The Modernity of Tradition. Political Development in India

Rudolph, Lloyd I.; Rudolph, Susanne Hoeber

doi:10.5771/0506-7286-1968-3-367

Cited by 30 publications

(29 citation statements)

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“…I have mentioned the contributions of the anthropologist Bose and the psychoanalyst Erikson. To list just a few others, there are the works by the sociologist Unnithan (1956), by the historian and former member of the Indian Civil Service Moon (1969), by the political scientists Ru dolph and Rudolph (1967) and Bondurant (1965). and by the writers Nanda (1968) and Ashe (1968).…”

Section: Gandhi's Life History As An Illustrative Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

The Study of Life History: Gandhi

Mandelbaum¹

1973

Current Anthropology

159

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are printed after the text and are followed by a reply from the author.Vol, 11 . No, 3 . J« '" 1973 of personal experience to social institutions, and with the impact of personal choice on social change. Such questions are more likely to be raised by life history studies, those which follow the individual through the course of his career.A life history is the account of a life, completed or ongoing. Such an account obviously involves some kind of selection, since only a very small part of all that the person has experienced can possibly be re corded. Certain salient facts about a person are likely to be recorded by any narrator, but much of any life history has to be chosen for inclusion according to some principles for selection. Often enough, such principles as are used are unstated or unwitting or inchoate. Most social scientists who have pointed out the great potential of the life history approach for their respective disciplines have seen as its chief dif ficulty the lack of accepted principles of selection, of suitable analytic concepts to make up a coherent frame of reference.Three procedural suggestions are given here as a possible start for such a frame. The ideas of the dimensions, turnings, and adaptations in a life history may be useful as guidelines for the collection and analysis of life history data. These ideas are not intended to be inviolable classifications; nor are they substantive concepts, though using them may help us develop such concepts_ Their applicability is illustrat ed with the life history of Gandhi, whose life bears such intrinsic interest that, in this study as in other contexts, it has become something more than an illustration, has taken on, as it were, a life of its own. Garraty 1957). But the study of lives for purposes of social science has been more advocated than prac ticed. At one time the Social Science Research Council gave special attention to the use of life histories and of related personal documents (see Blumer 1939, All port 1942, Gottschalk 1945, Kluckhohn 1945, Angell 1945. Other psychologists and sociologists have also given directives for the study of life history and have outlined programs for research (d. Park and Burgess 1924; BUhler 1933 BUhler , 1968a K. Young 1952; P. Young 1966; Becker 1966; Denzin 1970). But not many have as yet done much recording and analysis of life histories as wholes. Longitudinal studies, nota bly those conducted in the Institute of Human Devel opment at the University of California, Berkeley, have yielded many significant observations of growth and social development, but these have yet to be placed in their social and cultural contexts. LIFE HISTORY STUDIES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCESAnthropologists have recorded life histories since the beginnings of the discipline. Many of these have been published (d. Langness 1965: 54-82 The stimulus to record them has been, I believe, not so much the outcome of a deliberate research plan as the result of a characteristic phase of the anthropologist's own life experience. When an an thro...

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Section: Gandhi's Life History As An Illustrative Examplementioning

confidence: 99%

The Study of Life History: Gandhi

Mandelbaum¹

1973

Current Anthropology

159

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“…8 His approach was rooted in the concept developed by Lloyd and Susanne Rudolph in the 1960s of 'the modernity of tradition' -the idea that many seemingly traditional institutions and forms of social organisation found in India were very modern in their way of working. 9 The Rudolphs focussed mainly on caste and modern caste associations, and also the Hindu legal code, but the idea could clearly be extended to indigenous forms of medical practice. Leslie talked in terms of 'medical revivalism', which he put on a par with the Hindu religious revivalism of the colonial period, seen in bodies such as the Arya Samaj.…”

Section: IImentioning

confidence: 99%

Indian medical indigeneity: from nationalist assertion to the global market

Hardiman

2009

Social History

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2 SynopsisThe Indian system of healing known as Ayurveda is today popularly projected as a holistic form of healing that works on the mind, body and spirit. It is also said to be extremely ancient, with a knowledge rooted in successful practice that has continued largely unchanged for millennia. The article seeks to understand how a 'traditional' form of healing that is associated with Indian civilisation came to occupy such an epistemic space. The related practice of Unani Tibb (a practice that was associated with Islam in India) is compared. It is argued that the claims of Ayurveda and Unani Tibb are typical of many 'invented traditions' that sought to forge cultures that helped to bind disparate peoples within supposedly uniform nationalities. In the process, many cultural phenomena that did not fit into the created categories were either marginalised or excluded. The essay examines how claims to great antiquity were forged, the idea of a decline from a glorious past, with a corresponding need for present-day revival, attempts to create uniform 'systems' out of a range of eclectic practices, the politics of medical education for indigenous practitioners, and conflicting claims as to what 'Indian indigenous medicine ' entailed. 3 In recent years, the Indian system of healing known as Ayurveda has become increasingly popular in a new global market for complimentary medicine. It is projected as a holistic form of healing that works on the mind, body and spirit. It is also said to be extremely ancient, with a knowledge rooted in successful practice that has continued largely unchanged for millennia. In the words of one of its prominent advocates, Deepak Chopra:…the Indian tradition of Ayurveda, [is] the oldest system of health-related knowledge in the world. Ayurveda -which in Sanskrit means 'science of life' -is the most comprehensive system of mind/body medicine ever devised. It offers not only a great wealth of theoretical knowledge, but also practical techniques for achieving better health. 'traditions' were created in the nineteenth or early twentieth century as an intrinsic part of the construction of new nationalities and nation states. 5 The authors examine topics such as the creation of the Highland tartan, the Welsh eisteddfod, ceremonies surrounding the British monarchy, the colonial darbar in India, modes of colonial authority in Africa, and nationalistic rituals in Britain, France and Germany. The chapters describe both the process of creating conventions that reinforced hierarchical structures of authority within nation states and also the forging of cultures that helped bind disparate peoples within supposedly uniform nationalities. In the process, many cultural phenomena that did not fit into the created categories were either marginalised or excluded.Ayurveda appears to fit into the latter category, that of a medical culture that is seen to flow from and represent the spirit of India and its peoples. The postindependence governments of India and its constituent states acknowledged this, it s...

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“…Of E. H. Erikson's Gandhi's Truth (1970) this reviewer would suggest (as G. R. Elton wrote of Erikson's study of Luther 7 ) that it adds nothing of value to an understanding of the man or his age. On the other hand, S. Rudolph (1967) The formation and early development of the Muslim League have been clarified by S. R. Wasti (1964) and M. Rahman (1970), while there have been studies of the Aligarh movement (M. S. Jain, 1965) and the Deoband school (Faruqi, 1963). P. Hardy published a long paper on Muslim ideology in relation to freedom (1971).…”

Section: The Further Exploration Of Traditional Historiographymentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent historical writing on the modern British Empire and commonwealth: Later imperial India

Moore

1975

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

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The Modernity of Tradition. Political Development in India

Cited by 30 publications

References 0 publications

The Study of Life History: Gandhi

The Study of Life History: Gandhi

Indian medical indigeneity: from nationalist assertion to the global market

Recent historical writing on the modern British Empire and commonwealth: Later imperial India

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