UPSC Sociology
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 Durkheim- 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. 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 - II
INDIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURE AND CHANGE
11.Introducing Indian Society:
• Perspectives on the study of Indian society:
➢ Indology (GS. Ghurye).
➢ Structural functionalism (M N Srinivas).
➢ Marxist sociology (A R Desai).
• 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.
12. Social Structure:
• Rural and Agrarian Social Structure:
➢ The idea of Indian village and village studies.
➢ Agrarian social structure – evolution of land tenure system, land reforms.
• Caste System:
➢ Perspectives on the study of caste systems: GS Ghurye, M N Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre
Beteille.
➢ Features of caste system.
➢ Untouchability – forms and perspectives.
• Tribal communities in India:
➢ Definitional problems.
➢ Geographical spread.
➢ Colonial policies and tribes.
➢ Issues of integration and autonomy.
• Social Classes in India:
➢ Agrarian class structure.
➢ Industrial class structure.
➢ Middle classes in India.
• 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.
• Religion and Society:
➢ Religious communities in India.
➢ Problems of religious minorities.
13. Social Changes in India:
• Visions of Social Change in India:
➢ Idea of development planning and mixed economy.
➢ Constitution, law and social change.
➢ Education and social change.
• 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.
• 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.
• Politics and Society:
➢ Nation, democracy and citizenship.
➢ Political parties, pressure groups, social and political elite.
➢ Regionalism and decentralization of power.
➢ Secularization.
• Social Movements in Modern India:
➢ Peasants and farmers movements.
➢ Women’s movement.
➢ Backward classes & Dalit movement.
➢ Environmental movements.
➢ Ethnicity and Identity movements.
• Population Dynamics:
➢ Population size, growth, composition and distribution.
➢ Components of population growth: birth, death, migration.
➢ Population policy and family planning.
➢ Emerging issues: ageing, sex ratios, child and infant mortality, reproductive health.
• Challenges of Social Transformation:
➢ 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.
