The Elitism Associated with Humanities and Social Sciences Departments in the Context of Indian Higher Education is Detrimental to over all Development

Abstract

In order to increase accessibility torelevant academic writing in the pursuit of higher education, Indian academicians must make an effort to use and promote the use of simpler language when writing. In a country where the errors of history have forced a caste-based reservation system into the selection process for universities and colleges, one must not ignore the apparent discomfort with which many first-generation scholars attempt at negotiating with the English language, despite being capable of producing spectacular and well-rounded ideas. English as a colonial residue may belong to India, but to what degree do we, the educated, find ourselves throwing around an unnecessarily bombastic vocabulary and obscure terms in writing that is ideally published for the benefit of others? In knowing that English is not the first language of many who are enrolled into esteemed institutes for higher education, it seems tedious to allow the works we produce to reflect a falsified reality. What is commonly known as academic writing, however attractive, is often a tool that academicians use to cap the reach of their knowledge and findings, especially within the sphere of humanities and social sciences. This act of consciously or unconsciously attaching elitist overtones to educated ideas is a huge leap backwards in the progress of India as we know it. Writers in India are bound by a duty that is nowhere near resolution. The country helplessly fails in terms of religious, linguistic, and cultural sensitivity. Unfortunately, those who can, often choose to stay afloat on the adulation that comes with being the educated, upper middle class intellectual.