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India has a distinct family hierarchy and a vertical collectivistic culture. Indian traditional cultural norms discourage young adults from having romantic or sexual relationships before marriage. Romantic liaisons and marriages are fiercely opposed outside the caste and social network. Despite this cultural practice, research in the last decade demonstrated that more young adults in India engage in premarital romantic relationships and prefer a marriage of choice. However, they strongly wish their parents to approve of their partner and arrange their marriage. This increasing trend of love-cum-arranged marriages could be considered how Indian culture adapts to the demands of modernization strongly impelled by globalization. This chapter discusses the dynamics of change in the romantic and marital agency among young adults in India. First, the authors provide a brief historical introduction to the Indian marital system. Then, the authors discuss the changing cultural dimensions that promote marital choice and independence in partner selection (e.g., filial piety). Further, the authors provide an overview of the trends in premarital romantic relationships in India. In addition, the authors discuss the distress and conflict in Indian families due to the increasing premarital romantic and sexual relationships among Indian youth, as evidenced by eloped marriages, forced marriages, and honor killings.

Indian families are undergoing a transition due to a combination of factors such as rapid urbanization, economic development, educational advancements and major global connect. The shift from traditional joint families to urban nuclear families, changing pattern of the size of families, transformed gender roles in the domestic sphere, rising educational and career aspirations and increased occupational choices, new technological and economic contributions collectively contribute to a new landscape for Indian families. While these changes bring about new forms and structures of modern Indian families, they also reflect the resilience of the conventional value system of Indian families in adapting to the demands of a rapidly changing world. This chapter outlines the changing dynamics of Indian families in the 21st century. Changes in marriages and their influence on family making have been discussed with a special focus on inter-caste and intra-caste marriages and modern families. In urban India, age at marriage is also discussed in the background of formation of families. This chapter provides a discussion on changed gender roles and hierarchies within families. This chapter also highlights separation and divorce which led to single-parent families and broken families in Indian society.

This chapter examines the concepts of race and racism, critically reviewing their historical and contemporary applications in everyday life as well as in academic and policy debates. Racism has been extensively researched, with various theories and conceptualisations developed across social science. However, there is a great deal of disagreement regarding its nature, contemporary significance and empirical validation. This chapter examines these and attempts to synthesise some of the common definitions of racism provided in the literature. It explores related concepts and underlying themes pertaining to expressions of race and racism. Furthermore, it unpacks current knowledge about racial issues and discusses recent advances in the conceptual understanding of various forms of racism. It also elucidates the social, political and analytical applications of racism as a concept and the significance of racism in contemporary societies. The chapter concludes by highlighting how racism is a dynamic phenomenon, continuously evolving with the social, political and technological transformations in contemporary societies.

Tribal communities play an extremely important role in the conservation of the natural resources including water and natural resources like air. Indian tribes have an extremely important role to play in the protection of the environment and vital resources. Due to the possession of the heritage knowledge, the tribal people are playing an extremely important role in the management of the natural resources. This chapter discusses about the various traditional practices adopted by the tribal groups in water conservation practices.