The author examines the contribution of sociology to the field of industrial relations in the Indian context. The first part of the paper deals with the concept of industrial relations and its interface with conventional social sciences, especially sociology. It is argued that sociological studies of industrial relations should include the structure and dynamics of employer-employee relations as well as the behaviour of the various sets of actors in industrial relations situations in terms of their respective experiences. The existing literature relevant to sociology of industrial relations is then briefly reviewed, leading to the conclusion that this literature is dominated by inadequate and partial sociological perspectives. A few recent studies have however attempted more meaningful sociological analysis. In this background, some concrete suggestions are offered on the direction in which the various sociological aspects of industrial relations need to be studied to constitute an academically and socially useful body of knowledge.