characteristics, and analysing the extent to which he feels sympathetic to them. In the second section – Response – distinguished philosophers, sociologists, and students of English character respond to the problems raised by immigrant intellectuals in their essays. This book is indispensable to everyone interested in creating a peaceful and culturally rich society in Britain.

First published in 1968, this book explores the theme of geographical generalization, or model building. It is composed of seven of the chapters from the original Models in Geography, published in 1967. The first chapter broadly outlines this theme and examines the nature and function of generalized statements, ranging from conceptual models to scale models, in a geographical context. The following six chapters deal with socio-economic building in geography. They focus on demographic and sociological models as well as looking at special aspects of models in human geography in reference to economic development, urban geography and settlement location, industrial location, and agricultural activity. This book represents a robustly anti-idiographic statement of modern work in one of the major branches of geography.

The twentieth century has been marked by an unprecedented outburst of religious activity on a world-wide scale, and in particular by a mushrooming of numerous religious movements. This work, first published in 1987, takes a fresh approach to the understanding of this phenomenon, an approach which takes into account new concepts of human nature and of religion.

First published in 1982, this book considers the position of young Afro-Caribbean people in Britain, in the 1980s. It looks at how, at the time, this group of young people were disproportionately hit by growing unemployment, seemed to be over-represented in crime statistics and were often disadvantage at school. The authors of the book analyse the struggles of the time and look at the reasons for their existence.

Identity politics refers to discourses and movements organized around questions of religious, ethnic, and national identity. This volume focuses on political cultural movements that are making a bid for state power, for fundamental juridical change, or for cultural hegemony. In particular, the contributors explore the relations of culture, identity, and women, providing vivid illustrations from around the world of the compelling nature of Woman as cultural symbol and Woman as political pawn in male-directed power struggles. The discussions also provide evidence of women as active participants and as active opponents of such movements. Taken together, the chapters provide answers to some pressing questions about these political-cultural movements: What are their causes? Who are the participants and social groups that support them? What are their objectives? Why are they preoccupied with gender and the control of women? The first section of the book offers theoretical, comparative, and historical approaches to the study of identity politics. A second section consists of thirteen case studies spanning Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Hindu countries and communities. In the final section, contributors discuss dilemmas posed by identity politics and the strategies designed in response.