Research works in detail
a. Projects
1. Science, Technology and Social Sciences in Higher Education in Tamil Nadu: A Study of Democratization and Access. (Project sponsored by the Government of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development), 2009.
2. Progress towards Education for All: The Case of Tamil Nadu (With R. Akila). (As part of India’s input to the World Summit on Education (Year 2000 Assessment of Education For All) held at Dakar)), sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India and the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi. April 2000.
3. Narmada Command Talukas: A Socio-Economic Profile (with A. S. Charan and Ghanshyam Shah), 1981.
b. Books, monographs
1. Religion, Caste and State. Rawat Publications. 2007.
2. The Perfidies of Power: India in the New Millennium. TR Publications, Chennai. 2006.
3. India, The Perfidies of Power: A Social Critique. Vedams Books, Delhi. 2004.
4. Progress towards Education for All: The Case of Tamil Nadu (With R. Akila). UNESCO, MHRD, and NIEPA. 2000.
5. Peasant Struggles, Land Reforms, and Social Change: Malabar 1836-1982. Sage Publications. 1989.
c. Articles in books/journals, MIDS Working Papers, short notes in journals
Backward Classes, Reservations (Affirmative Action)
1. Muslim Backwardness and Sachar Report, South Asian Journal, No. 19, January-March 2008.
2. OBC Reservation and the Tamil Nadu Model. South Asian Journal. No. 13. July-September 2006.
3. Job Quotas in the Private Sector. Economic and Political Weekly. XXXIX (40). 2-8 October 2004.
4. Dalits and Durban (reproduced from The Hindu (Leader Page). 27-28 August 2001). In Sukhadeo Thorat and Umakant (Ed.) Caste, Race and Discrimination: Discourses in
International Context. Rawat Publications. 2004.
5. Backward Castes/Classes as Legal and Political Entities. In Veena Das (Ed.) The Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social Anthropology. Vol. 2. Oxford University Press. 2003.
6. Sensitising Officials on Dalits and Reservations. Economic and Political Weekly. XXXVII (7). 16-22 February 2002.
7. Caste, Politics, and the Reservation Issue. In B. Harriss‑White and S. Subramanian (Ed.) Illfare in India. Sage Publications. 1998.
8. Backward Class Movements in Tamil Nadu. In M.N. Srinivas (Ed.) Caste, Its Twentieth Century Avatar. Penguin India. 1996 (Hard Cover); 1998 (Paper Back). Reproduced in The Hindu (Sunday Magazine) 1 February 1998.
9. Mandal Commission: A Sociological Critique. In M.N. Srinivas (Ed.) Caste, Its Twentieth Century Avatar. Penguin India. 1996 (Hard Cover); 1998 (Paper Back). Reproduced in The Hindu (Sunday Magazine). 11-18 August 1996.
10. OBCs and Central Commissions (On the two all‑India Backward Classes Commissions of 1953 and 1979). Seminar. No. 375. November 1990.
11. Karnataka Backward Classes (Report). Economic and Political Weekly. XXV (32). 11 August 1990.
12. Reservations in Theory and Practice. MIDS Bulletin. XX (4). April 1990.
13. Backward Classes in Tamil Nadu: 1872‑1988. Economic and Political Weekly. XXV (10). 10 March 1990 (Also MIDS Working Paper. No. 89. March 1989).
14. Tamil Nadu Backward Classes. MIDS Bulletin. XIX (10). October 1989.
15. Ambasankar Commission and Backward Classes (Report). Economic and Political Weekly. XXIV (23). 10 June 1989.
16. Evolution of Reservation Policy in Tamil Nadu. MIDS Bulletin. XIII (12). December 1983.
17. In Defence of Mandal Commission. Economic and Political Weekly. XVI I (27). 3 July 1982.
Bride Price and Dowry
18. Economics of Bride Price and Dowry. Economic and Political Weekly. XVIII (23). 4 June 1983.
19. Economics of Bride Price and Dowry. Economic and Political Weekly. XVIII (47). 19 November 1983.
Caste System, Weaker Sections, Emancipation Politics
20. Vanniyar Separatism: Nebulous Issues (On the demand for bifurcation of Tamil Nadu for carving out the Vanniyar dominated northern districts as a separate state). Economic and Political Weekly. XXXVII (32). 10-16 August 2002.
21. Putting Society Together Again. In Henry Thiagaraj (Ed.) Human Rights From the Dalit Perspective. Dalit Liberation Education Trust. Madras, 1996. Reproduced from The Hindu (Sunday Magazine). 27 August 1995.
22. Caste Disabilities in Perspective. MIDS Bulletin. XXIII (8). August 1993.
23. Communal Representation in Tamil Nadu, 1850‑1916: The pre‑non‑Brahmin Movement Phase. Economic and Political Weekly. XXVII (31). 31 July 1993. Also MIDS Working Paper. No. 108. July 1992.
24. Ambedkar’s Legacy to Dalits: Has the Nation Reneged on Its Promises. Economic and Political Weekly. XXVI (33). 17 August 1991 Also MIDS Working Paper. No. 101. January 1991.
25. Ambedkar on Marx, Buddha and the Oppressed. In National Seminar on Marx, Ambedkar and Polarisation of Oppressed and Exploited Classes in India. Sanjivayya Institute of Socio‑Economic Studies. New Delhi. 1991.
Education
26. Academic Freedom from a Human Rights’ Perspective: The Indian Case and its relevance to Africa. Journal Higher Education in Africa//RESA. Vol. 6. Nos. 2&3. , 2008. Pp. 183-210.
27. Academic Freedom in India, South Asian Journal, No. 18, October-December 2007.
28. Progress towards Education for All: The case of Tamil Nadu (With R. Akila). In R. Govinda (Ed.) India Education Report: A Profile of Basic Education. Oxford University Press, 2002. Published for UNESCO, MHRD, and NIEPA.
29. India’s Educational Efforts: Rhetoric and Reality (With R. Akila). Economic and Political Weekly. XXVII (48). 27 November 1993.
30. Indigenous Education in British India: A Profile. Contributions to Indian Sociology. 2 (1). January‑June 1990.
31. Caste‑Discriminations in Indigenous Indian Education 1: Nature and Extent of Education in Early 19th Century British India. MIDS Working Paper. No. 63. April 1986.
32. Caste‑Discriminations in Indigenous Indian Education 3: Study of Early 19th Century Bombay Presidency. MIDS Working Paper. No. 64. April 1986.
Family, Social Change
33. Changing Family Among the Nayars. Vidya Bharati. V (1). January-June 1979.
Globalization, Faith, Development Politics, Exclusion, and Religion
34. Globalization, Faith and Development Politics. In Prashant Kumar Trivedi Ed. The Globalization Turbulence: Emerging Tensions in Indian Society. Council for Social Development and Rawat Publications. New Delhi. 2011.
35. Globalization and Exclusion: The Indian Context. Global Asia. January-March 2009.
36. Understanding Cults in Modern India. In Volume on International Symposium on Cultic Studies, Institute of World Religions, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, December 2007.
37. Religion under Globalisation. Economic and Political Weekly. 39 (13). 27 March 2004. Also in Jeffrey Haynes Ed. Religion and Politics. Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Vol. III, (London: Routledge, 2010), pp. 138-159.
History
38. From Deep Ganga to Shallow Waters of Cauvery: Seventh South Indian History Congress. Economic and Political Weekly. XXII (8). 21 February 1987.
Law and Society
39. Lawyers’ Agitation in Tamil Nadu. Economic and Political Weekly. 14-20 December 2002.
40. Ayodhya Issue and Freedom of Expression. Economic and Political Weekly. 5-11 October 2002.
Agrarian Problems, Peasant Struggles, Land Reforms, Social Change
41. Revisiting Land Reforms: Kerala and Tamil Nadu. In K Raman Pillai edited Land Reforms. A P H Publishing Corporation. New Delhi. 2010.
42. Farmers’ Suicides: Some Sociological Perspectives. South Asian Journal. No. 11. January-March 2006.
43. Land Reforms: Rhetoric and Reality. Economic and Political Weekly. XXV (47). 24 November 1990.
44. Tamil Nadu: Getting at Benami Land Holdings. Economic and Political Weekly. XXV (28). 14 July 1990.
45. Land Reforms in Tamil Nadu. MIDS Bulletin. XIX (7). July 1989.
46. Land Reforms and Social Change: Study of a Kerala Village. Economic and Political Weekly. XVIII (52‑53). 24-31 December 1983.
47. Land Reforms and Changes in Land System: Study of a Kerala Village. Economic and Political Weekly. XVII (39). 25 September 1982.
48. Land Reforms in Theory and Practice: The Kerala Experience. Economic and Political Weekly. XVI (52). 26 December 1981.
49. Peasant Struggles and Land Reforms in Malabar. Economic and Political Weekly. XV (50). 13 December 1980.