PAPER-I PRINCIPLES OF SOCIOLOGY
Sociology – Meaning, nature and scope, emergence of sociology, its relationship with other social sciences, importance of sociology.
Study of Social Phenomena – Social research, the scientific method, objectivity and subjectivity in social sciences.
Basic Concepts – Association, institution, community, social groups, culture.
Social Structure – Status, role, norms and values.
The Individual and Society – Individual and society, socialization; culture and personality; leadership, social control.
Institutions – Family, marriage and kinship-forms, functions and their changing dimension, education, religion, power and authority.
Social Stratification – Meaning, forms and functions; caste, class and their changing dimensions; future of caste.
Types of Societies – Rural, urban and tribal communities-distinctive characteristic, ruralurban continuum, problems of tribal people, tribal development.
The Pioneers in Sociology – Augste Comte- positivism; Karl Marx- materialist conception of history and class struggle; Max Weber- authority and power, the Protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism ; and Durkheim- social solidarity, division of labour and its pathological forms.
Social Change – Meaning, factors and theories of social change; processes of social change – sanskritization, westernization, and modernization; globalization and socio-economic change; trends of change in Indian society.
Science, Technology and Society – Social responsibility of science and technology; human critique of science and technology, environmental issues- pollution of air, water and soil; energy crisis; social impact assessment, environmental awareness, people’s action.
Population and Society – Interface between population and social development, population problems, population policy, population controls.
Note: The candidate will be accepted to illustrate theory by facts and to analyze problems with the help of theory. They will be accepted to be particularly conversant with Indian problems.
PAPER-II SOCIETY IN INDIA
Indian Society – Traditional bases – Varnashrama and dharma; unity and diversity; cultural pluralism and Unitarianism.
The Structure and Composition of Indian Society – villages, towns and cities; rural-urban linkages; tribes- problems, constitutional safeguards and development; weaker sections- dalits, women and minorities, population profile and related issues.
Basic Institutions – Family- forms and changing dimensions; marriage- forms, functions and changing dimensions; kinship- types and regional variations.
Indian Caste System – Origin of caste, its socio-economic and cultural dimensions, issues of equality and social justice; scheduled castes and backward classes -problems, safeguards and welfare.
Rural Class Structure – Classes in India, agrarian classes, peasant movements, land reforms, commercialization of agriculture and change in land use pattern, emerging agrarian unrest, leadership and its changing dimensions.
Social Change – Impact of reform movements, social movements and factors of planned change-Five Year Plans, legislative and executive measures; impact of liberalization, privatization and globalization; trends of change.
Power Structure – Working of the democratic political system in a traditional society; sociocultural basis of political parties; panchayati raj and urban local self government.
Issues and Problems – Poverty, inequalities of caste and gender; dowry, domestic violence, intergenerational conflict, problems of elderly; regional disparities; ecological degradation and environmental pollution; white collar crime, corruption, drug addiction, suicide.
