Prof. Randhir Singh Memorial Lecture Series 2023-24

“From Things to Relations: Examining Modernisation as a Sociological Concept”

Dipankar Gupta

A sociological understanding of Modernity has to overcome one serious conceptual issue which causes much misunderstanding to the appreciation of this concept. Unlike all other pedigreed and much used terms, modernity is seen largely in terms of “things” and not as much as “relations between people”. Consequently, it gets primarily attached to things such as technology, slums, smoking chimneys, and now ecological desecration too, but rarely with how we, as social beings, connect to and relate with one another. This, in turn, further clouds the understanding of modernity for we then get snared into confusing it with the “contemporary” and even acceding to notions such as that of “multiple modernity”.

“The Great Indian Experiment: A Model for the World or an Aberration?”

(The abstract of the lecture to be delivered at the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC), Chandigarh, on 12 May 2023 as part of the Randhir Singh Memorial Lecture Series)

Randhir Singh belonged to the generation of scholars for which the two roles – those of specialist social scientists and of socially responsible public intellectuals – were inseparable from each other. His intellectual engagements were marked by an endeavour constantly connecting the micro and the macro, economy and politics, and episodes and processes. He focused on the axial history and always possessed a very acute sense of the big picture. Keeping these traits of Randhir Singh’s scholarship in mind, the lecture will present the picture of the Indian National Movement as one of the great social experiments, carried out in the 20th century. Preparing a blueprint for India’s social transformation was a part of this experiment. Gandhi, Nehru and Tagore were some of the main architects of this blueprint. A new view of nationalism, religion, civilization, and socialism were some of the building blocks in this vision.

All the major activities and ideational inputs during the course of the anti-imperialist struggle and the initial years of the Republic may be seen as attempts to create the broad outline of the great Indian experiment. It had two major components: 1) Embarking on a modernization drive while retaining some of the positive features of the traditions; and 2) carrying out a revolutionary transformation non-violently and within a democratic framework. There was a clear awareness that a model was being created not just for India but for the entire humanity, including Europe. Clearly, the great Indian experiment was quite ambitious in its self-image.

The initial years after independence appeared to vindicate the self-image of the Experiment. However, it is equally undeniable that the decades of the 21st century have experienced a decline and erosion, if not a total collapse altogether, of some for the values practised by the national movement and enshrined in the Constitution. Therefore, seven decades after independence, it is perhaps an appropriate time to ponder over the destiny and predicament of the Great Indian Experiment. Was it simply an aberration with nothing more than an episodic significance? Or, does the blueprint still retain its great aura and a global significance? The lecture will offer an overview of the complex journey of the Indian republic and speculate on the possibilities ahead.

Salil Misra

Faculty of History

Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD)

Kashmere Gate, Delhi-110006