CRISES OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION IN INDIA

India’s path of development is passing through a rapid social upheaval. The first three decades after independence were pursuing the policy of infrastructure building. The State was the biggest partner in the process of social transformation till the eighties. The era of globalization experienced fast economic reforms where State started shirking its role of development and left the job in the hands of private partners. NGOs too started dominating the processes of development.
This volume addresses some very important questions: In which direction Indian society is transforming? What is the role of State in bringing about social transformation? Which are the dominant forces that set direction for social transformation? Who are the gainers and losers of development in the era of globalization? What stresses and strains the process has created in Indian society?
This volume provides an understanding of the above raised issues and offers grassroot level information through empirical investigations of social transformation across various regions of India. Scholars from diverse disciplines have contributed their research, studies, perceptions and ideas on the central theme of emerging crises in the wake of globalization since 1991 in India.

S.R. Ahlawat, Professor of Sociology and Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences at Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak taught sociology for over two decades. An alumnus of Sainik School, Kapurthala, Dr Ahlawat marked an outstanding academic record throughout. He published extensively in national and international journals and books in the field of political economy of peasantry, unorganized labour force, agrarian change, social transformation, democratic decentralization, gender inequality and empowerment of the excluded. He has also made presentations abroad at University of Sao-Paulo, Brazil; South-Asia Institute, Heidelberg, Germany; Academy of Social Sciences, Shanghai, China; XVII World Congress of Sociology, Gothenburg, Sweden; II World Forum of Sociology, Buenos-Aires, Argentina; and XVIII World Congress of Sociology, Yokohama, Japan. Reflecting on his empirical and theoretical research, he has authored/edited two books: Economic Reforms and Social Transformation and Green Revolution and Agriculture Labour.

Neerja Ahlawat teaches Sociology at Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak where she is also the Honorary Deputy Director of Women’s Studies Centre. As a researcher and teacher, she has illustrious academic record throughout. She coordinated an IDRC-funded Action-Aid International project on Adverse Sex Ratio (2005-08). She is also coordinating UnWomen Project titled, ‘Gender-Biased Sex Selection: A Study of Haryana’. She has published extensively in national and international journals on Gender Studies, Violence against Women, Male Marriage Squeeze and Across Region Marriages, Skewed Child Sex Ratio and Political Economy of Khaps in Haryana.