Theorizing the Rural: Space, Identity, and Modernity in contemporary India

Mahatma Gandhi, after returning from South Africa, said that “if the villages perish, India will perish too. It will be no more India. Her own mission in the world will get lost”. This research paper examines how the construction of rural space, identity, and modernity in contemporary India transforms both sociological theory and rural policy. The objective is to critically analyse how traditional village studies and evolving rural realities intersect with modern development discourses. How these dynamics influence the configuration of rural identities and spaces. The study employs a qualitative methodology, focusing on critical textual analysis of foundational and contemporary village studies, policy documents, and ethnographic accounts. The research framework draws on multi-sited and political ethnographies to move beyond single-village analysis. It's specific focus on tracking interactions between villages and state institutions such as panchayats, local administrations, and development agencies. This approach aims to illuminate how narratives of the "village" are created. This also challenged, and redefined in present-day India, anchoring the analysis on the dynamic relationship between rural representation and development. Findings show that earlier studies treated villages as static, separate units, whereas recent work views them as fluid, socially constructed places. Here, identity, modernity, and development are always in negotiation. Insights from the sociology of space, postcolonial studies, and development theory reveal that the village is shaped by both state policies and changes such as migration, globalization, and new social aspirations. The study concludes that viewing villages through these new lenses is vital for understanding rural change and shaping better development policies.