Table of Content
In this post; you will get Official Syllabus, Previous Year Question Papers (PYQs), Booklist, Toppers Strategy and some popular notes.
Optional Syllabus
PAPER 1 : FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIOLOGY
1. Sociology‐The Discipline:
- Modernity and social changes in Europe and emergence of Sociology.
- Scope of the subject and comparison with other social sciences.
- Sociology and common sense.
2. Sociology as Science:
- Science, scientific method and critique.
- Major theoretical strands of research methodology.
- Positivism and its critique.
- Fact value and objectivity.
- Non-positivist methodologies.
3. Research Methods and Analysis:
- Qualitative and quantitative methods.
- Techniques of data collection.
- Variables, sampling, hypothesis, reliability and validity.
4. Sociological Thinkers:
- Karl Marx – Historical materialism, mode of production, alienation, class struggle.
- Emile Durkhteim – Division of labour, social fact, suicide, religion and society.
- Max Weber – Social action, ideal types, authority, bureaucracy, protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.
- Talcott Parsons – Social system, pattern variables.
- Robert K. Merton – Latent and manifest functions, conformity and deviance, reference groups.
- Mead – Self and identity.
5. Stratification and Mobility:
- Concepts – equality, inequality, hierarchy, exclusion, poverty and deprivation.
- Theories of social stratification – Structural functionalist theory, Marxist theory, Weberian theory.
- Dimensions – Social stratification of class, status groups, gender, ethnicity and race.
- Social mobility – open and closed systems, types of mobility, sources and causes of mobility.
6. Works and Economic Life:
- Social organisation of work in different types of society – slave society, feudal society, industrial capitalist society.
- Formal and informal organisation of work.
- Labour and society.
7. Politics and Society:
- Sociological theories of power.
- Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups and political parties.
- Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.
- Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.
8. Religion and Society:
- Sociological theories of religion.
- Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.
- Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularisation, religious revivalism, fundamentalism.
9. Systems of Kinship:
- Family, household, marriage.
- Types and forms of family.
- Lineage and descent.
- Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
- Contemporary trends.
10. Social Change in Modern Society:
- Sociological theories of social change.
- Development and dependency.
- Agents of social change.
- Education and social change.
Science, technology and social change.
PAPER–2 : INDIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURE AND CHANGE
A. Introducing Indian Society:
(i) Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society:
- Indology (G.S. Ghure).
- Structural functionalism (M. N. Srinivas).
- Marxist sociology (A. R. Desai).
(ii) Impact of colonial rule on Indian society:
- Social background of Indian nationalism.
- Modernization of Indian tradition.
- Protests and movements during the colonial period.
- Social reforms.
B. Social Structure:
(i) Rural and Agrarian Social Structure:
- The idea of Indian village and village studies.
- Agrarian social structure—evolution of land tenure system, land reforms.
(ii) Caste System:
- Perspectives on the study of caste systems: G. S. Ghurye, M. N. Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre Beteille.
- Features of caste system.
- Untouchability-forms and perspectives
(iii) Tribal Communities in India:
- Definitional problems.
- Geographical spread.
- Colonial policies and tribes.
- Issues of integration and autonomy.
(iv) Social Classes in India:
- Agrarian class structure.
- Industrial class structure.
- Middle classes in India.
(v) Systems of Kinship in India:
- Lineage and descent in India.
- Types of kinship systems.
- Family and marriage in India.
- Household dimensions of the family.
- Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour.
(vi) Religion and Society:
- Religious communities in India.
- Problems of religious minorities.
C. Social Changes in India:
(i) Visions of Social Change in India:
- Idea of development planning and mixed economy.
- Constitution, law and social change.
- Education and social change.
(ii) Rural and Agrarian Transformation in India:
- Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives, poverty alleviation schemes.
- Green revolution and social change.
- Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
- Problems of rural labour, bondage, migration.
(iii) Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:
- Evolution of modern industry in India.
- Growth of urban settlements in India.
- Working class: structure, growth, class mobilisation.
- Informal sector, child labour.
- Slums and deprivation in urban areas.
(iv) Politics and Society:
- Nation, democracy and citizenship.
- Political parties, pressure groups, social and political elite.
- Regionalism and decentralisation of power.
- Secularisation.
(v) Social Movements in Modern India:
- Peasants and farmers movements.
- Women’s movement.
- Backward classes & Dalit movements.
- Environmental movements.
- Ethnicity and Identity movements.
(vi) Population Dynamics:
- Population size, growth, composition and distribution.
- Components of population growth: birth, death, migration.
- Population Policy and family planning.
- Emerging issues: ageing, sex ratios, child and infant mortality, reproductive health.
(vii) Challenges of Social Transformation:
- Crisis of development: displacement, environmental problems and sustainability.
- Poverty, deprivation and inequalities.
- Violence against women.
- Caste conflicts.
- Ethnic conflicts, communalism, religious revivalism.
- Illiteracy and disparities in education.
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