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Research Journal of the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka- Rohana 12, 2020

Referring to the Indian context, Vasavi further points out that most departments of
sociology and social anthropology - apart from a few institutions such as Delhi

University and ICSSR-affiliated institutions - are in a moribund state. Moreover,
‘the discipline’s literature, pedagogy and engagement with the society at large

remain inadequate’ and it ‘has been unable to generate new and comparative
theories’ (Vasavi 2011: 401). As a result, ‘the SOI compares poorly with some of

the more innovative and creative social science and humanities in India’ (Vasavi

2011: 401). ‘Sociology’s poverty of concepts and theory is more conspicuous when
compared to the literature generated by the ‘subaltern school’ of historians and

political theorists and ‘post-colonial’ studies from India that have synergised
political science, history, and cultural studies’ (Vasavi 2011: 401).

Sociology in Bangladesh is also confronting multifaceted challenges (Kais 2010:337

citing Khan 2008). These challenges relate to teaching of sociology and research.

Kais believes that ‘the course curricula seem to be boring, uninteresting, and
sometimes irrelevant’ (Kais 2010: 339) and the ‘acute shortage of quality textbooks

in the country is another dimension of the crises in teaching sociology’ (Kais 2010:
339). Kais believes that ‘In the absence of quality home books, teachers and students

have to rely on European/American books. With this come two related problems.

First, there remains a gap between the issues discussed in these books and the real
social issues of Bangladesh where these books are read. Second, these books are

costly and fairly unavailable to those who need to consult them’ (Kais 2010: 339).

According to Sabir who explores the status of sociology in Pakistan from its
introduction in 1954 and the structurally imposed dependency on the global north

characterizes it ‘by quasi-isolation, outdated knowledge, and as cognitively and
institutionally static” (2010: 2). He says, ‘it is yet to attain the status as something

more than an inconsequential, beleaguered and belittled scorned and unproductive

academic discipline’ (2010: 2-3).

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