Lancy Lobo

Christianity in the Indian subcontinent is as old as Christianity itself, although Christians have consistently remained a small minority within the broader population. This book delves into the encounters between Christianity and the Indian people across various historical periods, highlighting the exchange of knowledge and ideas. This book examines the influence of Christianity on Indian society, focusing on the cultural, economic, and intellectual contributions of Christians across various domains—including education, healthcare, social services, economic development, the arts, architecture, languages, culture, politics, public administration, and the armed forces. The book examines key figures, organisations and institutions to trace the significant role Christians have played in the country's freedom struggle, nation-building efforts, and social development, leaving a lasting impact on the shaping of modern India. This book will be of interest to general readers and students and researchers of social science, religion, history, anthropology, sociology, and political science.

This volume explores one of the most complex labour landscapes of India - the urban daily labour market. These markets form an important sector of the urban informal labour market and contribute significantly to the Indian economy. This book presents an empirical, comparative picture of daily labour markets, in Gujarat, Western India. These markets consist mostly of intra-state and interstate migrant workers who suffer from layered multiple marginalities based on markers of informality, migrant status, caste, ethnicity, gender and poor agency and often live in the peripheries of the cities without any rights and entitlements to their spaces and services. This study, based on an extensive survey of three cities in Gujarat, contains descriptions and analyses of the places of migration and their causes as well as the working and living conditions of the workers along with their spending patterns on food, health, education and leisure. It mirrors the work, life and issues of these workers on the regional level while contributing to a better understanding for future policy interventions. An in-depth study, the book will be of interest to students and researchers of labour economics, labour studies, urban planning, social work, sociology, anthropology, and demography. It will also be useful to NGOs/trade unions working with migrant workers, civil servants in Labour department and other related departments, city planners and policy makers.

India has two key social formations, the castes and the tribes. Both groups can be studied from the perspective of society (samaj) and culture (sanskriti). However, studies on castes largely deal with social structure and less on culture, while studies on tribes focus more on culture than on social structure. What has resulted from this bias is a general misunderstanding that tribes have a rich culture but lack social structure. This volume emerges out of an in-depth empirical study of the social structure of five Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Gujarat, western India, viz., Gamit, Vasava, Chaudhari, Kukana and Warli. It analyses and compares their internal social organisation consisting of institutions of household, family, lineage, clan, kinship rules and marriage networks. The book also deals with changes taking place in the social structure of contemporary tribal societies. While the focus is mainly on the data from tribes of western India, the issues are relevant to pan-Indian tribes. An important contribution to the studies on tribes of India, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of anthropology, sociology, demography, history, tribal studies, social work, public policy and law. It will also be of interest to professionals working with NGOs and civil society, programme and policy formulating authorities and bureaucrats.

This book provides a socio-psychological enquiry of the phenomenon of suicide in the Indian context. It addresses the rising trend of suicides across the world and through case studies explores its primary reasons, the after-effects on survivors and families and measures to prevent them. The volume focuses on deciphering the social and psychological meanings associated with suicide. Through an examination of psycho-social autopsies of numerous cases, it highlights the patterns and trends which emerge around mental well-being, suicide and bereavement. It examines the primary roadblocks for robust suicide prevention measures and provides great insights into behavioral and personality categories and their relationship with suicide. Offering theoretical and empirical perspectives on the issue of suicide and self-harm, this book will be of interest to students, researchers, and faculty of behavioral sciences, psychology, social anthropology, demography, criminology, social work and sociology. It will also be an essential read for psychologists and counselors, policy makers, NGOs, CSOs, legal experts and media personnel working in the area of suicide prevention and research.

This volume explores one of the most complex labour landscapes of India - the urban daily labour market. These markets form an important sector of the urban informal labour market and contribute significantly to the Indian economy. This book presents an empirical, comparative picture of daily labour markets, in Gujarat, Western India. These markets consist mostly of intra-state and interstate migrant workers who suffer from layered multiple marginalities based on markers of informality, migrant status, caste, ethnicity, gender and poor agency and often live in the peripheries of the cities without any rights and entitlements to their spaces and services. This study, based on an extensive survey of three cities in Gujarat, contains descriptions and analyses of the places of migration and their causes as well as the working and living conditions of the workers along with their spending patterns on food, health, education and leisure. It mirrors the work, life and issues of these workers on the regional level while contributing to a better understanding for future policy interventions. An in-depth study, the book will be of interest to students and researchers of labour economics, labour studies, urban planning, social work, sociology, anthropology, and demography. It will also be useful to NGOs/trade unions working with migrant workers, civil servants in Labour department and other related departments, city planners and policy makers.

India has two key social formations, the castes and the tribes. Both groups can be studied from the perspective of society (samaj) and culture (sanskriti). However, studies on castes largely deal with social structure and less on culture, while studies on tribes focus more on culture than on social structure. What has resulted from this bias is a general misunderstanding that tribes have a rich culture but lack social structure. This volume emerges out of an in-depth empirical study of the social structure of five Scheduled Tribes (STs) in Gujarat, western India, viz., Gamit, Vasava, Chaudhari, Kukana and Warli. It analyses and compares their internal social organisation consisting of institutions of household, family, lineage, clan, kinship rules and marriage networks. The book also deals with changes taking place in the social structure of contemporary tribal societies. While the focus is mainly on the data from tribes of western India, the issues are relevant to pan-Indian tribes. An important contribution to the studies on tribes of India, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of anthropology, sociology, demography, history, tribal studies, social work, public policy and law. It will also be of interest to professionals working with NGOs and civil society, programme and policy formulating authorities and bureaucrats.

This book provides a socio-psychological enquiry of the phenomenon of suicide in the Indian context. It addresses the rising trend of suicides across the world and through case studies explores its primary reasons, the after-effects on survivors and families and measures to prevent them. The volume focuses on deciphering the social and psychological meanings associated with suicide. Through an examination of psycho-social autopsies of numerous cases, it highlights the patterns and trends which emerge around mental well-being, suicide and bereavement. It examines the primary roadblocks for robust suicide prevention measures and provides great insights into behavioral and personality categories and their relationship with suicide. Offering theoretical and empirical perspectives on the issue of suicide and self-harm, this book will be of interest to students, researchers, and faculty of behavioral sciences, psychology, social anthropology, demography, criminology, social work and sociology. It will also be an essential read for psychologists and counselors, policy makers, NGOs, CSOs, legal experts and media personnel working in the area of suicide prevention and research.

This book underscores how, apart from bacteriological factors, human behavioural characteristics as well as the socio-cultural factors that affect people’s lives contribute to the risk for and prevention of infection, with particular focus on malaria. It argues that the implementation of malaria-control measures can be successful only if it considers the human response to malaria and control measures. Any new tool which is introduced in a particular area — be it a new vaccine, a new drug combination, the promotion of impregnated bed nets, spraying of insecticides, or improved home management — will be effective and sustainable only if it is adapted to needs of the local population, i.e., if it makes sense to them. This volume also studies traditional knowledge systems with respect to health and malaria, arguing that local knowledge about infection is the result of an amalgamation of the biomedical and the traditional. By attempting to identify how traditional and biomedical elements interrelate in local illness concepts, it hopes to assist health interventionists in providing efficacious health education and awareness among people.

This book underscores how, apart from bacteriological factors, human behavioural characteristics as well as the socio-cultural factors that affect people’s lives contribute to the risk for and prevention of infection, with particular focus on malaria. It argues that the implementation of malaria-control measures can be successful only if it considers the human response to malaria and control measures. Any new tool which is introduced in a particular area — be it a new vaccine, a new drug combination, the promotion of impregnated bed nets, spraying of insecticides, or improved home management — will be effective and sustainable only if it is adapted to needs of the local population, i.e., if it makes sense to them. This volume also studies traditional knowledge systems with respect to health and malaria, arguing that local knowledge about infection is the result of an amalgamation of the biomedical and the traditional. By attempting to identify how traditional and biomedical elements interrelate in local illness concepts, it hopes to assist health interventionists in providing efficacious health education and awareness among people.