In: Contributions to Indian Sociology, 54 (2020), Nr. 3. pp. 357-387. ISSN 0069-9667 (Druck-Ausg.), 0973-0648 (Online-Ausg.)
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Abstract
In this article, I aim to show how Louis Dumont’s famous claim that ‘the condition for a sound development of Sociology of India is found in the establishment of the proper relation between it and classical Indology’ has become obsolete and was from the beginning a problematic postulate. I first develop the historical background of the denigration of anthropological approaches in India against the rise of an idealising Indology as a philological discipline. Then I discuss the structural, methodological and ideological problems that made it difficult to follow Dumont’s advice to search for the point of confluence of sociology and Indology. Finally, I place Dumont’s holistic approach in relation to the holistic structure of academic disciplines that emerged in the 19th century on the basis of the nation-state model and argue that it is misleading and reductive to think that ‘the construction of an Indian Sociology rests in part upon the existence of Indology’.
Document type: | Article |
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Journal or Publication Title: | Contributions to Indian Sociology |
Volume: | 54 |
Number: | 3 |
Publisher: | Sage (Publ.) |
Place of Publication: | Los Angeles, Calif. ; New Delhi |
Edition: | Zweitveröffentlichung |
Date Deposited: | 30 Oct 2020 15:10 |
Date: | 2020 |
ISSN: | 0069-9667 (Druck-Ausg.), 0973-0648 (Online-Ausg.) |
Page Range: | pp. 357-387 |
Faculties / Institutes: | Service facilities > South Asia Institute (SAI) |
DDC-classification: | 300 Social sciences |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | Indology, anthropology, philology, caste, colonialism, transculturality |
Additional Information: | Dieser Beitrag ist aufgrund einer (DFG-geförderten) Allianz bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich. *** This publication is freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively. |