NALSAR in Dialogue with Aiman Mustafa on Rural India: Shamirpet, Then and Now

In 1955, the noted Indian anthropologist S.C. Dube published Indian Village, a comprehensive study of Shamirpet village in Telangana, which adjoins the NALSAR campus in the present day. Dube’s work is cited as a benchmark in applying the structural-functional approach to studying rural life in India. The first such study of its kind, the book is noted for its meticulous study of the social structure,  caste dynamics, occupations, folklore and religious traditions in the village community.

Dr. Aiman Mustafa, Assistant Professor of Sociology at NALSAR, examined the changes in Shamirpet more than seven decades after Dube’s seminal study, highlighting the impact of economic progress, advances in technology, changing social dynamics and newer opportunities in the everyday life and social structures of the village.

Moderated by Shraddha Dubey, Assistant Professor of Law at NALSAR, the talk examined the evolution of life in Shamirpet through improved access to the capital city of Hyderabad, improvement in roads, widespread availability of internet and the mushrooming of educational institutions, e-commerce warehouses and pharmaceutical companies in the vicinity.