The passing of T. K. Oommen, distinguished thinker, teacher, and one of the foremost architects of modern Indian sociology, marks an irreparable loss to the global sociological community. It was he who placed Indian sociology firmly on the international intellectual map. His profound engagements with post-modern social transformations, structures of power, citizenship, and civil liberties continue to resonate across generations.
For Prof. Oommen, sociology was never a mere assemblage of abstract theories. He regarded it as a scientific instrument to grasp the pulse of a society in constant transition. At a time when sociological inquiry in India was heavily circumscribed by Western theoretical frameworks, he indigenised the discipline without parochialising it, re-rooting it in Indian realities while presenting those realities with intellectual authority to the wider world. His journey from a small village in Alappuzha district to the presidency of the International Sociological Association remains one of the most remarkable chapters in the history of Indian academia.
Born on October 16, 1937, in Venmony, Alappuzha, as Tharayil Koshy Oommen, he completed his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Kerala in 1957. He later moved to the University of Pune for higher studies, where he was drawn decisively to sociology. After earning his Master’s degree in 1960, he pursued doctoral research under the eminent sociologist Y.B. Damle. His Ph.D. dissertation, later published as Charisma, Stability and Change, offered a groundbreaking analysis of the Bhoodan-Gramdan movement in India and marked a turning point in Indian sociological scholarship.
Prof. Oommen began his academic career at the University of Delhi in 1964 and subsequently joined Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1971. At JNU, he played a pivotal role in building the Centre for the Study of Social Systems into one of India’s premier sociology departments. Even after retirement, he continued to contribute as Professor Emeritus. He also served as Visiting Professor at leading universities in Sweden, the United States, France, Germany, and Australia, elevating Indian sociology to global prominence.
One of his most significant theoretical interventions lay in his reinterpretation of Max Weber’s concept of charismatic authority. Weber had argued that charismatic leadership typically disrupts and transforms existing social orders. Drawing on his study of the Bhoodan movement, Prof. Oommen demonstrated that charismatic authority could also stabilise and sustain a social system. This nuanced reinterpretation challenged orthodox Weberian readings and initiated significant debate among Western scholars. Rather than uncritically following European theorists, he insisted on theory-building grounded in Indian empirical realities.
His scholarship spanned five major domains. First, he examined social movements and their transformative potential, beginning with his study of Bhoodan Movement. Second, in the sociology of occupation, his study of the nursing profession (1978) was pioneering, bringing attention to socially undervalued yet indispensable occupations. Third, in his work on state and ethnicity, most notably in Understanding Security: A New Perspective, he offered a novel framework for analysing social security in the context of communal violence and ethnic conflict in India. He interrogated the complex relationship between state and civil society and explored how modern nation-states confront dissent and pluralism. Throughout, he argued that sociology is not an isolated discipline but one intrinsically connected to history, politics, and culture.
While classical sociologists like Karl Marx and Émile Durkheim viewed alienation largely as an individual psychological condition, Prof. Oommen conceptualised it as a structural social reality. For Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, and other marginalised communities in India, alienation, he argued, was not merely subjective but institutionally produced. Even when socially integrated, these communities could remain structurally excluded and systematically marginalised. His analysis illuminated the paradoxes of inclusion and exclusion within democratic societies.
Prof. Oommen was not content to remain within the confines of academia. Following the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat, he chaired the Advisory Committee of the Gujarat Harmony Project, an initiative aimed at peace-building and reconciliation. He also served on the Sachar Committee, whose landmark report on the socio-economic conditions of Indian Muslims significantly influenced public policy. His roles in the security studies programme of the Ford Foundation and at UNESCO further testified to his international standing.
In 1990, he was elected President of the International Sociological Association, the only Indian sociologist to have held that office. He also played a crucial role in strengthening the Indian Sociological Society at the national level. Author of 22 books and numerous scholarly articles, he received several honours, including the ICSSR Award (1981), the UGC Swami Pranavananda Award, VKRV Rao Prize in Sociology and Social Anthropology and the UGC’s Swami Pranavananda Award Sociology, Padma Bhushan in 2008.
With his passing, Indian sociology bids farewell to a luminous intellectual era. His method, marked by scientific rigour combined with deep human sensitivity, will remain a model for future generations of scholars. He taught his students to comprehend the intricate weave of caste, religion, and politics that shapes Indian society, without sacrificing analytical clarity or ethical commitment. The intellectual legacy he established will continue to inspire debate and reflection for decades to come.
For many of us, he was more than a scholar, he was a mentor and a guiding presence. In cherished memory of the warmth and intellectual companionship he extended to me, we offer our respectful homage to a towering figure of sociological thought.
The author is former Professor and Head, Department of Sociology, University of Kerala.