Society from the inside out : anthropological perspectives on the South Asian household / edited by John N Gray and David J Mearns

This volume of essays is a contribution to the ethno graphy of South Asia. It focuses on the household as a primary context for the generation, and not merely the reflection, of social structure. This innovative perspec tive suggests that analysis should begin with the domes tic group because it is the primary context for the expe riential constitution of the consciousness and knowledge upon which social action is based.

The book consists of seven ethnographic papers dealing respectively with domestic groups in north and south India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and with Indians in Malaysia. Each paper provides a critical assessment of the parti cular way in which the household is embedded in soci ety, and mediates both individual consciousness and societal principles.

The editors characterise the approach underlying these essays as one of giving 'ethnographic priority to the household and of studying ociety from the inside out As such, this volume constitutes a significant contribu tion to the theoretical debate within the social sciences regarding the merits of a 'macro' versus 'micro' approach to the study of social and cultural organisa tions. The contributors demonstrate that the view from the 'inside out that is, the understanding of large scale encompassing social forms from the inside or from small-scale institutions is integral to a more adequate theory of society. While not denying that social actors or small-scale groups are located in broader social contexts (which are external to, and exert constraints upon the former), they question the inference that micro-level phenomena are mere epiphenomena' or 'social sequiturs to the encompassing principles, pro cesses and/or institutions

This volume allows a comparison of the nature and operation of domestic groups in a regional context from which emerges the conclusion that the household in South Asian society is not a monolithic phenomenon bur consists of a variety of forms associated with particular social, economic and geographic conditions

This volume of original essays will be invaluable reading for all those interested in South Astan culture and society and will be useful as supplementary reading in anthropology, the sociology of the family, domestic groups and gender, and theory and methods in accial science research.