Identity, Society and Transformative Social Categories: Dynamics of Construction, Configuration and Contestation

Identity is central to the understanding of human social, cultural, and political expressions. In recent times, it has become a major topic for intellectual discourse to represent the processes of dynamic social change and transformation such as the expansion of information and communication technology (ICT); social and mass media; education; and economic globalization. Organized into seven chapters, Identity, Society, and Transformative Social Categories: Dynamics of Construction, Configuration, and Contestation provides an in-depth presentation of the conceptual formulations of the essence, construction, and transformation of identities. A highlight of the book is its coverage of the process of rejuvenation of identities of the indigenous people of Australia in the context of the national policy of reconciliation and development. It comprehensively answers the myriad questions that are commonly raised on identity and its various facets. 

Table of Contents:
Preface Introduction Dynamics of Identity: Essence, Construction and Transformation Identity, Social Movements and Collective Mobilisations: Dynamics of Transformation and Reconfiguration Peasant, Caste, Class and Identity: Contesting Marginality Environment, Development and Indigenous People’s Identity: Annihilation, Reconciliation and Resistance in Australia Globalization, ICTs, Networks, Work, Culture and Identity: Reflexivity in an Emerging Knowledge Society Ethnicity, Nationality, Citizenship and Identity: Accelerated Binaries and Complementarity of Differences Partition, Alienhood, Migration and Shaping Up of an Indian Identity: The Cost and Joy of Being Patriotic Index

About the Author :
Debal K. SinghaRoy, MA, MPhil, PhD, is Professor of Sociology at the Faculty of Sociology, School of Social Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. He is a recipient of the Australian Government Endeavour Fellowship, 2010, at the University of Technology Sydney, Australia, and the Commonwealth Fellowship at The Open University, the United Kingdom (2006–07). Furthermore, he is a fellow with the Alternative Development Studies Programme, Netherlands (2003); a visiting research fellow at the University of Alberta, Canada (2001); and a visiting scholar at the la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris (1999 and 2007). His academically acclaimed publications include Towards Knowledge Society: New Identitiesin Emerging India, Peasant Movementsin Post-ColonialIndia: Dynamics of Mobilization and Identity, Social Development and the Empowerment of the Marginalised Groups: Perspectives and Strategies (ed.), Women, New Technology and Development: Changing Nature of Gender Relations in Rural India, Women in Peasant Movements: Tebhaga, Naxalite and After, Social Movements: A Course Guide, Dissenting Voices and Transformative Actions: Social Movements in Globalizing World (ed.), Interrogating Social Development: Global Perspectives and Local Initiatives (ed.) and Surviving Against Odds: Marginalized in a Globalising World (ed.). Professor SinghaRoy has published several research papers in nationally and internationally reputed journals and contributed chapters on ‘Social Movements in India’ and ‘Peasant Movements’ in the Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements, 2013