Tradition, Pluralism and Identity

Nineteen distinguished scholars come together in this volume to honour the outstanding contribution of Professor T.N. Madan to the development of sociology and social anthropology in South Asia. Anchoring themselves to Professor Madan’s engagement with the sociology of kinship, religion and politics, and with the moral domain of human life, the contributors address the linked themes of tradition, pluralism and identity across a wide range of topics. These include caste and communal identity, kinship and family, pilgrimage, traditional polity, ecology, social healing and the modern imaginary. The idea of tradition is regarded in many theoretical formulations either as a domain of unreflecting habit or as the residual term in the dyad of tradition and modernity. However, given its association with ideas of memory, invention and identity politics, the complex character of tradition has in recent years increasingly commanded the attention of scholars. The papers in the collection demonstrate the struggle by which a tradition must recognise itself in plurality and change, rather than in stasis. They show how the web of relations forged between tradition and modernity leaves a mark on tradition as it is encoded in everyday life. Taking the discussion of these issues in many unexpected and new directions, this volume provides a compelling account of the contemporaneity of tradition in South Asia. With its careful attention to ethnographic and historical complexity in the region, this volume will undoubtedly deepen our understanding of both tradition and modernity in South Asia. It will attract scholars interested in sociology, anthropology, religion, caste and kinship, history, ethnicity, and popular culture.