This study of society in India over the past 50 years critically examines the work of several outstanding scholars. Discussion of their contributions includes a commentary on the major theoretical and methodological perspectives which have illumined the study of society in India. Topics dwelt upon include functionalism, structuralism, Marxism, cultural analysis and ethnomethodology. The author then describes how his conception of anthropology has changed over time. Professor Madan ends the book with insightful comments on some of the substantive concerns of Indian sociology, such as the social construction of ethnicity and intellectual responses to the modern West.