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Unit 14: Social Change in Contemporary India

quite different. Though, social changes have taken place everywhere, but in India, the social change Notes
is very slow compared to the Western countries. In the Asian countries, a rapid industrial and social
change has taken place in Japan but such a change has not occurred in India. In the struggle for
independence our political leaders also gave call for Indianization. The Britishers wanted to encourage
industrialization and westernization in India. The Swadeshi movement proved to be a hinderance
in this process and an attempt was made to revive old values in all walks of life. The thinkers like
Aurobindo showed the superiority of the ancient Indian values and by his powerful arguments
silenced the critics. From the political viewpoint, the Swadeshi movement was a progressive
phenomenon but in the social sphere it baulked the social change and mobility. In the contemporary
India, there is a clear trend towards democratization in social change. In the economic, social and
political spheres, the values of freedom and equality are getting encouragement. The social control
is loosening and individuals are now more and more exercising their discretion and reason to decide
what to do. The control of family has also become lax and love marriages are now not uncommon.

An important causal factor for the disparity between the industrial and social change in
our country is political.

6. Importance of Elite: In order to appreciate the structure of social change in India one should have
an idea about the role of the elite. The elite is under the influence of urban and industrial civilization.
The scientific outlook of West has particular impact upon it. Thus, the elite is on the whole working
for rapid social transformation on the western lines, but in certain respects it is bound by traditions.
Therefore, among the urban society one finds prevalent a number of superstitious beliefs and
ritualist practices. Even the inauguration of many scientific councils is marked by performance of
Yojna and pooja. Thus, we see in the elite a coexistence of tradition and modernity. An important
reason for this type of state of affairs is the broad based nature of Hindu religion in which many
contradictory influences coexist.
14.3 Economic Development: Its Determinants and Social Consequences

In the study of sociology of economic development, some important questions of sociological relevance
are: What is economic development? How does economic growth begin? What social infrastructure
is needed for economic development? What are the preconditions for economic change and how can
these be induced? Can factors which accelerate economic development be identified? Can social and
cultural barriers to economic development be overcome and its pace increased? What are the social
consequences of economic development? How can dysfunctional aspects of economic development
be checked? In this section, we will try to find out the answers to these questions.
What is Economic Development

In the broadest sense, economic development might be viewed as “any growth in real income per
capita from whatever source”. Bach (1960:167) has described it as “growth in the total output of
goods and services in the economy”. Novack (1964:151) has referred to a very old definition of economic
growth, according to which it is “continuous substantial increase in per capita consumption of goods
and services”. The substantial consumption of economic goods is possible only when there is
substantial production of economic goods, and sub-stantial production these days depends upon
greater use of technologies. In a narrower sense, therefore, it may be said that economic development
refers to “the extensive application of inanimate power and other technologies to the production and
distribution of economic goods” (Faris, 1964: 889). In this sense, economic development is practically
equivalent to industrialisation. But to say that economic development is only industrialisation would
not be correct because besides involving the use of power and technology in production, it also
involves labour mobility, extensive educational system, and so on.

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