Urbanization in India: Sociological Contributors

Although India is still one of the least urbanised countries, it currently has the second largest urban population in the world. This book, one of a series of volumes published by the Indian Sociological Society, brings together the perspectives of various scholars on the process of urbanization in India. The book has four sections. The first presents various definitions of and perspectives on urbanisation, and includes work conducted on different aspects of urban life, institutions and their problems. India is a very stratified society; the second section focuses on this issue and discusses how the caste system and class behaviour are modified in an urban setting. The third section investigates the responses of neighbourhoods and communities to rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and growing influx of migrants, drawing on case studies from cities like Delhi. It also discusses changes to the traditional rural joint family within the urban context. The last section discusses slum dwellers and migrants and their integration into the urban setting.