Abstract
In this chapter, we attempt a critical assessment of Ramkrishna Mukherjee’s understanding of Indian sociology by appreciating the penetration of his philosophy into the manner in which we frame our research questions and go beyond the current paradigms for using multiple methods of enquiry. In Indian sociology, Ramkrishna Mukherjee’s contribution was significant for the holistic and critical understanding of theoretical trends and research. He was particularly sharp in commenting on the quality of research findings and analysis of all the known sociologists. Since the 1950s, he highlighted the failure of Indian sociology to objectively and comprehensively depict social reality. His stress on historical, comparative, large databases and classification methods is now well accepted by many social scientists. His methodological approach offered solutions to certain theoretical issues and research in sociology, but they did not resolve them altogether.
The Death of Ramkrishna Mukherjee on 15th December 2015 in Kolkata marks the close of what one may call the second chapter of the history of academic sociology in India.
—T. N. Madan (2016: 26).
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Notes
- 1.
This chapter is mainly based on this book.
- 2.
In his younger days, RM was deeply involved in the preparation for the Tebhaga struggle. He then left the Communist Party of India for personal reasons; yet he never lost his commitment to the ideology of the Left. At best, one could perhaps describe him as a non-doctrinaire Marxist (Mainstream 2015).
- 3.
In the ICSSR survey report on research in sociology and social anthropology published of 1974, M. S. A. Rao had claimed this.
- 4.
In this context, RM particularly discussed André Béteille’s position on value neutrality.
- 5.
According to RM, four cardinal valuations of life are (i) survival, (ii) security, (iii) prosperity, and (iv) progress, which are encountered by all humans at all places and at all times (Mukherjee 1993: 136).
- 6.
At present, there is stress on interdisciplinary courses too. Many new courses that are offered by our universities do not neatly fit into any disciplinary boundary. Moreover, post-graduate students of many a university are offered elective courses in other disciplines.
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Ghosh, B. (2019). Ramkrishna Mukherjee on Indian Sociology: A Review. In: Mukherji, P., Jayaram, N., Ghosh, B. (eds) Understanding Social Dynamics in South Asia. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0387-6_5
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