The Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) is an Indian research institute for

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

and

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

. It was founded in 1963 by

Rajni Kothari Rajni Kothari (16 August 1928 – 19 January 2015) was an Indian political scientist, political theorist, academic and writer. He was the founder of Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS) in 1963, a social sciences and humanities re ...

and is largely funded by the

Indian Council of Social Science Research The Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is the national body overseeing research in the social sciences in India. It was established in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delh ...

.About CSDS
CSDS website, 30 March 2009. It is located in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

, close to

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

Overview

Kothari left his position as assistant director of the National Institute of Community Development in 1963 to establish the CSDS. It was housed initially in a building owned by the Indian Adult Education Association at Indraprastha Estate, Delhi. CSDS later moved in 1966–1967 to its present location.

Library

The library at CSDS started with a few bookshelves in the basement of IAEA and grew into a fully-fledged one by 1970. It is meant primarily for research and higher learning in the field of social sciences and humanities. The collection consists of about 29,000 books and 5,000 bound volumes of journals and a modest set of reports and booklets. More than 130 journals are received regularly. Apart from works on contemporary themes, the library houses a collection of works on Asia and Africa, the arms race and peace movement, non-European perspectives, science studies, ecology and environment, and human rights. There is a separate collection of Hindi books covering a broad range of subjects including literature. The access to the collection has been computerised and the catalogue can be accessed through any computer in the centre. The CSDS library is a member of the Developing Libraries Network and the Social Science Libraries Network.

Data unit

The CSDS Data Unit, established in 1965, maintains an archive of survey data on political behaviour and attitudes, spanning over four decades. The unit also holds a number of secondary data sets, especially on elections in India.

Programmes

Programmes operated by the centre include: * Lokniti Programme for Comparative Democracy * The Sarai Programme *Indian Language Programme

References

External links

* {{authority control 1963 establishments in Delhi Educational institutions established in 1963 Research institutes in Delhi Social science research institutes Research institutes established in 1963 Humanities institutes