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Boom Review Social Geography A Ahmad
Boom Review Social Geography A Ahmad
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Human Resource
Analysis
A Journal of contemporary Issues
Manav Human
Development
Foundation
Gurgaon.
Human Resource Analysis , Vol. II, No. 4, October-December. 2003
CONTENTS
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS-
LOOK BEFORE LEAPING' INTO
COERCIVE DIPLOMACY S. Kalyanaraman
The raising of new set of demands by India, after the earlier ones had been
complied with has strengthened Pakistan's resolve not to buckle down any further
HUMAN RIGHTS
JUDICIAL ACTIVISM ANDPROTECTION OF P.L. Mehta &
HUMAN RIGHTSIN INDIA Surender S. Jasqwal
Indian judiciary has given a new dimension to human rights through its activism
and it is playing a vital role in promoting and protecting the human rights
enshrined in the Constitution of India.
ECONOMY
CONSUMER PROTECTION IN INDIA:
MYTH OR REALITrY M.M. Batra
Speedy Consumer justice will not only give protection to consumer but will also
improve the quality of goods and services. It may also solve the problem of our
adverse balance of trade.
17
BOOK REVIEW
1. HABITATIONS OF MODERNITY:
Mohinder Singh
ESSASYS IN THE WAKE OF SUBALTERN STUDIES
28-32
2. SOCIAL GEOGRAPHY
Sarfaraz Alam &
Anand Malik
33-36
Human Resource Analysis , Vol. I1, No. 4, October-December. 2003
BOOK REVIEW: 2
The central focus of this book is on the spatial organization of pluralistic Indian society in its
tribal. caste, linguistic and religious expression. Indian social structure is extremely complex.
Within the population of India are subsumed six major racial groups, about 285 tribal
communities, over 3000 castes and sub-castes, 723 languages and dialects and followers of
several religions - both Indic and non-Indic. These diversities are reflected in varied socio-
eultural patterns and processes - social geographers' raw materials. But surprisingly, not much
work has been done on the spatial organization of Indian society. There are two-fold
difficulties in writing a book on the social geography of India. First, Indian society is
extremely diverse to enable anyone to reach a reasonable generalization. Second, there are
limitations in using the existing data on Indian society. Professor Ahmad must be
congratulated for brilliantly accomplishing the difficult task of producing the first ever wel1
The present book is the product of the author's active participation in teaching and researching
various issues of Indian society for almost of quarter of century at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (New Delhi). The central theme of this book is the spatial organisation of Indian
social structure. There are basically three main concerms underlying the author's approach in
the book - the discovery and description of spatial pattern of social phenomena; an
appreciation of the critical role of geography in shaping the socio-cultural evolution of India;
and the importance of Indian social geography for social planning in India.
Divided into well-organised eight chapters, the book begins with the social geographical
interpretation of Indian social structure and impacts of social processes on it, followed by a
brief discussion on the nature of Anglo-American social geography and a summary of
33
Human Resource Analysis , Vol. II, No. 4. October-December. 2003
progress in social geography research in India. A survey of literature clearly suggests that
The scope and purpose of social geography of India are discussed in Chapter Two. The author
has convincingly argued that in spite of several pan-lndian movements stressing the unity of
the Indian Union in the name of a dominant religious identity or dominant linguistic and
racial strands; tribes, castes and sub-caste, languages and dialects or religion based communal
identities, which have aluways manifested themselves in regional frames, have never been
obliterated by such forces of imposed unifications. As a result, we can still see continuity in
social and culturally diverse regions of India from the Mahajanpadas of the sixth century BC
and Mughal Subas of medieval times to the present linguistic states as a historical continuum
Chapter Four concerns tribes of India. It deals with the geographical distribution of aggregate
tribal population as well as individual tribal communities. The study shows that the Indian
tribes display strong tendencies of clustering and concentration in the hilly. forested and
geographically inaccessible tracts of the country, mainly because they have been pushed into
these areas by peasant communities. The author has also examined tribals' responses to
development programmes and contacts with non-tribal populations in such areas as literacy
status, agrarian class structure, displacement from their traditional lands, indebtedness and
consumption behaviour.
34
Human Resource Analhysis , Vol. I1, No. 4, October-December, 2003
Chapter Five traces the origin of caste system, and examines its role in settlement morphology
and the social organization of Indian villages and the territorial organisation based on
meticulously done. The geographical distribution of Scheduled Castes in India has been
treated at length.
In Chapter six the author examines the nature of linguistic diversity, traces the historical
process of spatial spreads and describes the geographical distributions of different languages
in India. Chapter Seven deals with the historical evolution of all major religions of India, their
In the brief concluding chapter, Professor Ahmad proposes a social policy for the
heterogeneous Indian society: "In the present context, the socio-psychological integration of
diverse culture-groups within the Indian state is necessary. But it is possible only if diversities
are preserved, widely respected and accommodated within the existing administrative and
There are several notable strengths in Professor Ahmad's book. He projects a very balanced
view on sensitive issues without compromising the needs of scientific objectivity. The writing
style is cogent and very well argued. The book is generously illustrated with maps, diagrams
and tables. All chapters contain explanations of a number of concepts displayed in boxes.
There are extensive endnotes and further readings on the subjects of each chapter. It contains
22 appendices stretching to 61 pages.
Nevertheless, there are a few important shortcomings in the book which merit attention. Urban
social geographers in the West are deeply involved in researching urban social geography.
They have been using urban process models, social area analysis and factorial ecology to
understand the spatial organisation of social phenomena in Western cities. However, this book
does not contain any section on urban social geography of India. Moreover, there is no
mention of the process on social segregation in the urban areas. This phenomenon has become
a very important element in understanding the dynamics of urban social geography. Similarly,
35
Human Resource Analysis , Vol. II, No. 4, October-December, 2003
in rural where
the author has not given any account of social morphology of settlements areas
of Muslim
The book also does not contain any section explaining the growing proportion
population in states like Assam and West Bengal, which is primarily due to the continuing
influx of Bangladeshi citizens into these areas. This phenomenon has led to growing social
There are a few minor shortcomings too. The title of the book seems to be misleading. A far
more appropriate title would have been: "Social Geography of India" or "Social Geography
with Spatial Reference to India'". The line shadings in some of the choropleth maps are not
very apparent. It is very difficult to differentiate two successive line shadings. And lastly,
On the whole, Professor Ahamd's path-breaking book will be extremely useful to students of
geography, sociology, anthropology, history and politics. It will, moreover, be useful to those
new to the social geography of India and those who seek to know more about it.
36
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