State and society in India: essay in dissent

THE ESSAYS included in this volume have emanated from the author's continuous and critical observation of social change after Independence. As the sub-title of the book suggests it is a critique pointing out the fallacies underlying the theoretical approaches adopted by the dominant scholarship in Social Sciences. The author is of the opinion that the scholarship in Social Sciences fail to confront the central issues germane to proper understanding of the nature of the State and the type of Society that have been emerging in India

after Independence. Written from historical materialist point of view, the book consists of three parts. In the first part entitled "Modernization: A Theoretical Critique" the author examines the various approaches to Modernization
especially in underdeveloped societies. In the second part "The Welfare State and Public Protest" the author refutes the concept of welfare State and critically examines the stand taken by scholars and politicians with regard to the place of Public Protest in Parliamentary Democracy.
In the third part "Politics and Development in India: Need for a New Approach" the author emphasises the need for studying politics and development in India from historical materialist standpoint.