The Indian Council of Social Science Research, the premier organization for social science research in India, conducts periodic surveys in the major disciplines of the social sciences to assess disciplinary developments as well as to identify gaps in research in these disciplines.

With fascinating entries on sociological and social anthropological research in India, this volume presents a wealth of information, including developments in the field, important empirical work, and its contributions to sociology as a whole. It will appeal to all sociology students, as well as to anyone with a broad interest in Asian studies.

This handbook makes available to students a comprehensive resource reference in the field of sociology and social anthropology.

"Discusses the relevance of the reigning paradigms of Sanskritization and Islamization in the study of religious movements"--

The book analyses the Indian Supreme Court’s jurisprudence on homosexuality, its current approach and how its position has evolved in the past ten years. It critically analyses the Court’s landmark judgments and its perception of equality, family, marriage and human rights from an international perspective. With the help of European Court of Human Rights’ judgments and international conventions, it compares the legal and social discrimination meted out to the Indian LGBTI community with that in the international arena. From a social anthropological perspective, it demonstrates how gay masculinity, although marginalized, serves as a challenge to patriarchy and hegemonic masculinity. This unique book addresses the lack of in-depth literature on gay masculinity, elaborately narrating and analysing contemporary gay masculinity and emerging gay lifestyles in India and highlighting the latest research on the subject of homosexuality in general and in particular with respect to India. It also discusses several new issues concerning the gay men in India supported by the living law approach put forth by Eugen Ehrlich.

Publisher description

Written by leading scholars in the field, this comprehensive and readable resource gives anthropology students a unique guide to the ideas, arguments and history of the discipline. Combining anthropological theory and ethnography, it includes 275 substantial entries, over 300 short biographies of important figures in anthropology, and nearly 600 glossary items. The fully revised and expanded second edition reflects major changes in anthropology in the past decade.