Indian Villages in Transformation : A longitudinal study of three villages in Uttar Pradesh

Abstract: The focus of this longitudinal study is on the process of transformation of three Indian villages on the Ganga Plain. The research approach has been explorative and knowledge about changes in the villages has been gained cumulatively over a period of ten years through interviews and discussions with the villagers and through field observations.



Even if the disciplines of Geography and Anthropology have a common history and mutual interests in human activities and natural settings, research on Indian villages has been a special field of interest for anthropologists but not for geographers. Whereas anthropologists doing research in the Indian village have primarily been focusing on internal relations and conditions within the village, this geographical study also highlights external connections and relations. This study brings a complementary dimension to the tradition of Indian village studies.