Explain the dimensions of modernity in India in detial.
Answers
Anthony Giddens has put a very sound thesis that modernity is multi-dimensional. It is neither monolith, nor liberal only. Nor it is democratic only. It has several dimensions. Indian sociologist, Dipankar Gupta in his book, Mistaken Modernity (2000), has made yet another statement which applies to different nation-states.
If modernity is multiple, it means that India should have its own variant of modernity. And, further, there are several or plural ethnicities in this country and therefore modernity in this country has to be defined in terms of the social-historical and cultural conditions of different regions or social segments of the nation.
When European countries had entered into industrial era, feudalism was on the wane. The series of revolutions which took place in Europe, gave emergence to democracy and nation-states. And, interestingly, Europe had already experienced renaissance and enlightenment. Such a kind of social conditions in Europe created modernity.
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And, with the increasing force of modernity, there came into existence the form of modernity which is now called late modernity. The pioneers of sociology – Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Simmel – were the products of modernity, i.e., capitalism, democracy and industrialism. Indian social conditions were different. Our challenges were serious. There was colonialism and in princely states, feudalism. Our first priority was to get freedom, and our ambition was to build India into a nation.
Our pioneering sociologists, G.S. Ghurye, M.N. Srinivas, D.P. Mukerji, B.K. Sarkar, Radhakamal Mukherjee, S.V. Ketkar, B.N. Dutt and K.P. Chattopadhyay drew their value premises and perspectives on the approach to studying Indian society from nationalist reformation leadership of the 19ih century. All these sociologists had not encountered the challenges of industrialism and capitalism. Nor had they any experience of western modernity.
Specifying the orientation of pioneer Indian sociologists, Yogendra Singh, in his book Indian Sociology (1986), writes:
The sociologists of the pioneer generation were less concerned with the professionalization of sociology as a discipline, in respect of concepts, theories, methodology of social observation or with establishing sociology as a branch of science. Their deeper concern, however, was with the issue of social relevance.