SOCIOLOGY & SOCIETY

Individual efforts matter a great deal but do not necessarily define outcomes.

Factors deciding a job: social, economic, gender, social recognition, individual satisfaction
Task of sociology is to unravel the problem between personal problem & public issue. Any individual at a
given modern time belongs to more than one society: Neighborhood, Community, Caste or Tribe, Parent’s
professional circle, Nation, etc.

Sociology is the systematic study of society, distinct from philosophical & religious reflections, as well as our
everyday common-sense observation about society.

“Perhaps the most fruitful distinction with which the sociological imagination works is between ‘the
personal troubles of the milieu’ & ‘the public issues if the social structure’. ------------- C. WRIGHT MILLS

“Some Indians are rich, others are not

Some are well educated, others are not
Some live easy lives of luxury, others toil hard for little reward”
---- Sen, Amartya

Differences between Philosophy & Sociology: The earlier observes what is moral or immoral, desirable way
of living while the latter concerns itself with the way these philosophical norms function in actual societies.
Sociology is free from: Commonsensical Observations, Theological commentaries & Philosophical
reflections.

“Good intelligence consists of information free of bias” --------- Peter Berger

Intellectual ideas that went into the making of sociology have a direct bearing on how sociology studies
empirical reality.
Factories: Perceived as an archetype of an economic regimentation.

Perspective of western writers on Indian society was biased with Contemporary-Victorian-Evolutionary

Ideas.
According to the West there is a distinction between Sociology & Social Anthropology.
Sociology: Study of human groups or societies, giving particular emphasis to the analysis of the
industrialized world.
Social Anthropology: Study of simple societies of the non-western & therefore other cultures.
According to India there was no rigid divide existing between society & social anthropology.

❖ Scope of sociology:
1. Interaction between shopkeeper & customer
2. Between teachers & students
3. Between friends & family members
4. National issues such as employment
5. Caste conflict
6. Effect of state policies
7. Impact of new flexible labor regulations
 TERMS & CONCEPTS OF SOCIOLOGY
Structural Functionalism: A framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose
parts work together to promote solidarity & stability. Social events can be best explained in terms of
function they perform.

Conflict Theory: A social theory that views society as a constant state of conflict and competition over
limited resources. It's based on the idea that people with more power and resources will try to maintain
them, sometimes by repressing those with less.

A defining feature of human life is that humans interact, communicate & construct social collectivities.

Quasi Group: An aggregate or combination which lacks a definitive structure or organization& whose
members may be less aware or unaware.
These Quasi groups have become social groups in time with a feeling of a nation against the idea of colonial
struggle.

Social Group: Characteristics

1. Persistent interaction to provide continuity

2. A stable pattern of these interactions
3. A sense of belonging to identify with other members
4. Shared interests
5. Acceptance of common norms & values
6. A definable structure

Types of Groups:

❖ Primary & Secondary Social groups

 Primary refers to a small group of people connected by intimate & face-to-face association & co-
operation.
 Secondary, are larger in size & maintain formal & impersonal relationships
 Primary is person oriented while secondary is goal oriented
❖ Community & Society or Association
 Community refers to human relationships that are highly personal, intimate & enduring.
 Society refers to everything opposite of community, particularly the apparently impersonal,
superficial & transitory relationships of modern urban life.
❖ In-Groups & Out-Groups
 In-groups create a sense of belonging which separates ‘us’ or ‘we’ from ‘them’ or ‘they’.
 Out-groups is the one to which the members of the in-group do not belong. Example: Migrants
❖ Peer Groups
 Kind of primary group, formed between individuals with either same age group or common
profession.
❖ Reference Groups
 These groups have their lifestyles emulated
 In colonial period middle class men aspired to behave like proper Englishmen. But the process
was gendered as Indian men wanted their Indian women to remain ‘Indian’ in their ways.
Social Stratification: Structural inequalities between different grouping of people.
Historically four basic stratification systems have existed: slavery, caste, estate & class

SLAVERY: Extreme form of inequality in which some individuals are literally owned by others.
CASTE: System in which an individual’s position totally depends on the status attributes ascribed by birth
rather than on any which are achieved during one’s life.
ESTATE: Characterized by control of land and were common in Europe and Asia during the Middle Ages and
into the 1800s. In these systems, two major estates existed: the landed gentry or nobility and the peasantry
or serfs.
CLASS:
According to Marx: Social classes are defined by what relation they have to the means of
production.
According to Weber: A group of people sharing similar life chances, determined by their economic
interests in the possession of goods & opportunities for income under market condition. It’s not just
wealth, but the economic position that shapes one’s class status.
According to Functionalist Theory: Refers to social hierarchy based on unequal distribution of
resources, roles & rewards in society. Different classes arise because society needs to allocate roles
that are essential for its stability and functioning.

Social stratification is thus an unconsciously evolved device by which societies ensure that the most
important positions are deliberately filled by the most qualified persons.

STATUS & ROLE

Status is simply a position in society or in a group. A role is the dynamic or behavioural aspect of status.
Status is occupied but roles are played. Status is an institutionalised role. It is a role that has become
regularised, standardised & formalised in the society at large or in any of the specific associations of
society.

❖ Ascribed Status: A social position which a person occupies because of birth or assumes involuntarily.
❖ Achieved Status: Refers to social position that a person occupies voluntarily by personal ability,
achievements. Example- education, income, professional expertise.

Every status is accorded certain rights & values. Values are attached to social position rather than the
person who occupies it. The kind of value attached to the status is called prestige.
Role Stereotyping is a process of reinforcing some specific role for some member of the society.

SOCIAL CONTROL: Refers to the various means used by the society to bring its recalcitrant or unruly
members back in line.

 Functionalist Theorist:
 The use of force to regulate the behaviour of the individual and groups
 Enforcing of value & patterns for maintaining value order in society
 Conflict Theorist:
 A mechanism to impose social control of dominant social classes on the rest of the society
 Stability would be seen as the writ of one section over the other
 Law would be seen as a formal writ of the powerful & their interest on society

SOCIAL CONTROL TYPES:

1. FORMAL: It is codified & systematic. The agencies include law & state.
 2. INFORMAL: It is personal, unofficial & uncodified. It includes making faces, body language, frowns,
criticisms, ridicule, laughter, etc. The agencies include family, kinship, religion, etc

A SANCTION is a mode of reward or punishment that reinforces socially expected forms of behaviour.

A DEVIANCE refers to modes of action, which do not conform to the norms or value held by most of the
members of the society.

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
 FUNCTIONALIST VIEW: A complex set of social n norms, beliefs, values and role relationship that
arise in response to the need of society. These institutions exist to satisfy social needs.
 CONFLICT VIEW: It holds that all individuals are not placed equally in society. All social institutions
whether familial, religious, political, economic, legal or educational will operate in the interest of
the dominant sections of the society be it class, caste, tribe or gender. The dominant section also
ensure that the ruling class ideas become the ruling ideas of the society.

TYPES:

1. FAMILY, MARRIAGE & KINSHIP

 An institution which performs important tasks, which contribute to society’s basic needs &
helps perpetuate social order. This perspective argues that modern industrial societies
function best if women look after family & men earn the family livelihood.(Functionalist
Approach)
 Societies can either be matrilocal or patrilocal in their marriage & family customs.
 There is gendered approach in the family as m ale child will support the parents in old age &
female child will leave on marriage
 Forms include polygamy & polyandry
 Family is generally gendered (preference to a male child)
 Endogamy (requires individual to marry outside his/her own group)
 Marriage can be defined as a socially acknowledged & approved sexual union between two
adult individuals
 The family of birth is called ‘Family of Orientation’, the family in which the person is married
is called ‘Family of Procreation’
 The kin who are related through blood: Consanguineal kin, while those related through
marriage: Affine

2. WORK & ECONOMIC LIFE

 WORK: Carrying out of tasks requiring the expenditure of mental & physical effort, which
has its objective, the production of goods & services that cater to human needs.
 Most distinctive characteristic of modern economic system is the existence of highly
complex division of labour
 There is enormous expansion of economic interdependence

3. POLITICS
 Political institutions are concerned with distribution of power & authority in society
  POWER: Ability of individuals or groups to carry out their will even when opposed by others.
It implies that those who hold power do so at the cost of others
 AUTHORITY: It is that form of power, which is accepted as legitimate, i.e. as right & just. It is
institutionalised because it is based on legitimacy. People in general accept the power of
those in authority.
 STATELESS SOCIETIES: A balanced opposition between parts; cross-cutting alliances, based
on kinship, marriage & residence; rite & ceremonies involving the participation of friends
 STATE: A politically organised group that has a defined territory & permanent population,
and that exercises power within that territory. A unit representing the interests of all
sections of societies (Functionalist View). A unit representing the dominant sections of
society (Conflict View)
 NATIONALISM: Defined as a set of symbols & beliefs providing the sense of being part of a
single political community. It has made its appearance with the development of modern
state
 CITIZENSHIP: Includes
 Civil rights {freedom to live wherever in defined territory, freedom of speech &
religion, the right to own property & right to equal justice before the law},
 Political rights{right to participate in elections & stand for a public office}
 Social rights{prerogative of every individual to enjoy a certain minimum standard of
economic welfare & security}
4. RELIGION
 A social institution that consists of a set of beliefs, values, and practices that are centred
around what people consider sacred or spiritual
 SACRED REALM: Things that are considered divine, holy or worthy of respect & reverence
 CALVINISM: A branch of protestant Christianity, believed that “the world was created for the
glory of God” & any work which is to be done was for his glory. They also believed in
predestination, meaning one will go to heaven or hell was pre-ordained. Ethics of it was to
live frugally. Investment was a holy creed, contrary to which capitalism was based on the
fundamental of investing. Thus religion, in this case does have a bearing on economic
development.
 Political debates, economic situations & gender norms will always influence religious
behaviour.

5. EDUCATION
 A social institution that teaches students, academic knowledge, cultural norms & how to get
along with others
 Modern complex societies rests on abstract universalistic values
 Simple societies depend on particularistic values based on family, kin , tribe, caste or
religion.
 Schools in modern societies are designed to promote uniformity, standardised aspirations &
universalistic values
 Education should prepare a child for a special occupation, & enable the child to internalise
the core values of society

Education maintains & renews the social structure, transmits & develop culture (Functionalist View)
 CULTURE & SOCIALISATION
Culture is the common understanding, which is learnt & developed through social interaction with others in
society. Culture are never finished products, they are constantly changing & evolving.

The capacity of individuals to develop a common understanding with others & draw the same meaning
from signs and symbols is what distinguishes humans from other animals.

During 2004 Tsunami, the primitive tribal communities; Onges, Jarawas, Shompens, etc foresaw the
calamity based on their Experiential knowledge & saved themselves. This shows having access to modern
technologies doesn’t make modern cultures superior. Hence cultures cannot be ranked but can be judged
as adequate or inadequate in terms of their ability cope with strains imposed by nature.

“Man is an animal suspended in the webs of significance he himself has spun” –––––––– Geertz

Culture is………………

 A way of thinking, feeling or believing

 The total way of life of people
 An abstraction from behaviour
 Learned behaviour
 A storehouse of pooled learning
 The social legacy an individual acquires from his group
 A set of standardised orientations to recurrent problems
 A measurement for the normative regulation of behaviour

DIMENSIONS OF CULTURE

 COGNITIVE: This refers to how we learn to process what we hear or see, so as to give it meaning
 NORMATIVE: This refers to the rules of conduct {not opening other people’s letters}
 MATERIAL: This includes any activity made possible by means of materials. Materials also includes
tools or machines.

COGNITIVE ASPECTS OF CULTURE

Cognition refers to understanding, how we make sense of all the information coming to us from our
environment. In literate societies ideas are transcribes into books & documented but in non-literate
societies legend or lore is committed to memory & transmitted orally.

NORMATIVE ASPECTS OF CULTURE

It consists of folkways, mores, customs, conventions & laws. All social norms are accompanied by sanctions
that promote conformity. Norms are implicit while rules are explicit. A law is a formal sanction defined by
the government as a rule or principle that its citizen must follow.

MATERIAL ASPECTS OF CULTURE

It refers to tools, technologies, machines, buildings & modes of transportation, as well as instruments of
production & communication. When the material dimensions change rapidly then the non-material aspects
lag behind in terms of values & norms. This can give rise to a situation of culture lag.
Identities are not inherited but fashioned both by individual & the group through their relationship with
others.

ETHNOCENTRISM: It is application of one’s own cultural values in evaluating the behaviour & beliefs of
people from other cultures. This means that the cultural values projected as the standard or norm are
considered superior to that of beliefs& values of other cultures.
Ethnocentrism is the opposite of cosmopolitanism, which values other cultures for their difference.

CULTURAL CHANGE: Along with the evolutionary change there can also be revolutionary change. When a
culture is transformed rapidly & its values & meaning systems go a radical change then revolutionary
change takes place. Revolutionary change can be initiated through political intervention, technological
innovation or ecological transformation.

SOCIALISATION: It can be defined as a process whereby the helpless infant gradually becomes self-aware,
knowledgeable person, skilled in the ways of the culture into which she is born. It’s a lifelong process, while
primary socialisation ends at early stages of life the secondary socialisation extends over entire life.

 AGENCIES OF SOCIALISATION
1. FAMILY: In a nuclear family, parents may be key socialising agents but in joint family,
grandparents, cousins, uncle etc may play a great role
2. PEER GROUPS: ‘Peer’ means ‘equal’ & friendly relations established between young children
do tend to be reasonably egalitarian.
3. SCHOOL: They are agencies of socialisation in a more subtle way & contain a hidden
curriculum conditioning child’s learning.
4. MASS MEDIA: It shapes our perception, beliefs & behaviours. They provide us with role
models, stories & information that influence our thinking & action.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE, STRATIFICATION & SOCIAL PROCESSES IN SOCIETY

Central Concern: To understand the dialectical relationship between the individual & society.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE: Points to the fact that society is structured –– i.e., organized or arranged –– in
particular ways. It is made up of human actions & relationships. Its specific pattern comes from their
repetition across periods of time & distances of space.

 Cooperation can be enforced & thereby serve to conceal conflict

 Societies exert social constraints over the actions of its members
 Durkheim argued that society has primacy over the individual person
 Marx argued that human beings make history, but not as they wish to or in conditions of their
choice, but within the constraints & possibilities of the historical & structural situation, they are in
 There are three basic forms of advantage which privileged groups may enjoy:
 LIFE CHANCES: All those material advantages which improve the quality of life of the
recipient –– This may include not only economic benefit of wealth & income but also of job,
health & recreation
  SOCIAL STATUS: Prestige or high standing in the eyes of other members of the society
 POLITICAL INFLUENCE: The ability of one group to dominate others, or to have
preponderant influence over decision-making

The problem is not that commonsense knowledge is necessarily false, but it is unexamined & taken for
granted.

Perspective, Cooperation, competition & conflict can be seen as universal features of all the societies,
explained because of inevitable interactions among humans living in society & pursuing their ends.
To put that into perspective, women usually disavow their natal property rights so as not to sour relations
with her brother or brother’s wife ––– this shows (irrespective of the apprehension in the women) a sign of
affection just because the conflict is not explicitly expressed. Hence the four nouns are intertwined.

According to Durkheim, Solidarity is the moral force of society, fundamental for our cooperation & thereby
the functioning of society. He distinguished between mechanical & organic solidarity.

 MECHANICAL SOLIDARITY: It is the form of cohesion that is fundamentally based on sameness.

Most members live similar life with little to no specialization.
 ORGANIC SOLIDARITY: It is the form of social cohesion based on division of labor & the resulting
interdependence of members of society. As people become more specialized, they also become
more interdependent as they lose the essence of generality when it comes to work.

ATRUISM: The practice of prioritizing the needs of others over oneself, even at personal cost.
According to Durkheim, this solidarity & altruism is something that distinguishes humans from animals.

Marx on the other hand emphasized consciousness as distinctive of human world. He used the term
‘alienation’ to refer to the loss of control on the part of workers over the concrete content of the labor.

The ideology of competition is the dominant ideology in capitalism, which is that the market operates in a
manner that ensures greatest efficiency.
According to John Stuart Mill, competitions were generally harmful but at the same time modern
competition is described as ‘the fight of all against all, but at the same time it is fight for all’, this projects
that economic competition is directed towards maximum output at minimum cost.
The ideology of competition assumes that individuals compete on an equal basis but that’s not possible
due to unequal stratification in society.

The term ‘conflict’ implies clash of interests, though their basis may vary depending upon class, caste, tribe,
gender, ethnicity or religious community. Social change & greater assertion of democratic rights by
discriminated groups, make the conflict more visible. ‘The absence of a movement does not imply the
absence of a conflict’

Amartya Sen have noted the concept of enforced cooperation. It has been found that subaltern or
subordinate sections, whether women in households or peasants in agrarian societies, develop different
strategies to cope with conflict & ensure cooperation. ‘Covert conflict & overt cooperation is common’.
Thus, women appear to acquiesce to –– & indeed perpetuate discriminatory practices in intra-household
distribution to assure their own longer-term security. It is in their material interests to subscribe to the
general son-preference which characterizes this culture, to win their sons as allies & insurance against
uncertain future.
Maternal Altruism in the northern Indian plain is likely to be biased towards sons & can be seen as
women’s response to patriarchal risk.
Their resistance takes this clandestine form reflects their lack of options outside household cooperation &
the concomitant high risks associated with open conflict.

SOCIAL CHANGE & SOCIAL ORDER IN RURAL & URBAN SOCIETY

SOCIAL CHANGE: Refers to changes that are significant –– i.e., changes which alter the ‘underlying
structure of an object or a subject over a period of time’.
Structural change refers to transformations in the structure of the society, to its institutions or the rules by
which these institutions are run. There are five broad types of sources of social change:

1. ENVIRONMENT
 Extent to which the environment influences society has been decreasing over time with
increase in technological resources.
 Technology alters nature & our relationship, but does not necessarily lead to decline
 Natural disasters lead to total transformation & sometimes destruction of the societies in
history
 Environmental or ecological factors need not only be destructive to cause change, but they
can also be constructive as well. E.g. –– Discovery of oil in middle east

2. TECHNOLOGY & ECONOMIC

 Most famous instance of massive & immediately visible social change brought about by
technological change is the Industrial Revolution
 Steam Engine, when harnessed to modes of transportation, transformed the economy &
geography of the world
 Gunpowder (in China) helped to transform the technology of warfare & paper-print
revolution changed society forever
 Growing single cash crop at large scale, such as –– tea or cotton, led to heavy demand of
labor which in turn led to establishment of institution of slavery.

3. POLITICS
 In the history of warfare, social change was an immediate consequence. Sometimes
conquerors brought seeds of change & sometimes conquered successfully planted seeds of
change among the conquerors
 After USA defeated Japan in WWII, USA brought several changes like land reforms
 Indian independence movement brought political change by ending British Rule E
establishing world’s largest democracy
 Nepal in 2006 saw a surge towards rejection of monarchy
 Universal Adult Franchise –– is probably the single best political change in history

4. CULTURE
 The socio-cultural institution that has had enormous social impact is Religion
  Religious beliefs are so intertwined that many scholars tend to see history as the process of
interaction between religions
 In India, there is a significant impact of Buddhism on social & political life in ancient India,
along with Bhakti movement on medieval social structure
 Struggle of women, such as during WWII women in west started going to factories to build
ships & armaments, operate heavy machinery, that were done only by men
 Position of women is significant while doing consumer advertising
 Games & sports have always been expressions of popular culture ––– the game of cricket
began as a British aristocratic pastime, which turned into a symbol of national or racial pride

Change is an important subject for us because the pace of change in modern & contemporary times is
much faster than before. Social change is better understood retrospectively

SOCIAL ORDER: It is the tendency within established social systems that resists & regulates change. There is
quiet a link between social change & social order. To establish itself as a strong & viable social system, every
society must be able to reproduce itself over time & maintain its stability. There is more concrete reason as
to why society resists change, well the people who have an undisputed advantage over the less privileged
often resist change to maintain their status-quo but the people who are deprived, desperately want social
change & can even go to extremes to achieve their desired form of social order. There can be varying
degrees of dissent among individuals in a social order, thus social order does not mean sameness or
unanimity.

Well, the notion of social order is not only negative but also positive such as –– it refers to active
maintenance & reproduction of pattern of social relations & of values & norms. Social order can be
achieved in one of two ways:

 When people spontaneously wish to abide by set of rules & norms. These spontaneous consent to
social order derives ultimately from shared values & norms which are internalized by people
through socialization
 When people are compelled in various ways to obey such rules. Most modern societies depend on
some form of power or coercion to ensure that the institutions & individuals conform to establish
social norms

Power is usually defined as the ability to make others do what you want regardless of what they themselves
want. When a relationship of power is stable & settled, & the parties involve have become accustomed to
their relative positions, we have a situation of domination.

DOMINATION, AUTHORITY & LAW

There can be non-confrontational domination in unequal relationships as they extract cooperation because
of their power.

Legitimacy refers to the degree of acceptance that is involved in power relations. If something is legitimate
it is acknowledged to be a part of social contract that is currently prevailing. Legitimacy implies conformity
to existing norms of right, propriety & justice.

There may be other forms of authority which is not so strict yet effective in eliciting consent & cooperation,
like a religious leader. The difference between explicitly codified & more informal authority is relevant to
the notion of law.
Domination works through power, but much of the power is legitimate power or authority, a large part of
which is codified in law. Consent & cooperation are obtained on a regular & reliable basis because of the
backing of this structure of legitimation & formal institutional support.

CONTESTATION, CRIME & VIOLENCE

Contestation, generally refers to the act of challenging, disputing or debating a particular issue or authority.
It can occur in politics, culture, economics & even everyday life.

A crime is an act that violates an existing law, nothing more, nothing less.

Violence is social phenomenon involving the use of physical force or power to harm others, enforce control,
or cause fear. It’s not just about physical acts; it includes emotional, psychological & structural violence too.
It is the state, who is supposed to have a monopoly over the use of legitimate violence within its
jurisdiction. Violence in society is the product of social tensions & indicates the presence of serious
problems.

SOCIAL ORDER & SOCIAL CHANGE IN VILLAGE, TOWN & CITY

The development of sedentary form of agriculture, social structure also changed. Settled agriculture meant
that wealth can be accumulated & this also brought with it social differences.
Distinction between rural & urban settlement is usually made on two factors: ‘population density’ &
‘agriculture related economic activity’

The distinction between a town & a city is more a question of administrative setup. An ‘urban
agglomeration’ refers to a city along with its surrounding sub-urban areas & satellite settlements. A
‘metropolitan area’ includes more than one city, or a continuous urban settlement many times the size of a
single city.

SOCIAL CHANGE & SOCIAL ORDER IN RURAL AREAS

Villages are small, hence they permit more personalized relationship; it is not unusual for members of the
village to know all. Social structure tends to follow a more traditional pattern: institutions like caste, religion
& other forms of customary traditional practices are strong.

A variety of factors ensure that subordinate sections of the society have less scope of expressing
themselves. The lack of anonymity & distance in the village makes it difficult for the people to dissent
because they can easily be identified & taught a lesson.

Relative power of dominant sections is much more because they control most avenues of employment.
Change in the sense of shifts in power are thus slow & late to arrive in rural areas. Due to development of
communication, the cultural lag between villages & towns is now much shorter or non-existent.

Introduction of labor-saving machinery may alter the demand for labor & thus change the relative
bargaining strength of the landlords & laborers. Sudden fluctuation of agricultural prices, droughts or floods
can cause havoc in rural societies.

SOCIAL ORDER & SOCIAL CHANGE IN URBAN AREAS

Urbanism as a way of life for large segments of the population is a modern phenomenon. City life &
modernity go very well together; in fact, each may be considered an intimate expression of the other.

In its combination of anonymity & the amenities & institutions that only large numbers can support, the
city offers the individual, boundless possibilities for fulfillment. But only a socially & economically privileged
minority can have a luxury of a predominantly free & fulfilling life.
It is the primary task of the urban social order to ensure spatial viability of the city, by arranging for the co-
existence of residential, public & industrial land -use zones.

A slum is a congested, overcrowded neighborhood with no proper civic facilities & homes made of all
kinds of building materials ranging from plastic sheets & cardboards to multistoried concrete structures.
Because of absence of settled property rights, it is a breeding ground for ‘dadas’ & strongmen who impose
their authority. Control over slum territory becomes the natural steppingstone to other kinds of extra-legal
activities, including criminal & real estate related gangs.

Communal tensions between religious communities leads to ‘ghettoization’. Ghettoization is a process

where a specific group, often marginalized, is segregated & isolated into a particular area, usually due
social, economic & political pressures.

Commuting becomes a way of life & an ever-present source of possible disruption. Reliance on road
transport & specially on private modes create traffic congestion & vehicular pollution. Affordable, efficient
& safe public transport makes a huge difference to city life & can shape a social character of city apart from
influencing its economic fortunes.

‘Gentrification’ refers to the conversion of a previously lower-class neighborhood into a middle & upper
class one.

ENVIRONMENT & SOCIETY

All societies have an ecological basis. Ecology denotes the web of physical & biological systems & processes
of which humans are one element. The ecology of a place is also affected by the interaction between its
geography & hydrology. Ecology has been modified by human actions, what appears to be a natural
phenomenon is a result of human intervention like floods & droughts.

Social Environment emerge from the interaction biophysical ecology & human interventions. This is a two-
way process. Just like nature shapes society so does society vice-versa.

The interaction between environment & society is shaped by social organization.

Different relationships between environment & society also reflects different social values & norms as well
as knowledge systems.

 Commodification of nature under capitalist purview have stripped down multiple cultural
meanings of river, down to single set of calculations about profit & loss
 Socialist value of equality & justice has led to seizure of lands from big landlords & redistributed
among landless peasants
 Religious values have led some social groups to protect & conserve sacred groves& species & belief
that they have divine sanctions to change the environment to suit their needs

THE NATURE-NURTURE DEBATE

This debate digs into what shapes our identity & behaviors more: our genetics (nature) or our environment
(nurture). Nature argues that are traits are biologically predetermined, while nurture suggests they are
influenced by our surroundings & experiences.

Environmental management is however a very difficult task, not enough is known about the biophysical
processes to predict & control them.

With the spread of industrial revolution resource extraction has expanded & accelerated, affecting
ecosystems in unprecedented ways.

RISK SCOIETIES: It was introduced by German sociologist, Ulrich Beck in late 20th century. It describes ‘a
society that is increasingly pre-occupied with the management & mitigation if risks, particularly those that
are human made rather than naturally occurring’. Modernization itself generates new risks such as
environmental pollution, technological accidents & financial crisis.

MAJOR ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION & RISKS

 Resource Depletion: The rapid decline in groundwater, especially in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab &
Haryana. Rivers have been dammed & diverted causing permanent damage to ecology & water
basins.
 Pollution: Air pollution is the most serious of them all, causing death of 7 million people in 2012.
Water pollution occurs mainly from sewage & factory effluents along with farm run-offs that
contain synthetic pesticides & insecticides.
 Global Warming:
 Genetically Modifies Organisms: New techniques of gene-splicing allow scientists to import genes
from one gene to another. It is usually done to shorten growing time, increase size & shelf life of
crops.
 Natural & Man-Made Environmental Disasters: The Bhopal disaster of 1984 killed 4000 people &
tsunami of 2004 killed thousands of people.

Social Status & power determine the extent to which people can insulate themselves from environmental
crises or overcome it. In Kutch, Gujarat, where water is scarce, the rich farmers have dug borewells to use
groundwater for cash crop harvesting.

Securing the public interest may serve the interests of politically & economically powerful groups or hurt
the interest of poor.

The school of Social Ecology points out that social relations, in particular the organization of property &
production, shape environmental perceptions & practices.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: The relation between ecology & economy has been complex. Defined as
‘development that meets the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs. It contains two key concepts:

 The concept of needs, particularly the essential needs of the world’s poor, to which overriding
priority should be given
 The idea of limitation imposed by the state of technology & social organization on the
environment’s ability to meet present & future needs.
 WESTERN SOCIOLOGISTS
THE ENLIGHTENMENT: Emerged in the late 17th & 18th centuries in Western Europe. These philosophies
established the human being at the center of the universe & rational thought as the central feature of the
human being. “Only persons, who could think & reason were fully considered as humans”.
For reason to become the defining feature of the human world, it was necessary to displace nature, religion
& divine acts of gods from the central position they had. The enlightenment helped to develop attitude of
minds that we refer to today as secular, scientific & humanistic.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION:

 In 1789, announced the arrival of political sovereignty at the level of individuals.

 The declaration of human rights asserted the quality of all citizens & questioned the legitimacy of
privileges inherited by birth
 Signaled emancipation of individual from oppressive rule of religious & feudal institutions
 A separation was built between the public realm of the state & the private realm of the household

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION:

 Began in Britain in late 18th & early 19th centuries

 Two major aspects
 Systemic application of science & technology to industrial production
 New ways of organizing labor & markets on a larger scale
 New machines like Spinning Jenny were invented
 Low wages at the factories, kept people working long hours
 Modern industry enables the urban to dominate the rural
 Modern forms of governance with the state controlling sanitation, healthcare, education, etc.

KARL MARX

 Was a German, but spent years in exile in Britain

 A social thinker who advocated an end to oppression & exploitation & that would be achieved
through scientific socialism
 Stages of societal progress: Primitive Communism, Slavery, Feudalism & Capitalism
 Capitalism would lead to socialism. Reasons:
 Humans are more alienated in modern capitalist societies
 Humans are alienated from each other as capitalism individualizes collective form of social
organizations & relationships are more market-mediated
 Large mass of working population is alienated from the fruits of their production
 Marx believed that for socialism to flourish, capitalism was a precondition stage for an egalitarian
future
 Capitalist societies would be transformed by its victims i.e. working class
 His conception on economy was based on mode of production
  On this mode of production, was built all the social, cultural & political institutions of society.
 How humans earned their livelihood determined how they thought not the other way round
 To change society in future he proposed CLASS STRUGGLE:
 Marx formed a class with the people in the same position in social production rather than
religion, language or nationality
 A class of people would share same objectives & interests
 Marx & Engels wrote: ‘Freeman & slave, patrician & plebeian, lord & serf, guild master &
journeyman, in a word, the oppressor & oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another,
carried out an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight’.
 The major opposing classes of each stage were identified from the contradictions of the production
process.
 For two classes to objectively engage in conflict, it was necessary for them to become subjectively
conscious of their class interests & identities.
 Class consciousness is developed through political mobilization.
 Economic processes created contradictions which in turn led to class conflicts, but social & political
processes were also needed to bring in the revolution
 The presence of ideology is one reason why the relationship between economic & socio-political
processes becomes complicated.

EMILE DURKHEIM

 In 1876, he broke with his religious orientation & declared himself agonistic.
 The moral codes were the key characteristics of the society that determined the behavior pattern of
the individuals. They were manifestations of particular social conditions
 Cherished the idea of secular understanding of religion
 Society was a social fact which existed as moral community over the above individual.
 Social solidarities exerted pressure on individuals to conform to the norms & expectations of the
group
 Constriction of a choice in social action meant that behavior could now be predicted as it followed a
pattern.
 ‘Social’ was to be found in the codes of conduct imposed on individuals by collective agreement
 Durkheim’s vision of sociology
 The subject matter of sociology: concerning itself exclusively with the emergent level i.e.
level of complex collective life where social phenomena can emerge
 Sociology, like most other sciences, to be based on empirical evidence rather than naturality
of the social discourse engraved in our common senses
 Division of labor in society
 Classification based on the nature of social solidarity
 Argued; primitive society was based on mechanical solidarity & modern society was based
on organic solidarity
MAX WEBER

 A German social thinker, focused on developing an interpretive sociology of social action & of power
& domination
 ‘Social Action’ included all human behavior that was meaningful i.e. action to which actors attached
meaning
 Sociology was thus a systematic form of ‘empathetic understanding’ i.e. an understanding based not
on ‘feeling for’ (sympathy) but ‘feeling with’ (empathy)
 The social world was founded on subjective human meanings, values, feelings, prejudices, ideals &
so on
 There has to an objectivity in analyzing social constructs known as ‘value neutrality’
 An ideal type is a logically consistent model of a social phenomenon that highlights its most
significant characteristics
 He used the ideal type to illustrate three different types of authority; traditional (customary),
charismatic (derived from divine sources), rational-legal (legal demarcation of authority) –– later
epitomized in bureaucracy

BUREAUCRACY

 Mode of organization which was premised on the separation of public from the domestic world
 Bureaucratic authority is characterized by these features:
 FUNCTIONING OF OFFICIALS
• There were fixed areas of official jurisdiction governed by rules, laws & administrative
regulations
• Commands are issued by higher authorities to be implemented by subordinates
• Official positions are independent of the incumbent
 HIERARCHIAL ORDERING OF POSITIONS
• Authority & office are placed on a graded hierarchy
• Allows for scope of appeals in case of dissatisfaction of decisions
 RELIANCE ON WRITTEN DOCUMENT
• Management is carried out based on written documents which are kept as records
• It is a part of public domain
 OFFICE MANAGEMENT
• Due to modernity, it requires trained & skill personnel to conduct operations
 CONDUCT IN OFFICE
• Governed by exhaustive rules & regulations
• Since these rules & regulations have legal recognition, officials can be held
accountable for their actions

The legal delimitation of tasks & authority constrained unbridled power & made officials accountable to
their client as the work was carried out in the public domain