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The Indian Village: Rural Lives in the 21st Century
‘India lives in its villages’.
This statement popularized by Mahatma Gandhi is often referred to in discussions about the country, its past, and its possible future. But what exactly is the Indian village? In the most basic sense, the ‘village’ is a kind of human settlement, always standing in contrast to the ‘town’ or ‘city’. Yet, it is also an idea, one which has undergone myriad shifts over the course of our nation’s history.
In The Indian Village: Rural Lives in the 21st Century, award-winning sociologist Surinder S. Jodhka critically examines the changing nature of the village in India, both as an idea and as a lived reality. Reflecting on the colonial construction of India as a land of village republics, a representation that was turned on its head in different ways by Indian nationalists in the early twentieth century, and the post-liberalization nation, this book provides a detailed account of how rural lives have been transformed in India through the decades.
The book also looks at India’s modern villages to showcase the current diversity within agrarian and rural realities with specific focus on the processes of development and democracy in rural areas.
The Indian village, the author suggests, is not a relic of the past. It has always been a dynamic reality and it lives on in an active relationship with the wider world. Besides its many other aspects and processes, it enables the city to prosper, just as the city keeps the village going. Radical, innovative, and grounded in impeccable scholarship, The Indian Village is a seminal study of rural India.
This statement popularized by Mahatma Gandhi is often referred to in discussions about the country, its past, and its possible future. But what exactly is the Indian village? In the most basic sense, the ‘village’ is a kind of human settlement, always standing in contrast to the ‘town’ or ‘city’. Yet, it is also an idea, one which has undergone myriad shifts over the course of our nation’s history.
In The Indian Village: Rural Lives in the 21st Century, award-winning sociologist Surinder S. Jodhka critically examines the changing nature of the village in India, both as an idea and as a lived reality. Reflecting on the colonial construction of India as a land of village republics, a representation that was turned on its head in different ways by Indian nationalists in the early twentieth century, and the post-liberalization nation, this book provides a detailed account of how rural lives have been transformed in India through the decades.
The book also looks at India’s modern villages to showcase the current diversity within agrarian and rural realities with specific focus on the processes of development and democracy in rural areas.
The Indian village, the author suggests, is not a relic of the past. It has always been a dynamic reality and it lives on in an active relationship with the wider world. Besides its many other aspects and processes, it enables the city to prosper, just as the city keeps the village going. Radical, innovative, and grounded in impeccable scholarship, The Indian Village is a seminal study of rural India.
- GenresIndia
296 pages, Hardcover
Published September 5, 2023
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30 people want to read
About the author
Surinder S. Jodhka
27 books6 followersProfessor of Sociology at JNU, New Delhi. He researches on caste; agrarian change and contemporary rural India; and community identities. His publications include Contested Hierarchies: Caste and Power in 21st Century India (OBS 2018 with James Manor); A Handbook of Rural India (OBS 2018); The Indian Middle Class (OUP 2016, with Aseem Prakash); Caste in Contemporary India (Routledge 2015); Interrogating India’s Modernity (ed. OUP 2013); Caste (OUP 2012). He is editor of the Routledge India book series on ‘Religion and Citizenship. He is the recipients of the ICSSR-Amartya Sen Award for Distinguished Social Scientists.
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June 16, 2025
Rural India is not a cesspool of backwardness mentality nor is it an idealistic harmonious community but it is a secret third thing - extremely diverse with a wide array of balances and dynamics all rooted in its history and ecology. And this book is an excellent primer that helps to navigate through the confounding rural realities for people like me who've grown up mostly in (semi)urban settings and in private employee families. Such a great range of topics covered but still feels like a breezy read. Suitable for both academics and enthusiasts.
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