Page 263 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Social Structure and Social Change

Notes strengthen the values, beliefs or behaviour patterns present in society before contact with the West. A
simple example of this change is the use of’ Hundi’ system in loan transactions. The synthetic changes
result in the creation of new forms from existing elements plus adopted ones. The most simple instance
is the creation of residentially nuclear but functionally joint family which continues to fulfil social
obligations to parents and siblings. Continuing dowry system but putting restrictions on amount to
be given or taken, and associating children along with parents in mate selection are two other examples
of synthetic change.
This categorization of changes due to western impact is only for the analytical purposes. In practice,
it is not possible to isolate them from each other. Within one type of change, we may find elements of
other types of changes too. For example, the introduction of the textile industry contains the supportive
element in the sense that it facilitates the production of cloth. But at the same time, since it pushed
back the traditional handloom and weaving industry, it may be said to have the element of eliminative
change. Opening of the wall-less prisons in the prison system is another example of change having
elements of three different types. So are the changes in the education system, banking system, family
system, marriage system, and so forth.
The main question now is: Where has India reached after contact with the West? Has India progressed?
Has it contributed to the welfare of the people? Is it possible to answer this question objectively? Can
subjectivism and philosophical partiality be avoided in such analysis? Some intellectuals feel that
India faced number of problems at the end of the Second World War, like the problems of economic
backwardness and a large number of people living below the poverty line, unemployment,
predominance of religion in all walks of life, rural indebtedness, caste conflicts, communal disharmony,
shortage of capital, lack of trained personnel with technical skills, imperfect means for mobilizing
human and material resources, and so forth. The western impact has provided alternative solutions
to handle these problems. But other scholars hold that western impact has not helped India much in
facing the problems. If some problems have been solved, many new have been created. And India is
not trying to meet them through western models. It is using its indigenous elements in its approach.
It was only after the independence of the country that there was a rise in industrial development,
dissemination of education, rural development, control over population, and so forth. It was thus
independence from western rule rather than contact with the West that made modernization possible.
The fact is that in certain areas of life, we may be justified in acclaiming the positive impact of the
West. Modern medical science, modern technology, modern methods of combating natural
catostropoies, modern methods of providing security from external dangers to the country, etc. will
go down in Indian history as the incontestable contributions of the West. But India is using at the
same time its traditional institutions, beliefs and practices for the uplift of the masses. Thus, even
after the impact of the West, and after the modernization of various systems, India will remain India.
Indian culture will subsist and survive in decades to come.
Process of Modernization in India

The analysis in the preceeding pages indicates that tradition and modernity constitute a continuum
with tradition at one end and modernization at the other. Any society can be placed at any point on
the continuum line. Most societies are in some form of transition.
Indian society at the time of independence had deep-rooted traditions but it also wanted to become
modern. There were people as well as leaders who wanted a traditional way of life; there were others
who wanted to see India emerge as a modern state having no truck with the past. There were yet
others who were for some kind of compromise or synthesis between tradition and modernity. They
said that a traditional system can accept and absorb modernization up to a certain point. In the same
way, a modernized system can tolerate traditional views up to a certain degree. They, thus, wanted
co-existence. But the propounders of the first two schools maintained that the co-existence cannot
last long. A point is soon reached when the traditional ethos become irreconcilable. What process of
change did we ultimately adopt?
We decided to modernize our society at various levels. What aspects of life were sought to be
modernized and in what manner? At the social level, we wanted social relations to be based on
concepts like equality and human dignity, and social values which would ensure social mobility,

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