The Modernity of Tradition: Political Development in India

Stressing the variations in meaning of modernity and tradition, this work shows how in India traditional structures and norms have been adapted or transformed to serve the needs of a modernizing society. The persistence of traditional features within modernity, it suggests, answers a need of the human condition. Three areas of Indian life are analyzed: social stratification, charismatic leadership, and law. The authors question whether objective historical conditions, such as advanced industrialization, urbanization, or literacy, are requisites for political modernization.

IntroductionPart One - Traditional Structures and Modern Politics: CasteMarx, Modernity, and Mobilization Paracommunities: The Sociology of Caste Associations Horizontal Mobilization: The Nadars; the Vanniyars The Politics of Caste Differential Mobilization: Fission, Fusion, Decompression The Future of Equality: The Social Condition of Political Integration Untouchability: The Test of Fellow FeelingPart Two - The Traditional Roots of Charisma: GandhiThe Fear of Cowardice Gandhi and the New Courage Self-Control and Political Potency This-Worldly Asceticism and Political Modernization The Private Origins of Public Obligation The New Meaning of Old PathsPart Three - Legal Cultures and Social Change: Panchayats, Pandits, and ProfessionalsTraditional and Modern Justice The Modernity of Brahmanic Law The Anglicization of Indian Law Appendix Index