Rural Sociology in India A.R. Desai

Rural Sociology in India, though emerging from the earlier work Introduction to Rural Sociology in India, is a thoroughly revised and enlarged book and, as far as its readings are concerned, a completely new work on the subject.

Introduction to Rural Sociology in India was first published in 1953 and went out of print in 1955. It was essentially conceived as an introductory approach to rural sociology in India and was divided into two parts. The first part served as a general theoretical guide to the study of rural society in India, while the second part consisted of a collection of readings.

These readings reflected the views of eminent scholars—many of them of international repute—as well as organizations concerned with the scope, methods, utility, and lines of inquiry developed by the emerging discipline of rural sociology. They were included primarily to facilitate the inauguration and development of rural sociological studies in India.

The scope and content of the present work have been substantially transformed. It no longer merely emphasizes the need for a scientific approach to the study of rural society; rather, it delineates a comprehensive picture of rural social life in India as it emerges from a wide range of empirical studies examining its many dimensions. In this sense, the book is almost entirely new.

Even Part One, which remains largely intact, acquires a new significance in the context of the revised work. Part Two now contains readings selected exclusively to present a kaleidoscopic picture of the rich and complex drama of rural social life unfolding in the Indian countryside.

Although Part Two is composed of readings drawn from diverse studies, it follows a definite design. The ten sections that organize these readings form a coherent pattern. When examined carefully, they reveal the broad tendencies shaping the development of rural society in India.

Read in conjunction with the theoretical formulations presented in Part One, and with some special studies conducted by the author and included as readings in Part Two, this volume goes beyond being a mere introduction to rural sociology. It may more appropriately be titled Rural Sociology in India, and can also be regarded as a sourcebook on rural sociology in the Indian context.

Since Independence, rural society in India has acquired a new significance. It is no longer viewed simply as a hinterland producing raw materials. The agrarian sector provides the fundamental morphological framework of Indian society, particularly in its underdeveloped form.

The Government of the Indian Union has undertaken vigorous efforts to transform Indian society in accordance with the principles of progress enshrined in the Constitution and concretely articulated through successive Five-Year Plans. The agrarian social structure, which constitutes the very anatomy of Indian society, is being reshaped with increasing thoroughness.

Beginning with the First Five-Year Plan, sustained efforts have been made to overhaul the productive base of rural society, as well as its institutional and ideological superstructure. These efforts aim to transform its ecological framework, modes of economic production, patterns of class relations, social institutions and associations, configurations of political power, and the value systems underlying cultural life.

Indian rural society is thus subjected to the pressures of actively operating agents of social change and has been thrust into a whirlpool of unprecedented transformation. Though the rural social order may appear shapeless at times, more than a decade after Independence, Indian society—and particularly its rural sector—has begun to acquire a discernible design. It is this design that calls for systematic comprehension.

A.R. Desai (1915–1994) was a prominent Indian sociologist and one of the most influential pioneers of Marxist sociology in India. Born in Nadiad, Gujarat, Desai was educated at the University of Bombay (now the University of Mumbai), where he earned degrees in sociology and law, and later completed his PhD under the supervision of the eminent sociologist G. S. Ghurye. Despite studying under a largely Indological and culturalist tradition, Desai developed a distinctively Marxist approach that emphasized historical materialism, class relations, and economic structures.

Desai is best known for applying a rigorous historical and dialectical method to the study of Indian society. His seminal work, Social Background of Indian Nationalism (1948), offered a groundbreaking Marxist interpretation of the Indian nationalist movement, arguing that nationalism was shaped by changing class interests under colonial capitalism rather than by purely cultural or spiritual forces. This work marked a major departure from dominant nationalist and functionalist explanations.

Throughout his academic career at the University of Bombay, where he later served as Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology, Desai focused on themes such as agrarian relations, peasant movements, urbanization, state power, and democratic struggles. He consistently emphasized the role of economic forces and class conflict in social change, while remaining critical of modernization theory and cultural determinism.

Beyond his scholarship, Desai played an important institutional role in Indian sociology, serving as President of the Indian Sociological Society. His legacy lies in establishing a strong tradition of critical, Marxist social analysis in India and inspiring generations of sociologists to study social inequality, power, and historical transformation through a structural lens.