'Consumer Culture, Modernity and Identity' offers analysis of articulation of consumer culture and modernity in everyday lives of people in a transnational framework. It pursues three broad themes: lifestyle and construction of modern identity; fashion and identity; and subaltern concerns and moral subjectivities. It juxtaposes empirical studies with theoretical traditions in addressing questions such as: How do people imagine modernity and identity in consumer culture? What does modernity or 'being modern' mean to people in different societies? Are modernity and tradition antithetical to or develop an interface with each other?
The plethora of M. N. Srinivas's articles and books covering a wide range of subjects from village studies to nation building, from dominant caste in Rampura village to nature and character of caste in independent India, and from prospects of sociological research in Gujarat to practicing social anthropology in India have largely influenced the understanding of society and culture for well over five decades. Additionally, he meticulously wrote itineraries, memoirs and personal notes that provide a glimpse of his inner being, influences, ideologies, thought all of which have inspired a large number of and social anthropologists and sociologists across the world. It is then only befitting to explore the major concerns in the life and intellectual thought of one whose pioneering contributions have been the milestones in the fields of social anthropology and sociology in a specific sense and of social sciences in India in a general sense. This article centres around/brings to light the academic concerns that Srinivas grappled with the new avenues of thought and insights that developed consequently, and the extent of his rendition their relevance in framing/understanding contemporary society and culture in India.
The key results of the National Sample Survey (NSS) on employment and unemployment for the period July 2011–June 2012 indicate a sharp fall in the number of women in India's rural workforce. It is reported that 9.1 million rural women are out of the workforce in a period of two years (against the backdrop of a parallel NSS for the period July 2009–June 2010). The decline has been discussed and debated from various perspectives and vantage positions and essentially boil down to two key concerns: de-feminisation of work leading to the social and economic exclusion of women, and the failure of the state to recognise and account for women's work leading to their alleged absence from the rural workforce. Rather than reviewing the discussion and debate, the present comment attempts to bring together significant reasons behind this occurrence. The withdrawal is viewed as an outcome of the structural changes in the economy and the social provisioning for women within a comprehensive framework. It critiques the role of the state in the retention of women in the workforce and concludes with a brief discussion on the need for a systematic policy intervention in this regard.
