This book is about various perspectives which help us to understand the Indian society, that has passed through a long evolutionary process beginning from monarchy to feudalism, colonialism and democracy. Officially, it is now a plural, democratic, technological, industrial and capitalistic society. Indian sociological thinkers, such as D.D. Kosambi, Romila Thapar, Radhakamal Mukerjee, G.S. Ghurye, Irawati Karve, M.N. Srinivas, S.C. Dube, D.P. Mukerji, A.R. Desai, Ramkrishna Mukherjee, André Beteille, D.N. Dhanagare, Yogendra Singh, N.K. Bose, Surajit Sinha, B.R. Ambedkar and Ranajit Guha have been included in this book. A few western sociologists, including Louis Dumont, McKim Marriot and David Hardiman, who have done research in India and also developed their own perspectives on Indian society, are discussed in it. In a nutshell, the main perspectives that this book discuss are historical, indological, structural-functional, dialectical-historical, cultural, civilizational and subaltern. This edition has been thoroughly updated and revised to include a new chapter on D.N. Dhanagare in the section on ‘Marxist Perspective’ and two new chapters ‘Globalization: Indian Perspective’ and ‘Privatization of Education: Challenges Ahead’ in the section on ‘Contemporary Discourses’. The book will continue to interest students, teachers and researchers alike. CONTENTS • Development of Sociology in India • Historical Perspective D.D. Kosambi / Romila Thapar • Indological/Textual Perspective Radhakamal Mukerjee / G.S. Ghurye / Louis Dumont / Irawati Karve • Structural-Functional Perspective M.N. Srinivas / S.C. Dube / McKim Marriott • Marxist Perspective D.P. Mukerji / A.R. Desai / Ramkrishna Mukherjee / D.N. Dhanagare • Stratification Perspective André Béteille • Cultural Perspective Yogendra Singh • Civilizational Perspective N.K. Bose / Surajit Sinha • Subaltern Perspective B.R. Ambedkar / Ranajit Guha / David Hardiman • Contemporary Discourses Contextualization / Indigenization / Use of Native Categories in the Analysis of Indian Society / Sociology for India: An Issue for Indian Sociology / Globalization: Indian Perspective / Privatization of Education ABOUT THE AUTHOR / EDITOR B.K. Nagla, a distinguished social analyst, served as Professor of Sociology, M.D. University, Rohtak. He has researched at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and also taught at M.S. University, Baroda and National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science, New Delhi. After retirement, he also worked as consultant at Kota Open University and as Professor on Babu Jagjivan Ram Chair at Banaras Hindu University. The ISC-Fellow Award and ISS-Lifetime Achievement Award was bestowed on him for his contribution to sociology and criminology.