Individuality and Achievement in South Indian Social History

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3613610
AutoresMattison Mines (University of California, Santa Barbara, autor de correspondencia)
Año1992
Volumen26
Número1
Páginas129-156
Fecha de publicación1992-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaModern Asian Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0026-749X • E-ISSN: 1469-8099
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0026749x00015973
OpenAlexW2159874637
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas7
Referencias citadas32

One of the unresolved issues of Indian anthorpology is how to characterize and weigh the social importance of individuality and achievement in Indian social history. Of course, the individual as 'empirical agent' exists in India as everywhere (Dumont 1970a:9), yet because Hindu culture stresses collective identities over those of the individual, individual achievement, which is a measure of individuality, has been overlooked and sometimes outrightly rejected as a cause of history and social order (Dumont 1970a:107; 1970b; cf. Silverberg 1968). In consequence, the motivations underlying achievement that might explain historic action have also been ignored. This undervaluing of individuality and achievement has given rise to a long debate among South Asianists about the role of the individual in Indian society (e.g., Marriott 1968, 1969; Tambiah 1972:835; Beteille 1986, 1987), a debate that raises questions in wider arenas about the nature of society and culture in relation to individuals (e.g. Brown 1988; Mines 1988

Action (physics · Epistemology · Hinduism · Relation (database · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious studies · Social and Economic Development in India · Social Psychology