Development ,politics and social theory:: Essays in Honour of Professor S P Varma

This volume, published in honour of Dr S.P. Varma, a doyen among Indian political scientists, brings out the interactive pattern that informs development, politics and social theory in a developing country like India. The contributors, who belong to different disciplines of learning, analyze the dilemmas facing the country in the pursuit of development goals through its domestic and foreign policies and answer the question whether these can be resolved through some parameters, particularly in the field of social theory.
Section I deals basically with development theory in the context of modernization and dependency theories. Section II highlights the main rubrics of politics in India in the context of the major thrusts of its domestic and foreign policies. Finally, Section III focuses on some basic theoretical issues that the politics of development in the country highlights. The cardinal question discussed here is whether social theory today provides enough light to illuminate the path of development in India.