Emerging global market economy created by finance capital and technological revolution accelerated economic growth process followed by economic and financial crisis in various countries the world over. The development process has led to widening of interregional and interpersonal socio-economic disparities and marginalization, also threatening environmental sustainability of the growth process. Fast changes in the political and social institutions which accompanied the growth trajectory led to emergence of new challenges of political representation and social relations in terms of gender and culture with shifting power relations. This collection of papers provides new insights into methodological innovations required to grapple with emerging socio-economic issues in the era of globalization. Selected papers have been grouped into eight thematic sections with porous boundaries in an interdisciplinary framework. It is expected that issues raised and methodological innovations will help young researchers comprehend much needed new art of doing research on issues emerging in the society. It will be immensely useful to the policy makers in decision making. CONTRIBUTORS Amit Bhaduri B.N. Prasad Bhavya Maheshwari Gangotri Mishra Virendra B. Shahare Khushbu Rani Gupta Binay Kumar Pathak Nivedita Sarkar Devesh Vijay Archana Pandey Rukmani Pragya Pandey Sujeet Kumar Sumit Kumar Akram Hannan Hemant Kumar Varshney Anuneeta Mitra Amardeep Kumar Shraddha Srivastava Swadhin Mondal Diksha Jha Sandeep Bhatt Karabi Chetia Ranjana Upadhyay Sunita Sangar CONTENTS Part 1: Challenges Before Social Sciences 1. How to Do Social Science Research? / Amit Bhaduri 2. Democracy, Development and Subaltern: Radical Agrarian Movement in Bihar / B.N. Prasad Part 2: The State Market and Globalization 3. Globalization and the Indian Capital Market / Bhavya Maheshwari and Gangotri Mishra 4. Livelihood Issues and Inequality among Dalits in the Era of Globalization / Virendra B. Shahare Part 3: Group Inequalities and Marginalization 5. Private Unaided School, Elite Spaces and Disadvantaged Children: How Inclusive is the RTE Act, 2009? / Khushbu R. Gupta 6. Cost and Pricing of Higher Education: Emerging Concerns for Equity and Affordability / Binay Kumar Pathak 7. Inequalities in Participation in Higher Education in India: Role of Household Characteristics / Nivedita Sarkar 8. Transitions in Livelihoods: Long-Term Study of a Slum in East Delhi / Devesh Vijay Part 4: Environment: The Regional Context 9. A Losing Battle with Development and Human Indifference: A Case of Gomti River in Lucknow / Archana Pandey 10. Governing the Forest Resources: A Case Study of Uttarakhand / Rukmani 11. Emerging Environmental Security Threats to the Maritime Security in the Indian Ocean Region: Challenges and Responses / Pragya Pandey Part 5: Urbanization, Migration and Informal Sector 12. Urbanization and Slum Dwellers: A Study of NGOs in Delhi’s Slum / Sujeet Kumar 13. Decision of Migration: A Case Sudy of Students from Bihar Enrolled in University of Delhi / Sumit Kumar Part 6: Public Policies and Institutional Change 14. Dimensions of Urban Female Educational Status and its Linkages in Eastern Uttar Pradesh / Akram Hannan 15. Gender Disparity in Literacy in India: Reflections from Census Data / Hemant Kumar Varshney 16. Benefit Incidence Analysis of Public Spending on Education in India / Anuneeta Mitra 17. Participation of Mahadalit Students in Higher Education: A Case Study in Gaya District of Bihar / Amardeep Kumar 18. Child Nutrition in National Food Security Bill (2013): Some Evidences / Shraddha Srivastava 19. Progressive Horizontal and Vertical Equity in Healthcare Financing in India / Swadhin Mondal Part 7: Democracy and Representation 20. Democracy and Pluralism: Immigrant Incorporation and Citizenship / Diksha Jha 21. New Media in India: An Overview of Internet and Mobile Technologies / Sandeep Bhatt 22. Minorities within Autonomous Areas / Karabi Chetia Part 8: Gender, Culture and Power 23. Women, Power and Culture / Ranjana Upadhyay 24. Enabling Women Entrepreneurs through MSMEs: A Road Map for their Economic Empowerment / Sunita Sangar