Modern India / Joti Sekhon.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-159).

Indian puzzle: What you see in India; What this book is about -- Place, the people, and the past: Place; People; Past -- Religions in India: Hinduism; Islam; Jainism and Buddhism; Sikhism; Other smaller religions; Religion, nationalism, and politics -- Social stratification: Caste in India; Caste and class; -- Economy: India in the global economy; Structure of India's economy; Economic performance; Economic policies and processes; Poverty in India; Recent economic reforms and liberalization -- Gender relations: Women in Hindu Indian tradition and history; British in India and Indian women; Gender and society since independence; Women's work and social status; Indian women's movement; Women and formal politics -- Family diversity and education: Marriage rules and arrangements; Gender, patriarchy, and the family; Household structure and social change; Socialization; State and the family; Education -- Political institutions and processes: Formal political institutions; Main political trends since independence; Political parties and electoral politics; Politics of language, region, and religion; Grassroots movements, civil society, and the state; Indian in the global context -- Social change in India: Sociology and social change; Indian context; Cricket, fast food, and cable television -- Glossary.

[The author wrote this book] to make India comprehensible to American undergraduate students and others. There is little easily accessible scholarship, and for the most part India does not make news in the U.S. media. Writing this book, [the author includes] the diversity ... of Indian society.-p. xi.