A Comparative Study of Very Long-term Processes: An Asian Need
| Author | Satish Saberwal |
| DOI | 10.1177/019251218700800402 |
| Date | 01 October 1987 |
| Published date | 01 October 1987 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
307-
A
Comparative
Study
of
Very
Long-term
Processes:
An
Asian
Need
SATISH
SABERWAL
ABSTRACT.
The
emotional
debris
from
the
colonial
experience
notwithstand-
ing,
it
is
important
that
we,
as
Asian
scholars,
compare
accurately
the
long-term
processes
characteristic
of
Asian
societies
with
those of
the
West,
since
ideas,
institutions,
and
styles
of functioning
drawn
from
these
two
sets
of
traditions
are
conjoined
in
the
present.
The
article
focuses
on
medieval
and
early
modern
political
institutions,
and
argues
that
those
in
India
remained
cyclical,
in
the
sense
of
having
dynastic
ups
and
downs,
while
those
in
Western
Europe
had
an
evolutionary
course
(van
Parijs,
1981).
Besides
that
of
the
state,
the
evolutionary
process
is
also
considered
in
the
contexts
of
the
church
and
of
commerce.
Introduction
Reflecting
on
the
variety
of
legal
traditions-Roman,
Indian,
and
others-Henry
Maine
(1861:
164ff.)
recognized
a
contrast
between
&dquo;status&dquo;
and
&dquo;contract&dquo;
and
posited
an
evolutionary
movement
from
one
to
the
other;
numerous
similar
dichotomies
have
pervaded
sociological
lore
for
generations.
Since
the
late
1700s,
however,
a
good
many
Western
ideas,
institutions,
and
other
cultural
products
and
resources
have
entered
India.
Therefore
contemporary
India
has
two
major,
in
many
ways
contrasting,
sets
of
traditions-one
indigenous,
the
other
Western.
Since
the
early
1980s
I
have been
tinkering
with
the
question
of
the
contemporary
social
crisis
in
India,
which
I
see
as
resulting
from
a
lack
of
fit
between
the
key
premises
underlying
India’s
two
sets
of
traditions
(Saberwal,
1986).
Insofar
as
this
perspective
requires
me
to
examine
where
these
premises
arose,
how,
and
why,
my
inquiry
becomes
necessarily
comparative.
That
such
key
premises
continue
over
the
long
term
gives
my
interest
an
historical
dimension,
making
it
interdisciplinary.
This
comparative
and
interdisciplinary
character
was
shaped,
however,
by
the
logic
of
my
questions;
it is
not
a
mark
of
intrinsic
virtue
for
me.
In
this
article
I
introduce
three
sets
of
comments
arising
from
my
inquiry:
( 1 )
the
grounds
for
the
judgement
that
key
societal
premises
have
a
notable
continuity
over
the
long
term;
(2)
the
difficulties
in
mounting
such
an
inquiry
in
settings
only
gradually
recovering
from
the
trauma
associated
with
imperialism,
colonialism
and
evangelism;
and
(3)
some
suggestions
for
how
the
Western
and
Indian
historical
processes
might
be
considered
comparatively.
To continue reading
Request your trial