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The role of press in the development of political consciousness varies with the social classes to which it communicates the press as now constituted in India is geared to preserve the statusquo which is heavily weighted in favour of the owners of the means of production ; it protects their rights, promotes their interests and fortifies their political organisations. There are two approaches which explain political participation/consciousness the—functionalist and the Marxist. However, the central premise of the books is that of reconciling the two major approaches of media communication. The functionalist consider voting as the main index of political consciousness, while the Marxist hold that political consciousness is a product of social history associated with the development of productive forces and is sharpened with the contradiction between the forces and relations of production. Accordingly, the functionalist give excessive importance to the press in the development of political consciousness is a product of its historical setting of the socioeconomic configuration. The press only helps in the process of consolidation of political consciousness of the people under specific condition. In addition, the study gives a cogent account of the development of the Indian Press and contains useful data on ownership, control and circulation. About The Author: Dr. Manu Bhaskar took her M. A. in Sociology from Saugar University in 1973, and later took her M. Phil. and Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Since 1982, she has been on the Faculty of the Department of Sociology, University of Kerala. Her main research areas are : Women Tribals, harijans and problems and movement of workers both in the organized and unorganized sectors. Her deep interest in the problems of the oppressed motivated her to undertake the present study of the working class consciousness. Contents: Preface • List of Tables • Introduction • Press and Political Consciousness • Indian Pres