SOCIOLOGY OF DISPLACEMENT: Policies and Practice

The present volume, an assortment of papers written by eminent activists, administrators and scholars on development-induced displacement of indigenous people from their lands and livelihoods, purports to draw out a schema towards the study of displacement as a sociological phenomenon. Using a Bordieuxian framework to understand the economics of development from a sociological perspective, the book explores the kind of society we are pursuing, and also the types of engagements we wish to enter into with our history where sections of our population need to be cast aside to make way for the rest of us. The conclusion that the present volume draws upon is not how the various social groups respond to displacement but how the Indian society as a whole seems eager to use a developmentalist paradigm despite being fully aware of the inequalities and marginalization that such paradigms create. The book will serve as a ready guide for activists, scholars, lawyers, corporate houses, development consultants and policy makers.