Sociology Optional Syllabus

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SOCIOLOGY

UPSC SOCIOLOGY OPTIONAL SYLLABUS FOR MAINS (IAS)
UPSC SOCIOLOGY OPTIONAL PAPER– I

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.
• Talcolt 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 organization of work in different types of society – slave society, feudal society, industrial capitalist society.
• Formal and informal organization 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, secularization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism.

9. Religion and Society :

• Family, household, marriage.
• Types and forms of family.
• Lineage and descent.
• Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
• Contemporary trends.

10. Religion and Society :

• Sociological theories of social change.
• Development and dependency.
• Agents of social change.
• Education and social change.
• Science, technology and social change.

UPSC SOCIOLOGY OPTIONAL PAPER– II

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 mobilization.
• 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 decentralization of power.
• Secularization.

(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.