Book Reviews : G. R. Madan: Western Sociologists on Indian Society. Marx, Spencer, Weber, Durkheim, Pareto, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1979. 399 pp. £9.95 (Inter national Library of Sociology)
Abstract
Book ReviewsG. R. Madan: Western Sociologists on Indian Society. Marx, Spencer, Weber, Durkheim, Pareto, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London 1979. 399 pp. £9.95 (Inter national Library of Sociology) SAGE Publications, Inc.1980DOI: 10.1177/000169938002300210 John Martinussen The purpose of this study is the description and assessment of the views of some important Western sociologists on Indian society. Except for a brief statement to that effect, G. R. Madan does. not give an account of either the analytical focus or the criteria used when selecting particular findings of the five sociologists under study. Thus, the views of some sociologists dealt with, among them Karl Marx, are discussed under eleven headings simply because the author finds it convenient to do so (cf. p. 3). Indeed, it is very difficult to think of any methodological or theoretical justification for dividing up the presentation and appraisal in this way. To illustrate we may mention the following five headings: Undue burden of Indian princes; destruction of hand industries; Indian revenue and taxation; dual role of England - destructive and regenerative; and Indian social structure and human progress. Furthermore, the views of Marx are completely separated from their original context and discussed as if they were