BharatNotes Westernisation
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
M.N. Srinivas observed that Westernisation and Sanskritisation often operated simultaneously — a lower-caste family might adopt Brahminic dietary practices (Sanskritisation) while also pursuing English education and professional occupations (Westernisation).
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
westernisation (n), westernise (v), western (adj), westernised (adj)
Root
Old English westerne = of the west + -isation = process suffix; directional term elevated to cultural-change concept
Etymology
Conceptualised by M.N. Srinivas in Social Change in Modern India (1966) as a complement to Sanskritisation; Srinivas noted that Westernisation — especially through English education, the legal system, and the press — opened new avenues of upward mobility cutting across traditional caste hierarchies
Memory Hook
WESTERN + -ISATION: becoming more WESTERN in outlook, dress, food, and thought — East absorbing WEST through colonial contact and globalisation
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
M.N. Srinivas introduced the term in his essay 'A Note on Sanskritization and Westernization' in the Far Eastern Quarterly in 1956, using it for the changes in Indian society and culture produced by roughly a century and a half of British rule, operating at the levels of technology, institutions, ideology and values. Citing that origin precisely is worth marks in GS1, because it separates Westernisation from modernisation as a distinct analytical process rather than a loose synonym.
Don’t Confuse It With
Westernisation is change arising from contact with the West. Modernisation is structural change toward industrial and rational forms, which need not be Western in origin. Sanskritisation, which Srinivas introduced in 1952, is upward mobility within the caste order through emulating higher-caste practice, and can occur alongside Westernisation in the same society.
Hindi Meaning
पश्चिमीकरण (pashchimīkaran).
Common Questions
- Who introduced the concept of Westernisation?
- M.N. Srinivas, in his 1956 essay 'A Note on Sanskritization and Westernization' published in the Far Eastern Quarterly.
- What levels of change did Srinivas identify in Westernisation?
- He described changes at the levels of technology, institutions, ideology and values resulting from prolonged contact with British rule.
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