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A New Sociology Awaits Us
Classes of Labour: Work and Life in a Central Indian Steel Town by Jonathan P Parry (in collaboration with Ajay T G), New Delhi: Social Science Press, 2019; pp xxx + 702 (biblio+index), ₹1,850.
The old world has changed radically in India but there are still many who cling to traditional views on caste, labour, village and kinship. These individuals need retraining on an urgent basis, and, happily, a remarkable book has recently appeared entitled Classes of Labour: Work and Life in a Central Indian Steel Town by Jonathan Parry, which is perfect for this purpose.
What commends this work is that its analytical contents are powered by intensive field-based data collected over a period of nearly three decades in Bhilai Steel Plant. The choice of the field too is telling. By basing himself in the township of Bhilai, Parry was able to examine, at close quarters, the relationship between urbanisation, migration, class and kinship in a single setting.