In this course, we look at sociological approaches to modern India and use them to understand trajectories of Indian development. We study the dynamics of caste, tribe, gender, class, religion and region and inherent patterns of inequalities in these dynamics, applying sociological concepts such as agency, structure and stratification to understand them. Of particular focus is how social change, social structure and social institutions are shaped by ideas of tradition and modernity. This course unpacks the historical formation of ​‘nation-building’ to understand how it became a vehicle for contested imaginations of India’s futures and its development. Finally, we look at the history and concept of work and its futures in the twenty first century.