When a Great Tradition Modernizes: An Anthropological Approach to Indian Civilization

This major work by Milton Singer records the refinement, through three trips to India and almost two decades of research, of a theory of cultural change. By alternating chapters of field reports with chapters of theoretical analysis, Singer illuminates the central problem of the how cultural change is shaped by the interaction between India's "Great Tradition" of Sanskritic Hinduism and the life of a modern city, Madras.