On the Concept of Community: A Tribute to Professor Shyama Charan Dube (25 July 1922–4 February 1996)

Abstract About social structure, A. L. Kroeber said that it is a ‘pleasant puzzle’, because there are several opinions on its constitution. In a similar vein, R. K. Merton said that social structure is polyphyletic and polymorphous, i.e. it has many meanings and ideas. The same is true of the concept of community. We use many concepts that we understand, but when it comes to defining them in precise terms, we start facing problems, and the concept of community is one of them. This paper submits that community is one concept that is not being discussed these days. Here, it is taken up for a detailed treatment against the backdrop of the case of a pastoral community from Rajasthan.