Syllabus of Sociology Paper – I
FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIOLOGY
- Sociology – The Discipline:
(a) Modernity and social changes in Europe and emergence of Sociology.
(b) Scope of the subject and comparison with other social sciences.
(c) Sociology and common sense. - Sociology as Science:
(a) Science, scientific method, and critique.
(b) Major theoretical strands of research methodology.
(c) Positivism and its critique.
(d) Fact value and objectivity.
(e) Non-positivist methodologies. - Research Methods and Analysis:
(a) Qualitative and quantitative methods.
(b) Techniques of data collection.
(c) Variables, sampling, hypothesis, reliability, and validity. - Sociological Thinkers:
(a) Karl Marx – Historical materialism, mode of production, alienation, class struggle.
(b) Emile Durkhteim – Division of labour, social fact, suicide, religion and society.
(c) Max Weber – Social action, ideal types, authority, bureaucracy, protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.
(d) Talcolt Parsons – Social system, pattern variables.
(e) Robert K. Merton – Latent and manifest functions, conformity and deviance, reference groups.
(f) Mead – Self and identity. - Stratification and Mobility:
(a) Concepts – equality, inequality, hierarchy, exclusion, poverty, and deprivation.
(b) Theories of social stratification – Structural functionalist theory, Marxist theory, Weberian theory.
(c) Dimensions – Social stratification of class, status groups, gender, ethnicity and race.
(d) Social mobility – open and closed systems, types of mobility, sources and causes of mobility. - Works and Economic Life:
(a) Social organization of work in different types of society – slave society, feudal society, industrial capitalist society.
(b) Formal and informal organization of work.
(c) Labour and society. - Politics and Society:
(a) Sociological theories of power.
(b) Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups and political parties.
(c) Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.
(d) Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution. - Religion and Society:
(a) Sociological theories of religion.
(b) Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.
(c) Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism. - Systems of Kinship:
(a) Family, household, marriage.
(b) Types and forms of family.
(c) Lineage and descent.
(d) Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
(e) Contem porary trends. - Social Change in Modern Society:
(a) Sociological theories of social change.
(b) Development and dependency.
(c) Agents of social change.
(d) Education and social change.
(e) Science, technology, and social change.
Syllabus of Sociology Paper – II
INDIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURE AND CHANGE
A. Introducing Indian Society:
- Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society:
(a) Indology (G.S. Ghure).
(b) Structural functionalism (M. N. Srinivas).
(c) Marxist sociology (A. R. Desai). - Impact of colonial rule on Indian society:
(a) Social background of Indian nationalism.
(b) Modernization of Indian tradition.
(c) Protests and movements during the colonial period.
(d) Social reforms.
B. Social Structure:
- Rural and Agrarian Social Structure:
(a) The idea of Indian village and village studies
(b) Agrarian social structure— evolution of land tenure system, land reforms. - Caste System:
(a) Perspectives on the study of caste systems: G. S. Ghurye, M. N. Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre Beteille.
(b) Features of caste system.
(c) Untouchability-forms and perspectives - Tribal Communities in India:
(a) Definitional problems.
(b) Geographical spread.
(c) Colonial policies and tribes.
(d) Issues of integration and autonomy. - Social Classes in India:
(a) Agrarian class structure.
(b) Industrial class structure.
(c) Middle classes in India. - Systems of Kinship in India:
(a) Lineage and descent in India.
(b) Types of kinship systems.
(c) Family and marriage in India.
(d) Household dimensions of the family.
(e) Patriarchy, entitlements, and sexual division of labour. - Religion and Society:
(a) Religious communities in India.
(b) Problems of religious minorities.
C. Social Changes in India:
- Visions of Social Change in India:
(a) Idea of development planning and mixed economy.
(b) Constitution, law, and social change.
(c) Education and social change. - Rural and Agrarian Transformation in India:
(a) Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives, poverty alleviation schemes.
(b) Green revolution and social change.
(c) Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
(d) Problems of rural labour, bondage, migration. - Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:
(a) Evolution of modern industry in India.
(b) Growth of urban settlements in India.
(c) Working class: structure, growth, class mobilization.
(d) Informal sector, child labour.
(e) Slums and deprivation in urban areas. - Politics and Society:
(a) Nation, democracy and citizenship.
(b) Political parties, pressure groups, social and political elite.
(c) Regionalism and decentralization of power.
(d) Secularization. - Social Movements in Modern India:
(a) Peasants and farmers’ movements.
(b) Women’s movement.
(c) Backward classes & Dalit movements.
(d) Environmental movements.
(e) Ethnicity and Identity movements. - Population Dynamics:
Population size, growth, composition and distribution.
Components of population growth: birth, death, migration.
Population Policy and family planning.
Emerging issues: ageing, sex ratios, child and infant mortality, reproductive health. - Challenges of Social Transformation:
(a) Crisis of development: displacement, environmental problems and sustainability.
(b) Poverty, deprivation and inequalities.
(c) Violence against women.
(d) Caste conflicts.
(e) Ethnic conflicts, communalism, religious revivalism.
(f) Illiteracy and disparities in education.
Paper-1
SECTION ‘A’
- Answer the following questions in about 150 words each:
a). Delimit the scope of Sociology in relation to other social sciences.
b). How does a researcher achieve objectivity in interpretative resarch?
c). The difference between information and data in social science in subtle. Comment.
d). Durkheim argued that society is more than the sum of individual acts. Discuss.
e). How do sociololgists construct gender in their analysis on social inequality? - Answer the following:
a). What aspects of ‘Enlightment do you think paved way for the emergence of sociology? Elaboarate.
b). Explain the different types of non-probability sasmpling techniques. Bring out the conditions of their usage with appropriate examples.
c). Discuss social mobility in open and closed system. - Answer the following:
a). What are the shorfalls of positivist philosophy that gave rise to the non-positivist methods of studying social reality?
b). Critically examine how Durkheim and Merton explicate Anomie.
c). Suggest measures to minimize the influence of the resarcher in the process of collecting data through focus group discussion. - Answer the following:
a). What characterizes degradation of work in capitalist society according to Marx?
b). Social stratification is claimed to contribute to the maintenance of social order and stability in society. Critically assess.
c). What is reliability? Explain the different tests available to social science researcher to establish reliability.
SECTION ‘B’
- Write short answers of the following questions in about 150 words:
a). Critically examine the relevance of Durkheim’s views on religion in contemporary society.
b). Discuss various theoretical perspectives on the family.
c). Explain the implications of feminization of work in the developing societies.
d). Write a note on global trends of secularization.
e). Trace the trajectory of development perspectives on social change. - Answer the following:
a). According to Mead the idea of self develops when the individual becomes self-conscious. Explain.
b). Analyse the nature of transition from ideology to identify politics in India.
c). How do little tradition and great tradition coexist in contemporary Indian society? - Answer the following:
a). Critically analyze the views of Parsons related to society as a social system.
b). Discuss how ‘environmentalism’ can be explained with new social movements approach.
c). Illustrate with examples the role of pressure groups in the formulation of social policies. - Answer the following:
a). Sociologists argue for democratization of science and technology for inclusive development. Comment.
b). Are traditional social institutions getting weakened as agents of social change in the contemporary society? Substantiate.
c). How do you understand the realtionship between patriarchy and social development?
Paper-2
SECTION ‘A’
- Write short answers, with a sociological perspective, on the following questions in about 150 words each:
a). Elaborate on M.N. Srinivas’s structural-functionalist approach to the study of Indian society.
b). Do you agree that the agrarian class structure in India is changing? Justify your answer with illustrations.
c). Elucidate the challenges of integrations for tribal communities in India.
d). In the context of the changing Indian society, how do you view Andre Beteille’s conceptions of harmonic and disharmonic social structures?
e). Expalin Leela Dube’s concept of ‘Seed and Earth’. - Answer the following:
a). Critically examine G.S. Ghurye’s Indological approach to the understanding of Indian society.
b). Elaborate on the changing nature of caste system with suitable illustrations.
c). Discuss the problems of religious minorities in India and suggest measures to solve them. - Answer the following:
a). Critically examine Yogendra Singh’s thesis on ‘Modernisation of Indian Tradition’.
b). Discuss the material basis of patriarchy as an ideological system.
c). Explain different forms of untouchability in India. - Answer the following:
a). Examine the social background of growth of Indian nationalism.
b). Explain how land reforms brought about desired agrarian transformation.
c). Discuss the challenges during village studies in India.
SECTION ‘B’
- Write short answers of the following questions in about 150 words:
a). Discuss law as an important instrument for women’s empowerment.
b). Examine different understandings of secularisation in India.
c). How do you view the growth of informal sector in India?
d). Discuss the role of pressure groups in strengthening democracy.
e). What role do co-operatives play in poverty alleviation in rural India? - Answer the following:
a). Examine whether rural bondage still continues to be a social reality. Give your argument.
b). Define ethnicity. Discuss the factors responsible for the growth of ethnic movements in India.
c). Discuss the changing nature of structure of political elites. - Answer the following:
a). “Instead of promoting equality in society, the present system of education itself has contributed to increased socio-economic disparities.” Comment.
b). Discuss recent trends in the structure of migration.
c). Discuss different forms of deprivation associated with slums. - Answer the following:
a). Bring out the various issues involved in Dalit movements in India.
b). Critically examine the dialectics between development and environment’.
c). Discuss the changing nature of Industrial working class.
