SOCIOLOGY OF SANITATION: An Inquiry into the Problem of Insanitary Practices and the Evolution of Modern Institutions

With the onset of Industrial Revolution in Britain, the insanitary practices by the inhabitants living in the densely populated areas of the cities led to the rise in the incidence of epidemics. Very soon it was realized that the success of Industrial Revolution lies in the success of sanitary reforms. The sanitation reforms at the turn of 19th century brought about a remarkable change in the quality of life. It is in this backdrop that we grounded this opportunity to look at how modern institutions have paved the way for the evolution of sanitized societies. The rising population in Asia, Africa and Latin America have posed a challenge to the urban local self-governments. Maintenance of public space is a daunting task for these institutions in developing countries. The origin and spread of unknown epidemics and pandemics has further widened the area of inquiry from the sanitation point of view. The book identifies a number of primary concepts which may be considered as the base for the evolution of the ‘Sociology of Sanitation’. A number of issues such as culture and sanitation, gender and sanitation, toilet as a tool of social change, social marketing of sanitation, widespread practice of open defecation in India and the subjective experience of open-defecators have been given right place in an extended discussion in different chapters. We hope that this book would provide a sanitation-centric perspective to understand the problems of insanitation and the evolution of modern institutions at the macro and micro levels.