Eminent sociologist and Professor Emeritus at the Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) Centre for the Study of Social Systems, T.K. Oommen, who is regarded as a leading architect of modern Indian sociology, passed away on Thursday (February 26, 2026). He was 88 and his end came in Gurugram.
A highly respected scholar, teacher and author, Prof. Oommen is known for his writings and approaches to social justice, identity and pluralism. He had gained wide attention for his study of the Bhoodan Movement and as chairperson of the Advisory Committee of the Gujarat Harmony Project, formed after the 2002 communal violence in the State.
Prof. Oommen was a former president of the International Sociological Association (ISA) and the Indian Sociological Society and a member of the Sachar Committee, which studied the social, economic and educational status of India’s Muslim community.
His main areas of interest included social movements and social transformations, political sociology, professions and social theory. For Prof. Oommen, sociology was never a mere assemblage of abstract theories but a scientific instrument to grasp the pulse of a society in constant transition, Antony Palackal, former professor and head, Department of Sociology, University of Kerala, said. Prof. Oommen placed Indian sociology firmly on the global intellectual map, he said.
