Question

article on modernity in indian homes

Answer 1

Modernity is yet another theoretical framework which is highly value loaded.Modernity quite like tradition is multiple and multi-dimensional. In the western society, modernity consists of democracy, capitalism, state power, military and secularism. There is a clear-cut separation between state and religion (church).

There are two basic approaches to the study of traditions. One view is that Indian traditions are dichotomous which can be seen in sanskritization and westernization or the little tradition and great traditions.

Another view rejects this dichotomy and argues that traditions are far too complex and consist of a hierarchy each of which needs to be analyzed in order to unravel all the ramifications of change. Actually, S.C. Dube has given a six-fold classification of traditions in India, each of which is to be studied in rural as well as urban contexts to evaluate change.

The classification of traditions is:

(1) Classical traditions,

(2) Emergent national traditions,

(3) Regional traditions,

(4) Local traditions,

(5) Western traditions, and

(6) Local sub-cultural traditions of social groups.

Looking at all the explanations of Indian traditions, it could be safely said that these are multiple traditions consisting of varying hierarchies. Another specificity of tradition is that it is cultural in nature. It is found in customs, values and ideational phenomena.

It is this cultural aspect of tradition which provides stability to social structure. Traditions draw heavily from ethnography and empirical observation.

The meaning of modernity in India is different. Here, there is a challenging role of communalism in state politics. Caste, weaker sections, minority-majority groups play a decisive role in deciding the structure of democracy and industrialism. In a general way, modernization is accretive, assimilative and adaptive.

Occasionally, it threatens established social order causing breakdown in the social system. In a broader way, modernization constitutes a process of social, political, cultural and economic transformation which by its very nature tends to be accumulative, adaptive and which selectively promoted structural replacements and differentiation in society. Since modernization is a multi-dimensional and ideological process, it gives rise to a great deal of debate in India.




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