A new critical chapter in the long history of polemics about the concept of role has been written by some feminist sociologists. These authors point to a number of limitations in “the language of roles.” They charge that this approach “retains its functionalist roots,” focuses more on individuals than on social structure, and has other flaws. Having assessed the validity of these critiques, this article examines some recent alternative conceptualizations of gender. The comparative analysis concludes that each of the proposed (...) conceptualizations illuminates some selected features, but none, including the role perspective, can serve as an all-inclusive paradigm for the study of gender. (shrink)

This book presents an alternative view of cosmopolitanism, citizenship and modernity in early 20th-century India through the multiple lenses of mysticism, travel, friendship, art, and politics.It makes a key intervention in the understanding of cosmopolitan modernity based on the lives and experiences of Rabindranath Tagore, Ananda Coomaraswamy, Sri Aurobindo, Mirra Alfassa, James Cousins, Paul Richard, Dilip Kumar Roy, and Taraknath Das. Using archival texts and photographs, Mohanty interrogates the ideas of tradition and modernity, the local and the global, and (...) Self and the world as integral to the conception of a cosmopolitan world order. The volume will interest scholars and students of modern Indian history, comparative literature, cultural studies, Indian philosophy, and South Asian studies and the general reader. (shrink)