Desai applies the Marxist approach to the study of ‘nationalism’ in India during the British rule. He spells out historical-dialectical materialism and applies it to the study of various types of movements- rural and urban, caste and class structure, social mobility, education and other aspects of Indian society. 

Desai’s first full-length work The Social Background of Indian Nationalism was a trendsetter not only for its Marxist academic orientation, but also for the way in which it cross-fertilized sociology with history. Quite like other Marxists, he employer production relations for the explanation of traditional social background of Indian nationalism in his classical work. 

1. The book is an excellent effort to trace the emergence of Indian nationalism from dialectical perspective. 

2. According to Desai, India’s nationalism is the result of the material conditions created by the British colonialism. The Britishers developed new economic relations by introducing industrialization and modernization. This economic relationship is predominantly a stabilizing factor in the continuity of traditional institutions in India, which would undergo changes as these relations would change. 

3. Desai thinks that when traditions are linked with economic relations, the change in the latter would eventually change the traditions. It is in this context that he thinks that, caste will disintegrate with the creations of new social and material conditions, such as industries, economic growth, education etc. 

4. Desai’s definition of tradition is a watershed. He does not trace it from caste, religion or ritual The dialectical history of India that he presents very clearly shows that traditions have their roots in Indian economy and production relation. Despite merits of dialectical approach applied by Desai in the definition of tradition, Yogendra Singh argues that the merits are not without weaknesses. What is wrong with Desai is that he was very profound when he applies principles of Marxism in analyzing Indian situation but fails at the level of empirical support. In other words, his theoretical framework can be challenged by the strength of substantial data. 

5. In his works, Desai developed the Marxian framework to outline the growth of capitalism in India. He provided an analysis of the emergence of the various social forces, which radically altered the economy and society in India within the context of colonialism.The state which emerged in India after independence, he postulated was a capitalist state. To him, the administrative level apparatus of the state performed the twin functions of protecting the propertied classes and suppressing the struggle of the exploited classes. 

6. In ‘India s path of Development’ he took on the traditional communist parties and the Marxian scholars who spoke of the alliance with the progressive bourgeoisie, of semi-feudalism, of foreign imperialist control over Indian economy, and who postulated a ‘two-stages theory of revolution’ or accepted a ‘peaceful parliamentary road to socialism’ in India. Desai’s works include a number of edited volumes on rural sociology, urbanization, labour movements, peasant’s struggle, modernization, religion and democratic rights. They are a rich source of reference material for students, researchers and activists. 

A secondary source of information is one that was created later by someone who did not experience first-hand or participate in the events or conditions you’re researching. For the purposes of a historical research project, secondary sources are generally scholarly books and articles. 

Secondary data are basically second-hand pieces of information. These are not gathered from the source as the primary data. To put it in other words, the secondary data are those that are already collected. So, these are comparatively less reliable than the primary data. 

Global village describes the phenomenon of the entire world becoming more interconnected as the result of the propagation of media technologies throughout the world. The term was coined by Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan in his books The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man and Understanding Media.