Social Change and Development:: Emerging Issues in the North-East India

Book Details:

• Author: D. V. Kumar

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Language: English

• Edition: 2012

• ISBN: 9788131604861

• Pages: 368

• Cover: Hardcover

• Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.0 inches

About the Book
This insightful volume offers a critical examination of the socio-cultural and structural transformations occurring in Northeast India—a region often stereotyped in academic and media narratives through the lens of militancy, insurgency, and conflict. Moving beyond this limited perspective, the book explores significant contemporary shifts, including:

• The rise of a middle class

• Intensifying socio-economic inequalities

• Strengthening of ethnic and cultural identities

• Changing demographic patterns

• Deepening democratic processes

• Decline of egalitarian values

• Increasing entrenchment of social hierarchies

By analyzing community responses to various agents and processes of social change, the book sheds light on the dynamic interplay between development policies and indigenous identities. The work is especially critical of development models that disregard local sensitivities and cultural nuances—often leading to widespread feelings of alienation and unrest.

With contributions from leading scholars such as T.K. Oommen, Prasenjit Biswas, A.C. Sinha, N. Vijaylakshmi Brara, and others, this collection addresses a critical gap in the literature on Northeast India and is essential for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in regional studies, development, and sociology.

About the Author / Editor
D.V. Kumar is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at North-Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong. He is also the author of Modernization and Ethnicity (2006), and brings rich academic experience and regional expertise to his editorial work.