INTELLECTUALS IN CONTEMPORARY INDIAN SOCIETY: Critical Interrogations

Book Details

• Publisher: Rawat Publications

• Author: Rajiv Gupta

• Language: English

• Edition: 2023

• ISBN: 9788131612873

• Pages: 296

• Cover: Hardcover

• Release Date: 01-01-2023

About the Book

This thought-provoking volume delves into the philosophical and ideological terrain of academic intellectuals, examining the structural organs of critical interrogation—discussion, dialogue, and dissent. Drawing on a Marxian framework, the author offers a compelling analysis of how academic discourse operates within the larger ecosystem of the state, society, and academia.

Rajiv Gupta explores the classification of intellectuals into pro-establishment, status-quoist, and anti-establishment categories, vividly visible on university campuses across the country. He critically reflects on how the 21st century—shaped by neoliberalism and global market fundamentalism—has become an era marked by anxiety, violence, and uncertainty for academic intellectuals. The corporate state's encroachment on academic freedom and autonomy, coupled with the rising influence of far-right ideologies, challenges secularism, the rule of law, and tolerance—cornerstones of democratic society.

Through an empirico-ideological lens, the book sheds light on the rights, roles, and responsibilities of academic intellectuals in contemporary India. With chapters covering sociological frameworks, conceptual foundations, multidisciplinary perspectives, and empirical studies, the book contributes significantly to the discourse on intellectual activism and academic engagement.

Contents

1. Towards a Sociology of Intellectuals: A Possible Structure

2. Intellectuals and Academic Intellectuals: The Conceptual Articulations

3. The Research Method: As a Craft

4. Intellectuals on ‘Intellectuals’: Themes and Perspectives

5. Indian Intellectuals on ‘Indian Intellectuals’: Multi-Disciplinary Frame

6. Role of Academic Intellectuals in Contemporary India: Construction of ‘Empirico-Ideology’ Based Social Realities

7. Conclusion and Generalization

About the Author

Rajiv Gupta is a former Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur. He has served in key academic roles including Director of the Centre for the Study of Exclusion and Inclusion Policy, and the School of Social Sciences. As a senior consultant to the Centre for Child Protection, Sardar Patel University of Police, Security and Criminal Justice, he has contributed widely to academic and policy circles.

His scholarly work spans higher education, communalism, Marxism-Leninism, and pressing social issues. A fearless public intellectual, Gupta has been actively involved in teachers', peasants', and women's movements. Currently, he serves as the President of the Indian Social Science Association and a national secretary of the Janvadi Lekhak Sangh.