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This paper traces the history of sociology in India to colonial anthropology and Indology. I argue that the compulsions of post-colonial society have also made specific demands on the discursive terrain of sociology. Fundamental to the pursuit of sociological knowledge in India, I believe, was a core debate about its mode of discursive practice – specifically, a debate between particularistic and universalistic orientations. From this point of view, I re-read the history of sociology in India. In doing so, I argue that close attention to the history of sociology helps us see the extent to which foundational western approaches to historical and comparative sociology have affected the historical development of sociology in India. Ironically, this has meant that the degree of historical self-awareness in Indian sociology has been limited. Hence, I discuss the grounds for the weak historical self-awareness in terms of historical sociology in India. I conclude by discussing how a strengthened tradition of historical sociology can be a tool to revitalize the discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the comparative sociology of India and China. It states that there has been very little interest in shaping a comparative sociology in India. The main problem in developing such comparative sociology of both countries is that both scholars from the countries look at the Western civilizations than their own societies. It also explains how secularism and religion flourished in the said countries. Issues of democracy against authoritarian rule and their impact on economic development were also discussed by the author.

The article offers information on the comparative sociology of India and China. It states that there has been very little interest in shaping a comparative sociology in India. The main problem in developing such comparative sociology of both countries is that both scholars from the countries look at the Western civilizations than their own societies. It also explains how secularism and religion flourished in the said countries. Issues of democracy against authoritarian rule and their impact on economic development were also discussed by the author.

This is a cross-cultural study that seeks to understand an aspect of Asian Indian women's realities by exploring concepts such as: attitudes toward gender roles, level of stress in their lives, and their ethnic identity. It compares Asian Indian women raised in the U.S. (n= 45), with women born and raised in India (n = 50) and with European American women in the U.S. (n = 50). Additionally, excerpts from in-depth interviews with Asian Indian women in the U.S. are included. Most Asian Indian women in this study feel that they are both Indian and American and feel the two can be very well combined. However, they have problems with their families for not being Indian enough, especially on issues regarding marriage, career choice, and dating. The study found that "being Indian" might be different for the first generation Indian immigrants and the Asian Indian women who were born and raised in the U.S. These Asian Indian women are striving to claim a new identity for themselves, one which is both Indian and American. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses sociological aspects of the prestige attached with different occupations with reference to comparative sociology. Several studies conducted in the U.S. before 1940 were apparently directed to the problem of determining whether in fact there was a general ranking of occupations which the American public would recognize. Even if Philippines society is not highly industrialized it is clear that after many years of Spanish, American, and some Japanese occupation, it is a society which is ordered in terms of a modem productive system and the same appropriate general set of values and motivations permeate the system. In a study amongst 214 graduates and students of Business Administration at the Bombay University, Bombay, India, it was found that there was a high degree of agreement in the social grading of occupations in England and India. The subject people in certain "colonial" societies, within certain limits, evaluate occupations in the same general way as respondents in more fully industrialized countries do. They do this in spite of the fact that there is usually a considerable cultural gap between the subject people themselves and their colonial rulers.

The popularity and success of social psychology in the U.S. have created the impression that social psychology is purely a Western, if not a U.S. product. Many scholars from African and Asian continents accept this claim that the roots of social psychology are American, and have tried to emulate their research strategies and methodology. Only recently, the European social psychologists have established their identity and distinctness different from the culture of American social psychology. Among Asian social psychologists, there is a growing awareness of a distinct identity and a rediscovery of their cultural heritage. In particular, Indian social psychologists emphasize functional interrelatedness of the self, relations, society, and universe. With this indigenization process, social psychology in India is taking on a character distinctive from that of the West, is imparting a new look to social psychology, and promises to provide what the mainstream social psychology lacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]