On a Status Quaestionis: A Literature Survey on Where Village Studies Stands Today

Abstract

The paper makes a brief survey of various kinds of descriptions that are available about Indian villages. These descriptions consist of early European descriptions about the administration in Indian villages and sociological descriptions that talk about the role of caste in shaping occupational patterns and hierarchy. The paper presents a case to reexamine and rethink about these descriptions as they are founded on the way Europeans experienced Indian society by and large. It also argues for a reexamination of the sociological studies of Indian villages as the recent studies and research on Indian culture can potentially provide framework to build alternative descriptions about Indian villages as alternatives to existing stories in a way that appeals to our own experience rather than keeping Europe’s experience as a framework.