The Sociology Unit of the Institute has the distinction of being founded and led for nearly a decade by the doyen of Indian sociology, Prof M N Srinivas.  It has distinguished scholars and the strong tradition of research has continued since.  The Unit has completed a large number of analytical and insightful sociological studies on wide-ranging issues, the main ones being on rural livelihood systems and sustainable natural resources management, rural poverty, caste in contemporary society, untouchability and social development of backward classes, privatisation of common property resources, entrepreneurship and social mobility, and survival strategies in drought-prone areas.  There are two important sociological studies on decentralisation funded by the Ford Foundation.  The study on, “Power, Patronage and Accountability of Panchayats of Karnataka” analyses the political dynamics in decentralization. “Democratic Decentralisation and Participation of Women” deals with the issue of real empowerment of women in decentralised policy. There has also been a major research initiative on the beneficiary assessment of national sericulture project, under which issues relating to sericulture economy of India have been analysed in detail, giving it an inter-disciplinary focus.  Many of these initiatives have, in fact, been taken up at the request of several funding agencies like Swiss Agency for Development and Co-operation (SDC), the Ford Foundation and the World Bank.
 

List of Faculty who are associated with the unit