Jaipur • New Delhi • Bengaluru • Guwahati • Kolkata
This volume is a compilation of eleven research articles and
exegetical essays by N. Jayaram, broadly focussing on identity,
community/ethnicity, and conflict. The five chapters in Part One deal with the
nature of social reality and the perspective for studying it; a semantic
exploration of the concept of ‘identity’ in India’s society and culture; the
scope and significance of sociology of conflict and the perspectives for
understanding it; and a survey of literature on the interrelated themes of
identity, community/ethnicity, and conflict. The two chapters on social
conflict are written jointly with Satish Saberwal. The six chapters in Part Two
are studies and analysis of the politics of ‘cultural renaissance’ among
Indo-Trinidadians; the tragedy of Sri Lanka resulting from Buddhist revivalism
and ethnic fratricide; the educational backwardness of Indian Muslims analysed
from the perspective of identity and ethnicity; a south Indian perspective on
multiculturalism and nation-building, and an analysis of the bearing of
multiculturalism in education. The last chapter in this part is a sociological
reading of
V.S. Naipaul’s ‘Indian Trilogy’. The introduction to the volume
strings together the chapters by highlighting their themes and the context in
which the text of the chapters was originally prepared, presented, and
published.
PERSPECTIVES AND LITERATURE
Studying
Our Society: The Social Reality
Identity:
A Semantic Exploration in India’s Society and Culture
Sociology
of Conflict: An Introduction
Understanding
Social Conflict: Further Perspectives
Identity,
Community, and Conflict: A Survey of Issues and Analyses
STUDIES AND ANALYSES
The
Politics of ‘Cultural Renaissance’ among Indo-Trinidadians
Religious
Revivalism and Ethnic Fratricide: The Tragedy of Sri Lanka
Ethnicity
and Education: A Sociohistorical Perspective on the Educational Backwardness of
Indian Muslims
Multiculturalism
and Nation-Building: A South Indian Perspective
Multiculturalism
and Education: The Indian Experience
Understanding
A Wounded Civilisation: A Sociological Reading of V.S. Naipaul’s Indian Trilogy
N. Jayaram retired as Professor of Research Methodology at the
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He had earlier taught sociology at
Bangalore University and Goa University. He was Visiting Professor of Indian
Studies at The University of the West Indies, Trinidad; Fellow of the Indian
Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; Visiting Professor of Sociology at
Ambedkar University Delhi and the National Law School of India University,
Bengaluru; and Visiting Research Mentor in Sociology and Social Work at Christ
University, Bengaluru. He is the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award
conferred by the Indian Sociological Society.
Jayaram’s recent publications include Understanding Social
Dynamics in South Asia: Essays in Memory of Ramkrishna Mukherjee (co-edited
with Partha Nath Mukherji and Bhola Nath Ghosh); Caste Matters in Public
Policy: Issues and Perspectives (co-edited with Rahul Choragudi and Sony
Pellissery); From Indians in Trinidad to Indo-Trinidadians: The Making of a
Girmitiya Diaspora; Sociological Theory and Research Methods: A Study in the
Philosophy of the Social Sciences; and The Sociology of Émile Durkheim:
Understanding the Relation between Individual and Society.
