The Family in India Critical Essays

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This collection of essays on the family in India by the distinguished sociologist Professor A.M. Shah covers a wide range of theoretical, methodological, substantive and policy issues. Examining both academic and popular literature with a view to bringing about a clarity of discourse, Professor Shah's work challenges many popularly held beliefs about the family in India. Through an examination of census records, data collected in the field over long periods of time, and a clarifying of concepts and issues, Professor Shah shows how the widely accepted paradigm of change from joint to nuclear family is highly simplistic and pleads for a more realistic appraisal of change.

Conceptually, Professor Shah distinguishes between 'household' and 'family' which leads to a richer and more precise discussion of inter and intra-household family relations.

The book includes chapters on spouse selection which place in a dynamic perspective, the traditional rule of caste endogamy as well as the modern idea of freedom of choice in marriage.

Also included is an essay on family policy which looks at such questions as family planning, care of the aged, the position of the girl child, and an uniform civil code.

Professor A.M. Shah is currently ICSSR National Fellow. He retired as Professor of Sociology, University of Delhi. From 1991 to 1993 he was President, Indian Sociological Society. He is the author of The Household Dimension of the Family in India (Orient Longman, 1973) and, with I.P. Desai, Division and Hierarchy: An Overview of Caste in Gujarat (Hindustan Publishing Corporation 1988).