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Concept of Modernisation in the Indian Context
Lecture Prepared by
Dr Anil Kumar
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Patna Women’s College, Autonomous
Modernisation has been a dominant theme after the Second World War, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, and a central concept in the ‘sociology of development,’ referring to the interactive process of economic growth and social change. Modernisation studies typically deal with the effects of economic development on traditional social structures and values. The process of modernisation is related to industrialisation, urbanisation, a high standard of living, the development of civilisation and the broadness of viewpoint.
Defining modernisation, S. N. Eisenstadt (1966) says that “from a historical viewpoint modernisation is the process of change towards those types of social, economic, and political systems which were developed in Western Europe and North America from the 17th to 19th century and after that spread over to South America. Asia, and Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries”.
In the context of contemporary times, the concept of modernisation is the response of Western social science to the many challenges faced by the Third World in the decades immediately following the Second World War. Therefore, some scholars considered modernisation to be the child of westernisation.
In a brilliant analysis of the ethical aspect of modernisation, S.C. Dube (1988) says that “an attractive feature of the concept was that it showed an apparent concern for the cultural sensitivities of both the elites and the masses of the third world. The term modernisation was much less value-loaded than its predecessor, westernisation”.
Most countries in the Third World were proud of their cultural heritage and deeply attached to it. While desiring Western standards of plenty, they had no desire to abandon their own lifestyles and values.
The concept of modernisation recognised the strength of roots; it did not pose any overt threat to the cultural identity of the people aspiring for rapid change. To the elite of the third world, the ideal of westernisation was difficult to swallow; they accepted modernisation readily because it did not appear to offend their cultural dignity. According to Lerner (1958), three features constitute the core of modernised personality: empathy, mobility, and high participation.
Empathy is the capacity to see things as others see them. All societies possess this capacity in some measure, but to sharpen and strengthen it can make a qualitative change in human interaction. Such a change is desired in modernised societies.
The second attribute, mobility, refers not only to geographical mobility but is used in a more comprehensive sense. The imperatives of change demand a capacity to assume, as occasions demand, new statuses and learn to play associated roles. Unlike traditional societies, which had ascribed statuses and roles, modernised societies have an open status system.
The third attribute-high participation, refers to the increased role of individuals in realising social goals and objectives in more active ways; high participation requires the capacity in individuals to visualise new goals or alter objectives and modify their roles accordingly. In traditional societies, social objectives are not open to question; the core of modernisation is, of course, rationality.
One of the most significant features of modernisation is that modernised societies operate through institutional structures that are capable of continuously absorbing the changes that are inherent in the process of modernisation.
Let us see very briefly how the contemporary Indian society is striving to adopt modernisation for economic growth and social change.
On the agricultural and industrial fronts, the country’s
performance is not as poor as some of its critics make it out. Our record in
these fields is better than that of many Third World countries. But the
development has been lopsided and full of regional imbalances. The distributive
aspects of economic growth and the diffusion of the benefits of modernisation
appear to have received little serious thought. The growth of elitism is
alarming,g and it should be curbed. Rampant corruption and nepotism are the
product of the prevailing state of moral decay. All possible political and
administrative steps should be taken to arrest this trend. The cohesive bonds
of society should be strengthened.
As very rightly observed by S. C. Dube (ibid), “there is no standard model of modernisation and no fixed path for its attainment. Developing societies can adopt a model of their choice and can chalk out their own path for its realisation.” We have chosen democracy and secularism as the basis of the aspired-for modernised Indian society. Adoption of modern science and technology, along with a scientific temper, shall go a long way in the achievement of India’s cultural and technological modernisation.
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