Quick Facts
Biography
Madhugiri Shyama Ananth. Rao (1926–1985) was a professor of sociology who had been a founder-member in 1959 of the Department of Sociology at the University of Delhi, India. He wrote and edited extensively on subject matters such as the social aspects of nutrition, both urban and rural sociology, and the sociology of migration. He conducted much fieldwork as a part of his researches.
Prior to involvement at the University of Delhi, Rao had studied at the University of Bombay and it was there that he formed a lifelong association with G. S. Ghurye. Rao went on to hold visiting appointments in both the United States (at the universities of Syracuse and Pennsylvania) and in Britain (at the School of Oriental and African Studies). He was a frequent participant in academic conferences and travelled widely in order to do so. Recognition of his work came in various forms, including being recipient of the G. S. Ghurye Award in 1979, the S. C. Roy Memorial Gold Medal in 1982, and the publication of at least one gedenkschrift.
He was born on 26 September 1926 and died on 12 December 1985, at which point he was "at the height of his professional career".
Selected works
- Rao, M. S. A. (1957). Social change in Malabar. Bombay: Popular Book Depot.
- Rao, M. S. A. (1970). Urbanization and social change; a study of a rural community on a metropolitan fringe. New Delhi: Orient Longmans.
- Rao, M. S. A. (1972). Tradition, rationality, and change; essays in sociology of economic development and social change. Bombay: Popular Prakashan.
- Rao, M. S. A., ed. (1974). Urban sociology in India: reader and source book. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan. ISBN 978-0-86125-296-1.
- Rao, M. S. A. (1979). Social movements and social transformation : a study of two backward classes movements in India. Delhi: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-90255-4.
- Rao, K. Ranga; Rao, M. S. A. (1984). Cities and slums : a study of a squatters' settlement in the city of Vijayawada. New Delhi: Concept.
- Khare, R. S.; Rao, M. S. A. (1986). Food, society, and culture : aspects in South Asian food systems. Durham, N. C.: Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-89089-275-6.