Contribution.

This book critiques literary and cultural representations of the Indian family to explore the manner in which the family and its structure are in transition. The papers explore and expose how the Indian family, whether in India or in diaspora, needs to be redefined in the current context—in this age of rapid industrialization, cultural and economic globalization, and the emergence of new technologies.

This book analyses the dynamics of the development of family structure in India over the past few decades. It captures the diversities and challenges of contemporary families and provides a culture and region-specific overview of how families adapt and change generationally. The book explores the paradigms of understanding family life in India through illustrations which trace patterns of family formations in the context of large-scale social, economic and media-driven changes. Besides discussing the ongoing debates on the sociology of family, the chapters in this volume also look at diverse families experiencing poverty, conflict and displacement and demystifies families with members having a disability or non-normative sexual orientation. The book will be useful to students and researchers of various disciplines, such as sociology, social work, family studies, women’s studies and anthropology.

This book is a summary of research papers published either in leadingprofessional journals from India and abroad or unpublished papers presentedin some international seminar or workshop during 1980–2010. But all thepapers have been thoroughly recast in view of the latest facts and figuresand presented in a thematically coherent manner. It is a fresh attempt tobridge the gap between demographic processes and family structure in theIndian context. This study has also tried to cover changes in marital practices.The study sets off a long-overdue dialogue between anthropology/sociologyand demography in the Indian context. The prime purpose of this book is to provide a comprehensive overviewof the state of family in contemporary India. This book will be found usefulby scholars, students and professionals who work with families and also bylaypeople interested in family matters of India.