The Modernity of Tradition

Download or read book The Modernity of Tradition written by Lloyd I. Rudolph and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1984-07-15 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stressing the variations in meaning of modernity and tradition, this work shows how in India traditional structures and norms have been adapted or transformed to serve the needs of a modernizing society. The persistence of traditional features within modernity, it suggests, answers a need of the human condition. Three areas of Indian life are analyzed: social stratification, charismatic leadership, and law. The authors question whether objective historical conditions, such as advanced industrialization, urbanization, or literacy, are requisites for political modernization.