Western Educated Elites and Social change

in India
I P Desai
This article is the result of an exercise in re-reading M N Srinivas's book, "Social Change in
Modern India ." This is, of course, not a review of the book. The attempt is to seek the validity and
relevance of the concepts of westernisation and sanskritisation in the context of India, seventeen years
after the public expression of Srinivas's thinking. It is, therefore, necessary to outline the context then
and now. The attempt implies the readers perspective which is delineated in Section I In section II
the elites are taken up for re-reading and reflecting. Section III is the concluding note.
and w r i t i n g which I envy as a friend. opposed to Marxism and whose ideo-
He writes. logy I consider as that type of mate-
The Context r a l i s m which believes in the idea of
The subject of social change in 'my country, right or wrong'. Marx
RAM KRISHNA MUKHERJEEwrites, modern India is vast and complex
and an adequate understanding of and Engles went to the root of acti-
While there were a few others vity, namely, the activity that human
helping to bring about a change in it will require the collaboration, for
the overall trend of Indian Sociology many years, of a number of scholars beings had to undertake in relation to
away f r o m that of he 1950s, Srini- in such diverse fields as economic, naure. But they emphasised the acti-
vas was the foremost in this. Cer- social and c u l t u r a l history, law,
politics, education, religion, demo- vity not of the individual per se but
tainly he did not forsake his basic of the individual in relation w i t h other
approach to sociology, but the graphy and sociology. It w i l l have
changes in his orientation in attempt- to take account of regional, linguis- individuals.
ing to unravel social reality are tic and other differences, My aim,
however, is much limited. I shallSociety, according to this line of
clearly visible in his writings in
successive period todate. Because of try to consider here somewhat more thought, begins in and w i t h material
his devotion and consistent endea- systematically than before, two con- activity, A l o n g w i t h that, or there-
vour to promote the accumulation of cepts, Sanskritisation and Westerni- after, t h i n k i n g begins. Thought, there-
sociological knowledge, there is still sation, a discussion of which I put
f o r w a r d some years ago to explain fore, cannot be divorced f r o m material
much to be gained from him by production, though the p r i o r i t y of one
Indian Sociology. ("Sociology of some features of religions, cultural
Indian Sociology", p 70, A l l i e d Pub- and social change in India (p 1). over the other would differ according
lishers, Delhi, 1979.) So my concern in this article w i l l be to the states of development of huma-
Mukherjee particularly mentions Sri- nity and according to the specific
to discuss these t w o concepts and the
nivas's "Religion and Society among situations. Thus, man's activity w i t h
allied category of 'elites' which Srini-
the Coorgs of South India" (1952); nature is related to human society.
vas has used in the book.
Here the argument begins as to whe-
"India's Villages" (edited by Srinivas);
"Caste in M o d e r n India and Other In the history of socialist thought, ther the idea of pot was first or the
Essays" (1962); "Social Change in Marx and Engles distinguished their actual material pot was first. This
socialism f r o m Utopian socialism. Ir- question may be good enough for a
Modern I n d i a " (1966); "Itineraries of
respective of their aims, they were de- question paper in an examination. But
an Indian Sociologist" (1973); "Village
molishing not so much the Utopian it is irrelevant at the present stage of
Studies and Participant Observation
picture of future human society as the development of human society inas-
and Social Science Research in
illusionary type of thinking. In fact, much as it is divided into two desira-
India" (1975). "The Remembered
their t h i n k i n g had an element of 'what ble types of future society w i t h their
V i l l a g e " (1976) was probably not in
is the future, desirable type of society'. variations and aberrations. One is bas-
Mukherjee's hand when he wrote
Even an idealist w o u l d say that what ed on private ownership of means of
"Sociology of Indian Sociology" (1977).
is good must also be socially possible. production and the other on societal
Srinivas has also w r i t t e n several other ownership of means of production. The
But Marx and Engles were concerned
articles and there are other small
not merely w i t h the desirable type of , question for sociologists is: which of
publications by him on a variety of
society but also w i t h bringing it about, the two types or a t h i r d one, if in
topics. It is difficult to cover all of as also were probably others who be- view, should they strive for? The
them in an article. I shall therefore lieved in unity of thought and action. activity consisting in striving for any
confine myself to a single topic and Their emphasis was on activity. one of these types of society and their
that too from a single book on social Thought unrelated to activity they t h i n k i n g should be directed to achieve
change. called contemplative thought. My pre- that. A lot of literature on these
sent line of t h i n k i n g is in that direc- lines is produced in the w o r l d . I have
Apart from the fact that the topic
tion. My perception of Indian intel- not been able to keep up w i t h it.
is of personal interest to me, it is also
the problem of India today. Fortu- lectuals and academicians is that they But clearly it is related to activities
are indulging in contemplative type of either for maintaining the status quo
nately, Srinivas covers many matters of
thinking, I include in this category of the given type of society, or for
methodological interest w i t h consider-
(a) all those who call themselves em- changing it. While this general world
able competence. This factor raises
pirical or dialectical materialists, (b) development is to be kept in mind,
the problem of l i m i t i n g my choice of
those influenced by the different va- the specificities of a given society
points for concentration in the pre-
rieties of Marxism and leftism, and should become our primary concern,
sent article. Srinivas comes to my
(c) a variety of sociologists who are i e, of Indian society in our case,
succour w i t h the clarity in t h i n k i n g

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 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

INDIAN SOCIAL REALITY AND INDIAN mentioning some of these contacts, he religious communities, and a number
SOCIOLOGISTS writes: of sub-processes had also arisen. One
The situation in India is not dissimi- To be sure, there were also other can make a long list of them. But
lar to that in the rest of the w o r l d . I western sociologists who found that w i l l make the handling difficult.
India an appropriate field in which So, I am concerning myself with one
use the word situation with reference to conduct their researches. They
to the Indian social reality and its numerically small group though big in
pursued an eclectic approach or were
comprehension and/or appraisal by structural functionalists who were terms of its role and influence in
Indian sociologists as part of Indian not confined to parochial frame of society. It is composed of persons in
reference and they were not un- whose thought and action the two pro-
intellectuals. (My former profession mindful of the negative components
was sociology.) One such intellectual cesses m e n t i o n e d above can be ob-
of the 'what' and 'how' questions
effort as regards Indian sociology on (eg. Dumont. Dumont and Pocock, served. Srinivas writes "one of the
which I rely is by Ram Krishna M u - Bailey and Epstein). Moreover, a results, then, of prolonged contact with
few western sociologists of a Marxist the West is the rise of an elite whose
kherjee, "Sociology of Indian Socio- persuation worked in India during
logy" (1979). I am not concerning attitude to the West is ambivalent"
this period, and for them examina-
myself with the kind of history of the tion of positive and negative com- (p 5). This point has great relevance
subject written by Mukherjee, I am ponents of the 'what' and 'how' in India today. It needs to be thought
questions was of paramount impor- over in its own right. 1 It is necessary
referring to Mukherjee only to provide tance in order to answer the 'why'
the context for an appraisal of Indian to understand this 'ambivalence'. The
question. They were either engaged
social reality by Srinivas in his book in micro-studies of the peasantry, various points in life at which Srinivas
"Social Change in Modern India" etc (eg, Gough) or a macroscopic observes this ambivalence are signi-
appreciation of some of India's socio- ficant both in view of his ideology and
(1966). I shall first deal with what logical issue (Thorner, Bottomore,
Mukherjee calls 'what' and 'how' of methodology and I mention them be-
Gough). In any case, the dominant
Indian social reality as it obtains in group of western scholars could low.
Srinivas's book and then add my com- communicate with their counterparts Referring to Lerner, whose area of
in India on the same wave length
ments on it. and, accordingly, presented them to observation is M i d d l e East, in the con-
ihe world in general as the reore- text of the preference for the term
The book gives a very good account sentatives of Indian sociology. This westernisation or modernisation, he
of Indian society from the point of led to two kinds of lacunae in the writes:
view of Srinivas's sociology as it ob- perception of sociology in India
and a somewhat distorted image of The allergy to westernisation is
tained till 1966 when the book was Indian sociology abroad. the result of M i d d l e Eastern ethno-
published. I must also mention here centrism, expressed politically in
extreme nationalism, psychologically
a small book by him, entitled " I n d i a : Imbibed w i t h pragmatism, which in passionate xenophobia. The hatr-
Social Structure". This book was ori- was predominant feature of social ed sown by anti-colonialism is har-
ginally published as a chapter in "Na- science research in India in those vested in the rejection of every ap-
days, theory formation was hardly pearance of foreign tutelage. Want-
tional Gazetteer of India". It is an
of concern to the modernises of ed are modern institutions but not
excellent introduction for one who is Indian sociology. They chose to modern ideologies, modern power
not acquainted with India at all, as appraise reality in the light of theo- but not modern purposes, modern
most of us are not. It practically ries handed down from their teachers wealth but not modern wisdom,
and colleagues abroad. The most able modern commodities but not modern
summarises "Social Change in Modern
among them moulded these theories cant (p 51).
India", without 'sanskritisation'. to suit local conditions and evolved
'westernisation', 'dominant caste' and some nativistic concepts to describe The passionate urge to repudiate
'secularisation' as explanatory concepts, 'Social Change in Modern India'. the west prompts some middle
Others merely subscribed to the im- eastern leaders to ignore 'certain
though not eschewing them. Even to- behavioural and institutional com-
ported theories to interpret India's
day the description would stand, of changing reality. pulsions common to all (Europe,
course, w i t h amendments and modifica- America and Russia countries which
Thus, the indigenous concepts of have achieved modernisation and to
tions due to the developments social change prevailing among the
social, economic, religious and politi- try instead new routes and risky by-
sociologists in the 1950s and to a passes (p 5).
cal — during the last fifteen years large extent also in the 1960s, were
formulated by M N Srinivas under It is a matter of public knowledge
or so. That is the value of both of
the Tables 'sanskritisation' and 'wes- that in the Arab countries and in
these books and not a small value. ternisation' which he regarded as India too, the supporters of fundamen-
Nevertheless, the question arises : linked processes in modern India talism (both Hindu and Muslim) today
what is the significance of the use of and it is not possible to under-
stand one without the other (pp come from a section of the western-
the above mentioned concepts and
49-50). educated elites. Probably the opposi-
others such as 'modernisation' and
My concern in this article is not to tion to fundamentalism also comes
'traditionalisation,' either to describe
examine these and other concepts from another section of the same
(i e, analyse) or to explain social change
of Srinivas. Having seen their place elite although I do not have much
in India?
in the Indian sociological thought my information on this. It is still less
Here a point about the situation in concern w i l l be to see in what direc- known to me what the anti-fundamen-
Indian sociology can help us in ans- tion can we go from there. talist section stands for. Rut it ap-
wering that question. Ram Krishna nears that they have no guts to op-
Mukherjee writes that there was a pose the fundamentalists at least
II
phase of development of Indian socio- openly and actively. Does anti-funda-
logy in which the contacts of Indian T h e Elite mentalism come from another type of
sociologists were overwhelmingly with The similar processes of sanskritisa- appeal, namely, Communist ideology.
the west : at first mostly with Britain tion and westernisation were observa- Srinivas considers it also as a source
but increasingly with USA. After ble all over the country and in all of hostility to the west.

640
 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY
April 14, 1984

At a more general level Srinivas Thus according to Srinivas westerni- men w i t h western knowledge but
says, sation3 comes here as the energiser of w h o also emphasise the distinctness
One reason for the enormous ap- nationalism and development t h r o u g h and superiority of their particular
peal of c o m m u n i s m to non-western sect or r e l i g i o n . Between them and
the western educated Indians, t h o u g h the nationalists there was an irrecon-
countries is its h o s t i l i t y to the west,
expressed in c o m m u n i s t i c anti-im- influenced by, if not i m b u e d with, cilable conflict, w h i c h has resulted
peralism and anti-capitalism. Com- paleocentrism, not only in the creation of India
munism is seen as a h u m a n i t a r i a n Srinivas further states, "The first and Pakistan, but has provided each
creed in its espousal of the cause country w i t h certain b u i l t - i n threats
response on the part of the new elite to its own survival and develop-
of the undergos, the w o r k e r s and
the subject nations; and its forecast was to agitate for the removal of the ment, (p 87-88)
that capitalism and imperialism are glaring social evils of contemporary
We have taken these rather lengthy
doomed to disappear and give India. The r a t i o n a l i s t urge gained
way to a classless society wears the quotations from Srinivas firstly to illus-
gradually in strength in the latter half
mask of science. It also enables trate that the terms sanskritisation and
the non-western intellectual to re- of 'he nineteenth century, so much so,
westernisation, though used for heuris-
ject, in the name of science and that in the nineties the question was
tic purposes, are not irrelevant or
h u m a n i t y , not only the aggressive sharply posed as to whether reform
west but also his own society and meangingless. They raise a number of
should have p r i o r i t y over freedom or
its t r a d i t i o n s . It enables him to problems w h i c h need to be tackled.
identify himself with the future,, rice versa." This in my view is a very
For example, in 1959 I wrote :
w i t h progress, science, and huma- i m p o r t a n t point though in a different
ni ariamism. context from that of sanskriti ation- This section [the new elise] is
So c o m m u n i s m — a product of the p o l i t i c a l l y more dangerous than the
westernisation. It has a great relevance
revivalist section of our intellectuals
west — is also taken as the result of for Indian social and political move- because it is n e a r e r t h e seat of
h o s t i l i t y to the west, wearing the mask ments today. p o l i t i c a l power. Because of the very
of progress, science and humanita- character of their intellectualism their
But where has all this led the Indian
rianism. 2 C o m m u n i s m is not merely policy will be devoid of the under-
society to? Srinivas writes, standing of the problems and state
ethnocentrism expressed p o l i t i c a l l y in of mind of their people; and they
In a country segmented along the
extreme nationalism, psychologically in lines of religion caste, language, and are blind to the capacities of their
passionate xenophobia. It has an religion, heightened national self- people. The only way open to them
ideological affitiation. This is, in t u r n , awareness necessarily i m p l i e d heigh to take their policies succeed is to
tened self-awareness at every level of get the people to submit to them.
embedded in the idea of what may The form of the force will be 'de-
social structure f r o m the highest to
be called future social structure. And the lowest — the one could not be mocratic', through the bureaucracy
this idea is based on the structure w i t h o u t the other. The existence of in a p a r l a m e n t a r y democracy emi-
largely of western socie*y but not a considerable degree of overlap bet- nently suited to their social o r i g i n
ween the old and the new elites and and social heritage. T h e i r idea of
u n m i n d f u l of the Asiatic societies in democracy is as fake as that of
the consequent exclusion of t r a d i -
the past. The point here is to show t i o n a l l y underprivileged groups f r o m westernisation and cosmopolitanism.
the relationship between ideology and the new benefits — along w i t h the They have democratic slogans but
social structure. Srinivas is not un- presence of an alien and p o w e r f u l their actions are undemocratic. De-
ruler who not u n n a t u r a l l y took ad- mocracy as a way of life is foreign
aware of this relationship. In fact he to their social nature and nurture.
vantage of the deep divisions in
deals w i t h it, as we shall see in what society — resulted in the division of
follows, t h o u g h he gives more empha- sub-continent i n t o I n d i a and Pakis- REVERSE OF LIBERALISM
sis to caste, k i n s h i p , language and re- tan, (p 89)
N o t w i t h s t a n d i n g all that Srinivas has
l i g i o n , w h i c h is understandable when This division does no: seem to f o l l o w sad in favour of elites, I do not t h i n k
one is dealing w i t h a society like India Srinivas's analysis w h i c h has all along I need to change the view about them
and when one keeps in m i n d also Sri- presumed the H i n d u society, even 1 held twenty years ago. Some amend-
nivas's own ideological and academic when the w o r d I n d i a is used, and not ments (see also notes 1 and 7) may be
constitution. the relations between religious groups. necessary regarding the d i s t i n c t i o n I
Nearer home in India, Srinivas However, what he says about Indepen- made between the new elite and the
states. dent India is very relevant and impor- revivalists. The categorisation of revi-
The work of western-inspired tant. He says, valists among the Hindus, in the sense
scholars resulted in p r o v i d i n g a new of Sanatanists or in the sense of those
and objective perspective for Indian Independent India is forced, in the
c i v i l i s a t i o n , it was a civilisation that interest of her survival, to c o m m i t w h o among the A r y a Samajists were
went back in time to the t h i r d m i l e herself to a policy of quick elimina- in favour of the G u r u k u l system of
nium BC, and it was astonishingly tion of t r a d i t i o n a l and hereditary in-
education as distinguished f r o m those
versatile. Thus the new elite were, equalities, and in particular. of
untouchability. The impulse t o w a r d In favour of the A n g l o - V e r n a c u l a r sys-
given a sense of pride in their coun-
equality has resulted in a policy of tem does not seem to be valid today.
try, and its rich and ancient culture.
This enabled them to stand up to protective d i s c r i m i n a t i o n - discri- The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems
the western colossus, and was a m i n a t i o n in reverse — towards t r i - to be concerned w i t h defending more
continual source of strength in their bals, Harijans and backward castes to
enable them to catch up w i t h the the Hindus than Hinduism. Its
longing to become a nation, inde- volunteer force, the Rashtriya Swayam-
pendent, sovereign, and equal to advanced groups.
others. The discovery of the past F i n a l l y in the case of sects and Sevek Sangh (RSS) does show some
was not, however, w i t h o u t its pit- religions, self-awareness has resulted concern for H i n d u i s m , more than what
falls and dangers. It produced a in the reinterpretation of t r a d i t i o n s , the BJP does. There are rumours of
certain a m o u n t of paleocentrism in 'communalism,' and even revivalism.
Revivalist movements such as Arya differences w i t h i n RSS. but what
all educated Indians and as is well
Samaj, the Sanatan Dharam Sabha, exactly are the ideological differences
k n o w n , a great past can be either
energiser or opiate. In the m a i n , the R a m k r i s h n a Movement. have is not k n o w n . One section is said to
however, it acted as an energiser, founded educational i n s t i t u t i o n s im- maintain that they should be more
and has provided modern Indian parting modern knowledge, provided
secular and support the similar faction
w i t h a mystique for national identity hostels, and so on. This has produc-
as well as development (p 79). ed in the course of time a body of

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April 14, 1984 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

in BJP. But it is definite that both N a t i o n a l Congress. In the social field principles of the Indian C o n s t i t u t i o n of
BJP and RSS are becoming more Gandhi's constructive programme was 1950, n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g their verbal sup-
'secular', in the sense that they are doing what the liberals were preach- port to it as and when it suits them.
concerned w i t h gaining political power. ing. Even w i t h Gandhi's 'direct action' This C o n s t i t u t i o n was the w o r k of he
The number of their f o l l o w e r s is in both policy and practice, all along liberal western-educated elite, but the
increasing, and the number of their what was aimed at was the constitu- same elite is actively engaged against
sympathisers is increasing even more tional and peaceful transfer of power. it. That is the dominant trend of
than the number of their followers, That transfer automatically put high thought and action in India today.
both among the H i n d u population and caste Hindus in power in the Centre Notwithstanding the support of all
among different p o l i t i c a l parties. The and in the states notwithstanding parties in Parliament to 'reservations'
section of educated persons which sup- adult franchise. W i t h the creation of or protective discrimination, the fol-
ports them overtly or covertly today Pakistan the Muslims became a lowers of some of these parties in
is much wider than at any time in the religious, economically weaker, and Parliament and in the State legislature
past also in the H i n d u middle classes. less educated political m i n o r i t y . Pro- actually engaged themselves in the
vision was made in the C o n s t i t u t i o n recent agitation and r i o t i n g against
Islamic fundamentalism is similarly
f o r the scheduled castes and t r i b e s to reservations in Gujarat, In other states
increasing among the educated Mus-
catch up w i t h the advanced groups, also the situation is not different.
lims. It should be noted that the
i e, H i n d u s , by what has been called
number of the educated capable of As mentioned earlier, there is also
the policy of protective d i s c r i m i n a t i o n .
holding bureaucratic positions among a trend opposed to the one just des-
If Srinivas was writing today he
them is increasing, although compared cribed, but it has still not crystallised
would have had to deal w i t h the
to H i n d u s either in terms of their in both thought and organisation.
conflict between liberalism and
gross number or in terms of their A m o n g the established political parties,
illiberalism in the political as well as
percentage of the total population they the two Communist parties can be
the social fields brought about by the
lag behind. In the Islamic Shia sect of cited as an i l l u s t r a t i o n . There are also
post-Independence developments men-
the D o w d i Bohras of Gujarat the several Naxalite and non-Gandhian
tioned above.
number and probably the percentage groups influenced by M a r x i s m . Con-
of the educated to their total popula- It is not that Srinivas believed in t r i b u t i n g to the above trend are also
tion is higher among the Sunnis. But smooth change over to secular beliefs, the Gandhians who believe in action
fundamentalism still has its sway over ideas and practices. He writes, against political a u t h o r i t y but at the
the Bohras. ' T i t t e r - d i n i n g among castes is slightly same time believe in v o t i n g at elec-
There are similar divisions between more liberal than before, but only tions and thus recognise the role of
the reformers or progressives and the slightly. A l l the 'touchable' castes w i l l political a u t h o r i t y in society. This
orthodox among the Parsis. The unite against Harijans who want to division among the Gandhians came
latter are a type of fundamentalists exercise their c o n s t i t u t i o n a l right of in to existence at the time of the
though possibly not of a staunch or entering temples and drawing water movement started by Jai Prakash
rigid variety. The percentage of f r o m village wells" (p 138). W h a t is Narayan in 1976. The other division
degree holders among the Paris is very i m p o r t a n t is that the 'touchables' are among the Gandhians, namely, that of
high. Similar divisions exist among u n i t i n g not only against the Harijans the followers of late Vinoba Bhave,
the Christians and Sikhs in India. b u t also against M u s l i m s and the are also organising themselves
This is the situation at the level of tribals. separately, b u t they are non-political in
climate of thought all over India in the sense that they are not for voting
The violence against the ex-untouch-
practically all the religious communi- at elections and also not for opposing
ables, the tribals and the Muslims
ties, and the western educated elite is the present political a u t h o r i t y . In any
appears becoming endemic along w i t h
the 'energiser' of fundamentalism in case they need to be watched.
the ideological emphasis on efficiency,
all of them. These elite are closer to merit, and injustice to the higher Then there are activists practically
political and economic power today castes. In the street fights which in every state w h o are motivated by a
than they were about t w e n t y years ago occur periodically it is significant that sense of justice, a sympathetic feeling
and the danger to Indian society f r o m there is direct involvement of the for the oppressed, and believing in
their ideology is not less, if it is not y o u t h and that some at least of them action in accordance w i t h their feel-
greater, today. 5 are educated. The ideological support ings. There are some Christian groups
This is not to deny the fact that on both the sides comes definitely too among them. A l l of these are
there is another section of the educated from the university-educated class, localised groups in terms of their
in all these communities which i n c l u d i n g bureaucrats. Consider along influence over people and may also be
believes in secular and democratic with that the occurrence of funda- regional in terms of their influence on
ideals. But it cannot also be denied mentalism receiving support f r o m the thought. These groups believe in the
that they are not more effective than university-educated among all rtligious role of political a u t h o r i t y in society
are the fundamentalists. communities. Further, since religious and in influencing it, but distrust the
The reverse of liberalism 6 seems to fundamentalism of some sort has political parties.
have taken place among the elites. In percolated to all the political parties
the twenties of this century, the such as Congress ( I ) , Janata, BJP and THE E L I T E AND MOVEMENT FOR A IUST

Liberal Party was dying w i t h the rise Lak Dal, one t h i n g common to them SOCIETY

of Indian National Congress under all is that they want to maintain status If all of these ideologically liberal —
Gandhi. But political liberalism did quo. That is to say, they do not in the sense of b e i n g p r o - o p p r e s s e d —
not die. In the political field it ex- want to b r i n g about change in the parties and groups can agree to
Dressed itself as Swarajists w h o were direction of the desired type of launch a movement for achieving a
rivals to the no-changers in Indian society as envisaged in the directive society based on the principles of

642
equality, ana against d i s c r i m i n a t i o n of participation of social scientists in the westernisation, sanskritisation, moderni-
caste, class, sex and religion, they process of planning. sation, etc, for the direction of change
may be able to d r a w into such a I have said above that revivalism in rather than the concept of type of
movement f r o m other parties too some the sense of replicating or reproduc- society. Once we accept that a certain
elements that believe in such an type of society — in this case capitalist
ing the past does not exist In India
ideology. The question is: what posi- society should be our referrent for
today, except among the Muslim
tion would the university-educated f u t u r e development, the characterisa-
fundamentalists and very feebly among
elite take if such a movement takes tion of the new elite and their role in
persons of Shankaracharya type among
place? W i l l they take up the leader- future development w i l l be different.
the Hindus. But both revivalism and
ship in organising it, and if they do opiate aspects involve g l o r i f y i n g the The role of the elite is summed up
not organise it, w i l l they support it? past. W h a t I have said and w o u l d in the following words by a like-
The question is relevant in the pre- say again is that reconstructing the minded friend who read an earlier
draft of this article :
sent situation, because Srinivas believed society to accommodate new forces
that the work of the western and the w h i l e refashioning t r a d i t i o n s is a more (1) The so-called 'modern' educated
western-inspired scholars w h o provided dangerous aspect than the opiate aspect are accepting 'modernisation' only so
far as it materially benefits t h e m (at
on the one side new and objective of paleocentrism w i t h regard to the
the expense of the large majority),
perspectives on I n d i a n civilisation and direction and path of change. The otherwise they joint forces w i t h the
on the other side a certain amount of energising of paleocentrism is being 'old' to preserve and strengthen
paleocentrism in the educated Indians, done by the 'educated' in contem- their privilege and property.
has in the main acted as an energiser. porary India. Insofar as these edu- (2) The new power elite of rural,
The rise of fundamentalism of the cated are concerned, the terms peasant o r i g i n has enormously rein-
forced this regressive trend in the
Indian variety, t h o u g h unanticipated, sanskritisation and westernisation do
post-1947 period. [The young edu-
is no surprise if we agreed w i t h Sri- not have much relevance in the sense eated persons f r o m peasant stock are
nivas. in w h i c h they are understood generally not different, I P D . ]
A number of questions arise in this or by Srinivas. Both these processes (3) Srinivas and men like him (a)
c o n t e x t : Was there something w r o n g and the categories of persons involved have faith in the ' l i m i t e d ' modernisa-
in them do not exist today as they t i o n ; they believe that India and
w i t h the perspective provided by the
existed in the late 19th century. The other underdeveloped countries w i l l
new elite? Or was there something travel by the same road as that of the
w r o n g in our understanding of the present day activists among the edu-
developed coutries of the west; and
character and role of the new elite? cated persons are d i s t r i b u t e d over (b) do not have in m i n d the large
How does a certain amount of different activist groups. Most of these deprived m a j o r i t y at all in the this
groups are openly political and the process of ' m o d e r n i s a t i o n ' ; (c) in
paleocentrism still persist among, large
others claiming to be cultural or that sense they have forsaken even
numbers of the university-educated liberalism, p a r t i c u l a r l y radical libera-
persons? Was our understanding of religious are either the f r o n t organisa-
lism.
paleocentrism incorrect? Or, does it tion or unofficial affiliates of political SITUATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
persist because it performs some organisations. Thus, the educated men Let us now discuss Srinivas's under-
functions in the situation developing today are w i t h such groups sometimes standing of the situation in the deve-
deliberately and sometimes without loping countries, w h i c h is very relevant
after the m i d d l e half of sixties? If in
deliberation. for us.
the past the new elites were the
energisers of change, do we expect Further, these parties and groups Developing countries are today
arenas for conflict between the old
them to perform the same function of either represent or are affiliates not
and the new. The old order is no
p r o v i d i n g direction of change today? only of economic interests but also of longer able to meet the new forces,
social (caste) or religious interests. nor the new wants and aspiration of
Srinivas read the first draft of the These interests in the final analysis the people, but neither is it m o r i -
present article and p e r m i t t e d me to can be traced to material conditions in bund — in fact it is still very much
add the following clarification, which alive. The conflict produces m u c h
general and to relations of p r o d u c t i o n
he w r o t e in the m a r g i n , regarding what unseemly argument, discord, confu-
in particular. T h u s there is only sion and, on occasion, even bloodshed.
he meant by paleocentrism. energising and no opiate and it does Under the circumstances, it is temp-
not exist in a neutral glass container. t i n g for the sociologist to look for
Paleocentrism has a t w o - f o l d aspect,
It guides actions towards short-term the good old peaceful days in sheer
one energising, and the other, an
nostalgia. But a moment's reflection
opiate. Energising paleocentrism is goals and long-term ends. A r e these
should convince him that the old
again t w o - f o l d : It may make pos- goals and ends refashioning the old order was not conflict-free and that
sible the i n t r o d u c t i o n of changes in
traditions to accommodate new forces, it, precipitated inhuman cruelties on
the society to accommodate new
or are they creating new rival t r a d i - vast .sections of the population. A
forces w h i l e m a i n t a i n i n g the fiction
tions? I am in favour of the latter theoretical approach that regards con-
that the changes only mean a
flict as abnormal, or that invests
movement into a purer past, or it view. These traditions belong to the e q u i l i b r i u m w i t h a special value in
may become mere revivalism. type of society called capitalism. the name of science, can be a handi-
Revivalism, it must be stressed,
T h o u g h in India it is in the developing cap in developing societies (p 160).
involves action w h i l e opiate does not.
It rests content w i t h glorification of phase, the direction is clear. It can After q u o t i n g Leach for the conse-
the past be observed even in the refashioning quences of pre-occupation w i t h 'struc-
of old traditions to accommodate new tural e q u i l i b r i u m ' , 'functional integra-
Srinivas is thus not in favour of
forces. It may be called westernisa- tion', 'cultural uniformity' and 'social
revivalism in the sense of reproducing
tion because, capitalism is also a solidarity'. Srinivas writes, 'conflict
or replicating the past. It is also
product of the west, as much as com- ought to be seen as inhering in social
w r o n g to presume that he is for doing
m u n i s m is. W h a t j u s t i f i c a t i o n is there life everywhere" (p 160). After pointing
n o t h i n g to change the situation. As
for us to use the concepts such as out that it is necessary to distinguish
we shall see later, he approves the

643
 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY
April 14, 1984

between forms of conflict that can be w h i c h aim to interpret the universe b r i u m , i e, another state of relation-
resolved by the existing institutional purely in terms of thought, or w h i c h ships? Since c o n f l i c t is as m u c h nor-
mechanisms, and more fundamental aim to regulate i n d i v i d u a l and social mal as co-operation and consensus, the
conflicts that threaten the entire social life in accordance w i t h the principles new state of e q u i l i b r i u m must also be
order, Srinivas says, "The developing of reason and to eliminate as far as disturbed. If that is so, we assume a
countries are characterised by the possible or to relegate to the background state of p e r m a n e n t change or state of
existence or leaders who are determined everything irrational. Rationalism in- flux rather than a state of e q u i l i b r i u m .
to bring about radical changes in tradi- volves, among other things, the replace- The Greek philosopher H e r a c l i t u s is
tional life and culture, and these lea- ment of traditional beliefs and ideas attributed to have said that we never
ders b o t h reflect and guide the aspira- by modern knowledge" (p 119), swim twice in the same river. Srinivas
tions, hopes and ideals of their follo- anticipates such a situation and men-
Do those theoretical and practical
wers" (p 160). A question arises here: tions the distinction between conflict
tendencies w h i c h aim to i n t e r p r e t the
do the so-called 'modern' educated that can be resolved by existing
universe 'purely in terms of thought'
elises really do it. arid can they do it? mechanisms and more fundamental
have any relation to the other aim of
My answer is: They do not and can- conflicts that "threaten the entire so-
rationalism to regulate i n d i v i d u a l and
not do it today, whatever they might cial order". He also sees that the
social life? It should be noted that in
have done in the past. Nevertheless, conflict in Indian society can he of
the first case rationalism is an interpre-
my point is that we have to do that the latter type when he says, "Deve-
tation and that too purely in terms of
and. more importantly, for us. By 'we' loping countries are today arenas for
thought. A l t e r n a t i v e l y , it is also under-
and 'us' I mean Indians in general and conflict between the old and the new".
stood to regulate, that is, to become a
intellectuals in particular. Indian aca
guide to action for, ' i n d i v i d u a l and
demicians w i l l have to consider them- WHAT IS 'NEW'?
social life'. Obviously thought is presu-
selves a part of Indians and, more im-
med to have some relation to action. In view of all this, the correct
portantly, not above them, 7
Srinivas's understanding of that rela- question w o u l d have been: what is
\n Srinivas's view, "Under the cir- tion can be known when he says, the 'new' in the direction of which
cumstances a return to the old order "Rationalism involves, among other India is moving? My contention is
would only mean starvation and misery things, the replacement of traditional that he could not ask this question as
lor millions. Sociologists from develop- beliefs and ideas by modern knowledge" he was then imbued w i t h ' e m p i r i c i s m '
ing countries are therefore forced to (p 119). The problem before Indian and 'positivism'. He therefore takes
take a positive attitude towards social society is that of b u i l d i n g up social the present 'planned development' as
change. Some are also actively involved relations, i e, relations between man the direction of social change, notes
in :he process of development and an and man, on the basis of modern w i t h satisfaction the "involvement of
increasing number are likely to be thus knowledge. Therefore, if you know sociologists in the process of develop-
involved in the future as these coun- how these ideas and beliefs operate in ment", and discusses the pros and
Iries become committed to programmes relation to social relations you can cons of such participation for the
of planned development" (p 161). Sri- also understand change in social re- academic sociologist. It was relevant
nivas was w r i t i n g this in 1966 when lations. to have raised the question of direc-
the prospects appeared bright for Thus the basic task of the socio- tion of change. particularly the
achieving the new order by resolving logist is to u n f o l d the implications of characterisation of the new, when he
the conflicts w i t h the help of the exist- social relations w i t h the help of k n o w - said that there is " c o n f l i c t between
ing institutional mechanisms. Probably ledge. Srinivas's emphasis on social the old and the new". If 'development'
many others w o u l d have thought that structure can be understood that way. is taken as something new, if the so-
way then. Also, since modern knowledge is bas- cial processes of Sanskritisation and
I do not know what way Srinivas is ed on observation it is necessary to westernisation are seen in relation to
t h i n k i n g now. But taking his theoreti- observe social structure, i e, the parts one another, and if secularisation were
cal position from what he said then in of society as they are related to one
taken as a part of that new, are we
the same book, he could not have another and how a change in one
or are we not entitled to ask the
thought otherwise. He writes, brings about change in others, contri-
equestion: what is the character of
buting to the maintenance of the
Modernisation thus involves the that development, and in w h i c h direc-
'rationalisation of ends' according to e q u i l i b r i u m at a point of time. As we
tion is it going? (Srinivas r i g h t l y says
Bellah, which means that the goals have seen above, Srinivas does not
that "One of the functions of Sans-
chosen by society should be rational subscribe to that view inasmuch as
and the subject of discussion. It needs kritisation was to bridge the gap bet-
he does not believe in investing "equi-
to be pointed out, however, that ween the secular and ritual rank".)
librium with a special value in the
social goals are in the final analysis But that question implies characterisa-
the expression of value preferences, name of science". He believes that
t i o n of the whole. Srinivas probably
and therefore, non-rational. The pub- c o n f l i c t is not abnormal. A l l struc-
lic discussion of goals can in no way doubts if societies exist as wholes.
t u r a l - f u n c t i o n a l i s t s do not believe that
guarantee their r a t i o n a l i t y . Rationa- parts are always related to the whole Consistently w i t h that doubt, he goes
lity can only be predicted of the by parts and concerns himself largely
means but not of the ends of social in such a way as to contribute to its
maintenance, and the concept of w i t h the question as to how t h a t deve-
action, (p 52)
dysfunction is also put f o r t h . But there lopment is taking place.
Accepting the definition of rational-
is another question. If e q u i l i b r i u m is Ramkrishna M u k h e r j e e puts Sri-
ism from "Encyclopedia of Social Scien-
disturbed, does a society tend to re- nivas as the foremost of the m o d e r n i -
ces" writes, " A n o t h e r essential element
main in a permanent state of dis-
in secularisation is rationalism, compre- ses of Indian sociology. He makes
e q u i l i b r i u m or of continuous change,
hensive expression applied to various the f o l l o w i n g observation about the
or does it seek another state of equili-
theoretical and practical tendencies modernisers:

644
 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY
April 14, 1984

Moreover, they hardly ever
looked beyond the societal charac-
teristics which were clearly ohserv-
able, and thus failed to consider
systematically the 'what,' 'how',
'why,' 'what will it be' and 'what
should it be' questions within the
total framework of society. For the
'fact' of social change, value-laden
as we have seen it to be, was built
into their ideological make up:
change was not a matter requiring
theoretical comprehension and, cor-
respondingly, nor were methodologi
cal distinctions needed w i t h w h i c h to
characterise a social space as com-
prising infnite but enumerable facts
of change or no change, and con-
taining desired or undesired course
of change.
I agree w i t h Mukherjee that the mods
of t h i n k i n g of those whom he calls
modernisers of Indian sociology did
not permit them to raise the question
of direction of change in terms of
characterisation of the whole. But a
question may be asked of Mukherjee
and all of us w h o agree to comprehend
the changing Indian social reality and
its direction of change: is it also not
logically essential to provide an an-
swer to the question as to how to
work for and in the direction of that
desired change and also to work
against the undesired direction of
change? If we do not provide an an-
swer, we are welcome to remain at
the contemplative level and to con-
sider action as out of bounds for aca-
demics. Of course, it w i l l suit our so-
cial origins asd academic n u r t u r i n g to
keen action out of bound, to em-
phasise 'free' and 'pure' thought and
'knowledge for its own sake' and to
maintain our position as impartial and
'objective' observers and delineators
of the process of change.
However, we have to face a legiti-
mate and valid question: are we not
required to think before we act?
Should our action be thoughtless? Are
we not required to decide 'what
should it be' before we act? The an-
swer to this question is related to the
answer we get from the question of
'what w i l l it be?' and the series of
questions Mukherjee raises regarding
what, how and why. It is necessary to
mention here that our answer regard-
ing the way of t h i n k i n g before acting
w i l l differ from other answers regard-
ing it, such as the answers given by
those who believe in what is known
as social engineering, economic plan-
ning, and such other planning. It is
obvious that I go a long way with
Mukharjee upto the last question to
which we are seeking the answer. For
myself and for Mukherjee too, I pre-
sume, one direction in which we seek
the answer is clear, it must bear rela-
tion to the answer to the question,
'what w i l l it be?' and to the answers
to the questions preceding it. The
amendment I wish to make to Muker-
jee's last question is to add the words
'for which we should strive'. The
question would then read 'what should
it be for which we should strive?', Is
it only a verbal amendment, or does it
make any substantive difference in
t h i n k i n g and acting? I am inclined to
say 'yes' to the latter part of the
question. What substantial difference
it makes is the next legitimate and
valid question. I am not sure of the
answer in detail, though I feel commit-
ted to the direction given by Marx,
'Philosophers have only interpreted the
w o r l d ; our task, however, is to change
if.
Mukherjee has tried to relate theory
and research — a form of action.
Though that issue needs our attention,
I am not referring to it in the sense
of what Srinivas says: "the entire so-
cial order". He also suggests to us
the point at which action can be taken
for changing it, namely, the type of
conflicts "which threaten i t " . I think
that to be no minor point for sociologi-
cal t h i n k i n g in India. We need to dis-
cuss the points arising from Srinivas
in detail. If we do not, we shall com-
mit the same error that the 'moderni-
sers'. to use Mukherjee's term, com-
mitted, namely, the error of ignoring
the contribution the pioneers made.
Srinivas has been quiet for quite some
time. Let us remind him that there is
still much to be gained from him by
Indian sociology.
III
Concluding Note
We began with reading sanskritisa-
tion and westernisation as concepts to
explain the religious, cultural and so-
cial change in India and the role of
the new elites in bringing about that
change. My first difference is w i t h the
understanding of change. I have
understood change as complete trans-
formation of society. My concentra-
tion has been on social change and
not on cultural and religious change.
Once we accept change as the pro-
blem, several questions arise; (1)
What is the direction of change? (2)
How is that direction decided? (3)
Does that change come about on its
own. w i t h o u t the activity or inter-
ference of hitman beings? (4) What is
the role of academicians in bringing it
about?
It is not that Srinivas has not been
t h i n k i n g on all these questions. He
sees the change in the d i r e c t i o n of
what he understands by westernisa-
tion, w i t h the western educated elites
both as carriers and agents of change.
He sees conflict between them and
the agents of what he calls sanskritisa-
tion. N o t only that but he also be-
ltves that "conflict ought to be seen
as inherent in social life everywhere".
He sees the conflict in all developing
countries as the conflict between the
'old' and the 'new'. This is the gene-
ral trend of his thinking till 1966. I
would not like to join issues with him
on these points.
However the comments by a friend
one generation younger to me is
relevant here. He writes.
It's alll very well for you to agree
with Srinivas on 'conflict', 'dis-
equilibrium', etc. But where has
he dealt with violence and repres-
sion, as processes of social change?
A n d why not? There was enough of
it even when he was very prolific.
'Conflict' is a nice bloodless cate-
gory; broken heads; huts ablaze,
rape, torture, and terror and are
very bloody indeed.
I suspect that at bottom what's
disabling our 'elite' is aversion to
the very datum of legal and extra-
legal repression. K i l l i n g , raping, mai-
ming, wounding people. In their
greenhouses, the dichotomies and
taxonomies are well preserved like
orchids. Violence is not a pheno-
menon for the Indian social scien-
tist. It can't be encapsulated in well
manicured generalisations. That's
why they are not stirred to action
of any k i n d . Social scientists are
unable, despite the emergency, to
ever imagine that they might also
be at the receiving end of the stick!
But there are certain tendencies in
his thinking which need to be pointed
out. First of all. there is the tendency
to emphasise the empirical, so much
so that it might lead to the trend of
his becoming an empiricist — someone
might add if he is not already one.
His tendency to emphasise the 'what'
and 'how' of an enquiry need not be
deplored. I would only like it to be
seen w i t h reference to the future type
of society to be envisaged. Some
do not consider that question w i t h i n
the perview of science. But my point
is: how we arrive at it can be con-
troversial and there can be more than
one view of the desired type of so-
ciety, but if we go on observing 'what
is' and 'how' w i t h o u t reference to the
future type we shall be saying that
this is happening. But our quest is
does what is happening lead us to the
type of society desired by us? The
desired also becomes the desirable.

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April 14, 1984 ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY

Srinivas takes the government and the of the European and American bour- direction of capitalistic development
society as it obtained t i l l 1966 as the geoisie. A n d now they are on the you accurately i d e n t i f i e d exists. On
desired one. He talks of the un- laps of m u l t i n a t i o n a l bourgeoisie in- the other, you rely on Part IV of
the C o n s t i t u t i o n , The society identi-
desirable things happening then with c l u d i n g the A r a b s , and a category fied in Part I V , the aspirational
reference to the same. ( N o t that he is called, foreign nationals of Indian model is broadly 'socialistic'. (What
satisfied w i t h what is happening now.) o r i g i n . They are on their laps always k i n d of 'socialism' is another ques-
afraid that they might t h r o w them off tion; incidentally, when people
My view is that the society envisag- begin to talk of Gandhian 'socialism'
anytime. If they are sure that they we lose all meaning of that form.)
ed by the directive principles given in
won't be t h r o w n off they w o u l d like At one point you say that capitalis-
the c o n s t i t u t i o n of 1950 should be the
to be on their laps for ever until tic f o r m of society 'should be re-
society desired by us. A l l our move- ferrent for our future type of so-
someone else throws them off.
ments should be m o t i v a t e d by that ciety'; later in the section " C o n c l u d -
end. However, most of the political ing N o t e " , yon say, 'our immediate
The friend mentioned above makes or short term goal should be the
parties do not want to move in that
movement to achieve the society'
d i r e c t i o n , if we look to what is hap- the f o l l o w i n g comments, envisaged by Part IV. Further,
pening around. They are busy mani- I see a l i t t l e inconsistency, in "The desired thus also becomes the
pulating alliances and mergers for your position. On the one hand, the desirable',
w i n n i n g the next elections whenever
they come. They also have program-
mes. But neither the parties nor the
people take them seriously. But there
is one significant u n i f o r m i t y in these
manoeuvres. They want to keep out
the c o m m u n i s t parties of all hues
f r o m their alliance, on the ground
that they draw their inspiration from
foreign sources. A n y w a y , there is no
reference to the f u t u r e type of society,
much less to the one guided by the
directive principles of our constitu-
t i o n . T h e western educated elite
w h i c h is believed to have made the
c o n s t i t u t i o n does not want to defend
it. That is not surprising if we k n o w
what they are. Following instance
from Owen Lynch w i l l make clear
what they are. "In the USA today
there is an organisation called AIA.
Association of Indians in America.
This organisation is arguing that
Indian i m m i g r a n t s to the U S A should
be counted in the US Census under
the special category, Indians of Asian
descent. A l t h o u g h they are the most
technically trained i m m i g r a n t group
to enter the U S A todate and are
financially well off, they seek separate
classification in the census as a part
of the strategy to claim financial and
other benefits meant for the poor
and disadvantaged m i n o r i t i e s in the
U S A . It is ironic these come from the
very class which w o u l d deny the
benefits of protective d i s c r i m i n a t i o n to
untouchables in I n d i a . " (Owen Lynch,
in the foreword to 'Democracy in
Search of Equality' by Barbara Joshi,
Hindustan Publishing Corporation.
Delhi, 1982.)

The behaviour of this class may ap-

pear ironical to a t h i r d party like
Owen L y n c h . But we in India k n o w
that that is the very b u i l d i n g mate-
rial of w h i c h that class is made.
This a t t i t u d e they derive from
their mentors the I n d i a n bourgeoisie
which itself is brought up on the laps

646
 The Constitution mirrors con- Ajanta Publication, D e l h i , 1981. phase, the political activists and
tradictions in the ideologies of the 5 I have already mentioned the the educated were separated. This
ruling bourgeoisie. Maybe, what difficulties w i t h the term 'elite' in tame w i t h dubbing those educat-
you suggest amounts to a call for Note I above. Here it may be ed in administration as a part of
sharpening and reinforcing these possible to be a little more speci- the 'steel frame'. They were tail-
contradictions. Maybe, Part IV is fic, They are definitely those who ed the instrument (handle) of the
conducive to capitalism insofar as nave gone t h r o u g h the university foreign rulers by Gandhi. By
state capitalism is conducive to cor- alter 1947 and also some before that time the number of the uni-
porate/monopoly capitalism. In this 1947, A m o n g them are employ- versity educated and of the pro-
sense, Part IV is an ally of capitalist able unemployed, professionals, fessionals such as lawyers and
form of development, contrary to its businessmen, journalists, and poli- doctors among them had increas-
'socialistic' pretensions. tical leaders. They feel discrimi- ed. Also the Indian businessmen
It also meets, in my opinion, the nated in all these fields. They and industrialists were growing
legitimate needs of the ruling are providing arguments in the both in influence and numbers. A
coalitions against (a) pre-eapitatistic contemporary w o r l d to the tradi- section of the educated mention-
formations (merchant capital, etc) tional Mullas. Maulvis, Swamis, ed above favoured Gandhi's ac-
and (b) fractions of capital in con- Sants, Sadhus, Maharajas and tion programme at the ideological
others who are coming up in level. They formed the extremist
fliel inter se. It also provides an
large numbers. ('jahals') section in politics. The
ideological apparatus of coercion.
6 Liberalism is another term requir- 'social reformers' and also politi-
In that sense, you may be right.
ing clarification. Its refer rants cal reformers (i e, those who want-
But it has got to be made explicit. ed to sever British connection
vary from political institutions,
I t h i n k my friend has done the j o b slowly and gradually) came to be
social institutions and attitudes,
lor me. I thank h i m . rales of the game in politics, to known as 'moderates' ('mavals').
the general view and way of life. A f t e r the failure of the 1920-21
7 These comments are from late Satyagraha by Gandhi, the 'mode-
Notes rate' section in INC emerged as
A R Kamat. He expired on
[This article was written originally for July 9. 1983, I had the typed 'Swarajists', or pro-changers in
a volume in honour of M N Srinivas, copy of the final version of the policy as distinguished from non-
being edited by A M Shah, B S Bavis- article in my hands on August changers. This had also conse-
kar and E A Ramswamy,] 14. I was to send him the copy quences for division among the
1 When we talk of 'elite' we under- tor perusal w i t h the hope that 'educated'. These divisions are
stand each other, or rather agree he w o u l d feel satisfied. But that an interesting subject to pursue
or disagree w i t h o u t understanding was not to be, I read his obitu- upto the present distribution over
each other. That solves the pro- ary on August 18. I was not different activities for earning
blem at a particular moment. prepared for the sudden depriva- livelihood. The social differentia-
However, there are 'ungentle- tion. He was taken to the hospi- tions and growth of secular vest-
manly' persons. A friend who tal from the midst of a discussion, ed interests were taking place at
read this article in the manuscript never to return. a faster rate after independence
form made the following remarks. 8 My view is that in the late 19th and we have the educated elite
"This term bothers me, especially and early 20th century the edu- as the vested interest distributed
as you put so much theoretical cated person, the social reformer over different areas of life. If this
weight on it. What does it mean? and the political person were all distribution is seen in relation
Any one who has been through rolled in the same person. Pro- w i t h such things as the growth
the university? Morarji Desai? bably from the first decade of '.he of i n d u s t r i e s / b u s i n e s s , changes in
Vinoba Bhave? Aurobindo 20th century the social reformer agriculture, the growth of govern-
Ghosh?" He made this remark at and political reformer began to ment and administration and the
the point where the term ' wester- be differentiated say from the growth of education at the top
nised elite' is used. However, ap- time the venue and pandals of level, we might be able to see the
preciating his ungentlemanliness INC and the Social Reform Con- growth of experts, specialists and
1 tried to open the lid of my ference were deliberately separat- researchers, etc. and their role. I
brain. But 1 closed it immediate- ed. The terms moderate and am not formulating a research
ly after opening it by a hair's extremists have their origin in project. It is just saying what
breadth, I saw the snakes inside. this process. In the second comes to my mind.
I decided to meet his point by
this note, I became a little mean
w i t h a friend who was to attend
an international conference on
ethnicity or ethnic something. I
asked him casually: What is
this 'ethinic'? He proved one
better than 1. He replied, 'You
tell me', and thus shut my mouth,
I had w r i t t e n a page referring to
ethnicity in the present article.
Srinivas when he read the manu-
script of this article made a sug-
gesion that I refer to the papers
of the conference mentioned above
in w h i c h Srinivas also participat-
ed. I dropped the whole page
from the present article.
2 A point can be made here that
communism may bring political
but not cultural hostility to the
west.
3 Again a point might be raised
here. Is it westernisation or the
western impact of the contact
w i t h the west? I do not t h i n k I
can deal w i t h the question in
this article. The point implies
more than mere difference in
expression.
4 "The N e w E l i t e " in "The Craft
of Sociology and Other Essays"

647