Sociology Ias Dream

Q.
1 difference between ethnomethodology, interpretative theory and phenomenology

??

First of all interpretative approach and phenomenology is the type of qualitativ
e methodology to carry out sociological research. Interpretivists usually advoca
te the use of qualitative data to interpret social action ,with an emphasis on m
eaning and motives of actors. They differentiate sociology from natural science
in the way that it requires understanding of meaningful behaviour by humans.
Phenomenologists on the other hand go further than interpretivist approaches and
rejects the idea that causal explanations are possible.To them social world has
to be classified before it can be measured.Thus phenomenologist try to understa
nd the classifications people use to give order and meaning to the social world.
Ethnomethodology means a study of methods used by the people to construct,accoun
t for and give meaning to their social world. They apply phenomenological ideas
to carry out their research means they also reject any kind of causal explanatio
n to social phenomena.They have conducted investigations into the techniques tha
t are used by members to achieve the appearance of order..
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Format for answer writing and notes making
All the questions of paper will be renumbered for the continuity of the work. On
ce a particular chapter is finished all the well written answer of that chapter
along with notes will be combined for revision notes.
Here lets discuss how will it be done
I am taking the very first question of paper II
1. Write short note on the following with a sociological perspective: Limitation
s of the dialectical approach to the study of Indian society. (12/II/1a/12)
Information needed :
1.Dialectical approach to the study of Indian society
2.The context and the following developments
Thus this information will be written separately in the notes associated with th
is question along with source referred.
Answer to the question:
Dialectical approach to the study of Indian society is primarily used by Marxist
in the analysis of social reality. Marx borrowed the concept of dialectic from
Hegel and applied it in the analysis of society through different phases based o
n mode of production. Using this approach Marxist sociologist like D P Mukerji,
A R Desai and R K Mukherjee have studied Indian society.
Dialectical analysis of Indian society see contradictory forces like tradition a
nd modernity, colonialism and nationalism, individualism and collectivism etc in
teracting dialectically with each other giving rise to new contradictions in con
temporary India. Though it has to the large extent being helpful in understandin
g social change and movements of modern India it is criticized on the following
fronts
1.As pointed out by Yogendra Singh dialectical approach to study Indian society
lacks any kind of empirical exercises of data collection/survey thus are armchai
r sociologist.
2. T N Madan criticize dialectical analysis on the ground that it emphasise more
on class struggle as the means of social change and undermine the importance of
value assimilation and cultural synthesis due to the forces of tradition and mo
dernity in Indian society.
3.Dialectical analysis of Indian society failed to see the specific social reali
ty present in Indian society like the caste system which has covered the class c
onflict for a long time, also the forces of tradition which has resisted moderni
ty, thus ignorant of socio economic history of India.
Apart from above mentioned dialectical analysis also could not appreciate the di
versity present in Indian society where contradictory forces has synthesized its
elf into new social reality like rise of Sufism, rise of middle class in India.
But in spite of these limitations it has successfully showed that how developmen
t of man is conditioned by social milieu thus explained rise of national conscio
usness in colonial India as well as rise of different social movement in modern
India and created foundation for further sociological development.
Notes making
All important point related to dialectical approach can be noted down in point f
ormat in one page and can be kept for revision .Like here it is related to the t
he chapter of Marxist sociology(A R Desai) So all the points from B k Nagla can
be noted at one place.
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Yes the syllabus has changed but if you will try to look deeper into the matter
you will be able to see that it is still there with different names i will point
out how
1. Impact of west on Indian society = The process of westernisation talked by M
N Srinivas and also by Yogendra singh in the book Modernisation of Indian tradit
ion both are in the syllabus.
2. Impact of Buddhism on Indian society = Religious communities in India
you can also check the question no 3 under the religion and society. The parsi c
ommunity and it's contribution to Indian society (2010) 20 marks.
Even then if you feel it will not helpful in sociology i would say write it for
gs purpose. Also as you know sociology paper 2 is full of so called bouncer que
stions so it could be one of those also
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1. Write short note with a sociological perspective on the following:
Demographic perspective of Indian youth. (12/II/5a/12)
Regarding this question I have a different understanding and I am not sure wheth
er I am correct or not and unnecessarily reading too much into the Question.
According to me The Question is Demographic perspective of Indian youth not Demo
graphic perspective on Indian youth.. means it's not our Perspective of Indian Y
outh but Indian Youth's Demographic Perspective. i dont know whether you know hi
ndi or not..but if yes,then just once read the hindi translation of the Question
,I think it will provide more clarity as there is 'ka' not 'par'.. It seems to m
e that it is more of related to the National Youth Policy of 2012.
skylaxskylax August 2013
Hmm. I think you might be reading too much into it. 'Demographic perspective of
Indian Youth' is probably meant here as 'Demographic perspective on Indian Youth
'. Perhaps it is shortened version of '(What is your) demographic perspective of
Indian Youth? Not really sure that this is the case but I don't think 'Demograp
hic perspective of Indian Youth' is a coherent idea. Needless to say, I may be w
rong. Your thoughts, @aman8770 ?
By the way, nicely spotted I had automatically assumed it meant 'on' by 'of'.

aman8770aman8770 August 2013
@horizon_21
In Hindi it is bhartie yuva ka jannakiye pripechye. so yes it is of Indian youth
rather than on Indian youth .
and my answer is on Indian youth so definitely it is not appropriate .
Thanx for pointing it out also i got the trick to read both english and hindi ve
rsion of the question.
i will correct my answer and it will be uploaded in the group folder as well as
here.
Also i will be granting edit access so that you people can upload your answer in
the folder as well as can post it here and re correct it whenever required but
please be careful not to delete anything .
In the end we will collect it chapter wise in a single folder.
Also now onward no assignment, it will be more of self assessment exercise as i
think it will be more feasible given some members are struck in paper 1 and othe
r are in different chapter of paper 2 but the condition is whenever you people a
re uploading it make it sure it is going in right folder (chapter wise different
folder can be made)
Thank you
pvs88pvs88 August 2013
I have written this after only one reading of this topic. So don't really know h
ow far I have got it right. Please review guys.
10)How far is the structural functional perspective helpful in understanding cha
nges in contemporary Indian society ?
The structural functional theory posits that society is a whole consisting of va
rious groups and categories that are inter related. Stressing the elements of ha
rmony and consistency it argues that any change in one part of the system leads
to change elsewhere and finally results in reorganization of the system. The fol
lowers of this perspective are M.N Srinivas. SC Dube and others.
Contemporary Indian society is a cauldron of modernity and tradition. The struct
ural functional perspective explains some of its aspects while fails in explaini
ng others.
Various factors like land reforms,modern education,mass media,new forms of marri
age have brought changes to traditional institutions like joint family,kinship,c
ommon property, caste system of purity and pollution.
Positive discrimination and decentralization has helped the lower caste challeng
e the status quo. Changes to the legal system have allowed women to challenge th
e patriarchal system but it has also facilitated deviances like divorce. The val
idity of sanskritisation in todays society has been challenged by agitations by i
ntermediate caste for SC and ST status and thus trying to climb down the social
ladder than imitate upper caste for social mobility.
However the perspective also helps to explain the churning in urban milieu owing
to migration through concepts like parochialisation and universalisation. Devia
nces in cultural pattern like atrocities against weaker section and women have b
een surmounted by change in legal system that helps to restitute social equilibr
ium.
The structural functional perspective which was confined to understanding presen
t structures and functions could have helped us better understand changes in tod
ays society by including a socio historical perspective in its studies.
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Nice answer! You have explained both structural-functional approach and changes
in contemporary Indian society, and linked them well.
Some points:
1. You could have stressed the point that structural-functional approach is gene
rally conservative and not very helpful in understanding large-scale changes, wh
ich has been the case in contemporary Indian society. A dialectical approach or
conflict approach is a better approach in this scenario. This is the key point.
You have mentioned it but haven't stressed on it enough.
2. You have given far too many points regarding changes in contemporary Indian s
ociety. There was a feedback by people who appeared last year that giving fewer
examples and substantiating them better is more likely to fetch good marks than
trying to give a exhaustive and comprehensive list.
By the way, I was wondering, is calling divorce as deviance justified? It's a ch
ange, yes, but is it deviance? Any thoughts, anyone?
Regarding divorce I googled just to make sure. Here is a line from the below lin
k
"Historically, divorce has been viewed as socially deviant behavior and therefor
e a bad thing. "
http://www.divorcesource.com/ds/texas/what-makes-divorces-go-bad--3419.shtml
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What Makes Divorces Go Bad?
Information Provided by: Accord Mediation Services
If you are reading this article, you have probably decided that you are moving i
n the direction of getting divorced. Maybe the decision is yours, maybe it is yo
ur spouse's, or maybe your reached the decision mutually. The important certaint
y is that you are going to divorce, and that now, you and your spouse have some
very important decisions and choices to make.
The choices concern the manner and process in which you will divorce. Will it be
bitter or civilized? Will you have an intense litigated adversarial divorce, or
will you have a cooperative, even amicable, divorce? Will you attempt to vindic
ate the past or will you use your resources to build your separate futures? Will
your children suffer emotionally or will you minimize the impact on them? Will
your divorce be a mess or will it be a transition to new and better lives for yo
u both? In other words, will you choose a good or a bad divorce?
Many people will argue that you do not possess such choices. It's a matter of lu
ck or chance they will tell you. They say to you that divorce causes so much bad
feelings and anger that there is no way to keep it under control. It's just som
ething that you have to survive and if you're lucky, you will not be too hurt to
badly or for too long by it. On the other hand, it could ruin your life. Howeve
r, healthy divorce or unhealthy divorce is not a matter of luck. The outcome is
very much subject to the choices you are about to make. People, you are in compl
ete control.
Your divorce does not have to be a disaster. Painful as it, successful divorce c
an help both of you to begin new lives that offer a second chance at future succ
essful relationships. There will be new many relationships and new opportunities
ahead. You can enhance these opportunities or you can demolish them. You can us
e your economic and emotional resources for the benefit of yourselves and your c
hildren or you can squander them in battles in which, ultimately, you all lose.
You can help your children come out of this difficult period with two whole and
effective parents or you can turn them into emotional cripples.
You will make these choices as a couple. Remember, until you are successfully di
vorced, you are still a couple. Legal ties make you a couple. Economic and emoti
onal ties make you a couple. Do not believe that because there is anger and dist
rust or sadness that you are not emotionally connected. Fighting is often a way
of staying together. Some people remain connected through fighting for years aft
er a divorce.
You are about to begin the final task of the marriage: negotiating a decent and
conclusive end of your relationship as husband and wife. How well you perform th
is task in large part will determine how the divorce turns out.
Divorce is a process, not an event. During the process of getting unmarried you
can choose to treat yourselves with derision. The important thing about these ch
oices is that you can only make them as a couple. Couples get divorced, not indi
viduals. One of you can choose an unhealthy divorce; but only both of you can ch
oose a healthy divorce.
If one of you engages in war, it is very difficult for the other not to counter.
In divorce, few partners turn the other cheek. One of you may want an amicable
divorce but may believe that the other is too angry or too vindictive to make it
feasible. This is a particularly trying time because you are separated and sing
le on one level, but still married and together on the other. In this time of co
nfused and mixed signals, it is easy to offend each other.
You are neither clearly together nor clearly apart. If you were capable of immea
surable participation, you would probably stay married. But you are capable of c
onfined cooperation, and this is enough to get divorced decently. It is this res
idual capacity that enables you to choose, as a couple, the manner in which to e
nd your marriage.
Seemingly, it may be strange to talk about healthy divorce. Historically, divorc
e has been viewed as socially deviant behavior and therefore a bad thing. It is
generally regarded as an unfortunate event that leads to negative results like b
roken homes. Social attitudes have altered substantially in the past twenty five
years. Although few feel that divorce is desirable in itself, we are witnessing
a wide-range reassessment of divorce, stemming partly from its pervasiveness. H
alf of all marriages that occur this year will end in divorce. About 80 percent
of the people who get divorced will remarry within the next 5 years, and about 6
0 percent of the second marriages will end in divorce. This means that about hal
f our population experiences one divorce, and about a quarter will live through
two. At this time, divorce is no longer viewed as deviant behavior, it is slowly
becoming the norm.
I will not debate the pertinence of the term healthy divorce. What I am talking
about, and what I believe you as a couple can choose, is a divorce that achieves
legitimate and constructive goals for yourselves and your children. A healthy d
ivorce accomplishes three distinct objectives:
A legal divorce that ends the marriage within a reasonable time of the decision
to divorce, without huge legal fees that drain the family's finances, and with a
minimum of animosity and battling.
An economic divorce that separated the marital partners into two distinct econom
ic units so that assets and income are fairly distributed and economic sacrifice
equally shared.
An emotional divorce that allows both partners to grieve the end of the marriage
so that each can move on to new relationships. Appropriately completed, the emo
tional divorce leaves the former partners capable of cooperating as parents, beh
aving decently and respectfully toward each other, and embarking on new relation
ships without destructive baggage from the previous marriage.
A healthy divorce requires completing all three of these objectives. Naturally,
all three are interrelated and each step affects the others.
To work toward a healthy divorce, it is imperative that you understand the speci
fics that make divorces go bad. There are two related aspects of a divorce that
are unhealthy. The first is the nature of the divorce process itself, and I will
identify a few of the characteristics of the legal system that when combined wi
th the behavior of divorcing spouses, produce hostile and bitter divorces. Secon
d are the products of a unhealthy divorce, mainly the settlement agreements that
are unfair and unworkable and the feelings of bitterness and injustice that ema
nate from them. When you have a settlement agreement that is complete, it is imp
ortant that both of you feel and believe that it is fair. If this is not the cas
e, it will be arduous at best for you to get on with your new and separate lives
. Such feelings of abiding bitterness continue to interfere with readjustment, g
rowth, and new relationships. Flawed settlements can bring you and your ex-spous
e back into court again and again so that the continuing battle contaminates and
ruins your attempts at putting you new life together.
From a statistical perspective, divorce is a disaster in America. Approximately
half of all fathers default entirely on their child support obligations, while o
nly a quarter pay their full obligation. Average visitation between divorced fat
hers and their children is less than once a month. Divorced women with children
make up the fastest growing segment of Americans living below the poverty level.
The statistics point to systematic shortcomings in the American approach to div
orce and should serve as a warning to any divorcing couple. There is a true but
terrible series of trade offs that occurs in the process of divorce in America:
The mother loses the money and gets the children. The father gets more money, bu
t for all practical purposes loses the kids and, one might argue, a large part o
f himself. The children lose at least one parent, and perhaps two, because the p
arent who is left is frequently too tired and worried to meet their needs. This
is not the exception people, it is the norm.
The divorce disaster is a product of the feelings that escort divorce, anger and
vengeance, along with the legal system itself, which is based on opposition, no
t cooperation. There is a terrible fit between the needs of the divorcing family
and the American legal system, so before you allow yourself to become drawn int
o it, you need to understand how if functions and why it functions the way that
it does.
--------------------------------------------------
Elaboration of my point of view:
The classical theory of deviance is that it happens when some people reject the
cultural goals or the legitimate means of achieving those goals or both goals an
d means.
Marriage was a sacrament in the traditional Hindu society, hence could not be an
nulled. With the introduction of marriage bill, it is now a contract from a lega
l point of view, and can be therefore annulled. Hence, divorce is a rejection of
the cultural value of marriage as sacrament in favor of contract and it can be
thought of as deviance.
On the other hand, it is not a rejection by some people on the margins; it is mo
re of a systemic or institutional change. Hence, my doubt if it is a social chan
ge but not deviance.
tushar175tushar175 August 2013
Write Short note on indological perspective of G.S . Ghurye
Indology is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and liter
ature of the Indian subcontinent (most specifically the modern-day states of Ind
ia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal), and as such is a subset of Asian
studies.Specifically, Indology includes the study of Sanskrit literature and Hi
nduism along with the other Indian religions, Jainism, Buddhism and Pali literat
ure, and Sikhism.
G.S.Ghuryes approach distinctive from other Indological approaches for the follow
ing reason
1 Being a student of Sanskrit Ghurye uses Sanskrit text exclusively to explain I
ndian society and culture.
2 Being a student of Prof Rivers he uses the method of diffusion to understand e
volution of caste in India and cultural synthesis of Indian society.
3 His nationalist feeling and idea of nation building can be traced in his writi
ngs in which he uses Indological data to glorify India's cultural past and manif
est concern through his writing about caste consolidation, tribal unrests and re
ligious conflicts in India.
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How far is the structural functional perspective helpful in understanding change
s in contemporary Indian society? (10/II/4b/30)
Answer to the question
Structural functionalism traces its origin in the ethnological studies of social
anthropology ,the tradition which started with Malinowski ,Radcliffe brown and
further refined by Talcott Parsons and R K Merton. This perspective of society s
tresses on the element of harmony as opposed to conflict thus see change as a gr
adual process where structures adjust themselves to new equilibrium.
In Indian context structural functional perspective has been credited with enric
hing field work tradition in analyzing social reality .The study of Mysore villa
ge by M N Srinivas,study of Kishangarhi village by McKim Marriott confirms to th
is tradition.
The dynamism of Indian society has always fascinated sociologist studying Indian
society as a result of which it has been studied,analysed and discussed widely
by sociologist with different perspective. Structural functionalist like M N Sri
nivas see it through the process of sanskritisation and westernization whereas M
ckim Marriott see change happening through the process of universalisation and p
arochialisation yet another structural functionalist Robert Redfield see it as t
he interaction between little tradition and great tradition.
Analysing changes in family structure I P Desai questions the simplistic theory
of breakdown of joint family system due to the process of industrialization and
urbanization and see as the myth of disintegration. On the other hand study of c
aste system as done by Mckim Marriott see it surviving because of its inherent v
alue system despite the forces of secularization and modernization. M N Srinivas
studying social mobility in caste system coins the term brahminisation as imita
ting the ritual and cultural methods of Brahmins as a way to gain higher social
status.
Even though to the large extent social change as studied by structural functiona
list remained helpful it ignored the inherent conflict present in the social sys
tem and thus the change therein. Under the forces of modernization the change in
value system has brought substantial breakdown in social structure of caste, fa
mily and marriage which could not be studied from structural functional perspect
ive. Modernity has shaken the foundation of traditional Indian village system an
d transforming agrarian social structure is confirming to it. Thus it can be sai
d that social reality of changes in Indian society is multifaceted and thus dema
nds a multidimensional approach to study it.
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Indological perspective of G.S Ghurye
Indological approach is the systematic study of Indian society through religious
texts,art,architecture etc. The origin of Indology can be traced to the works o
f 18th and 19th orientalists and the understanding that due to distinct values o
f Indian society it cannot fit into the framework of western society. It can be
studied only through the concepts , theories and framework of Indian Civilizatio
n.
Indological aprroach was developed and enriched with the studies of G.S Ghurye a
nd Louis Dumont.
In Ghurye perspective, Indian society through its long historical process of gro
wth presents a picture of vast mosaic of culture held together by religion,value
and norms of hinduism. It has maintained the continuity of values with limited
variations in the course of time and space and also present can only be understo
od with reference to the past therefore religious text can be taken as authentic
blueprint for study of Indian society but Ghurye approach was distinct in the s
ense that he used exclusively sanskrit text and diffusionist approach to explain
indian society
Ghurye approach has been criticised on the ground that it presents only Brahmini
cal viewpoint and also that he has equated indian Tradition with Hindu Tradition
ignoring the synthesising elements of Islamic or British Culture. A.R Desai had
criticised that he has studied India only through lens of culture ignoring the
underlying conflict, inequality and exploitation.
However, Ghurye Indological approach was not static it recognized the changes in
Indian society as the dysfunctional character evolved in the course of time and
indicated the dichotomy between ideal culture and empirical nature of culture.
@horizon_21
Your answer is good but there is scope for improvement .
See this is a very straight forward question so what you have written content wi
se it will be almost same in any other good candidate's answer that is you would
be getting good marks but since we are here for improvement and i think there i
s still a scope in your answer to improve it further with the same level of know
ledge
1.you could have given the origin of indological perspective as a reaction to co
lonial writings
2.Conclusion could have been better.
3.You could have included other dimensions of his study.
Here i will also try re writing the same to illustrate my point.
please give your feed back too so that further refinement can be done.
Write short note on Indological perspective of G S Ghurye. (09/II/1a/20)
Answer to the question
Indological perspective developed as a reaction to the ethnocentric writings of
orientalist writers from western countries who studied Indian society. When orie
ntalist were busy in documenting the picture of Indian society as being static,
timeless and spaceless, Indologist tried freeing Indian sociology from the bonda
ge by interpreting the ancient texts and literature.
The foremost Indian sociologist associated with Indological perspective is G S G
hurye who is also known as father of Indian sociology. The impact of his writing
s can be well understood by the suitable comment made by M N Srinivas when he sa
id ,nothing disguises the fact that ghurye was giant. Ghurye was practitioner of th
eoretical pluralism. Even though he was trained in the craft of Indology (Book vi
ew), he was not averse to fieldwork traditions of social anthropology.
He was a voracious writer who wrote on almost all aspect of Indian social life i
ncluding caste, kinship, tribes, religion and others to name a few. He saw the c
lose relationship of caste and kinship by the means of exogamy and marriage rest
riction, also for him tribes are backward Hindus as they could not integrate int
o Hindu society. Emphasizing on the supremacy of brahimincal ideas he see proces
s of acculturation as a one way flow in which the brahmincal ideas infiltrated a
mong non Brahmins thereby terming Indian culture as Hindu culture.
Thus he opened the vistas for his own criticism when his view point was criticiz
ed as brahminical view point which gives only partial picture of reality, some a
lso criticized him as armchair scholar for lack of any field work in his writing
. In spite of these criticism he is termed as doyen of Indian sociologist becaus
e he uplift sociology from identity crisis when no other way was available.
horizon_21horizon_21 August 2013
@aman8770
Your Answer is very attractive and will fetch good marks..your writing skills ha
s been improved a lot..
In this answer the best part is that you have started with why indological appro
ach developed.
but I think the 2nd paragraph is too much focusing on the Writer that can be cut
short and more can be added to 3rd paragraph becoz the question is about his pe
rspective.. the answer seems to be more focussed on his contribution.

your have scored 138 in Paper-1,which is I think highest score or near about it
..what strategy you adopted for it.
@horizon_21
I have focused on his contribution to Indian society as there is no other way to
know his perspective.
It might not appears to be a good way of writing but otherwise one will write is
the indological perspective not indological perspective of G S Ghurye.
For paper 1 I did not refer to any coaching notes but studied IGNOU and Haralamb
os(Blue book)
yes i prepared some final revision notes most importantly i did not write any te
st series and my writing style was very immature but i think it helped me in wri
ting to the point answer without much introduction and conclusion part.
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Colonial hangover and its social impact (09/II/1d/20) or Impact of West on India
n society (01/II/1c/200/20)
With the advent of the British Rule,the traditonal and stagnant Indian society c
ame in contact with modern and progressive British society.The nature of contact
was asymmetrical and british traditon being dominant one,it was only natural th
at indian society should change towards modernity.The basic themes of hierarchy
and holism came under attack and a gradual process of modernization began.
The early phase of western impact was confined to a section of urban middle clas
s and the impact was more of westernization rather than modernization where only
superficial aspect was adopted and underlying values remained unchanged.Later t
he spread of the modern education and occupation differentiation led to emergenc
e of new professional elities which lead the freedom struggle against british ru
le.
At the grass root level also ,with change in land relations and commericalizatio
n of agriculture a new social class emerged.With industralization and market eco
nomy ,jajmani system came under stress and village economy lost its self suffice
nt character.
British rule also generated forces which directly or indirectly gave a mortal bl
ow to the very root of the peculiar stratification system i.e Caste system.A new
system of stratification based on achievement emerged atleast in urban area.
However,the process of modernization which unleashed with the british rule does
not let the dismantle of traditional institutions. They adopted themselves to ne
w roles.caste and religion are two important examples.Such coexistence of tradit
ional and modern structure on the context of developing societies is termed by F
red Riggs as 'Prismatic Society'.Thus modernization of Indian society due to Bri
tish rule has not taken the same course as it did in the west.
How has the Marxist Perspective been applied to explain social background of Ind
ian Nationalism ?(08/II/4/60)
A.R Desai in his work "Social background to Indian Nationalism" trace the emerge
nce of Indian nationalism from dialectical perpective.He interpreted Tradition i
n term of the underlying production relations.According to him economic relation
ships form the basis of the traditional institutions,which undergo change with c
hange in econimic relations.
Indian Nationalism is a modern phenomenon.It came into being during the British
period as a result of the action and interaction of numerous subjective and obje
ctive forces and factors which developed within the indian society ,under the co
nditions of the British rule.
British Rule in India generated new currents of economic processes.For their eco
nomic interests Britishers introduced new principles of political rule,administr
ative setup and different norms for governance.This created the basis of emgeren
ce of new social classes and strata which laid the foundation for modern class s
ystem.British Rule though unintentionally, made a qualitative structural transfo
rmation in the India society which led to the unification of the nation.
As a reaction to the new web of politico-economic and socio cultural relations c
reated by british policies,various movements emerged.These movements were to ser
ve the interests of the diverse social classes but ulimately they converged on o
ne goal,emancipation from british rule.Thus these movements manifested themselve
s into a national movement and national awakening.After independence the same Ca
pitalist economic system introduced by Britishers was adopted the bourgeoise Lea
dership evident from it pursuing a capitalist path of development in form of mix
ed economy.The underlying character of state did not changed with independence a
nd these contradictions gave rise to the later peasants and other movements.
Thus marxist approach to the analysis of social background of Indian nationalism
gave new dimension to Indian sociolgical analysis and opened new frontier for f
urther research.It took the indian sociological research from the limited sphere
of religion,caste and rituals to wider spectrum of all India level.
@horizon_21
About your first question Colonial hangover
It is good but could have been better .
your answer could have been written in more coherent manner
About your second answer
I think what you have done will be done by almost every other candidates.
The question is
How has the Marxist Perspective been applied to explain social background of Ind
ian Nationalism ?(08/II/4/60)
and you have written answer for
How A R Desai has used the Marxist Perspective to explain social background of I
ndian Nationalism ?(08/II/4/60)
Even though he is the one who has contributed immensely while analysing social b
akground of Indian Nationalism but there are still others who have followed Marx
ist perspective to analyse it partially .
for example D P Mukerji analysis of Middle class in India due to encounter betwe
en tradtion and modernity.
My point is when asked about Marxist perspective one should not start with A R D
esai blindly as it shows narrow understanding and will not fetch good marks that
is what i believe.
Thanked by 1vayam
@aman8770
You are right, for 2nd answer it was wrong approach.It will be a narrow perspect
ive,answer needs to be holistic .I should have mentioned other marxist sociologi
sts,even R.P Dutt has analyzed indian nationalism in the book 'India Today' and
in 1st answer,there was a connective problem,paragraph were more discrete which
shows lack of writing practice.
I will try to written those questions again but not now after covering some more
portion and having a better understanding.
And now onwards will try to imagine myself in place of examiner and then address
the question with a view that what he will looking for in the answer.My prepara
tion seems to be lacking in depth but still there are 3 months ,so there is scop
e for improvement.
Thanks a lot for pointing out and Please continue with it as it is really helpfu
l in improving the quality of answer.
sociology_novicesociology_novice August 2013
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------
can somebody help me with the question..
How is vertical and horizontal social mobility problematic in society? suggest s
olutions.
This was a 60 marker question when asked in the mains.
My doubt : The question wants to ask the problems of social mobility once it hap
pens or problems associated with achieving social mobility?
aman8770aman8770 September 2013
@vikky_baba
Regarding the question as it seems is asking about the problem associated with v
ertical and horizontal mobility as it happens.
Vertical social mobility as it is well known fact is associated with the change
in the status of a person or group because of change in societal position .In In
dian context as studied by M N Srinivas it is through the process of Sanskritiza
tion (change in ritual hierarchy ) whereas in western society it is change of se
cular hierarchy associated with class mobility. It leads to the problem of confl
ict in the society when the associated group refused to accept the coming group.
You can give the examples of caste conflict in case of Indian society and class
conflict in case of western society but under the forces of modernization there
is changing equation between caste and class thus no specificity of the same wit
h respect to Indian and western society.We can well observe the class conflict i
n case of Indian society also.
Other problems which can be attributed to the vertical mobility includes Dalit a
trocity(You can well observe in the newspaper a dalit sarpach of some village wa
s not allowed to work as his new position was not accepted by other people belon
ging to higher social status),Rise of new social movement( you can give the hist
orical context of rise of buddhism and jainism to the rise of new sects and cult
s in modern India).Also you can give the feminist angle by describing the phenom
enon of rising violence against the women as the product of their rising social
status in the society.
Coming to the aspect of horizontal social mobility you can sight the example of
migration and problem associated with it like rising familial stress,,breakdown
in marriage,feeling of isolation and psychological deprivation etc.Other problem
includes change in structural composition of family structure from joint to nuc
lear to extended family. also people moving more towards household than family.a
lso changing form of gender relationship like rise in cases of live in relations
hip etc.
Once you know the problems you can always suggest the solution.For example i can
always sight the cultural lag theory of Ogburn and say that as our material cul
ture has moved forward with respect to non material culture so what we need is s
ocial change by means of law,education, Technology etc.
Hope it will help...
Thanked by 3vayam corona vikky_baba
vayamvayam September 2013
@aman8770 are we supposed to give reference of western sociologists in paper-II
, if the context of question seems appropriate for it?
coronacorona September 2013
@aman8770
Bro, can you please tell what is the difference between religious revivalism and
religious fundamentalism? This is my take
Religious revivalism is a term applied to mass movements which are based upon in
tense religious excitement like new age movements. it can be seen as a response
to secularization. As many churchlike organizations become more worldly, many pe
ople leave them in favor of more sectlike communities offering a more intense re
ligious experience (Stark & Bainbridge)
whereas religious fundamentalism is the literal interpretation of a religious do
ctrine and its applications to all spheres of life.
can a fundamentalist movement also be a revivalist movement? e.g. can the Irania
n revolution of 1979 be said to be both revivalist and fundamentalist?
can you please provide a basic framework for this 2012 question?
Discuss the factors leading to growing religious revivalism in the contemporary
world.

preeti27preeti27 September 2013
@aman8770
How D.P. Mukherji has been considered marxist? He has emphasised on cultural syn
thesis where tradition has upper hand and ultimately leading to adjustment in tr
aditions.He nowhere talks abt class formation,conflict of interests, violent rev
olutionary changes.
Can you please explain it...I m quite confused...also where has he explained eme
rgence of middle class.I m following Nagla.
Thank you.
@preeti27
Do you think every Marxist should talk about class formation or violent revoluti
onary then only be he called as Marxist ?
Marxism is an ideology which believe in dialectical materialism is the basis of
change in the society.
In Indian context whoever analysed society following dialectical approach can be
said to be Marxist at that point of time.Now you must be aware of the fact that
owing to the specific cultural and historical root of Indian society it is not
possible to consistently follow a single approach thus methodological pluralism
is must as is also evident in writing of prominent sociologist analyzing Indian
society.
Now coming to your question
D P Mukerji (not Mukherji) has also applied Dialectical approach to the study of
Indian society with some adaptations as you said cultural synthesis specially a
ccepting the reality of caste thus in strict sense we can say him following dial
ectical approach not Marxist approach but then whom you will refer to when talki
ng about Marxism in Indian context so this inconsistency(even A R Desai has used
dialectical historical approach with ideological commitment).
About the Middle class he see it's emergence linked with the tradition of Indian
society and saw it moving toward modernity thus getting separated from it's roo
t thus he says that India can move on to the road of Modernity by adapting it to
her traditions if the Middle class re establish their link with masses.
Indian society is peculiar thus it is quite natural to get confused when you try
to see it through the lens of particular methodology even sociologist who analy
sed it accept this fact.
My suggestion would don't see sociology through water tight distinction while st
udying try to analyse the social reality you are very much aware of .Try to unde
rstand the context in which any theory emerged even use phenomenological approac
h in studying try to understand meaning and motive behind it.
Hope it will help
@vayam
Paper I and II is mechanical distinction does not mean they are separate thing a
ll together .you can not quantify sociology so use both of it whenever appropria
te.
@corona
what is the difference between religious revivalism and religious fundamentalism
?
First try to understand the difference between revivalism and fundamentalism.(No
need to elaborate)
Then try to get why it is happening that too at the same point of time some thin
g must be going on in the society what is it?
It is the process of secularization which has impinged upon religious structure
and it is the response of it (you have explained)
or the process of cultural protectionism due to rapidly changing social structur
e some goes for the formation of sects and cults (protect it's culture) and some
goes for enforcing their culture by strict adherence of moral codes and traditi
onal values thus again protect it from perceived challenge.
You can give various example of it .
there are so many factors apart from the process of secularisation
like Marginality discussed by Weber,Relative deprivation , social change as disc
ussed by Wilson etc.
Thanked by 1corona
@Members of answer writing group
If You people are ready can we start writing answers ?
Topic wise
We Have 13+16 =29 subtopic for questions given in topic wise question bank(Hope
you all must be having a copy of it if not buy one)
So as we have 8 members we can touch each topic everyday by writing 8 answers (e
ach writing just 1 answer and giving the best in it)thus in one month of time we
will be able to finish one revision of the whole paper 1 and 2.(Everyday one su
btopic will be covered and we will try to answer diverse question of the same to
pic)
Question division exercise will be done by every member each doing once (so that
maximum coverage with no repetition) .The same can be posted here as well as up
loaded in group folder date wise.
once after the full cycle is completed we will again resume the same so if every
member is participating each will have to do the exercise just 3 times (questio
n division) in the whole exercise.
If everybody is ready as the case should be we can start the exercise.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
let's start it from today as old members are not responding and new are coming s
o what i am doing is
assigning membership to new people who will become part of the group after some
time and also unsubscribing inactive members from the group.
Right now as i can see only 3 people apart from me are showing interest so
M 1 Preeti27
M 2 Shkk
M 3 aman8770
M 4 maestro
So from today let's start it and if any further addition and reduction will be d
one according to the activeness of the members (regularity in answer writing and
other new request for joining).
Rules for answer writing are very simple give your best in the single answer you
are writing..
Rules of assignment giving is also very simple as everybody in our group have ne
w vishal's Topic wise question bank for sociology.(updated) so assignment given
will contain the question number with membership ID with subtopic mentioned at t
he top thus very simple exercise.
Members will have to write answer with in the 24 hour of assignment as after tha
t another assignment will be given and this will go like this.
So let's start it with first subtopic today only.
It's for preeti27 (M 1) to give assignment of the day.
Just mention the subtopic along with question number and membership ID.
Thank you.
horizon_21horizon_21 September 2013
@aman8770
me too.
@aman8770
I don't hav new vishal's Topic wise question bank for sociology , I have already
ordered it...so will be getting in 4-5 days.
I would request please assign someone else for today to distribute questions...I
would clear off my backlogs as soon as I get my question bank.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
I would also request to fix a time for assigning questions, so that we all r awa
re it nd chk this forum/mail accordingly.
@aman8770 Right now,even I don't have that book either and I have also ordered i
t. Meanwhile, I would suggest to start the answer writing session with the set o
f previous year's questions provided by mrunal (copy attached),starting from2012
and proceeding backwards.
Also, I would like to mention that I am a working professional and little flexib
ility in time schedule for answer submission will be much appreciated.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Write short note: Sociology and its relationship with economics and political
science.
Sociology according to its forefathers is foremost evolved discipline which encom
passes all other dimensions of human life. It has very close relationship with a
ll other discipline including Economics and Political science.
The relationship which sociology enjoy with Economics takes it root from the wri
ting of Karl Marx who try to see society through the lens of Economics thus dial
ectical materialism. Max weber saw economy closely related with religion and thu
s determined by social factor in his famous work Protestant ethics and spirit of
capitalism. Structural functionalist like Talcott Parsons also see economic sub
system playing important role in maintaining moving equilibrium of society by pl
aying the role of Adaptation in his AGIL schema.
Sociology as the critical discipline has essential role to play in any economic
theory as rightly pointed out by Pierre Bourdieu. Thus it has very important rol
e to play in examining the limitation of economic theory and thus enriching the
study of economic phenomenon. Due to this in recent years the two discipline hav
e come closer and thus parameters of development is measured not only in terms o
f economic factors but also social factors.
On the other hand Political science which deals with the organized social group
in the form of state has intimate relationship as state is also a social institu
tion thus an object of sociology. Thus the grounds covered by sociology and poli
tical science is largely common with different view points.
Marx explanation of political structure as the super structure of the society co
ming from relationship of people entering into relationship through the means an
d forces of production clarify the above point. It is also evident when we try t
o look into the work of other sociologist like Pareto and weber who studied circ
ulation of elites and bureaucracy respectively.
Again in the recent years the sociological area of research are increasingly bec
oming the area of research of political science and vice versa whether it is soc
iological definition of power or studies on pressure groups ,political parties o
r civil society.
Thus the trend in political science has been towards the merger with sociology a
nd thus the rise of political sociology.
Write short note : Sociology and Social Anthropology.
Sociology and Social Anthropology though had different origin but both converge
on one aspect,study of human society in respect of social & cultural milieu alth
ough from different perspective.
The difference in world view of both disciplines has its genesis in its evolutio
n.Whereas Sociology evolved in late 18th and 19th century and was influenced by
Philosophy of History,Polical Science and Positive Science,Social Anthropology h
as much later evolution in 2nd half of 19th century and had origin in Biology.
In the earlier period of Evolution both discipline borrowed much from each other
and cooperation but later there was extreme divergence reflected in their unive
rse of study and methodology.
Whereas In the West,Sociology was considered as study of 'own' society i.e moder
n Industrial Societies.Social Antropology was delineated to the study of 'their'
society i.e Societies which have different social and cultural structure from W
estern Societies.They were considered as simple societies which were at a lower
stage of evolution.
As the universe of study of Sociology was complex societies which was at that ti
me grappled with profound changes in every aspect of life.These characteristic o
f complex societies reflected in area of interest also which was designated as c
onflict,deviance,movements etc.As these societies has evolved through historical
process,HIstorical Approach was considered suitable.Whereas Social Anthropology
has to study the small scale agarian and tribal societies which have hardly und
er went any major changes the area of interest revolved around kinship,religion,
caste and village communties.The methodology adopted was Functionalist approach
and field work.
These diffference of Social Anthroplogy and Sociology are increasing getting blu
rred with the emergence of new nation states which reflects the dualistic charac
ter and encompasses features of both Traditional and modern industrial societies
.Thus requires both Sociological and social anthropological approach.Convergence
is also reflected in borrowing the meothodologies as reflect in the work of Soc
ial Anthropologist such as Block,Sodder and Godelier which has increasingly used
the Marxist Approach and adoptation of functionalist approach by Parsons and Me
rton in Sociolgy.
With rapid Changes in both simple and complex societies, the distinction between
them is precipitating which compled both the discipline to converge as faras th
e subject matter is concern.
17.Do you agree with the view that Sociology can never be a science?What limitat
ions need to be taken into consideration in the scientific study of social pheno
mena?
Sociology developed at a time in history when social ills viz poverty had plague
d society.It also needs to be mentioned that it was happening in the backdrop of
the new advancements and theories e.g Galileo's and Darwin's in the field of sc
ience(which itself as a term became famous in the renaissance period).August Com
te,claimed the father of sociology,had defined sociology as the science of socie
ty.Sociologists such as Herbert Spencer(positivist),Emile Durkheim also followed
the scientific line of thought in their respective studies.
Science,which was classically defined as body of knowledge based on inter subjec
tive reliability ,empiricism,experimental testability,objectivity and generaliza
tion of universal theories. However, as karl popper propounds ,later on it was l
argely accepted if any body of knowledge is pursued using scientific and rationa
l methods of investigation, it could be posited as science.Sociology failed comp
aratively to establish itself as science in terms of the former definition where
as, scientific methods such as interviews,questionnaires etc are employed in the
investigations.Therefore, Sociology has shed some of its scientific character i
n the classical terms.This becomes evident as new methods like symbolic investig
ationwhich gave more importance to meanings and motives of human beings instead
of external observation gained steam in the recent past decades.
The limitations faced in the study of sociology as a science runs alongside the
demands of science
i)Inter subjective reliability-Sociology has tried to establish theories w.r.t s
ocial institutions that are same for all people but conflicts have risen e.g. re
ligion was explained differently by durkheim ,Marx and functionalists.
ii)Objectivity-As Weber had said it is impossible to conduct the study without v
alue.So, value neutrality becomes a major concern
iii)Quantification and Universal laws -As Weber claimed,the subject matter of na
tural sciences do not have any consciousness,whereas human beings,the subject ma
tter of sociology have consciousness;therfore, making it difficult to quantify t
he findings and establish universal laws.
Pl read symbolic investigation line as
"This becomes evident as new interactionist methods viz. symbolic interactionism
, Ethnomethodology,which"
Sociology without history is rootless and history without sociology is fruitless
.
The relationship between sociology and history is more of a complementary nature
where both serve each other. History with its specificity and sociology with it
s generalizations aid each other in better understanding of dynamic social struc
tures.
History is mainly concerned with past events. It is systematic record of the sto
ry of mankind. History presents a chronological account of past events of the hu
man society whereas sociology is mainly concerned with study of contemporary soc
ieties. It is therefore in this context that Prof G.E. Howard said History is pas
t sociology and sociology is present history
Historical methods have been largely employed by many sociologists to validate t
heir social theories. Historical methods essentially mean using historical data
and comparative analysis to study changes, evolution and emergence of new social
structures.
Karl Marx had utilized historical method in conjunction with dialectical materia
lism to understand evolution and emergence of social classes in various societie
s which include primitive-communism, slavery, feudalism, capitalism and socialis
m. Similarly Max weber had resorted to historical method for tracing the emergen
ce of capitalism in Europe in his book Protestant Ethic and the spirit of capita
lism.
Whereas history provides with much needed facts and data to sociologists, sociol
ogy with its theoretical perspectives give insight into the social fabric. The h
istorians need social background for writing and analyzing history and this is p
rovided by the sociologists. The study of History would be meaningless without t
he appreciation of sociological significance. History becomes meaningful in the
social content.
These two streams though distinct in their mode of inquiry, support each other i
n the larger context and therefore John Seely rightly says that" History without
Sociology has no fruit, Sociology without History has no root".
Q6. How is emergence of sociology linked with modernisation of Europe?
(It was of 60 marks but I am writing for 30 marks) (360- 380 words)
Answer
Modernisation - Europe during medieval period was undergoing total period of dar
kness. Renaissance period included developments which were a transition as shown
below
Medievel Europe ---->>> ----->>>> ---->>> Renaissance Period
o Absolute control of church ---->>> ----->>>> ---->>> Increasing Seculari
sm
o Feudal society --->> --->>> --->> Rise of middle class. Feudal society d
isintegrates.
o Authoritarian Political system ---->>> ----->>>> ---->>> Rise of liberal
democracy
o Agricultural based economy ---->>> ----->>>> ---->>> Industrial Eco
nomy
New scientific world view emerged which tried to view everything through a scien
tific angle, which was called modernity.
Changes due to Modernity
Modernity ---->>> ----->>>> ---->>> Changes
Political ---->>> ----->>>> ---->>> Democratic system
Social --->---> --> Nuclear family, Secularisation, Industrial society, Improvem
ent in status of women
Economic---->>> ----->>>> ---->>> Rational organisation of production, Use of mo
dern technology, Rise of new corporates, Rise of technology.
Intellectual ---->>> ----->>>> ---->>> Faith in science, Logical enquiry
Problems developing due to Modernity
These changes of modernity although desirable were associated with new problems,
or challenges
The process of industrialisation brought new social problems
o Poor working conditions for the workers
o Nuclear families leading to domestic violence, frequent separations
o Faith in religion decreased
o Absolute poverty- Denial of basic life needs of food, cloth, shelter
o Survey in early 19th century Europe showed that poverty is socially crea
ted
Rise of liberal democracy brought about its own problems
o During French Revolution, changes were so abrupt that it brought a total
chaos- People did not understand how it will work, and will they be better off.
A number of groups emerged, which advocated going back to the Feudal system.
Rise of middle class created structural divide in the society - The middle class
was more demanding, more aspirational and could not be contained under the pres
ent system and was thus unhappy.
Emergence of a Body of Knowledge
All these developments could not be explained by the present bodies of knowledge
. There was a need for another discipline, which could explain these changes, fi
nd solutions and may predict them also.
Thus, emergence of sociology can be understood at 2 levels
1) General context- Rising problems due to industrial revolution and rising midd
le class.
2) Immediate context was the French Revolution.
Development of modern techniques such as survey method, interviews for studying
social sciences scientifically helped the subject of Sociology grow scientifical
ly.
Sociology was, thus, first conceptualised by French philosophers "Saint Simon" a
nd "August Comte" during the late 18th century.
{pardon the editing, as I had written my answer in MS-Word, and lost all the for
matting here, that's why those arrows above }
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------
8. Write short note: Sociology as a science of society.
The founding forefathers of sociology recognized it as the supreme science deali
ng with most complex things called Human beings. They tried and develop hierarch
y of science and put sociology at the top of it crowning it as queen of all scie
nce but it remain subjected to acrimonious debate not be concluded and still goi
ng .
Positivist see sociology as a science based on the use of objective observation,
search for correlations, causal relationships and laws using inductive approach
. Popper went to the extent of arguing that as science cannot claim the theory t
o be truth as it is always possible to get it falsified later on so in true sens
e any theory can claim to be getting nearer to the truth and thus scientific soc
iology is not only possible but also desirable.
On the other hand Phenomenologist rejects the idea of scientific sociology becau
se according to them the social world cannot be objectively classified and measu
red and all classification reflects the subjective categories. Kuhn arguing on t
he line of scientific paradigm claim that since science commit itself to a parti
cular paradigm as a rule and anomalies are exception, sociology as general has v
ariety of paradigm such as Marxism, Functionalism etc thus it cannot claim to be
science and if anything it is pre scientific discipline.
Again some sociologist like Kalpan, lynch and Gomm argues that the experiments o
f science also takes place in the social context and only those theory gets acce
ptance which confirms to prevailing societal values like Darwins theory of evolut
ion get accepted because other societal values like capitalism, laissez fare eco
nomy it was fitted.Thus the distinction between sociology and science is false a
s theory originating from both will have to confirm the societal values in order
to get the acceptance. Realist like Bhaskar and sayer also believe that it is b
oth possible and desirable to sociology to be scientific and see physical and so
cial science as similar to each other. Thus the debate still going on.
maestromaestro September 2013
Sociology as an interpretative discipline
Definition: Interpretive sociology is a theoretical perspective based on the ide
a that a sociological understanding of behavior must include the meaning that so
cial actors give to what they and others do. When people interact, they interpre
t what is going on and this is what gives social life its patterned quality.
Background: The positivistic approach to sociology tends to assume that society
can shape the behavior of its members almost completely through socialization.Ho
wever there is a section of sociologists(Non-positivists) who regards the above
view as an attempt to reduce man to a passive being. They seek to reflect the pa
ttern of meaning in a set of observation they have made and emphasize on the imp
ortance of underlying meanings in order to understand social behavior.
Max Weber (1864-1920) was the founder of "interpretive (Verstehen ) sociology".
According to him, sociology makes critical interpretations on social action. Web
er argues that social reality is characterized by "geist" or "consciousness". Du
e to the presence of consciousness, people ascribe meaning to the situations aro
und them which include other people too. The meaning influence the subsequent be
haviour. Consequently, any attempt to understand social reality must take into a
ccount these meaning and motives. The meaning ascribed by the people are partly
determined by the cultural norms and partly shaped by the individual actors.
Another school of thought is Symbolic Interactionism who believe that it is thro
ugh symbols(eg: language) that meanings, motives and attributes are conveyed. Th
us an understanding of symbols can help in understanding the meanings conveyed b
y actors involved in the interacting situation.The methodology of symbolic inter
actionism as advocated by Herbert Blumer demands that the sociologist must attem
pt to grasp the actor's view of social reality. Since action is directed by acto
r meanings the sociologist must catch the process of interpretation through whic
h the actors construct their action. This means, he must take the role of the ac
ting unit whose behaviour he studies.
There is another set of sociologists identified as Ethnomethodologists who try t
o analyze the commonsense nature of social interactions. They say that the aim o
f sociology should not be simply to identify and record the meanings that people
have ascribed to situation but to understand the ways in which they generate th
ose meanings in the first place. The emphasis is upon the study of ways in which
people in actual situation of interaction come to see what the other person is
meaning.
Method of Research: The account of information which interpretative sociologists
require to substantiate their analysis is quite different from the information
needed by positivistic sociologists even those methods of data collection which
are used by positivist sociologist are also made use of by interpretative sociol
ogist. Eg: Weber relied on official statistical records and historical documents
in his study of 'The Protestant Ethics and Spirit of Capitalism' accompanied by
extensive verbatim recording of conversational exchange among the actors involv
ed.
The other methods of data collection used by interpretative sociologists include
the case-studies, use of life histories, personal diaries and correspondence an
d other biographical records to provide insights into the subjective dimension o
f the social behaviour.

11) Highlight the problem of objectivity and value-neutrality in Social Research
. Elaborate, with suitable examples, the limitations associated with the tools o
f measurement in Social Science Research.
Sociology being a science aspires for the goal objectivity but it continues to b
e an elusive goal at the practical level. All research is guided by certain view
points which involve subjectivity.
1)The ideological biases acquired in the course of education and training has a
bearing on the choice of the topic of research.
2)Subjectivity can also creep in at the time of formulation of hypotheses. All s
ociological theories are limited to particular groups whose viewpoints and inter
ests they represent. Thus formulation of hypotheses will automatically introduce
a bias in the sociological research.
3)Another level at which subjectivity creeps in the course of research is that o
f collection of empirical data. No technique of data collection is perfect. In c
ase of participant observation the observer acquires a bias in favour of the gro
up he is studying. While in non-participant observation of the sociologist belon
gs to a different group than that under study he is likely to impose his values
and prejudices. In all societies there are certain prejudices which affect the r
esearch studies. In case of interview as a technique the data may be influenced
by context of the interview, the interaction of the participants, and participan
t's definition of the situation and if adequate rapport does not extend between
them there might be communication barriers.
Eg:MN Srinivas has written that in doing village studies using direct observatio
n method, he was treated as a brahmin and thereby looked up at suspicion by the
resident non-brahmins in the village and thereby his research was not able to ma
intain value -neutrality as the responses are biased based on the researcher's c
aste.
Weber also admitted that complete objectivity cannot be attained in sociological
research, so to overcome this problem he asked the researcher to go for subject
ive understanding of objective reality thereby giving a balance between fact and
value.In that manner though there is a bit of subjectivity involved in deciding
the topic of research but while conducting research he should not be influence
by subjective understanding of individual's preferences where he need to maintai
n objectivity.Thus sociology cannot be completely value free which is also not d
esired.
@ aman8770 i couldn't assign questions yesterday(though being my turn) due to ga
nesh chaturdi n being very busy...can i assign questions today??
@maestro
First of all check your inbox to get access to the group folder.
Question assignment is not a big issue but let it go in a circular fashion so ne
xt is the turn of M 6 and after that M 1 and so on.
Find attachment for giving today's assignment. It is little bit unclear at some
places but for today's assignment giving task it is fit.
ShkkShkk September 2013
Q5. Comment on the reasons why neo-idealists and symbolic interactionists are cr
itical of 'positivism' in Sociology. (2009, 30Marks)
Answer
The positivists initial viewpoint that what can be seen is real was challenged by i
dealists viewpoint that what can be thought is real. Idealists put forward the case
of religion, motivation, altruism etc. which cannot be seen yet influence an in
dividual.
The positivist assumptions of early Sociologists were in turn questioned by the
idealists tradition mainly drawing from Hermeneutics which implies the study of i
nterpretation. This was in contrast to positivists ideology of emphasizing only o
n macro aspects of phenomenons.
George Herbert Meads book Mind, Self and Society, 1932 suggested views which were c
ritical of positivism. He laid the foundation of Symbolic Interactionism represe
nting a transition from positivism. He advocated that-
- Every social action is a result of interaction; these interactions form the ba
sis of social reality.
- Peoples behavior in a particular situation should be interpreted based on socia
lization and role play.
This contradicted the earlier stance of positivists that an individual is merely
a receiver in the society. Cooley in his theory of looking-glass self has further
ed the criticism on positivism by emphasizing on symbolic interactionism.
Also, the idealist school received new impetus in various ideologies which devel
oped in response to criticism of positivism. These neo-idealists pointed towards
various drawbacks in positivism such as
- Alfred Schutz had a view that every phenomenon is subjected to multiple meanin
gs and thus one generalization is not applicable across societies as advocated b
y positivists.
- Harold Garfinkel suggested that reality must be studied from peoples perspectiv
e and not from a researchers perspective as suggested by positivists.
Further neo-idealists
- rejected the use of any particular method,
- denied the possibility of any theory,
- pointed to irrelevance of testability and
- futility of objectivity, though subjectivity was also not desired.
Although in the present context much of the enthusiasm or obsession for positivi
sm is lost but it remains a perspective which provided initial motivation for So
ciology to establish and develop as a distinct body of knowledge.
You can also subscribe my channel/page "Sleepy Classes" on youtube. All the best
:)
20. Short notes on Comparative method in Sociology.
Right since the inception of the subject,different methods have been employed by
sociologist to study the society and comparative method happens to be one of th
em.Broadly comparative method has been defined as method in which different soci
eties or different groups within the same society are compared.However, August C
omte ,claimed,the father of sociology,has used the comparison of human and non-h
uman characteristics in his sociological study.This same line of research had be
en taken forward by Herbert Spencer in his evolutionary approach .
However,Comparative method is not a method confined only to sociology, it has be
en used by different social sciences, such as philosophy,political science in th
eir respective study. In the realm of sociology it gained currency with the 19th
century when different sociologists like Durkheim(Division of labour, Suicide),
Spencer(evolutionary view of society),used the method in their research work.
Durkheim,in his work, rules of sociological method,has clearly set out the signi
ficance of comparative method.He claims that ,social explanation consists entire
ly on establishing causal connection.In the case of natural sciences, the same c
ould be achieved by using experimentally verifiable results.But sociology do not
have any such direct method and comparative method could be used as a method of
indirect experiment.
Durkheim's work "Division of labour in soceity", has compared the legal systems
of different societies, and tested that an increase in the division of labour is
accompanied by a change in the nature of social integration or solidarity.Simil
arly,in "Suicide",Durkheim compares cultural & social norms of different societi
es in order to establish their connection with the rate of suicide. Max weber ha
s also used the comparative method in his work"Protestant ethic and the spirit o
f capitalism" by comparing religious belief of different societies and how those
beliefs engendered capitalism in some societies and the contrary in others.
So, it is evident that comparative method has been in vogue among sociologists b
ut the method has also been subjected to criticism. Critics claim that what appe
ars to be similar institutions in different societies may be very different in d
ifferent settings and therefore, comparative method should be confined to compar
ison of similar societies.
Allotment
In order for wider coverage,I have clubbed the shorter questions together(write
accordingly)
M1 Q no. 3 & 6
M2 Q no. 2 & 8
M3 Q no. 4
M4 Q no. 7
M5 Q no.11
M6 Q no 12 & 15
@aman8770 I have not received your email
@ all answer writing group Members
Are any of you interested in working collectively for GS .
If yes than i have very good and feasible plan .
Right now for IR portion which will cover everything for the current mains till
now.
Time required is 10 to 15 hours if everybody is ready (for this particular secti
on IR)
ouput will be comprehensive notes covering everything for IR.
Plan will be discussed and notes will be shared among the participating member o
nly.
Thank you
@ vayam
Are you saying you don't have access to group folder of answer writing if yes
then drop your email id in my forumias inbox.
@aman8770 Pl check , I have sent the msg
@vayam
I think you have access to the group folder even then i have added you again .
Check your email.
@aman8770 Ty mate
@all members of answer writing group
To clarify my point what i am talking about in the context of IR
I have uploaded my self made notes from The Hindu and other news papers on Indo
Sri Lanka relation
My purpose is not to make bulky notes but mere around 70 pages of whole importan
t current affair notes of IR which will be made by us only by the full proof met
hod( which i will tell )so that we will not miss any thing important in IR for m
ains
Most importantly this can be done in not more than 10 to 12 hours and after that
we will not need any crap coaching notes in this regard.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------
Q. Importance and sources of - Hypothesis in social research.
Social research refers to a systematic study of ones chosen subject for arriving
at both new and valid conclusions. A theory is formulated on the facts collected
and hypothesis is generated. Thus hypothesis is a deductive statement which nee
ds to be proved inductively.
The importance of hypothesis is that the reliability of a theory lies in the tes
tability of its hypothesis. A hypothesis needs to be empirically validated for a
reliable theory. The hypothesis-testing model seeks to find generalizable resul
t which can be applied universally. An example can be Emilie Durkheims study of s
uicide which tries to establish a theory about suicide rates from the available
suicide statistics.
Source of hypothesis is in the theory construction itself. Theoretical research
leads to preparation of conceptual frame that helps in systemizing, classifying
and interrelating relevant data. In quantitative research hypothesis tries to es
tablish a relation between two variables i.e. independent and dependent variable
. To test the hypothesis, it has to be exposed to a situation that can show it t
o be false. If hypothesis survives the effort then it is proved true and theory
is established.
However, a hypothesis only posits a logical relationship between phenomena and m
ay not correspond to every case. Similarly all social science variables are not
capable of being measured statistically. Still hypothesis has come in handy in e
stablishing relation between measurable variables, thus aiding social research s
ignificantly.
@preeti27 -
The question you have just uploaded was alloted to me.
Looks like there's some confusion. I'm M2 and I was given Q2, 8 today.
Nevertheless, I'll do your questions (of M1's).
:)
@aman8770
count me also for IR
@Shkk
really sorry...I got confused...
nyway u can definitely give inputs to my answer...

@preeti27 -
It was Q8 of Chapter 3.
And I was given Q2 as well. So you do that as well. I'll do your questions. Ok w
ith you?
:)
@preeti27 -
Also you have not yet submitted your previous assignment :
Topic : Sociology as Science
M1 : Q4.
Please do that as well. It's an important question.
:)
@aman8770 -
Now we have 4 people for IR.
You, me, @vayam and @horizon_21
We can start a new page to collaborate or you can suggest otherwise.
:)
@shkk
yes I would do them..
@shkk
what u ppl r doing for the ethics paper.
As in thr r lot of case studies available but I am unable to find theory part.
Any book to follow...I m totally clueless abt it.
@All Regarding IR
First of all let me tell you people very confidently that what i am suggesting f
or IR is very much useful for our purpose as i have well researched the thing be
fore implementing it.
In general studies you need to know the source from where question is coming and
remember it can not be any coaching material neither any guide book so it will
be something very common like NCERT IGNOU and other's commonly available materia
l to name a few so what we need to do is to find out for particular section wher
e is the source and after confirming it's credibility we can well read it from t
here only to get maximum out put and that is what i am doing.
As people are asking about what to read in ethics ,looking at the sample paper i
think they are going to ask two things concept and their application now look a
t the syllabus and try to note down all the concept at one place and read them f
rom any where , application part need to be practiced by your own or you can wel
l find some suitable case studies some where
In the end i would like to acknowledge you the fact that all the coaching and ot
her people are doing guess work this year and it is done by the people who don't
understand UPSC so why not do the same thing by ourselves at least we know the
UPSC better by the virtue of the fact that we have been preparing it for the lon
g time and have personal experience of it.
All the people showing interest for IR would be contacted by today evening and w
e don't need any separate thread for it.
Thank you
Write short note : A good Hypothesis
In any Scientific Methodology ,tentative statement is formulated which postulate
logical determinate relationship between two or more aspect of reality.These te
ntative statement are called hypothesis and these aspects of reality are called
variables.
Such formulated hypothesis is tested with observable data which if proven become
s thesis and proven more often then called Theory.
In common parlance a hypothesis is a mere assumption or some supposition to be p
roved or disproved. But in a research study a hypothesis is a formal question th
at the researcher intends to resolve. Hypothesis is usually considered as the pr
incipal instrument is research. So it should be good and supported by some evide
nce.
A research hypothesis should be good if it must possess certain characteristics
such as It should be clear,precise and properly state the relationship between t
he variables..It mus be testable and falsifiable i.e rejectable with observable
data,besides test of verifiability of any hypothesis lies in test of potential f
alsifiability.Hypothesis should make use of concepts which can be operationalize
d.
The reliability of a Theory rest on the Testability of its hypothesis.Hypothesis
is in this sense form the core over which validity of the Theory lies.
This is supplement to the @preeti27 answer as her answer covers the basic part i
n elaborate manner.
Q. What are the uses of Bogardus social distance scale and of Likert scale ? Dis
cuss
The Bogardus scale is a psychological testing scale created by Emory S. Bogardus
to empricially measure social distances between various racial and ethnic group
s.He followed seven relationships in serial order towards increasing social dist
ance containing questions as would marry,close friends,will work in office etc a
nd included 2 extreme relationship such as would allow only as a visitor to my c
ountry,would exclude them from my country etc.
Respondants were given instruction to give their first reaction only in each cas
e.After collecting the information from the respondants,percentage of actual res
ponse was calculated and was dipicted on graph.In the graph,the greater the heig
ht of curve,the smaller is the social distance.Similarly more steep the fall in
reference to extreme questions,the less is the social distance.
Bogardus applied this scale to measure the social distance of American in respec
t of other racial groups such as English,Swedish,Polos and Korean.He found that
for English people the height of the curve was greatest and also there was steep
fall in the curve while for the Korean it was opposite,thus indicating that soc
ial distance is sufficently great and there is strong feeling of aversion in the
minds of American people for them.
Thus Borgardus Scale introduced a new dimension in measurement of the Qualitativ
e data using the statistical techniques.It opened up new avenue to disclosure in
ter-relatioinships in the society. Even though Borgardus Scale had its own limit
ation such as form of attitude towards a particular groups changes over time and
first feeling might not convey the accurateresponse to a particular group as th
e response is formed after a deliberate thought process,it was widely used in th
e later researches.
Likert Scale is also referred as "Technique of summated ratings".It is basically
a attitude scale.Likert was the first to apply the method of internal consisten
cy to attitude measurement.
Likert scale make use of a series of propositions,expressing a wide range of att
itude from extremely positive to extremely negative. Each proposition usually ca
ll for a response by using generally 5 words such as strongly approve,approve,un
decided,disapprove ,strongly disapprove.Respondants are asked to register their
response for the propositions.Then a total score for each respondant is calculat
ed using either arbitary method or sigma method.
Likert Scale is the most widely used approach to scaling responses in survey res
earch.The most outstanding feature of this scale is its simplicity and reliablit
y.It has helped to quantify the social phenomena which was considered complex,in
tangible and therefore incapable of numerical expression .Quantitative descripti
on has afforded objective measurement and through which the exact magnititude of
the problem can be known which is its greatest advantage.
Thanked by 1vision009
4. What is subjective method in social research? Examine Focus Group Discussion
(FGD) as a technique for Data collection, with suitable examples.
Methodology in the social research is the process applied by social scientist in
order to collect data and theory formulation in social science. Broadly some so
cial scientist prefer to use scientific methods and collect quantitative data wh
ere as others see this process inappropriate to study human beings and thus go fo
r qualitative data collection and apply subjective method for the research. Usua
lly subjective method is seen to have more depth and associated with richer data
collection in form of words as compared to statistics. Examples include Unstruc
tured Interviews, Participant observation etc
Group interviews is a process similar to above mentioned process which is applie
d to make respondents more reflective and opened discussion. Focus Group Discuss
ion(FGD) is a kind of group interviews which is often used by Social psychologis
t. According to Bryman they emphasize on the joint construction of meaning thus le
ad to in depth understanding of the issue. Focus groups can lead to greater prob
ing of why people do things and they allow the researcher to observe how people
do things and they allow the researcher to observe how people construct meaning
in groups.
They are generally favoured by interactionists and also seen as the more natural
istic way than one to one interviews as it allows people to retain their social
setting in which they generally resides and thus gives better understanding of s
ocial reality. On the other hand some limitation of this method is also there as
pointed out by social scientist as the answers given may be influenced by the m
ost prominent members of the group and thus will render the method not fit for c
ollecting systematic data.
There are several examples where FGD is used some of them include study of open
defecation by government specially in rural areas of the country, Opinion poll c
onducted by political parties before election (Recently AAP has conducted the pr
e poll opinion and it says that they are hopeful of getting 47% of people suppor
t).
In conclusion it can be said that social reality is dynamic which required combi
nation of different method to unravel it.
Find the attachment for the assignment of the day .I request M 1 (preeti 27) to
take the lead.
Also i request members to recognize and remember their membership id so that con
fusion can be avoided
please try to do answer writing on daily basis and avoid any delay for your own
benefit.
also regarding unclear question in previous attachment
no 6 it is Theory of social change and reaction of functionalist to his views.
no 11. short note on Alienation.
no 17 it is social stratification.
Other thing is fine i think but even then if any doubt in please post it here an
d also request people having question bank to help in this regard.
Also i have uploaded compilation topic 2 in the group folder.
Thank you
@All
For IR work i have created a separate group folder and shared with the people in
terested (Including me 5 members)
Please check it and if you people are ready show your intent here (send message
in my forumias inbox)
so that i can proceed further.
Thank you
12.Write Short note: the limitations of Questionnaire as a technique of data col
lection.
Ans: Questionnaire is one among the various methods used by sociologists for inv
estigation in their sociological research. Questionnaire is a quantitative metho
d of data collection,wherein,a set of questions in the same order is asked to a
set of populace.They tend to take the form of structured Interview
Two modes of Questionnaires:- 1.Open ended (respondents are free to answer , no
limited set of options)
2. Closed - Fixed set of options to choose from
Practical Limitations of questionnaire:-
i)Postal questionnaire- A set of questions are sent by post. The return rate in
generally low in such questionnaires. There is a possibility of a biased result
by virtue of response by a particular cross section of respondents.
ii)Over Phone-In this mode ,disadvantaged groups tend to be underrepresented and
it is difficult to ask sensitive questions to respondents over the phone.
iii)Emailing- Not all the members of the society may be having access to interne
t and computers and this may result in a lopsided result of the questionnaire.
Limitations raised by other schools of thought
i)Interactionist :-They have criticized the "statistical form of data collection
such as questionnaires as inadequate in predicting human behaviouras they tend
to ignore the meanings and motives that respondents attach with the questions in
the questionnaire viz. the same question and options may be given different mea
ning and interpreted differently by the respondents.These meanings can't be pred
icted unless the researchers are present with the repondents.
ii)Phenomenologists :- They go a step ahead and question the very concept of Que
stionnaire and criticise them as "artificial creation of researcher.To them , su
ch methods tend to have a researcher-imposition , as the researcher impose their
meanings and motives by way of "their" questions and options. Also, coding in c
ase of open ended questions and operationisation of the concepts tend to have a
character of researcher-imposition.
Other Limitations:
i)Respondents may lie, undermining the validity of the data.
ii)It has limited use in attitudinal survey.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------
Q3. Short note on Reliability and Validity. (2011, 12 Marks)
Answer
Reliability It refers to the consistency of scores (or measurements). It is refl
ected in reproducibility of the scores. A test is considered reliable if we get
the same result repeatedly.
The consistency of scores can be ascertained by test-retest method.
In Social Sciences, reliability is affected by extrinsic factors like group vari
ability, guessing, environmental conditions etc. Intrinsic factors like length o
f test, homogeneity of items, difficulty value of items also affect the reliabil
ity.
Validity It is the degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure. Va
lidity is concerned with generizability when a test is valid means its conclusio
n can be generalized to a larger population.
In social sciences, validity is a matter of degree and not an all or none proper
ty.
Validity is of three types: Content or internal validity, Criterion validity and
Construct validity.
Together both reliability and validity are essential to make a test efficient.
(p.s. - attached picture for clarity)
:)
Q6. Short note on Nomothetic and Idiographic methods. (2010, 15 Marks)
Answer
Nomothetic and idiographic methods are two distinct approaches to knowledge, eac
h one corresponding to a different intellectual tendency.
A nomothetic method is described as a tendency to generalize, and is typical for
the natural sciences. It describes the effort to derive laws that explain objec
tive phenomena in general.
An idiographic method is described as a tendency to specify, and is typical for
the humanities. It describes the effort to understand the meaning of contingent,
unique, and often subjective phenomena.
The problem of whether to use nomothetic or idiographic approaches is most sharp
ly felt in the social sciences, whose subject are unique individuals (idiographi
c perspective), but who have certain general properties or behave according to g
eneral rules (nomothetic perspective).
Often, nomothetic approaches are quantitative, and idiographic approaches are qu
alitative.
In Sociology, the nomothetic methods try to find independent variables that acco
unt for the variations in a given phenomenon (e.g. What is the relationship betw
een place of birth and education). Nomothetic explanations are probabilistic and
usually incomplete. The idiographic model focuses on a complete, in-depth under
standing of a single case (e.g. Why is a particular caste dominant at a particul
ar place).
:)
@ALL The members of IR work
Please visit group folder to find the assignment of IR.
I Have made everything clear but if you people have any confusion you can mail m
e to get prompt reply.
Thank you
Q1. Write a short note on serendipity.
Serendipity in general term is the effect by which one accidentally discovers so
mething fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely. Robert
Merton made wide use of this term in theorizing. For him it is a methodology for
scientific research. In 1946, Merton revealed his concept of the serendipity pat
tern in empirical research, of observing an unanticipated, anomalous, and strateg
ic datum, which becomes the occasion for developing a new theory or for extendin
g an existing theory. The serendipity pattern is Mertons proposal to attempt to c
omplete the hypothetical-deductive model, which is a logical model, and so fails
to describe much of what actually occurs in fruitful investigation.
A research directed towards the test of a hypothesis yields a fortuitous by-prod
uct, an unexpected observation which bears upon theories not in question when th
e research was begun. The observation is anomalous, surprising, either because i
t seems inconsistent with prevailing theory or with other established facts. The
seeming inconsistency may provoke some researcher to avoid those observations b
ut Merton says that such observations should be utilized. Observer must detect t
he universal in the particular.
Merton has said in this context that Scientific inquiry cannot be metaphorically
represented as hunting a hare (searching for a specific applicable scientific th
eory) with a rifle (the rules of scientific method). Indeed if you are clever en
ough to take advantage of the opportunity, you may capture a fox thanks to accid
ental circumstances while searching for hares.
The serendipity pattern not only refuses deterministic positivist approach, but
also the opposite interpretive approach which tries to understand meanings assig
ned by actors, in a social research. It relies on the observation and not ignori
ng any of them. Serendipity pattern says too much planning in science is harmful
and one cannot plan discoveries, but can plan work that will probably lead to d
iscoveries.
Differentiate between the Quantitative and Qualitative methods in Research.
Quantitative methods are employed by those sociologists who are advocates of ado
pting research methods of natural sciences to study society. This is known as po
sitivism. Positivist believes that society can be objectively observed and class
ified and sociologists should not be concerned with internal meanings, motives,
feelings and emotions of individual as they are subjective.
Quantitative approach is concerned with use of statistical data collected in a v
alue-neutral way. The data collection involve methods like structured interview,
closed questionnaire, formal essays and field research but without observant pa
rticipation. Observer maintains a distance from his subject to avoid subjective
contamination. The data are statistically inferred through hypothesis testing, c
orrelation and regression. Auguste Comte and Emile Durkheim are pioneers of this
methodology.
Qualitative methods are employed by interpretive branch of sociologists who cons
ider quantitative methods inappropriate and inadequate in a subject dealing with
human behavior. They believe scientific methods are irrelevant as it treat huma
n being as inanimate object responding to external stimuli without any conscious
ness. Whereas advocates of this methodology try to understand subjective meaning
employed by actors to their actions.
In this method, data are collected through unstructured survey, open questionnai
re and field research with observant participation. The researcher does not main
tain a distance from his subjects. Data collected are inferred through its relia
bility, validity and triangulation. Max weber and G.H. Mead had utilized this me
thodology for their research.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------
Q.no. 25 Write Short note on Historic Materialism
Ans: Historic materialism was a term given by Plekhanov (the political guru of l
enin). Although, it is generally associated with Karl Marx , but he never really
used the term , but used instead materialist interpretation of history- his per
spective and methodology in the interpretation of society. It can be seen as the
foundation in all his theories e.g. Stratification of society, religion etc. En
gels has defined the term in his work Sociolism:Utopia and scientific
Historic materialism may be defined as the view of the course of society which s
eeks the ultimate cause and the great moving power of all the important events i
n the economic or materialistic development of society, in the changes in the mo
de of production & exchange, in the consequent division of society of society in
to distinct classes and struggle of these classes against each other.
It was historic in the sense that Marx has viewed tried to trace the evolution o
f human society from one stage to another and even in terms of future of humanki
nd. Contextually, Materialism simply means that it is matter or material reality
, which is the basis of any change in the society. Here, Marx has deferred from
the view of Hegel, who had posited idea as the basic causal factor in the change
in society. Instead, Marx views idea as a result of matter not vice-versa.
Q1. Sometimes workers do not feel attachment for their work. Marx formed a theor
y for this situation, discuss that theory.
Marx coined theory of alienation for a situation when workers get detached from th
eir own work. Alienation is a situation in which the creations of man appear ali
en to him.
Marx viewed productive labour as the primary human activity. In the creation of
objects man objectifies himself, expresses and externalizes his being. When obje
cts created by men try to control his being and man loses himself in the object.
According to Marx, the human history has progressed through development of force
of production and steady increase in mans control over nature. This has also res
ulted in mans alienation from his creation and which reaches its climax in capita
list society.
In a capitalist society, dead labour (capital) dominates live labour (worker). C
reation of object is subjected to impersonal forces of law of supply and demand.
The demand for profit determines the levels of employment, wages, nature of goo
ds, its quantities and methods of manufacturing. The result is, man has no contr
ol over the production and the process simply becomes a means to an end (wage he
re) from an end in itself earlier (fulfilling his being).
Unable to put his creativity in the mechanical production process and not owing
produced goods creates alienation from the objects. Therefore the more the worke
r produces the more he loses himself. This alienation is always self-alienation,
ones separation from his own activity.
Marx believed that capitalism is the prime reason for alienation where capitalis
t owns and controls the production and products of labour and appropriates it fo
r profit. Marx advocated, only a radical change in economic infrastructure i.e.
replacement of capitalism by communism can end this alienation. In communist soc
iety, worker will produce for himself and community at the one and the same time
and so will be able to objectify himself. This would result in conscious return
of man himself as a social being and elimination of self-alienation.
Q NO 12 It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but on th
e contrary it is their social being that determines their consciousness. Examine
Karl Marxs notion of mode of production in the light of this statement.
Marx believed in the idea of Dialectical Materialism and analyzed society in the
light of dialectics. The idea of Dialectics owe its origin to Hegel who saw soci
al reality getting shaped through the process of thesis, antithesis and synthesi
s. In his views it is idea or consciousness of men that determines material real
ity .Marx adopted his idea of Dialectics but he refused that idea can shape mate
rial reality and thus put forward his notion of Material reality determining the
human consciousness thus he put Hegel on his head as popularly observed.
The idea of Dialectical Materialism was further used by Marx in analyzing social
change .He saw society moving through phases as the mode of production shifted
from labour to land to capital. Again he explained the shift in mode of producti
on happening because of the dialectics between coming social order and old socia
l order and the rise of new social order. The analysis of Marx is popularly know
n as Historical Materialism and can be represented in the following diagram
Primitive communism ...>Ancient society...>Feudalism>CapitalismTP..Communism
MOP ..> Labour.>Land..>Capital..
RELATIONSHIP ..>Master/Slave..>Lord/Serf>Have/Have nots
Marx saw capitalism as only the transitory phase and said that as the system is
based on inequality and exploitation it will come to an end by a violent revolut
ion and communism will be establish. Thus the notion of mode of production is th
e basis of Marx theory of social change which establish Marx as a realist as opp
ose to the prevailing notion of idealism at that point of time. It established h
im as a distinguish social thinker and the ideas given by him become so popular
that even though Marx is dead but Marxism is still alive.
Find attachment for the next assignment which will be given by M 2.
Also members please buy the question bank in order the reduce this unnecessary s
tep in answer writing
practice.
Thank you

Assignment of Durkheim (4b) -
M1 - Q1, Q4 & Q18
M2 - Q2 & Q13
M3 - Q6 & Q12(in one of his contributions, can you please give example of suicid
e as there's no question on it)
M4 - Q5 & Q20
M5 - Q9 & Q14(I don't know if it belongs here, it's of Weber, so we shouldn't le
ave this concept)
M6 - Q11 & Q17
:)
Scanned copy of today's assignment -
:)
@Shkk
The way you have given assignment seems that you don't want to leave anything in
Durkheim. So do you have any kind of personal enmity with Durkheim that you wan
t to hit him in left ,right and centre ?
Any way thanks for scanned copy of Assignment should i assume that everybody has
the copy of question bank?
aman8770 said:
@Shkk
The way you have given assignment seems that you don't want to leave anything in
Durkheim. So do you have any kind of personal enmity with Durkheim that you wan
t to hit him in left ,right and centre ?
Any way thanks for scanned copy of Assignment should i assume that everybody has
the copy of question bank?
As for the social thinkers, the more we hit them the better; In fact, Marx shoul
d have been hit equally hard
And the question bank, I still have not received it
Distinguish between probability and nonprobability sampling methods. How many ty
pes of sampling designs are there ?
A sample is a subset of the population being studied.It is a research technique
widely used in the social sciences as a way to gather information about a popula
tion without having to measure the entire population.
Probability Sampling: If the purpose of the research is to draw conclusions or m
ake predictions affecting the population as a whole ,it is called probability sa
mpling.The key point here is random selection.Different types include:
1)Random Sampling- each member has an equal chance of getting selected.Selection
is done in a random manner using random number table.
2)Systematic Sampling- After the target population is found, every Nth record is
selected from the list.Its advantage over random samling is its simplicity.
3)Stratified Random Sampling- involves division of sampling frame into groups in
order to ensure that sample is representative.Sampling units will be allocated
to different groups depending on variables like gender,age,religion etc
Non-probabilty Sampling: Non-probability sampling is a sampling technique where
the samples are gathered in a process that does not give all the individuals in
the population equal chances of being selected.It is used when the researcher is
interested only in exploring how a small group(a representative group) is doing
for the purpose of illustration or explanation.Types are:
1)Quota Sampling- A quota sample is one in which units are selected into a sampl
e on the basis of pre-specified characteristics so that the total sample has the
same distribution of characteristics assumed to exist in the population being s
tudied.
2)Snowballing: A snowball sample is one in which the researcher collects data on
the few members of the target population he or she can locate, then asks those
individuals to provide information needed to locate other members of that popula
tion whom they know. For example, if a researcher wishes to interview undocument
ed immigrants from Mexico, he or she might interview a few undocumented individu
als that he or she knows or can locate and would then rely on those subjects to
help locate more undocumented individuals.
3)Non-representative Sampling: This sample is taken for a certain purpose like t
o falsify theories,bring out untypical examples etc.
5)Write a short note on subject matter of sociology according to Emile Durkhem.
According to Durkheim,the subject matter of sociology should be study of social
facts.They are facts or realities present in social life.They are the outcome of
collective thinking and collective feeling .They have both materialistic and no
n-materialistic dimension.
Eg: Legal code,customs,moral rules,religion,beliefs etc
The main characteristics of social facts are:
1)External to the individual
2)Constraint on individual
3)Moral and binding on the individual
4)Generality
According to Durkheim ,there are 3 kinds of social facts:
1)Morphological or structural social facts: this is the elementary part of the s
ociety.
Eg:distribution of population on earth,nature of communication systems etc
2)Institutionalised form: They represent the collective nature of society as a w
hole.
Eg:legal and moral rules,religious dogmas etc
3)Non-institutionalised social facts: not yet aquired cystalised forms.
Eg: enthusiasm generated in crowd
Apart from these,Durkheim also talked of Normal social fact(approved by collecti
ve conscience) and Pathological Social fact(not normal). When normal is accepted
to many,pathological may be acceptable to a few.So both mutually co-exist in so
cial life.Their mutual co-existence,their negotiation with each other ,contradic
tion between both and the superimposition of normal over pathological could be c
onsidered as the subject matter of sociology.
20)Write a short note :Pathological form of Division of Labour
According to Durkhem,DOL means the hierarchial gradation of occupations,which is
concrete and visible.But the occupational gradation present in a given society
is guided by size of population,Nature of the needs of the individual,Role of so
ciety,Functions of institutions present in the society,ROle of law etc. He consi
ders DOL is a social fact.
Though DOL stimulates a sense of integration between man and society, there are
present in every society a handful of people who love to differ,disagree and man
ifest deviance. Eg:conflict between capital and labor. Durkhem explains their co
urse of action as abnormal or pathological, but mutually coexistent with normal
DOL. Pathology induces strains.It is unwanted yet unavoidable.So every society t
olerates to certian elements of pathological strains in the routinised and regul
arised manner.He believes that no society is threatened by the presence of devia
tion or violation because every society has effective mechanisms within its own
control to repair the injuries done by the pathologists on the beliefs of the co
llectivity. This mechanism is known as Rule of Law.
As DOL is universal, law is also universal but the structure of law is greatly d
ependent on the structural character of the society.
Eg: Repressive law in simple society and Restitutive law in complex societies.
@all i was not able to answer the following question allotted to me
"Subjective perception of the objective reality prepares the context for the art
iculation of class antagonism." Evaluate this statement with reference of Karl M
arx's contribution.
Can someone throw light on it..how to approach the question.
As the question asks a lot, I am attempting it as a 60 marker.
Q5. Explain Karl Marxs analysis of capitalistic mode of production and class stru
ggle. What are the intellectual reactions to his views? (2007, 60 Marks)
Answer
According to Marx, production is the first historical act and also a necessary c
ondition of history. Production represents the material factor and the society c
hanges with changing material factors. Marx conceptualizes 4 stages of the socie
ty in past and 2 in future.
Stages
1) Primitive Communism
2) Ancient Mode of production
3) Feudalism
4) Capitalism
5) Socialism
6) Communism
Capitalism or capitalistic mode of production
Relation and Forces of Production - Production is done by machines in the factor
ies owned by capitalists. Workers are free to sell their labor and get wages in
return.
Alienation - Marx says that wages are only subsistence and are exploitative. The
worker is extremely dependent on capitalist for his survival and has no alterna
tive. The worker is alienated not from his surroundings but from himself as well
. This is the peak of alienation.
After Capitalism - The exploitation reaches its peak and when the right condition
s appear the workers will revolt leading the establishment of the next stage of s
ociety termed as Socialism followed by Communism which according to Marx will be
the end of history.
Class Struggle
Clearest exposition of class and class struggle in Marxs works is found in his Com
munist Manifesto of 1848. According to Marx class is a group sharing the same pos
ition in the process of production. He majorly talked of two classes namely Have
s and Have-nots but also acknowledge presence of other intermediate classes in h
is book Revolution and Counter Revolution in Germany where he talks of 8 classes.
Here he warns that with time class polarization will take place and eventually o
nly two classes will remain.
Marx is of the view that history of hitherto existing societies is the history of
class struggle. In this statement Marx considers class struggle as the basic mot
or which drives the history. The broad classes are in a state of struggle leadin
g to a process of social change. Slaves are in conflict with masters, serfs with
feudal lords and so on.
Reasons of Class Struggle Class struggle is a result of contradictions present i
n the society. These contradictions are in the form of property relation, ideolo
gies, institutions etc. For example, a major contradiction in capitalism is divi
sion of benefits is not commensurate with the amount if work done. Marx also att
ributes alienation as a reason of class struggle, i.e. absence of conditions whi
ch help develop full potential of an individual.
Mechanism of Class Struggle Marx says that mechanism of class struggle is not sa
me in every society. Marx says Slave and Serf revolutions were false revolutions
as they were driven by false consciousness whereas the workers revolution will
be a true revolution.
Mature conditions for a revolution are i) emergence of a critical mass of worker
s, ii) network of communication among workers, iii) proper ideology given by lea
dership and iv) identification of a common enemy.

Intellectual Reactions to Marxs View
* Marx was a determinist and thought of stripping people of their freedom and in
dividuality This reaction to Marx seems rather unfair. After all, Marxs whole pro
ject was the liberation of the individual from the prison of wage slavery so the
y would be able to realise their full creative potential. No cause was dearer to
Marx than the liberty of the individual.
* Marxism is a Utopian dream that ignores human nature It is strange that he is
accused of both believing in peaceful humans and class conflicts at the same tim
e.
* Marxism reduces everything to economics In fact Marx was a multifaceted thinke
r and not primarily an economist. It is true he believed economic relations were
very fundamental.
* Marxism is obsessed with notions of class Some statistics on this in todays fin
ancialised world are revealing. Globally, in terms of types of financial wealth,
the top 10% have 80% to 90% of wealth (stocks, bonds, trust funds, and business
equity and non-home real estate).
* Marxism advocates violence Marx was not opposed to reforms as such, he was sce
ptical about elites voluntarily and peacefully relinquishing their power.
* Marxism failed in its predictions He clearly indicates that the system will no
t change by itself without strong political organisation pushing it. True, he ma
y have underestimated the ability of capitalism to adjust to the drawbacks point
ed out by Marx. As it is a famous saying that Marx saved capitalism by pointing to
its shortcomings.
:)
maestro said:
@all i was not able to answer the following question allotted to me
"Subjective perception of the objective reality prepares the context for the art
iculation of class antagonism." Evaluate this statement with reference of Karl M
arx's contribution.
Can someone throw light on it..how to approach the question.
It has to do with the "false consciousness" prevaling amongst the masses (proler
ariat in a capitalist soceity) with respect to the objective reality of the soci
ety,,which is their explotation by the capitalist class.
So,you can proceed answering this question by explaining the transition of worki
ng class from "class in itself" to"class for itself".
@all correct me if i am wrong
@ALL members of IR work group
please check the group folder for some announcement.
Thank you
Q. Give a critical review of Emile Durkheim Theory on Religion and Society.To wh
at extent does it explain the contemporary scenario in Asia.(04/1/3/60)
Durkheim considered religion as a reflection of an individual's relation with th
e society and nature.In his work "Totemism: The elementry form of the religion"
he explored the true nature of the religion in its simplist and purest form.
According to him,religion has a foothold in the reality of society. Religion is
itself mainfestation of the society.The religious objects,belief ,practices,myth
s occupies the sphere of sacred which elicit reverence from the members of the s
ociety. These reverence to sacred thing are nothing but paying homage to the soc
iety itself.Thus it is the society which prescribes to the believer the beliefs
and rites which he/she must observe.Hence the rites and beliefs are society crea
tion.Therefore the determining causes of religioious phenomena lies in the natur
e of the society.
By explaining the true nature of religion,Durkheim' theory demytified the relgio
n and through functional explanation of the Social fact it laid the foundation o
f the functionalist approach in sociology.Further his study not only opened new
vista in sociology but also inluenced the structural approach in Anthrology whic
h got reflected in works of Cloude Lewis Strauss.
However,his theory was also critisided on various grounds,
Firstly, the functional explanation of the relgion in social solidarity gets ref
uted in highly differential society where due to plurality of religion,it let to
conflict and endangers solidarity.
Secondly it was criticsed on the ground that it overemphasised social reality at
the expense of the individual consciousness. Individual conscousness was relega
ted to subordinate position as compared to the collective conscience.
Thirdly,the distinction between sacred and profane was considered faulty at empi
rical and conceptual level.It was not clear whether the relation between two is
of total hostility or complementary.the distinction was considered faulty in the
sense that it divided the whole social phenomena in two opposite category witho
ut taking account of a third category i.e mundane. Infact it was agrued that mos
t of the social phenomena belongs to this category instead of scared or profane.
Fouthly,Only the functional aspect of relgion was explored, its origin was not a
ccounted in the theory
Accordng to D's the change and evolution in religious beliefs and practices etc
in different forms result due to transformation taking place in the social organ
isation of a society in the course of the history.Therefore with the development
of science the sphere of the religion will shrink and the sphere of secular wil
l increased Earlier morality was considered as religious duty.but in modern time
s the secular morality will provide the basis for the moral order of society.
In the case of the contemporary Asian society,his theory provides only partial e
xplanation. As contended by Durkheim ,religion premeated in every aspect of the
social life of the earlier asian societies.But with modernisation the Asian soci
eties are reflecting a peculiar characteristic which is far from what was envisi
oned by Durkheim.In Asian societies,with modernisation religion is not vanishing
but reviving in the form of religious fundamentalism and revivialism reflected
in proliferation of new sects and cults.Shrinked in societial domain it is acqui
ring new roles in identity politics and Ideology protest.Thus these apects of th
e contempory asian societies are new which does not find its place in the Durkhe
im's Theory of Religion.
@ M 4 and M 5
Please post your answers for Karl Marx assignment
Thank You
@aman8770
The question which was assigned to me was of Stratification.So I was think of cl
ubbing that question with the assignment of Stratification after covering that u
nit. Is it fine if I answer that question with stratification assignment.
Q1. Write a short note on sacred and profane (keeping sociological perspective i
n mind.
Sacred and profane are central characteristic to Emile Durkheims interpretation o
f religion. Religion is the practice of maintaining distance between these two e
ntities Sacred refers to those collective and unified representations, which are
set apart, revered and are forbidden, whereas profane things are daily mundane
chores and individual concerns.
Sacred things are considered superior to profane things because they represent c
ollective beliefs. Sacred things are represented by symbols. These symbols are a
cknowledged and worshiped.
Durkheim said that these symbols actually represent society. Society is a comple
x realm and hence could not be visualized therefore they are represented by symb
ols. It is not the character, nature or quality of these symbols that make them
sacred but the associated collective values that command reverence.
Q4. Compare Karl Marx with Emile Durkheim with reference to the framework of div
ision of labour.
Emile Durkheim and Marx had analysed division of labour in industrial societies
and in doing so both have remained loyal to their functionalist and conflict per
spectives respectively.
Durkheim viewed division of labour as a source of maintaining organic solidarity
in modern industrial societies. These specialized and differentiated divisions
of labour reinforce solidarity as they negate competition in a resource scarce s
ociety. Division of labour is a process through which society moves from mechani
cal solidarity to organic solidarity. In mechanical societies collectivity is ma
intained through religious commitment but in organic society division of labour
helps individuals to cooperate and coexist.
As per Durkheim for division of labour to perform its integrative functions effe
ctively, its pathological forms have to be removed. It is possible by making wor
kers conscious of their role in society.
Marx has viewed division of labour as the most appropriate tool in capitalistic
societies to maximize profit. It is based on exploitation of worker by capitalis
t and not on cooperation. There is inherent conflict of interest between laboure
rs and owners. Workers do not chose this but do this in return of minimal wage t
o earn their livelihood. The result of this is self-alienation of workers, a sit
uation in which the creations of man appear alien to him and man loses himself i
n the object.
According to Marx, solution to this oppressive structure is possible through rad
ical revolution leading to replacement of capitalism by socialism that would lib
erate labourers from the shackles of alienation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------
Q.no 11 Examine the nature of social facts as understood by Durkheim
Social facts,which he refers to in "Rules of Sociological methods", was the basi
c building block in the studies of Durkheim.As a positivist Durkheim emphasized
on those aspects of society that could be objectively observed and investigated.
In the same breath he asserts that "social facts as the thing that sociologists
should be concerned with. He argues that society has a reality of its own which
is over and above the individuals who comprise it and this constitute the social
facts.
According to durkheim social facts should be treated as things and these are "ex
ternal to" and "coercive of" the actors in the society.They are external in the
sense that individuals have no control over them.They are a structure of the soc
iety,which in order to bring order to it constraints the behaviour of the indivi
duals by its "coercive" nature.
Although , Durkheim views them as "external to" the individual but in strict lit
eral sense many of the soial facts enumerated by are not. Here, he goes on to fu
rther divide them in two parts "material" and "non-material" social facts.Materi
al social facts (Church, state etc) are directly observable and hence are simple
r of the two. However, the heart of society lies in the "non-material" social fa
cts (belief,customs,norms, values etc).These social facts are entirely external
to the mental activity of the actors but they have a reality of their own which
individuals are unable to control.
Durkheim has even drawn a biological analogy of society(organism),with the socia
l facts such as collective cosnscience , collective representation (organs) perf
orming the important functions of the society. With Collective conscience , soci
ety keeps individuals from acting only selfishly ,thus achieving the social orde
r and integration that society needs for proper functioning.
@All
Topic Max Weber
M 1 Q NO 4,6
M 2 Q NO 7,9
M 3 Q NO 10,12
M 4 Q NO 13,14
M 5 Q NO 15,17
M 6 Q NO 21,22
I think it will cover everything of Weber as members wanted.
Also find my answers of Durkheim in the attachment to open it please visit group
folder.
Thank you

@aman8770 @horizon_21 @preeti27 @vayam @maestro -
Where are you people?
Activity has ceased.
:)
@All
I am also feeling the same thing..
Is there any issue or because of tedious assignment work it is happening and if
it is so we will stick to one question schedule as planned earlier. we just need
to write at least one answer a day for writing practice and that was the whole
purpose.
So if any issue is there please come forward as this exercise shouldn't stop at
any cost.
Thank you
Busy with the IR thing
I have 1 question of Durkheim and 2 of Weber left , ll submit them by today even
ing
Me too.
I know one question a day is a better idea.
And @aman8770 -
1) let's keep posting our answers here itself.
2) when's the IR deadline? I don't seem to be meeting any
:)
@aman8770 The way my notes are building up , I think it's going to be more than
70 pages for IR
@shkk
No issue involved in posting answers here it can be done if everybody wants it a
nd yes in any way you will be able to read it and will able to get compiled answ
ers as i am doing it on everyday basis.
Deadline for IR is tomorrow if you remember that and yes the work will be winded
up tomorrow itself without any further extension.
@vayam
No need to worry about that just finished it tomorrow and we will move on to the
next plan.
The new grand plan as i said will be executed even with the support of 1 member
and will be finished by 20th at any cost.
As we also need to study and able to write that so no point extending deadline.
Thank you
aman8770 said:
@shkk
No issue involved in posting answers here it can be done if everybody wants it a
nd yes in any way you will be able to read it and will able to get compiled answ
ers as i am doing it on everyday basis.
Deadline for IR is tomorrow if you remember that and yes the work will be winded
up tomorrow itself without any further extension.
@vayam
No need to worry about that just finished it tomorrow and we will move on to the
next plan.
The new grand plan as i said will be executed even with the support of 1 member
and will be finished by 20th at any cost.
As we also need to study and able to write that so no point extending deadline.
Thank you
What's the status of "GS project", have other members expressed their consent?
@ vayam
Yes including you we have become 4 members as per the consent expressed but let'
s see how many can sustain in the project work because i understand the kind of
work involved requires great commitment and the same can not be done by everybod
y.
13)Explain the origin and characteristics of bureaucracy according to Max Weber.
Illustrate the structural sources of dysfunctions of bureaucracy.
Weber is interested only in studying the legitimate sources of authority i.e Leg
al Rational Authority because he felt the illegitimate sources of authority will
become legitimate through the process of routinisation.Bureaucracy is the mediu
m through which rational-legal authority is carried out and Weber looked into va
rious forms of Bureacracy starting from Prussia to Britain to conclude that bure
aucracy is so vast that it is sociologically difficult to talk about functions a
nd dysfunctions of Bureacracy .Thus he took interest in the study of Legal-Ratio
nal Bureacracy in seperation to other forms of bureaucracy.
To study legal-rational bureaucracy,he constructs an ideal type and outlined the
characteristics of bureaucracy as following:
1)Hierarchy of officials in authority i.e there is a firmly built structure of s
ubordination and superordination.The advantage of this system is that governed p
eople can express their dissatisfaction
with lower officials by appealing to the higher ones.
2)The management of the bureaucratic office is carried out through
written documents or files.
3)The work in the bureaucratic office is highly specialised and staff is
trained accordingly.
4)There is proper Division of Labour to each individual and authority is attache
d to the position and not the person holding it.
5)Bureaucratic appointments are not made on basis of personal affiliation or emo
tional guidelines rather in a legally approved manner based on achievements.
6)Impartiality, commitment to law and efficient rational dispensation of duties
are the hallmark of bureaucratic values.
So according to Weber, Bureaucracy as an organisation is extremely instrumental
in inducing work culture,efficiency into modern society.
The dysfunctions of bureaucracy:
R.K.Merton in his theory of bureaucratic structure and personality advocates tha
t the role of bureaucracy can be functional,non-functional and dysfunctional whi
ch need to be studies in time and space using comparitive method. He gave the ex
ample of US bureaucracy(1960) which is incompetent and corrupt.But he said burea
ucratic corruption was functional for few as it saves a lot of time and energy.
Bureaucracy sufficiently provides scope for growth of personality cult. Eg:Kiran
Bedi.
In bureaucracy,by excessive focus on rules and regulations while performing the
job,the means become the end.
Bureaucracy glorifies patriarchial values and it is a system which glorifies con
centration of power and status in society.
As Weber develops bureaucracy as an ideal type and not just a theory ,so it it b
ound to have defects which were given as critsisms. Thus his theory of bureaucra
cy has offered sociology a methodology to study bureaucracy from an interpretati
ve and understanding perspective.
@All Shall we postpone today's assignment till tomorrow so that everybody will c
omplete Weber's asg..or shall i assign the questions for Parson(only one questio
n per person though). Till Durkeim assignment ,apart from one or two answers all
are done with ,only Weber is pending. Take a final call guys...
@all
As Durkheim assignment is also pending only 8 out of 13 questions are answered s
o the demand seems to be appropriate as still 5 question need to be answered in
Durkheim and almost the whole of Weber.
So guys complete Durkheim and Weber first no new assignment for today but it doe
s not mean that we should start relaxing as in those who have not posted answers
for Durkheim please post it and those who have done it please do post your answ
er for Weber.
Also check group folder for compiled answers till Durkheim.
Thank you
Q.17 Write short note on :Authority
Weber analyzed the authority structure in the similar manner as of ideal type co
nstruct of Social Action.According to Weber,power is a relational concept.In con
text of social relations power can be defined as the chance of a man or group to
realise their own will in a communal action even against the resistance of thos
e who are participating in the action.When power became institutionalized and co
mes to be accepted as legitimate by those on whom it is being exercised it is te
rmed as Authority.
Elements of authority :
* An individual or group of ruler/master
* An individual/group that is ruled
* will of ruler expressed through commands
*evidence of influence of ruler in the form of compliance or obedience shown by
ruled
*direct or indirect evidence of ruled internalization of ruler authority.
therefore authority implies a reciprocal relationship between ruler and ruled.
Type of Authority :
Traditional authority
Charismatic authority
Rational legal authority
@all
social fact has been covered by @vayam..so I will be leaving that....weber wala
kal karke dete hain...
nd one question is good idea atleast for me
as my condn is already pathetic in GS so nt getting enough time..
Q14 Write short Note :Gemeinschaft and Gesselschaft type of communities.
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft are categories which were coined by the German soc
iologist Ferdinand Tnnies in order to categorize social ties into two dichotomous
sociological types.
According to Tonnies,all social relations are creation of human will,which is of
2 types i.e essential will and rational will.essential will is basic instinctiv
e organic tendencies whereas rational will represents the deliberate,purposive f
orm of volition.
These two mode of will explain the existence of two basic type of social groups.
Gemeinschaft which is based on Essential will is more similar to community where
relationship is a value in itself whereas Gesellschaft which is based on ration
al will is similar to association which is a instrument to achieve a definte goa
l.
For tonnies these groups also represent the stages of evolution whereby Gemeinsc
haft will over time give way to Gesellschaft.Through his work Tonnies contribute
d in introducing a subjective typology of social groups and this concept was sub
sequently modified and used by other sociologist such as in Durkheim's Theory of
DOL and used by parsons in explaining pattern variables.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------
Write short note on Anomie
Durkheim in all his works on society was very concerned social integration of th
e individual in the society , and here he talks of "common morality" being the c
ontributing factor.
Individuals are said to be confronted with "Anomie" when they face less "moral c
onstraints", or they find difficulty in deciding between what is good or bad, wh
at is proper and improper in the society.In his work ,"Division of labour" , the
division in the labour leads to "cohesion" and in turn compensating for the "co
mmon morality". But, he also contends that in exceptional circumstances, individ
uals are isolted from the society in their highly "specialised activities" leadi
ng to "anomie"
Durkheim in his highly talked about work "suicide" has developed a concept of an
omie too. According to him "anomiec suicide" takes place, when there is very les
s "collective morality" in the society and this manifests in the form of insuffi
cient "external regulation" on the individuals of the society.
@aman8770 pl include the answer in the group uploads.
14. Critically examine the role of formal and informal structures of bureaucracy
in economic and social reconstruction of the developing societies.
Bureaucracy was considered as the most rational organisational form which carrie
d legitimacy from the people. Weber contends that as social structure becomes mo
re complex, people turn away from policies based on tradition, customs, emotions
, and personal values to policies based on efficiency and rationality. The forma
l organizational structure is a structure in which all roles are specifically de
fined. Formal structures are typically detailed in writing, leaving little room
for interpretation. The informal organizational structure consists of the social
structure of the organization, including the corporate culture, behaviors, inte
ractions and social connections that occur within an organization. Many organiza
tions have both a formal, written structure and a more informal, cultural struct
ure.Bernard has found that presence of an informal structure is inevitable in an
organisation and the management should make maximum use of it to further the go
als of the organisation in an efficient manner.
Most of the developing societies being colonial countries have adopted bureaucra
tic form of organisation for implementation of social and economic goals of the
government which proved fatal over a period of time because formal structure of
bureaucracy was not more concerned with rules and regulations compared to comple
tion of goals which gave rise to large scale corruption in the organisation. Geo
rge Ritzer maintains that the organizational features of the fast food industry
have gradually seeped into many aspects of human social life. He describes this
process as the McDonaldization of Society.Much of life in modern society is "sta
ndardized."
Bureaucracies do not do a very good job handling unusual situations. A peculiar
characteristic of formal organization is the creation of informal patterns of co
mmunication within the formal organization. The informal network helps in organi
zational coherence when the organization encounters unusual situations. In fact,
informal interaction within a bureaucracy actually makes the bureaucracy more e
fficient! Sometimes the informal networks become more important than the formal
organization. Often formal rules are "bent" to adjust to "real" situations. Info
rmal interaction may become necessary because the formal organization becomes in
efficient and cannot perform its assigned tasks especially in developing societi
es which are aiming for rapid socio-economic development.

Guys this is bad...Please complete the sociology assignment asap and post the an
swers...we have to move on..still a long way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!
maestro said:
Guys this is bad...Please complete the sociology assignment asap and post the an
swers...we have to move on..still a long way to go!!!!!!!!!!!!
True brother a long long way infact! .Once I complete the IR thing(which is almo
st over), I will upload my answers by tonight
Thanked by 1maestro
Thanx for the submission of IR work guys those who have not submitted please sub
mit it ASAP.
Thank You
Thanked by 1maestro
Q4. Define Ideal type and webers concept of verstehen for understanding social ph
enomena.
Weber was concerned with the problem of objectivity in social sciences. Therefor
e he developed Ideal type as a methodological tool to understand, scrutinize and a
nalyze social reality in an objective manner.
Ideal type is a mental construct, a model. It is like an intelligent entity cons
tructed by selecting a certain number of distinct and relevant traits from the w
hole set of traits, which otherwise could be obscure and confusing. This entity
act as a benchmark and any deviation from this unfolds reality. Thus, this tool
helps in comparative analysis, empirical researches and reaching general proposi
tions.
Weber has defined sociology as study of social actions or say social phenomena.
Action is social only when it considers other members of society. Therefore to u
nderstand an action, one needs to understand the meanings and motives given by a
ctor to the actions. According to Weber, this is possible through Verstehen i.e. i
magining yourself in the persons position whose behavior one needs to explain. He
defined two types of verstehen. They are:
a. Aktuelles verstehen i.e. direct observational understanding,
b. Erklarendes verstehen , explanatory understanding.
A complete understanding of social action requires a co-ordinated understanding
of both. Weber believed action's reality lie in the subjective motives an actor
attaches to the action. Therefore to explain causality of action, first understa
nd the motive which is possible through verstehen.
Q6. Using Max Webers theory, discuss what ethical and religious ideas produced ca
pitalism in certain societies and how?
Weber believed that religion prescribes certain guidelines and people orient the
ir behavior in accordance with these guidelines. Religion produces ideas, belief
s and principles which are observed by people in all spheres of life. Weber thou
ght that religion must have some bearing on economic activities of people.
It is in this context, he has analyzed the rise of capitalism in protestant soci
eties and role of Calvinist ethics in it. He said that economic activity and acq
uiring wealth was always a part of human society but the disciplined, efficient
and organized form of modern capitalism is inexplicable in this setting. The cap
italist desire for wealth was not for recreation or luxury, rather money was des
ired for making more money. Workers worked hard because they considered work an
end in itself which carried intrinsic rewards. Weber believed that this capitali
st spirit has its roots in the protestant ethics, which encouraged people to acc
umulate unlimited wealth.
Weber observed that in the west it was mostly Calvinist (a sect with protestant
ideology) who had acquired wealth and made progress in education and employment.
He tried to relate the features of Calvinism with the rise of capitalism. The f
eatures of Calvinism are :
a. Image of God- Gods divine will is unknown and man cannot understand it,
b. Doctrine of pre-destination- certain people are chosen by god for heaven
and rest are damned, and to become chosen ones one has to work for glory of god
by prospering on earth.
c. Asceticism- To work for the glory of god, one must follow a disciplined,
simple and frugal lifestyle.
d. The notion of calling- all work is sacred and important and it is not mere
ly a work but a mission to be performed with devotion.
Thus Weber could establish relation between these ethical learning and its contr
ibution to capitalism. He understood that capitalism was not merely a result of
peoples desire for wealth but it was for the protestant ethic which motivates peo
ple to work hard and acquire wealth.
Next Assignment 4d. Talcott Parsons
M1 Q.2
M2 Q.13
M3 Q.7
M4 Q.5
M5 Q.14
M6 Q.21
Thank You
@all
Regarding IR project work till now no submission from @Shkk
Also @horizon_21 has submitted pdf copy and yet to answer my mail.
Other two have submitted word file.
What should i do ?
1.Member who have not submitted anything till now?
2.about pdf or word file.
Concern member please give your views or other wise i will publish as it is whic
h i have received with access to all members.
Thank you.
@ALL
I have uploaded the notes in IR folder.
After seeing the response of IR work i have decided not to work on Gs Plan in co
llaboration will better work alone.
Thank You.
21. In what respect do you think Webers conception of sociology differs from that
of Durkheim? Which one of the two more satisfactory? Substantiate.
In a bid to study Sociology scientifically, Durkheim developed the idea of Social
Facts, in his work Rules of Sociological Methods. Social facts were defined empiric
ally measurable(although not always) realities of society ,which he argued were e
xternal to and coercive of of the actors .These social facts included the simpler m
aterial social facts (church , state etc.) and theoretically more important non-
material social facts(beliefs, norms etc.) Durkheim viewed society to be having
a reality of its own, in the form of social facts, which were beyond control and
over and above the individual actors of the society; Individuals act and behave
in the society according to these social facts. Thus, it can be seen that Durkh
eim took a macro view of society, with the society acting from above on the indi
viduals.
Weber on the other hand, proposed the concept of social action, which can only be
studied of sociologist interpreted the meanings and motive given by the actors to
those social action. He believed social institutions were built by the actors no
t the other way around, thus taking the micro view of sociology. Further, the co
ncept of Ideal types was developed by Weber,which could be defined as formed by on
e-sided accentuation of one or more points of view. These models were to be used
heuristically, for explaining the causality of social phenomena. He also emphas
ized that these Ideal types were dynamic models and could change with changes happ
ening in the society and in the sociologists viewpoint.
Thus, it can be seen that Durkheims theory was stricter in its definitions and fo
rms than webers and Webers work was more complex than that of Durkheims. Durkheims t
heories were more relevant to the primitive societies, when the mechanical solida
rity was stronger than to the industrialist societies.
22. Attempt a comparative analysis of Weberian and Marxist theory of social chan
ge.Which do you think is more relevant to the Indian Society .Given reason to yo
ur answer.
Marxs works were heavily influenced by the socio-political conditions prevailing
curing his childhood, which was in the aftermath of French, American revolution.
Further, Marx got influenced by the social changes brought about by the Industr
ial revolution to the urban areas (poverty etc). Marx has theorized sociology in
historical stages, starting from the early primitive societies, to going to pre
dicting the future of humankind in the form of Communism. Marx had viewed social c
hanges occurring dialectically, due to the class conflicts. These changed may be
gradual or revolutionary e.g. Capitalism took over feudalism gradually with cha
nges in the mode of production and the concomitant class conflict. But he has vi
ewed Socialism to be taking over Capitalism revolutionarily, or with the sudden
overthrowing of the capitalist system by the socialist system. These changes wil
l take place when sufficient number of working class (proletariat) members becom
es class for itself to class in itself or when their false consciousness shatters and
realizes the objective reality, which is their exploitation by the Capitalists (Bo
urgeois).
On the contrary, Weber had little faith in the masses, as regards the social cha
nge in pursuit of a better and just society. Weber also saw little hope in the m
iddle classes, which were dominated by the petty bureaucrats. Weber had develope
d a model of Authority, in which he defined three types of authority: Rational, tr
aditional and charismatic. While rational model of authority was based of legal
law. etc , traditional on the grounds of traditionally accepted norms and values
, whereas the Charismatic authority was followed by the masses rests on the devot
ion of the followers in the sanctity, exemplary characters and sometimes superna
tural powers of the leader . It is the last type of authority that Weber associa
ted Social Change with. Charisma is a revolutionary force and it leads to changes i
n the mindset of the actors, subjective or internal reorientation. Such changes
may result in the radical alteration in the central attitudes and and direction
of action towards different problems of the world.
In the Indian context, it is webers model of Social change that we can find few e
xamples of e.g. Mahatma Gandhi, who with his charismatic authority and radically
new principals of non-violence, changed the general attitude of the people towa
rds oppression of the British empire. To site an example, he demonstrated great
will and used to go on hunger strike till-death alone, which hit heavily the min
dset of the masses. His principals are being again employed by leaders like anna
hazare to deal with problems of todays times. Marxist theory of social change ha
d shown the change of the capitalism to socialism, and India did not see a rise
in capitalist thoughts till recently. Although, capitalist thoughts and principa
ls were prevalent in the British Empires rule, but those were not as potent a for
ce as argued by Marx for the overthrow of the Empire or the Bourgeois.
one of Weber's question is pending on my side.That Question is of 60 marks and f
or it I need to do a little more research.That Question and Parson's one I will
submit by today evening.
@ALL
IR work of @shkk
and document on look east policy uploaded in the IR folder.
As it seems now everybody has done his part of work so change in attitude about
collaborative work but yes everybody has done notes making according to their un
derstanding which can be a hinderance for the group work so i have decided that
only mechanical work will be performed in the group if anything as in it will al
so take at least one week for everybody to do it alone and single full day if ev
erybody do it and then notes making will be a individual process suiting to the
needs of oneself.
Honestly speaking this is the plan should be done by everyone in the group as in
giving one day is worthy of this thing i have planned so please show your inten
t by sending messages.
Thank You
Thanked by 2Shkk pinky
@ALL
Sorry for not telling what i am doing
First of all it is the grand plan of GS will include paper 1 to paper 3
Second as a part of this exercise we will generate around 6000 pages the reason
being only mechanical work of copy pasting of articles will be done topic wise.
After this you can make out your own notes without searching for anything here a
nd there (can be done in around 500 pages)
And after this will be left with updating it regularly can be done giving just 3
0 minutes in a group or 3 hours alone.
You won't need any coaching notes after this as the coverage wise and depth wise
this will be the best possible notes any one can make.
I hope i am clear now.
Thank you
@All
please visit the group folder of sociology for detailed syllabus that is how we
need to catgorize our work
Thank you
@aman8770 -
How do you plan to move ahead?
What's the idea?
Where to look for it?
How to look for it?
Please provide a detailed description and a broader timeline.
Thanks.
:)
@ALL
Assignment of Talcott parsons will be submitted with R k Merton in night which c
an be assigned today by respective member the same previous page have full quest
ion list of R k Merton.
Also till Parsons will be compiled at the same time .
--------------------------------------------------------
A Zoroastrian Tapestry
The Zoroastrians are the followers of the Iranian Prophet Spitaman Zarathustra,
who lived in the Iranian homeland of Airyanem Vaejah c.1200 BCE. In the Tenth Ce
ntury CE, a small group of Zoroastrians originally from the province of Khorasan
landed onthe western coast of India and were given sanctuary by the Hindu king
Jadi Rana. In time, the Parsis, as they came to be known, settled in enclaves al
ong the western coast of India. They migrated to Bombay in the 17th Century at t
he invitation of the East India Company, where they prospered as agents of socia
l change. Exclusive extracts from a volume just published that gives a glimpse o
f the life and times of the Zoroastrian people in Iran and India as manifested i
n their art, religion and cul

Four corpse bearers, nasasalars, carry the body of a deceased on a bier to the T
owers of Silence. On the right are the gates through which the body is carried t
o its final resting place in the dakhma. Photograph courtesy: Jamshed Marzban ph
otographic archives.
Evolution of the Towers of Silence and their Significance
ZOROASTRIANISM as a religion and a way of life places an importance on maintaini
ng the sacredness of the creations and all natural elements. Pollution of the cr
eations is seen as an act of the Evil Spirit and man is enjoined in the sacred t
exts not to pollute or defile the creations of sky, water, earth, plant, animal,
man, and fire. In Zoroastrian doctrine, contact with any dead matter, specially
a corpse, causes defilement not just of the elements, but also of the body and
soul. Thus over the centuries, a method was evolved which reduced the time taken
for decomposition and the total disintegration of organic matter, as sought by
the religion.
It is generally acknowledged that the Indo-Iranians followed the practice of bur
ial. After the first millennium BCE, this was replaced by the exposure method, w
ith bones of the deceased being interred. The presence of astodans or ossuaries
in Central Asia and Eastern Iran attest to the earliest use of exposure as a pre
ferred mode for disposal of the corpse. In ancient times this was done by carryi
ng the body to a high hilltop, leaving it bare for nature's scavengers to feed o
n. The arms and legs were firmly clamped to the ground, to prevent the body from
being dragged towards any life-form, vegetation, water body or human settlement
s, lest they be defiled. The term, known in Pahlavi as Khurshed nigerishn, liter
ally means "beholding by the sun". This is still very much in practice today, fo
r it is believed that the sun path lead to heaven.
Zoroastrians believe that the sun, with its life-giving quality, has the powerfu
l effect of destroying pollutants and disintegrating the flesh.
After exposure to the sun and once the vultures have stripped the body of its fl
esh, the skeletal remains were collected and placed in stone ossuaries by the ea
rly Iranians and later laid within specially erected structures ...
Iranian royalty, however, followed a system of embalming the body and laying it
in a tomb chamber constructed on a free-standing stone plinth like that of Cyrus
' tomb, at Pasargadae, or cut into a rock face as seen at Takht-i Jamshed and Na
qsh-i Rustam. These were massive rock escarpments, which were cut into, to form
the final resting place of the kings of Iran ...
In Bombay, upon entering the complex, the first set of buildings one approaches
are the bunglis. These are single-storeyed buildings designed to reflect a domes
tic scale. There are usually three to four bunglis grouped together in a cluster
. Each bungli being a unit on its own allows one the privacy required during the
period of mourning and yet the clustering is symbolic of sympathy and an unders
tanding that others do share a similar loss. The bungli consists of a large hall
, a bedroom with an attached bathroom, kitchen facilities, and a dining room. In
addition, it incorporates a separate ritual bathing room with a stone platform
upon which the corpse is laid. It is here that the body is given a ritual bath w
ith well water and gaomez ...
* * *

The bunglis or pavilions at the Tower of Silence complex, Bombay. Here the corps
e is bathed in preparation for the rituals associated with death. The bungli has
rooms for mourners to reside for the first four days after death. Photograph co
urtesy: Parsiana
THE funeral ceremony (geh sarnu) is performed within the main hall of the bungli
. After the funeral ceremony, the body is carried on an iron bier on foot to the
tower, by an even number of corpse bearers (nasasalars). The two officiating pr
iests lead the procession of family and friends, all walking, in pairs to mainta
in ritual contact (paiwand), towards the tower, to pay their last respects to th
e deceased. Only Zoroastrians are permitted to participate in this ritual proces
sion. The approach to the tower is from a small clearing, usually within dense v
egetation. Here on a marble platform, the body is placed for the final sagdid ri
tual, after which the corpse bearers carry the corpse into the tower.
The bungli is a fairly recent addition to the Doongerwadi complex, having been i
nstituted as late as the 1920s, in Bombay. Prior to this, the Parsis had a room,
or part of the house set aside for ceremonies related to the afterlife. For the
poor, a house in each residential area was exclusively set aside for the same p
urpose. This was known as a nasa-khana, the house for receiving dead bodies.
With the expansion of cities, it became increasingly difficult to carry the body
for long distances on foot to the site of a tower, while still maintaining laws
of ritual purity. With the onset of high-rise structures, the requirement of ha
ving to perform all ceremonies on the ground floor, was difficult to conform to,
and it became ...
* * *
Since it is essential to sustain birds of prey in the functioning of the Towers
of Silence, it becomes important in urban areas to maintain densely forested lan
d. In India, the dense foliage associated with the Doongerwadi complex creates a
n atmosphere of serenity and tranquillity, affording the mourner the comfort of
silence that nature proffers . The mandatory stay of four days at the complex pe
rmits one to come to terms with the loss of a loved one, without having to conce
rn oneself with daily affairs. The precise design and structure of a Zoroastrian
dakhma amply prevents pollution or any dead matter from afflicting the Good Cre
ations of Ahura Mazda and is also symbolic of the triumph of Good over Evil.
* * *
Protecting the physical world Death, the negation of life

The sacred fire in the inner sanctum of the Bhika Behram Atash Kadeh in Tehran.
The three-legged metal stand near the fire vase holds the wood offerings, tong a
nd flat ladle, used during the fire service. According to the practice followed
in Iran, an oil lamp is also kept burning in the inner sanctum. Photograph: Khoj
este Mistree.
DEATH, in Zoroastrianism, is seen as the temporary triumph of the Evil Spirit Ah
riman whose inherent nature, according to the Good Religion, is to cause destruc
tion in the physical world.
In the Greater Bundahishn, it is stated: "Thereupon, the evil spirit spoke: `I s
hall not bring help unto thy creatures, nor shall I offer praise; I will (rather
) destroy (Thee) and Thy creatures too, upto eternity... ' " Kotwal and Boyd def
ine evil as being distinct from the Good Spirit.
"In the personalised language of Zoroastrian theology, this source is called the
hostile spirit, Angra Mainyu, who is by nature `full of death' (Av. pouru.mahrk
a-) and through his demonic hordes seeks to destroy the divine order." In anothe
r Pahlavi text, it is stated: "Smitten decayed... defeated and cursed may he be,
the accursed Destructive Spirit not knowing... and full of death."
Death, the negation of life, is the maleficent work of the corpse demon (nasu),
who, "... owing to its violence when it becomes triumphant over the life of the
righteous man, ... and puts itself into the place of the body, that body is then
, for that reason, called nasai (`dead matter')."
It is for this reason, that Zoroastrianism demands of its adherents, a strict re
ligious protocol for the disposal of the dead. Hence, cremation of the body is s
een as an un-Zoroastrian act as it desecrates the fire. Burying the body, is see
n as defiling the earth and drowning the body, is deemed to sully the waters. In
the absence of a dakhma, burial as a mode of disposal has been in use.
However, precautions are taken to prevent contact of the body with mother earth.
As Zoroastrianism lays great emphasis on the laws of purity and the sacredness o
f the seven creations, the preferred disposal mode, as per the sacred texts is t
hat of exposure. The corpse is placed in a tall circular tower called a dakhma (
Tower of Silence), and exposed to the sky. Vultures and other birds of prey devo
ur the body quickly and efficiently.
This method of disposal is seen as an egalitarian gesture. Whether one is rich o
r poor, the disposal method is exactly the same. In the absence of birds of prey
the body continues to be exposed to the cleansing rays of the sun (Per. Khurshe
d nigerishn) which are powerful enough to swiftly dry and decompose the corpse a
nd the bones are swept into the central well of the dakhma...
* * *

A Zoroastrian priest prays before the tables set with muktad vases. Each vase is
in memory of a deceased member of the family. Photograph: Homyar Mistry, Homz P
rints.
HOWEVER, the soul of every Zoroastrian goes through the process of judgement at
the "Bridge of the Separator" (Av. Chinvato Peretav). By the measure of its good
thoughts, words and deeds outweighing its bad thoughts, words and deeds, the so
ul is drawn to the "House of Song" (Av. Garo-demana). If the soul is responsible
for greater evil than good, it relegates itself to the "House of Deceit" (Av. D
rujo-demana). "Heavenliness shall be the future possession of him who shall come
to a truthful person (now). (But) a long lifetime of darkness, foul food, the w
ord woe... lead you, ye deceitful ones."
The after-life ceremonies reflect the doctrinal principals of the faith and the
laws of purity are strictly adhered to, as any form of impurity is allied to the
Evil Spirit. Hence, after the ritual bath (Guj. sachkar) is administered to the
corpse, no person, except the nasalars (corpse-bearers) are allowed to touch th
e corpse for reasons of ritual contamination. All the prayers and rituals are ge
ared and directed to keep at bay the corpse demon, which attacks the body. The b
ody is placed upon three flat stone slabs, for the funeral ceremony, and a recta
ngular shallow line of sand is laid around it to cordon it off, ritually from th
e living attending the funeral ceremony.
The funeral ceremony in Gujarati is known as the geh sarnu, and is accompanied b
y the chanting of the Gathas. When the Ahunavaiti Gatha is recited, two priests
in paiwand, that is, connected to each other by a white strip of cloth, stand th
ree paces away from the corpse. The two nasasalars, who sit near the body, are a
lso in paiwand, connected to each other, by an old kusti held in their hands. Th
is connection is important as the ritual strength of two human beings is deemed
to be greater than the pollution and contamination of the demons who are said to
surround the body and cause it to putrefy.
Halfway through the ritual at Yasna 31.4, a special dog is brought to cast its `
sensing' eyes upon the corpse. This part of the ceremony is known in Persian as
the sagdid (being seen by a dog). These dogs are specially kept at the Towers of
Silence complex and are chosen for ritual use, as they have two identical marks
(seen as eyes) above their actual eyes. This is said to give them the added str
ength to ward off...
The soul of a Zoroastrian, is judged at the Bridge of the Separator, at the dawn
of the fourth morning after death. The fate of the soul is decided depending up
on the life it has led in this world weighed by all the good and bad, thoughts w
ords, and deeds. The conscience (Av. Daena) comes in the form of a beautiful mai
den to greet the soul, if it is potentially good, or the conscience comes in the
form of an old and ugly hag if the soul is judged to be potentially wicked. The
dualistic paradigm is amply reflected in the spiritual world, for the righteous
soul glides into the "House of Song," while the wicked soul falls into the abys
s of hell, "House of Deceit."
The soul is said to remain in either heaven or hell ... .
* * *

The well in the prayer room. A fire is kept burning in the small brazier on the
left during the funeral ceremonies. Candles are left as votive offerings along w
ith herbs, freshly fried siroog and sprigs of the cypress tree. Photograph: Firo
za Punthakey Mistree.
AFTER this, the saoshyant (messiah) will appear and the Last Judgment followed b
y the Resurrection will take place, when the physical world will be restored to
a perfect state. As Zoroastrian eschatology promotes the belief in a universal r
esurrection, there is no place for the theory of reincarnation, which is incompa
tible with the beliefs and practices of the Zoroastrian tradition.
Every year, the souls and spirits of the departed Zoroastrians are invited back
for a 10-day festival. (Av. Hamaspathmaedaya, Guj. Muktad) which immediately pre
cedes the Zoroastrian New Year . A room in the fire temple or at home is set asi
de for the muktad ceremony, in which tables with vases of flowers are placed. A
fire is kept burning for all 10 days of the festival and special food is cooked
for ritual use. For the first five days, the yasna ceremony in honour of the Yaz
atas Srosh and Ardafravash is performed together with the baj of Srosh and Ardaf
ravash. During the last five days of the year, known as the Gatha days, the Gath
as are recited. During muktads, the stum, baj, darun, myazd, farokshi and afrina
gan ceremonies associated with the soul of the dead are performed with regularit
y . It is believed that the fravashis of the dead rejoice in this celebration an
d for 10 days are said to come down to earth to participate in the ceremonies pe
rformed in their honour: "We worship the good, strong, beneficent fravashis of t
he righteous who come flying along from their home at the time of Hamaspathmaeda
ya (Muktads); ... for 10 nights desiring to know this: "Who will praise us, ...
who will acknowledge us with hands outstretched holding meat the clothing with a
sha-attaining worship'?" On the tenth day the fravashis are ritually sent back i
nto the spiritual world and the vases are emptied and inverted to signify the en
d of the festival. The tenth day is also known as Pateti. It is the last day of
the Zoroastrian year and is a day set aside for the repentance of sins. The next
day is celebrated as the Parsi New Year. The muktads are performed in honour of
the dead for at least one generation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------
Government must focus on the number of books read, says Manmohan Singh on the 10
0 years of OUP
Noting that there was great hunger for knowledge in our country', Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said our people, particularly our youth, must have a
ccess to quality books.
Speaking at a function here organised to mark 100 years of Oxford University Pre
ss, Dr. Singh said while publishing houses may worry more about the number of bo
oks sold, the Government must focus on the number of books read.
The challenge for us is to widen the population of readers, not just the market f
or books. It is with this objective in mind that we recently commissioned a Nati
onal Mission for Libraries, anchored in our Ministry of Culture. The Mission wil
l focus on improvement of the public library system of the country, particularly
concentrating on the States where library development is lagging behind.
Dr. Singh said the National Mission for Libraries hopes to cover about 9,000 lib
raries in three years. It will conduct a national census on libraries, work towar
ds upgradation of infrastructure of reading resources and seek to modernise and
promote the networking of libraries.
The Prime Minister urged every State Government, Municipality and Panchayat to p
ay special attention to the setting up and maintenance of public libraries, incl
uding community, locality and village libraries. The mission that I have been tal
king about cannot succeed through governmental effort alone. We have to rope in
resources available in the community, private sector and non-government organisa
tions. Affordable modern information technology can be deployed today to extend
the resources of our libraries. A young reader sitting in his village public lib
rary should be able to access books and information from across the world.
Pointing out that OUP has provided a window to the entire range of intellectual
opinion in the country, Dr. Singh said: I wish to take note of two particular ini
tiatives. The first is the effort of the OUP in publishing bilingual dictionarie
s in Indian languages such as Hindi, Bengali, Tamil and Marathi. The other is OU
P's translations programme through which 100 titles, including a number of antho
logies of Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam Dalit and Tamil Dalit writing, have been publ
ished.
OUP Managing Director Manzar Khan said: With the demand for educational materials
growing, OUP India is equally determined to provide the best educational produc
ts along with innovative digital solutions for teachers and students to facilita
te learning.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
21. What is social action? What is its place in the analytical frameworks of Max W
eber and Talcott Parsons?
Social action, as a concept was first developed by Max Weber, in fact his entire s
ociology, if taken on the face value, was based on his conception of social acti
on. He differentiated between action and purely reactive behaviour. The reactive
behavior is a response of the actor to a stimulus without giving any thought pr
ocess attached to it, whereas a social action was an based on a thought process
(and the meaningful action). Weber says, an action becomes social when it takes
into account the reactions of the other members of the society and Sociologists
should be concerned with interpretation of the meanings given by the actors to the
ir actions. It was further proposed that for understanding the meanings and motives
could be achieved through Verstehen, that is imagining yourself in the position of
the person you were seeking to explain. Weber has used the ideal type methodolo
gy to clarify the meaning of actions.
i)Means-end rationality : Actions determined by the expectations of the objects
in the environment and of other human beings; these expectations are used as mean
s and conditions for attainment of actors own rationally pursued and calculated ends
.
ii)Value rationality: Actions determined by a conscious belief in the value for
its own sake of some ethical, aesthetic,religious or other forms of behavior , i
ndependently of if its prospects of success.
iii)Affectual action: Action based on the emotional state of the individual(was
his little concern, as it could be called a reactive response)
iv)Traditional action: determined by actors habitual and customary ways of behavi
ng (was of far greater concern to Weber)
Although, Weber had started with his emphasis on social action, but it has been
argued by C.Wright Mills that he actually paid little attention to the mental pr
ocess. However, the work of Weber laid foundation for the development of theorie
s of individuals and their behavior-symbolic interactionism, ethnomethodology an
d so forth, within the realm of sociology.
Talcott Parsons, took the work of weber and combined it Durkheims and Freuds to ma
ke his grand theory of pattern variables. Social action, to him was not specifical
ly shaped by subjective meanings, as propounded by Weber. He took the normative ap
proach to it and argued that meanings can be known by cultural norms and here he
approach was getting closer to Durkheims.
On the basis of his normative approach he proposed 5 pattern variables, which sh
aped the social action of the individuals and in this way, how these values of l
ead to evolution of the society:
Pattern variables A -----------------------------------------------Pattern varia
bles B
Ascription (ascribed status)---------------------------------------Achievement(s
tatus is achieved)
Diffuseness(Relationships with other serving many needs)-----Specificity (Servin
g particular needs)
Particylarism(different behaviour to different behaviour)-------Universalism(sim
ilar behaviour)
Affectivity(Immediate gratification)------------------------------Effective neau
trality(Differed gratification)
Collective orientation(Groups interest before individuals)------Self orientation(I
ndividual first)
So, Parsons moved from Voluntarism of social action to cultural determinism. But,as he
was a structural functionalist, he further refined his analysis and proposed th
e AGIL schema, as to how the society on the whole was able to achieve social equi
librium or a state of social stability.
Here, four kinds of functional prerequisite we proposed by him, about which the
social action of the individuals were shaped and which helped in achieving the s
tate of social equilibrium .
i)Adaptation- Adaptability of the social system with the environment
ii)Goal attainment- System gets goal oriented
iii)Integration- Integration of the subsystems with each other and the system.
iv)Latency (Pattern maintenance)-This is achieved by way of socialization by fam
ily, religion also plays a key part.
So, it can be seen that Social action was subjected to Subjective meanings of the in
dividuals to Weber, whereas Parsons, developed a full-fledged structural-functio
nal perspective around the concept of social action.
16. What does R.K.Merton admit mean when he admits that not everything works out
for the best for everyone in the society? What is his improvement on functional
theory?
R.K.Merton was a functionalist, but rather took the critical view of the assumpt
ion of the functionalists, that every subsystem or institution in the society is
functional or works for the orderliness in the society and hence is good for the
society, only in order to refine and improve functionalism. Merton was critical
of functionalists before him on three fronts:
i) Functional Unity: Any part of the social system was functional for the entire s
ystem; all the parts of the social system seem to work together for the maintena
nce and integration of society. He critised this assumption and cited the exampl
e of religious pluralism as a case in point.
He remarked that functional unity was a matter of extent and fuicntionlists should
not set out with this assumption. One should test the utility of the subsystem
then come to any conclusion
ii)Function, Dysfunction and Non-function: The postulate of universal functionalism, w
ch stated that all the systems are functional for the system. He critised the assu
mption as exhorted that some of the systems may be functional, dysfunctional or non
functional for the society; Units for which the system was functional must be emp
hasized as in , which unit of the society is getting befitted from the system e.g
. Poverty it was dysfunctional for the poor but functional for the rich and the
society. He
iii) Indispensability: He criticized the indispensability of certain social inst
itutions and subsystems as in they were indispensable for the society. He questi
oned the indispensability of institutions like religion, whose function could ha
ve been served by communism.
So, as is evident, he tried to remove the ideological bias of functionalists and e
mphasized that the function of the system and subsystems should be evaluated in te
rms of effects and consequences for the units e.g. individuals and groups as well as
for the society
Allotments for today
M1. Q.no. 1 (of Mead-4f)
Kinship system
M2. Q.no. 1
M3. Qno. 2
M4: Q.no. 4
M5: Q.no. 8
M6: Q.no. 12
@all pl finish the all the pending answers by tomorrow evening. No slippages fro
m now on please.
@VIN5589 if you want to be a part of the group, you may attempt Q.no. 16
mini said:
@ All
I am not getting sociology q bank by vishal publications,I searched on several o
nline stores but did not get it please provide the link of store where its avail
able
Thanks
It's available here
www.jawahar-book-centre.com , but they are late in delivering
Cyrus_ACyrus_A September 2013
Critically analyse the contributions of G. H. Mead to 'symbolic interactionism'
? (10/I/4a/30)
G.H. Mead was the founder of pragmatism and pioneered in the development of symb
olic interaction a major framework of sociological theory . This perspective rel
ies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of
social interaction , though it can be traced it's origin to Max Weber assertions
that individual act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their w
orld .
Symbolic Interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanin
gs that people impose on objects , events and behaviors . Subjective meanings ar
e given primacy because it's believe that people behave based on what they want
to believe rather than what's is objectively true . Thus , society is thought to
be socially constructed through human interpretation . People interpret one ano
ther behavior and it is these interpretations that from the social bond . These
interpretation are called definition of situation For example, why would young pe
ople smoke cigarettes even when all objective medical evidence points to the dan
gers of doing so? The answer is in the definition of the situation that people c
reate. Studies find that teenagers are well informed about the risks of tobacco,
but they also think that smoking is cool, that they themselves will be safe fro
m harm, and that smoking projects a positive image to their peers. So, the symbo
lic meaning of smoking overrides that actual facts regarding smoking and risk.
@ALL
All the group member who become dormant to answer writing
Please see simple calculation and analyse what i am saying honestly
This exercise will not go further than 30 to 35 days if we regularly keep answer
ing the questions
Now you people may be busy with GS so let me become very frank
It do not take 1 to max 1.5 hour to answer depending upon number and difficulty
of question
Now you save 30*1.5=45 hours by not doing it and will devote it to GS.
So 45 hours of GS=Return of 10 to 15 marks if you are lucky and gets question fr
om what you read that too directly (Honestly speaking in GS you can not guarante
e this much also given the trend of UPSC)
and 45 hours of optional=No need to say has a potential to give you 25 to 35 mar
ks as you will revising and answer writing on regular basis
I am not saying don't read GS what i am saying don't ignore optional where you c
an go up to 60% which is almost impossible in any GS paper so guys decide yourse
lf it doesn't take much to answer single question a day.
Thank You
Thanked by 2Shkk Cyrus_A
@All
New people who had shown interest here of GS The Hindu work please drop a messag
e containing your email ID in my forumias inbox.
Also i request my group members to see my post at my another thread as in it wil
l not take more than 2 hour if done in a group and yes the group will not be a l
arge one but a limited membership people.So if anybody wants to join message me
.
Thank You
Cyrus_A said:
Critically analyse the contributions of G. H. Mead to 'symbolic interactionism'
? (10/I/4a/30)
G.H. Mead was the founder of pragmatism and pioneered in the development of symb
olic interaction a major framework of sociological theory . This perspective rel
ies on the symbolic meaning that people develop and rely upon in the process of
social interaction , though it can be traced it's origin to Max Weber assertions
that individual act according to their interpretation of the meaning of their w
orld .
Symbolic Interaction theory analyzes society by addressing the subjective meanin
gs that people impose on objects , events and behaviors . Subjective meanings ar
e given primacy because it's believe that people behave based on what they want
to believe rather than what's is objectively true . Thus , society is thought to
be socially constructed through human interpretation . People interpret one ano
ther behavior and it is these interpretations that from the social bond . These
interpretation are called definition of situation For example, why would young pe
ople smoke cigarettes even when all objective medical evidence points to the dan
gers of doing so? The answer is in the definition of the situation that people c
reate. Studies find that teenagers are well informed about the risks of tobacco,
but they also think that smoking is cool, that they themselves will be safe fro
m harm, and that smoking projects a positive image to their peers. So, the symbo
lic meaning of smoking overrides that actual facts regarding smoking and risk.
do you want to be a part of this answer writing exercise? If yes, then you will
have to write the answers regularly , for which allotments are done almost every
day.
@preeti27 @horizon_21 @maestro @shkk . Guys what has happened to everyone? The e
ntire activity has come to a halt. Kindly, submit your respective pending answer
s... asap
Thank you
@vayam
i will contribute to this thread
@Cyrus_A
As M 1 has gone outstation so @Cyrus_A
will do M 1 assignment.
Thank you
@Cyrus_A Also, it will be your turn to allocate the questions for the next assig
nment
1 question per member
Thank you
shivarajushivaraju September 2013
guys please help me ..i wanna be a part of this activity badly..but i havent yet
started sociology..started my prep from mid july for 14. i have cn shankar rao
texts..please guide me so that i can be a part of this activity as soon as possi
ble..
Q NO 2 Show how family is distinct from household.
In simple terms family is based on the principles of kinship whose members usual
ly share a common residence. The residential unit of which is known as household
. Alternatively Household can be defined as a residential and domestic unit comp
osed of one or more person living under the same roof and eating food cooked in
the same kitchen.
Thus household is a commensal and co resident group and can be differentiated by
family on the basis of kin and residence rules.
Now as the family is universal so is the household .Under the forces of moderniz
ation family is going under societal and structural changes and it is becoming i
ncreasingly difficult to differentiate family from household.
Sociologist like shah study this as developmental cycle where a household goes u
nder progression/regression on the basis of birth, marriage and death, divorce a
nd separation of members over a period of time thus becomes a kind of family. Th
us per se household is neither joint nor nuclear family but become either of the
se by virtue of its progression and regression.
Feminist sociologist on the other hand refuse to accept the notion of family and
see it as the product of patriarchy thus give credence to household.
In case of Indian society industrialization, urbanization has brought structural
changes in the joint family system and given rise to household in place of nucl
ear family.
Thus it is said that family should be studied from household perspective to unde
rstand its dynamics going beyond joint nuclear debate and even though household i
s only a structural unit it has played very important role in understanding the
dynamics of modern family.
@Cyrus_A
you need to give assignment to us today from the attached file you can see previ
ous post how it is done also beyond M 6 as we are 6 member group till now and ne
w request are there to join so please give assignment to them also
once people will become regular here they will be given access to the group fold
er which has all the answers compiled at one place till now
Thank You
@aman8770 , @vayam -
I'll finish all my pending assignments by 21st morning.
Have a lot and lot of pending work to cover.
I'm noting down all my questions. Will update them topic wise on 21st.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------
12. Write short note: Role of Family in Social Control.
Family , which has been said to be universally found(Robert Murdock about Nuclea
r Family) in the society has been viewed from various ideological viewpoints. Al
though, the type of families have been different in different societies, they se
em to have been functioning some role or the other.
Functionalists specifically view, as per their ideology, it to be serving roles
which are functional both for the individual who is a part of the family and the
society too. Herein lay the concept of social control. Of the many functions, t
hat family performs, sexual roles happen to be one of them. This function serves
to gratify the sexual needs of the partners or spouses, this is in prevents the
promiscuity and sexual free play in the society, thus establishing social order
by way of social control of the sexual needs of the individuals. Also, family sha
pes the personalities of the children within it by internalizing the basic norms
of the society in them right from the birth. Children are taught not to do thin
gs which are socially dysfunctional or not acceptable, thus controlling their Socia
l behavior.
Marxists have also viewed family to be controlling and shaping the personalities
its children, but only to produce new obedient and pliant workforce for the rul
ing capitalist class, not for any other social purpose.
@ALL member of socio answer writing group
As members wanted to do static portion of GS so i have planned for world history
and geography and is uploaded in GS folder in socio answer group
So please visit it you might find it useful and if want to do please send me a m
essage of consent.
Thank You
M1 -> Q28 ( System of Kinship)
M2 -> Q30
M3 -> Q36
M4 -> Q1 ( Stratification and Mobility)
M5 -> Q6
M6 -> Q10
Give a brief account of the trends in sociological analysis of change in traditi
onal family and kinship systems in the face of industrialization ?
The family has been described as an institution which is unique to human culture
. The structure and the functions of the family change as the social, political
and the economic situations in the society change but ,The Industrial Revolution
, which began in the mid-1700s first in Britain and later swept across Western E
urope and much of North America, is the most significant ensemble of technologic
al, social, and cultural changes in human history.one among the few changes brou
ght are both matriarchal and patriarchal families have diminished in their place
an egalitarian or equivalent families in which father and mother enjoy equal st
atus and opportunities have emerged which are also called as a modern families a
nd also nuclear families . The phenomenon of the modern families have been unive
rsal . Families transferred its economic functions to factory and became more of
a consumption unit rather than a productive center . Urbanization and nuclear f
amily are closely correlated ,one of the few trends which changed within family
and kinship is the decline of Mores and religious belief and spread of secular a
ttitude and also lead to spirit of individualism and economic independence of wo
men and emancipation to women through Woman's liberation of movements and Marria
ge has become a civil contract only and there is a steady decline in the birth r
ate while kinship almost got vanished due to the modern sector of the economy, t
he kin group no longer controls its members access to the means of livelihood, w
hich it traditionally did through its control of the land. these are the few tre
nds in the traditional families and kinship in the face of industrialization.

@all
Will be back on track from 22nd
I will complete all pending my assignment from 22nd in 1-2 days.
5. Write short note : Relevance of pattern variables in the study of social chan
ge.
Parsons theory of Pattern Variables explains 2 things:
1)It helps us in understanding evolution of the society.Parson did not give an u
nilinear theory of evolution of social change.Though he classified societies as
primitive and modern,he did not attribute Pattern Variable A to primitive societ
y and Pattern Variable B entirely to modern society but he brought these 2 patte
rn variables in combination to explain how the actor in different action situati
ons,confirms to both pattern variables interchangeably being rational.
2)The theory of pattern variables sufficiently explains how an actor face dilemn
a in different action situations.This dilemna unless resolved appropriately,give
s rise to confusion and conflict in the given situation.
Parsons concludes that an institutionalised set of values act as foundation to e
very society as these values guides social action and result in social orderline
ss.Any compromise with these values in any sphere of human activity neccessarily
contributes for disequilibrium,thereby bringing social change.
But Parsons consider man being rational internalise these institutionalised valu
es to regularise his action thereby ensuring continuity of the system.Thus accor
ding to him,both continuity and change is present in the society thereby conside
ring society as a moving equilibrium.
1)Write short note on the following from a sociological perspective : Stratifica
tion of Classes.
Class system is a traditional form of social hierarchy which is the most popular
form of stratification in the modern society. Class is an achieved status meani
ng a person can attain mobility in class hierarchy by education,wealth or other
means.Stratification can be defined as the division in the society into systemat
ic hierarchy so that the society can be well conducted.In traditional Indian soc
iety,stratification was based on caste rather than class which provided the ascr
ibed status based on heredity.
According to Marx,Class is a collection of people who share the same relationshi
p with the
means of production and divided society into 2 classes-bourgeousie and proletari
at and felt that there is always conflict persisting betwwn both the classes and
once true class consciousness is achieved,revolution occurs in which proletaria
ts overthrow the bourgeousie and an equalitarian society will be established.
But Weber consider along with class, status and power are also responsible for s
tratification in the society.Weber defines class as a group of individuals who s
hare a similar position in market economy and by virtue of the fact receive simi
lar economic rewards.
With the advent of globalisation,stratification is based on class criteria due t
o increasing stress on the role of achieved status thereby enabling mobility bet
ween classes.
@all Now, that we are already writing answers for Sociology, I believe it's time
we paid attention to answer writing for GS . For which it is proposed to write
at least 1 answer daily, with different days alloted to different topics/parts o
f the syllabus.
Here is a brief(Tentative) outline
1. World History-Monday
2. World Geography-Tuesday
3. Indian Economics-Wednesday
4. Constitution etc-Thursday.
Questions will be picked up from Mrunal.org , NCERT text books etc.
Given the vastness of the syllabus ,it is expected to bring some regularity in o
ur studies
It will be done in "Way to improve writing skills...milestone to success !!" thr
ead and will be started from today onward
Thank you
Thanked by 1aman8770
vikky_babavikky_baba September 2013
1.Critically Examine Max Weber's theory of social action and its limitations.
2. What did Max weber mean by interpretative understanding? why did he believe t
hat to model sociological researches exclusively on strategies and ambitions of
natural sciences was a serious mistake??
Please help me with these questions.
Because I feel all theories of Max weber like protestant ethic and spirit of cap
italism , bureaucracy , authority are cause and effect type. Where is the interp
retative thing in these theories. I find them functional.
Some clarity on social actions and its limitations is also needed
Thank you guys
@vayam
I was thinking on the same line answer writing is must for GS and this way at le
ast we will write one answer a day for GS from different topics on different day
.
we will start it from today only
Thank You
vikky_baba said:
1.Critically Examine Max Weber's theory of social action and its limitations.
2. What did Max weber mean by interpretative understanding? why did he believe t
hat to model sociological researches exclusively on strategies and ambitions of
natural sciences was a serious mistake??
Please help me with these questions.
Because I feel all theories of Max weber like protestant ethic and spirit of cap
italism , bureaucracy , authority are cause and effect type. Where is the interp
retative thing in these theories. I find them functional.
Some clarity on social actions and its limitations is also needed
Thank you guys
Refer to some of the previous answers on Weber in this thread, I think you will
find answer to your question
@All
Please find attachment for the next assignment which will be given by M2 .
The question allotted to me will be answered with the this assignment .
Thank you
@All
As this is the most imp chapter stratification and mobility after thinker i will
give the assignment
Topic Stratification and Mobility
M 1 QNO 2
M 2 QNO 3
M 3 QNO 4,713
M 4 QNO 17
M 5 QNO 19
M 6 QNO 22
As this is the most important chapter after thinker so i expect all the allotted
question to be done so if not done i will do all of them on 2 question a day ba
sis.
Thank you
@ALL
After this we will do just 2 more chapter from paper 1
1.politics and society
2.social change (last one)
Rest will be clubbed as one and will be move on to paper 2 after that
Thank You
In our society Hierarchical relations are influenced by social mobility. Explain
how ?
Social Stratification is a process through which groups and social categories ar
e ranked higher or lower based on the relative position on the scales of prestig
e , privileges , wealth and power the criteria is emphasized based on ascription
or achievement. Social stratification is also historical process. It emerged as
a social institution of societies at a certain level of social evolution and so
cial development. Caste is also considered to reflect the principle of hierarchy
in social stratification
Hierarchical relations are influenced social mobility when it was it taken from
a view of a traditional Indian society Traditional Indian society was organised
primarily on the basis of caste stratification.This stratification was such wher
e caste functioned as the central principle in all aspects of social life, such
as economy, polity and culture.Social Mobility is the process of change in the c
aste system was achieved by providing special provisions for the depressed class
es and backward class through our constitution , this provisions have given a pu
sh up for this classes to moves through social hierarchy .This process with some
variation has continued to grow even after Independence.The policy of reservati
on for castes in employment education and political offices etc,represents the d
ynamics of social change in India which itself is a product of political,economi
c and social development.however the amount of the vertical social mobility can
be considered to be pretty meager to the amount of provisions provided to them d
ue various reasons.
could do much better quite not satisfied
10. How does hierarchy get built into the system of natural and social Inequalit
ies?
Natural Inequality may be of two basic types that are biological or physical. Ho
wever, Natural inequalities are actually social inequality or they are inequalitie
s in so far as they are defined as such by the society. Socially perceived defin
ition of "natural inequality" has not been able to map the whole spectrum of "na
tural abilities" thus tilting the benefit in favour of the socially dominant cla
sses. For example, Intelligence has been accused to be deliberately measured in
a way that was biased against
those whose mental abilities were being measured e.g. the Blacks and White: It h
as been alleged that the whites measured the intelligence levels of people in a
way that showed the blacks as Unequal. Moreover, it has also been alleged that the
present process of measurement of intelligence checks only a portion of mental a
bility. These methods of measurement has caused the naturally unequal or socially un
equal classes to be in a position of subordination for a perpetual period of time
, in turn putting them in a hierarchically lower position
Also, the natural intelligence has partly been attributed to the environment and
partly to Cognitive ability. Or people living in a socially deprived group were m
ore prone to be categorized as naturally unequal , and hence as ultimately landing
in a hierarchically subordinate position in the society.
Besides, socially deprived people are faced with Unequal and lesser opportunitie
s to advance their position, decreasing the probability of closing the gap of in
equality and in turn increasing their hierarchical deprived position in the soci
ety. Social inequality of people foments class hierarchy in that the agencies of
Socialization (schools, colleges etc) are controlled by the socially dominant c
lasses and in this way they are able to mould the mentality and consciousness of
the masses according to the dominant class wishes, thus furthering the social st
ratification with the position of the upper classes justified as legitimate.
Marxists claim: the socially unequal people or working classes with the acceptance
of their exploitation as legitimate are living in a state of False class consciou
sness and this keep them trapped in the unequal position. Thus, Social Inequality
leading to hierarchy.
22. Write short note on Inter-generational Mobility
Mobility is said to have happened in society when there is a shift from one soci
al position to another. Mobility could be of individual, social value or object.
Here we restrict our attention to the social mobility of an individual.
Inter-generational mobility when we account for the mobility beyond a generation
or when the status of the children changes from that of the parents. Inter-gene
rational mobility could be of two kinds upward or downward. Upward inter-generat
ional mobility takes place when the status of the individual goes up with respec
t to the status of the parents e.g. a rickshaw pullers son becomes a high ranking
official. Downward inter-generational mobility takes place when the status of t
he individual goes down with respect to the parents e.g. a colleges principals son
goes astray and lands up in a menial job.
The status of the son/daughter depends on many factors in todays knowledge driven
society:
i)Education of the individual: Directly helps him/her in bagging a good job or s
tating up his own business.
ii)Occupation of father : Fathers occupation also assists the individual by openi
ng up new avenues and opportunities for career advancement.
iii)Individuals first job: Individuals first job also assists him in pushing up hi
s status by landing a better position with the help of links in his previous job
.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q8. Answer the following questions in not more than 200 words each:15+20+15
1. Analyse the role of communalism in undermining democracy in India.
Communalism has been one of the most significant challenges in India, since colo
nial times and has been a dominating theme even in post-colonial India, challeng
ing the very fabric of our diverse society. Our diverse society gives opportunit
y to communal forces willing to exploit such weakness for various goals.
It presents following challenges in present Indian context
? It leads to social exclusion of minority community
? It leads to dominance of majority over minority community
? It causes economic, social, political deprivation of a section of societ
y belonging to minority community
? It promotes dissatisfaction and sense of rebellion among society
? It undermines the capacity of democratic institutions to functions impar
tially
? It influences and leads to vote bank politics being practiced
? It causes polarization of society on communal lines setting aside nation
al interest
? It leads to frustration and support for extreme non-state actors in othe
rwise law abiding individuals
? It encourages terrorism and such other activities in the name of religio
n
2. What is the Dalit movement Examine the issues highlighted by it.
Caste is a unique feature of Indian society where certain privileges or punishme
nts are attached to an individual as ascribed status because the person has take
n birth to a certain family belonging to so and so caste.
Dalit movements are about empowerment of otherwise deprived and exploited commun
ities belonging to lower cast groups, from historical times.
Issues highlighted by it are as below
? Exclusion of Dalit community from places of worship and other public pla
ces
? Lack of political representation and political power with community
? Lack of representation and access to economic and other productive oppor
tunities
? Educational and economic Backwardness of community
? Inhuman practices and customs forced on the members of community
? Demands in support of reservation in public employment and education for
members of community
? Demands for welfare schemes designed to cater needs of community
? Demands for welfare special protection to community to prevent autocraci
es against it
3. Discuss the salient features of right to education.
It is about a right based approach to education for children below age of 14year
s and mandates that every child has a right to certain years of quality primary
education. To facilitate implementation certain percentage of seats are reserved
in all schools for children who are not in position to pay for it. This is mand
ated not only for Govt schools but also for private schools where children from
neighborhood area eligible for such benefit in fixed ratio.
It has following important features from societys point of view
? Puts emphasis on Inclusiveness
? It is a Right based approach
? Based on idea of basic human rights
? Loss of primary education at right age cannot be reversed at later stage
? Put obligation on society, for rights of children who cannot defend thei
r right on their own
? Children should not be employed in economic or other activities; this ri
ght supplements the right against exploitation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
The scenic beauty of the Kangra Valley makes exquisite settings for the painted
tableaux.
Buddhism had practically disappeared from India, its place of origin, by the eig
hth century A.D. Its associated art too declined, leaving an artistic bridge to
be spanned.
The Vaishnava revival of the 11 and 12 centuries brought about by Ramanuja and s
aint poets like Jayadeva of Bengal gradually established Krishna as the supreme
deity, the approachable glorious Vishnu. Jayadevas Gita Govindam, the song of the
divine cowherd, echoed the poets deep spirituality, with Krishna as the human so
ul attached to earthly pleasures, and Radha the wise divine.
The enchanted gopis were the five senses smell, touch, sight, taste and hearing.
Krishnaa return to Radha was the surrender of the repentant, to God.
Guru Gobind Singh [1675-1708] was not just a soldierhe was a poet-scholar, well-v
ersed in Persian, Hindi and Sanskrit, who wrote on the legends of Rama and Krish
na. He also had 52 bards in his permanent employ.
Kesavadas, a Brahmin from Orcha, Bundelkhand, was the court poet of Indrajit Sha
h of Orcha. His Baramasa [12 months] and Rasikapriya [in 1591] are both immortal
works: the latter details various emotions and legends of the Krishna theme.
The Mughal connection
Art closely followed poetry and literature, making for a truly divine combinatio
n, and the scenic beauty of the Kangra Valley made exquisite settings for the pa
inted tableaux. These paintings were first influenced by the Mughals, their occu
pation of the Punjab and Himachal showing in the Islamic influence on painted be
ards and clothes. With Sikh ascendancy and royal patronage, the later Kangra pai
ntings showed longer beards, and a Punjabi style of apparel.
The delicacy of the Kangra and Pahari paintings were heavily based on the weight
of the Krishna themeits legends brought out vividly by the painters brush. Exotic
symbolism was re-enacted by the imaginative painter. The beauty of the female,
the hilly landscape, the Beas river valley, its rivulets and streams, terraced f
ields along the low hills of the Dhauladhar range and trees such as the peepal,
mango and plantain brought Krishna alive living his delightful life, as one of t
he denizens of the village. All local events had the divine couple of Radha and
Krishna as central characters, as the hero and heroine.
In the Guler painting, The divine flautist Krishna stands on a large lotus flower,
playing the flute. He is surrounded by gopis, whose only interest is Krishna, w
hile a couple of cowherds appear to be looking, a little furtively, at the divin
e scene.
One gopi is offering betel leaf to the lord, another waves the chauri, yet anoth
er is fanning the lord, while another is tugging at his upper cloth or uttariya,
to gain his attention.
Cows and calves are nearby, ever attached to Krishna and even the fish in the Ya
muna are up in the water, attracted by the magic of his flute. Gods and gandharv
as rain flowers from the sky, enchanted by the earthly Muralikrishna.
The Melody of Spring shows Krishna growing up happy and carefree in Brindavan, saf
e from Kamsa. He sings and dances along the river, with devoted gopis providing
the percussion. Even the dhol is covered in floral painted fabric, the pastoral
scene a simple floral delight.
Delightful portrayal
Driving the flock is just too delightful a portrayal of the Krishna theme. Yashodas
cherished pet, the little Krishna, is off to graze the cows, along with Balaram
a, his brother. Yashoda gives a stick to Krishna, to drive the herd. Balarama is
shown as a chubby and happy boy. His priorities are clear, depicted by the many
laddus being wrapped in his waistcloth, ready for feasting later, in the woods.
A lady holds a plateful of laddus- simple joyful treats.
Feast in the forest shows a gang of boys sitting down to lunch in a clearingthe lea
f plates and donnais are filled with delicacies. The rich and the poor are enjoyin
g the repast togetherKrishna, the provider and the protector of all.
Holi, the festival of colour, has long projected joy. Krishna and his mates happ
ily spray maidens with the red coloured water, refilling their sprayers from pot
s carried by some others of the gang. Singing and dancing is part of the revelry
.
Krishnas magic flute shows him alone, playing just for his love of music, and for o
ther beings. A pair of cranes, cows in all shades, trees, flowers, the forked li
ghtning and other cowherdsall get transfixed in sheer ecstasy. The river too seem
s to leave its course, taking a bend towards Krishna and his melody. The tinklin
g bells of the cows and their taut tails all show rapt reaction to the ethereal
flute.
The engrossed twosome wander among the glades by the river, sit down on a branch
of the bauhinia, under a mango tree near a plantain grove. In the Gita Govindam
, Jayadeva narrates the separation and reconciliation of Radha and Krishna, as a
pastoral drama. Radha sits alone by a tree, while Krishna dances with gopis, af
ar. A gopi brings Radha news of Krishna There he is, the sky-coloured figure, ano
inted with sandal, enrobed in gold, wearing a garland of wild flowers and forest
leaves. See how the curls of His tresses fall on His temple, as He goes hand in
hand with 100 brides.
The pacified Radha meets Krishna in a garden of tamaala trees, with atimukta cre
epers flowering freely. Krishna has spread His blanket on the ground and they si
t on it, with Krishna devotedly braiding Radhas hair. She has eyes only for Him,
while the birds, lotus blooms, peacocks and dark clouds create the perfect roman
tic setting.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi guys. I feel I did socio paper bad by not quoting any thinkers. I dint quote
a single thinker in P II.
But I tried to incorporate the points the best I could.
For instance, Ques :-Discuss the working problems of working women in India ( 20
Marker)
My answer :- I m telling the issues which I discussed :-
1)household work-unpaid
2) sexual violence
3) unfriendly transport
4) Odd hours of work
5) informal jobs
6) Unequal remuneration for work
7) Domestic violence
8) Less social security benefits, maternal benefits, pension benefits,retirement
benefits.
I remember these points as I first wrote these points on question paper.
I dint quote any thinker in this. Was it missing sociological point of view ? Wh
at could have been the sociological point of view, just give a hint.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
acha answer hai dost... i wrote glass ceiling in corporate apart from your point
s , and how agents of socialization ( starting from family) create gender differ
ences... quoted oakley from paper 1
Thanked by 1prateeknsit
VIPVIP January 25
I wrote about feminization of work in 5C's like caring,catering,clerking etc., q
uoted karuna ahmed and oakley +sylvia from paper 1, less salary , low quality of
work, household work not given value,even data about there work is outdated.
@prateeknsit i found your answer good, but this year's paper 2 was too much gene
ral.I heard some aspirant saying ki lagta hai GS ka ek aur paper add ho gaya hai

AK_CSAK_CS February 18
Gaon Walon....
This year sociology Paper 1
Q.1(e) Analyse the contemporary trends in family with examples. 10
and
7(b) Examine the emerging trends in marriage and family as a response to the cha
nges in economic and social order. 20
;and,
Q 7(a) Evaluate how do civil society and democracy mutually reinforce each other
. 20
&
Q.7(c)Critically examine the role of civil society in democracy. 10
seemed as if same questions were repeated.
How did you tackle this?
Personally, I don't think there is much difference between Analyse/Examine/Evalu
ate/Critically Examine.
I just repeated answers in 1(e) and 7(b), while I focused on criticism more in 7
(c) than 7(a)
and Drona asked,"what do you see?","the sparrow's eye!"......and Krishna replied
,"Turning their discerning mind to That, directing their whole conscious being t
o That, making That their whole aim and the sole object of their devotion, they
go whence there is no return"
The Anxiety and Fear quotient is just increasing as the result date nears. We ju
st don't know how would we fare, or how would we be evaluated. Even though it's
been long since mains are over but I will just try to recall and write here what
i wrote in exam hall - 1 q per day.
You are requested to put your answers too, evaluate each others. Atleast we will
know - where we are lacking, the diversity in answers etc. This seems better th
an mere speculating and fearing.
Moreover, It will be a sort of simulation of examiners' discussion, it is better
to reason here than to blame UPSC or its randomness, strict marking etc. later
on.

Q. 1(b) Compare and contrast Sociology with Anthropology 10
Major points
-both study society both general
-difference in focus on time period - former majorly modern man, latter - primit
ive man; and hence former more complex than later
-the tribal link<--insights into tribal/simple society , <br />-the ethnography/
participant observation link ,method borrowed
-Cultural anthropo is overlap, physical anthropo(racial characteristics etc.) as
difference
PS:plz point out corrections, additions, modifications if any. We may inch towar
ds the 'perfect' answer.
Or, If you guys want to form a limited membership google group for this, let us
do that . (Though I am not averse to discussing here) Or, if there is any existi
ng one please inform me, I want to join.
skylaxskylax February 18
AK_CS said:
Gaon Walon....
This year sociology Paper 1
Q.1(e) Analyse the contemporary trends in family with examples. 10
and
7(b) Examine the emerging trends in marriage and family as a response to the cha
nges in economic and social order. 20
;and,
Q 7(a) Evaluate how do civil society and democracy mutually reinforce each other
. 20
&
Q.7(c)Critically examine the role of civil society in democracy. 10
seemed as if same questions were repeated.
How did you tackle this?
Personally, I don't think there is much difference between Analyse/Examine/Evalu
ate/Critically Examine.
I just repeated answers in 1(e) and 7(b), while I focused on criticism more in 7
(c) than 7(a)
@AK_CS I didn't attempt question no. 7 precisely because of the reason that (a)
and (c) had lot of overlap. But my two cents: (a) is more about the two-way rela
tionship. How civil society helps in making democracy strong (overlap with part
C) and also how democracy makes civil society stronger. A case in point would be
the kind of emboldening of civil society we saw in Egypt after it became democr
acy.
Didn't have to write 7(b) too but again it's only 50% overlap with 1(e) because
1(e) doesn't cover marriage. In 1(e) I mostly concentrated on mentioning all the
points which were not GS-esque in 100 words (like transition from joint family
to 'functionally' joint family, children becoming liabilities from assets as edu
cation level progresses, families dropping a lot of functions they had earlier a
nd other social institutions taking them over, e.g. playschools, and families sp
ecializing in few functions, etc.). In 7(b) additional points can be given for m
arriage.
By the way, bhai aap toh philosophy se the na?
Thanked by 1AK_CS
AK_CS said:
Major points
difference
Most points covered. Also, anthro is generally outward-oriented (people from 1st
world studying tribal societies) while socio is generally inward-oriented (peop
le studying their own societies). So, chance of missing out the perspective of t
ribals in anthro and chance of bias in socio. Also, in anthro observations are a
n end in themselves and socio is more about developing theories from the observa
tions (idiographic v. nomothetic, much like difference between history and socio
logy). Also, the mandatory mention of how in Indian society the lines get blurre
d.
No dearth of points actually, but in 100 words hard to put a perfect answer. The
ones you mentioned should be enough
Thanked by 1AK_CS
skylax said:
@skylax
Haan bhai, pehle tha but badi mushkil se persecution se jaan bachakar bhaga aur
unwilling sociology ke yahan sharan li
Thanks,
I agree regarding 7(a) and 7(c), Also regarding 1(e) and 7(b) that marriage was
extra addition, however I just didn't see marriage as very different from family
e.g. increased divorces meant single parent families, I took marriage as more o
r less a structure of family but still overlap was huge (and I dare claim more t
han 50%)
You have any idea/views what could be the reason for putting such overlapped que
stion, any strategic reason or just pure routine
skylax said:
AK_CS said:
Major points
difference
Most points covered. Also, anthro is generally outward-oriented (people from 1st
world studying tribal societies) while socio is generally inward-oriented (peop
le studying their own societies). So, chance of missing out the perspective of t
ribals in anthro and chance of bias in socio. Also, in anthro observations are a
n end in themselves and socio is more about developing theories from the observa
tions (idiographic v. nomothetic, much like difference between history and socio
logy). Also, the mandatory mention of how in Indian society the lines get blurre
d.
No dearth of points actually, but in 100 words hard to put a perfect answer. The
ones you mentioned should be enough
agree, these points add, I think I missed here,but i suppose I wrote this in exa
m as
-ethnocentrism's blame on anthropos and also
-how developing society at overlap of both fields
but this is new certainly
-anthropos more nomothetic
Thanks
Thanked by 1skylax
AK_CS said:
skylax said:
@skylax
Haan bhai, pehle tha but badi mushkil se persecution se jaan bachakar bhaga aur
unwilling sociology ke yahan sharan li
Thanks,
I agree regarding 7(a) and 7(c), Also regarding 1(e) and 7(b) that marriage was
extra addition, however I just didn't see marriage as very different from family
e.g. increased divorces meant single parent families, I took marriage as more o
r less a structure of family but still overlap was huge (and I dare claim more t
han 50%)
You have any idea/views what could be the reason for putting such overlapped que
stion, any strategic reason or just pure routine
Can't really say. But it couldn't have been oversight, that's for sure. There's
got to be some reason.
Now that I think of it, 1(e) and 7(b) have difference in perspective. 1(e) is mo
re about changes happening in the institution of family and 7(b) is more about c
hanges in response to changes in economic and social order. So, in 1(e) we can l
ist the emerging trends, but in 7(b) we have to justify the changes are in respo
nse to economic and social order. I didn't attempt question 7 so didn't really t
hink about it in this way.
But yes, family almost covers marriage even though some points are not related.
Like de-institutionalization of marriage due to live-in and same-gender alliance
s, marriage losing its primary purpose of procreation for society, etc.
PS: galat time pe sharan le li bhai. is baar socio "butchered". Aap panauti leke
aate ho subject pe #justkidding
Thanked by 1AK_CS
skylax said:
PS: galat time pe sharan le li bhai. is baar socio "butchered". Aap panauti leke
aate ho subject pe #justkidding
@skylax: bhai dheeraj rakho, hame nahi lagta pub-ad style buthchering hogi, pape
r was quite direct, baki bhai UPSC ki maaya, is bar nainsafi hui to meri panauti
to mujhe hi pura nestanabud kar degi.
Also, bhai , I dont think there is much difference between 'response to the chan
ges in economic and social order' and 'contemporary changes', when you finally w
rite the answer. If there is, the difference can be interpreted in multiple mann
ers.
But anyways, bhai,chiriya to ur gayi, aakhir me galti pyaase (examinee) ki hi ho
ti hai kuen/well ki nahi. Par ham fir bhi kahenge ee kuen ka paani bara khara ha
i, saala kam se kam question to dhang se, precisely dena chahiye agar intellectu
al depth dekh rahe hain
AK_CS said:
But anyways, bhai,chiriya to ur gayi, aakhir me galti pyaase (examinee) ki hi ho
ti hai kuen/well ki nahi. Par ham fir bhi kahenge ee kuen ka paani bara khara ha
i, saala kam se kam question to dhang se, precisely dena chahiye agar intellectu
al depth dekh rahe hain
@AK_CS That is very true. Repetition of topics completely defeats the purpose of
replacing 60-markers with 20+20+10 scheme. They could have tested different top
ics from politics unit instead of civil society over and over.
Thanked by 1AK_CS
prateeknsitprateeknsit February 18
I feel I was the only one who dint include case studies in socio. Now it seems m
any ppl have not included case studies. Would upsc examiner think it as blunder
to not see case studies in answers ?
Can good answer in socio be without the case study approach too ?
prateeknsit said:
prateek bhai! i am totally against this 'kahin ki eent kahi ka roda, bhanumati n
e kunba joda' approach of inserting maximum case studies, obscure sociologist na
mes etc. I always endeavour to put across my ideas and absolutely needed names,
and case studies. (e.g. Sylvia Walby in Patriarchy) but, i dont claim bein super
man and getting super marks either. but i just think if we get punished just bec
ause of these trivial issues then it is better to get failed. May be a more diff
icult life, but the world has enough professions which demand true personal deve
lopment than civil services then. But, just my idealist shit-rant!
PS: If anyone knows please tell the equivalent idiom in English of "kahin ki een
t kahi ka roda, bhanumati ne kunba joda"
prateeknsitprateeknsit February 18
@AK_CS yup.. u r rite. I also felt case studies were diffficult to put in questi
ons. Nor I could remember any specific ones for P 2.
abhinitbabhinitb February 19
AK_CS said:
prateeknsit said:
prateek bhai! i am totally against this 'kahin ki eent kahi ka roda, bhanumati n
e kunba joda' approach of inserting maximum case studies, obscure sociologist na
mes etc. I always endeavour to put across my ideas and absolutely needed names,
and case studies. (e.g. Sylvia Walby in Patriarchy) but, i dont claim bein super
man and getting super marks either. but i just think if we get punished just bec
ause of these trivial issues then it is better to get failed. May be a more diff
icult life, but the world has enough professions which demand true personal deve
lopment than civil services then. But, just my idealist shit-rant!
PS: If anyone knows please tell the equivalent idiom in English of "kahin ki een
t kahi ka roda, bhanumati ne kunba joda"
bhai we have to remember one thing here - sociology is not general studies, rath
er it is a science and therefore our opinion does not carry much weight. At leas
t in my opinion an overall good answer should present case studies with a conclu
sion. We can involve our opinion in conclusion. But, unfortunately paper-2 was s
o general in scope that it was difficult to quote any case study or sociological
work. jisne likhe hain usko achee number milenge, no doubt. baaki ye baat bhi h
ai ki kyonki hum log academia se jude nahin hain isliye sociology mein kya naya
ho raha hai iska humko pata nai chalta, hum bas wahi coaching ke notes aur stand
ard kitaabon ko recyle karte rehte hain.
All generalizations are false including this one.
abhinitb said:
bhai we have to remember one thing here - sociology is not general studies, rath
er it is a science and therefore our opinion does not carry much weight. At leas
t in my opinion an overall good answer should present case studies with a conclu
sion. We can involve our opinion in conclusion. But, unfortunately paper-2 was s
o general in scope that it was difficult to quote any case study or sociological
work. jisne likhe hain usko achee number milenge, no doubt. baaki ye baat bhi h
ai ki kyonki hum log academia se jude nahin hain isliye sociology mein kya naya
ho raha hai iska humko pata nai chalta, hum bas wahi coaching ke notes aur stand
ard kitaabon ko recyle karte rehte hain.
I agree bhai, but it is not a natural science either. (And, I have not brought i
nterpretivists, symbolic interactionist into picture yet. ) What I meant by 'co
nveying my ideas' (not opinions and there is huge difference between ideas and o
pinions) is that the ideas needed to answer the question.
I have seen many many so called good answers and what I find is context and cont
ent being subversed to quoting names, quoting sociologists quotes and totally de
corative case studies. I dont think Science, scientific method in humanities/soc
ial sciences is something which one can show-off, it is inbuilt in the organisat
ion of thought/ideas of the writer, soiciologist. Quoting Sociologists, random e
xamples doesn't make the answer scientific. But, may be Indian education system
and of course bureaucracy is so sarkaaari & f88d up that what all one cares is p
rocedure/letter and substance/spirit is thrown to the dogs.
I will give some examples
-People quote Yogendra Singh just to convey the criticism of Indian Marxist/Dial
ectical thought that it isn't empirically sound. I mean this is ridiculous. This
criticism against Marxism is universal.( Its being unideterministic.) Yogendra
Singh added nothing new to it. To quote Yogendra Sing just to convey this most f
irst-level/logical conclusion is not only his insult (his other good contributio
ns) but an insult of one's own intelligence.
Such examples abound.
I saw a topper's sheet on Vision IAS. What he had done is mugged up facts about
tribals from India Year Book and just reproduced those facts into the answer. An
d, all of those facts conveyed just one single Idea.
What i think Sociology is something which generates ideas/generalisations from f
acts. Hence the case studies cant be very nomothetic, concrete, particularistic,
newspaper-lifted-incidents, or purely decorative
examples. Case Studies have to be essence of those facts.
And dont get deluded that more case studies> more scientific answers> more marks
. I heard people observing/saying this creative,attractive writing skills>more m
arks too.
Bhai! vaise theek hai, jis tarah ke direct question ye dete hain, usse badi scie
ntific thinking, intellectual depth, analytical skills check hoti hai! Yahi chal
ta rahe to sabke liye aasan hai. (Albeit, its alright. The kind of direct questi
ons they ask and 'scientific thinking,intellectual depth, analytical skills' the
y check, its comforting, easy for everyone from examinee to examiner!)
If UPSC wants to end this coaching-induced ratta industry, it can do that in a d
ay by framing coaching-proof questions instead of lifting syllabus-headings and
framing them into questions. There are enough tools/question types for that e.g.
case-study questions. Par, itni jahmat kaun uthaye (who will suffer so much inc
onvenience?)
We, after all have to play by their rules and can't set our own rules.
PS: haan! main bhara baitha tha .
PS: Just think about it one day. Have your analytical skills improved/built up a
fter plunging into this UPSC cycle? I mean the way we think. I think, my mind ha
s become more conditioned, bureaucratic now! It just mostly tries not to questio
n anything before studying. It has become more passive.
An article on DP Mukerji by EPW: http://www.epw.in/special-articles/sociological
-imagination-dhurjati-prasad-mukerji.html
Also the same is attached as a file as I think it will stop being freely availab
le to non-subscribers after a few days (not sure though).
Thanked by 3AK_CS prateeknsit ann
Today's Hindu column "Criminalising Africans in Delhis villages" http://www.thehi
ndu.com/opinion/op-ed/criminalising-africans-in-delhis-villages/article5730085.e
ce describes the phenomenon of 'gentrification' and 'urban villages' with a topi
cal example.
Those who are living or have lived at some point in any of the metros or IT hubs
in India can relate this article to their experience. The rents in 'homogeneous
' residential colonies are too high or they won't rent it to 'outsiders'. And on
e has to live in the fringe 'urban villages' where the rates are high too but th
ey lack the security and basic urban infrastructure such as water supply.
Excerpts from the article:
The second issue is the cause of the RWA activism directed at the African commun
ity. The resentment is typical of patterns of prejudice that emerge when previou
sly homogenous neighbourhoods are changed by processes of gentrification. In the
context of Delhi, a new generation of professionals attracted by post-liberalis
ation employment opportunities and gleaming spaces of high-end consumption come
to South Delhi, only to be corralled to urban villages by the spiralling rents i
n planned middle-class colonies. These villages have become urban plannings zones
of exception intricate honeycombs of haphazardly constructed structures lacking
basic norms of safety and comfort. Local villagers have, by and large, cashed-i
n on these changes by transforming themselves into big and small landlords.
In many of South Delhis urban villages like Munirka, Ber Sarai and Lado Sarai, pa
rdah-wearing local women are as much a part of the fabric as girls in shorts, an
d dyed-in-the-wool patriarchs share the narrow lanes with liberal young men from
around the country. Here, women from northeastern states are racialised as avail
able and loose just as Africans become carriers of serious criminality. These villa
ges are still in what can be termed the first wave of gentrification, centred on
locals provisioning of rented accommodation for students and young professionals
. Other villages like Hauz Khas and Shahpur Jat, to a lesser extent, are in the
second wave where higher-end restaurants, bars and boutiques have replaced the f
irst generation migrants, thereby fetching higher rents.
Khirki, it can be argued, is in the midst of such a transformation and the const
ruction of upmarket malls across the road has accelerated the process. For local
landlords typically the most active constituents of RWAs the representation of
Africans as criminals, the raid, and their impending invisibility and eventual e
xodus effectively cleanses the area for a fresh round of gentrification; this time
, for an up-market clientele. Africans presence prior to the spike in property va
lues, though not tension-free, was nevertheless tolerated for the sake of the re
nts they paid. Now, with a far greater choice of potential patrons, locals are m
uch less patient. It should be noted that an appreciation of this underlying pro
cess was entirely absent from Mr. Bhartis immediate response and subsequent asser
tions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
The Sociological Imagination of Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji
Beyond Hermeneutics and Positivism
This article looks into a particular philosophical problem that haunts both Soci
ology and Marxism, and where D P Mukerji's perspective may be seen as relevant.
There has been much ado in sociology over the debate between hermeneutic and pos
itivist approaches. Drawing insights from D P Mukerji, we see his intervention a
s an attempt to find a way out of this impasse through a distinct rendition of t
he Marxian dialectic, which is seen as open rather than closed. His rendition co
mbines three principles: taking sides, dynamics of the objective human reality,
and most truthful to the wholeness. This unique rendition, D P Mukerji argues, i
s apt for addressing the philosophical problem of sociology in the context of th
e specificity of Indian history.

Sociology Ias Dream

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1 difference between ethnomethodology, interpretative theory and phenomenology

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