College for Integrated Studies

(SOCIOLOGY)
 Monsoon Semester (July 2018 to December 2018)
Course Title: Introduction to Study of Society
Prof. Aparna Rayaprol
[email protected]

Monday 1120am to 100pm

Tuesday and Wednesday 1210 to 1pm
Course Requirements:
Attendance is compulsory. Students must not enter late to the class. Students are expected
to read and engage with contemporary social issues. There will be three internal
assignments in the months of August, and September and the third internal will be class
presentations on topics given by the instructors on specific days starting in September. The
best two out of three will be taken constituting 40% of the marks. You may meet the
teachers by taking prior appointment. No student will be allowed to submit assignments at
the end of the semester. All readings are easily available online and in the library. Please
also use the Encyclopedia for Social Sciences for basic concepts.

I. The Nature of Sociology and Sociology as a critical discipline

 Meaning of Sociology
 What is Society?
 Subject Matter and Scope of Sociology
 Sociological Imagination
 Sociology and other Social Sciences
 Economics
 Political science
 History
 Psychology
 Social Anthropology
 Origins and Development of Sociology
Readings:-
1. Gisbert, S.J. Pascual. Fundamental of Sociology, Orient Longman, Bombay, 1991.
2. Haralambos, Michael and Heald, Robin. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, OUP,
Delhi, 1994.
3. Inkeles, Alex. What is Sociology: An Introduction to the discipline and profession, PHI,
New Delhi.
4. Introducing Sociology (Textbook for Class XI), National Council of Educational
Research and Training
5. Mills, C. Wright The Sociological Imagination, Oxford, Oxford University Press 1959.
6. Ogburn, William F. and Nimkoff, Meyer F. A Handbook of Sociology, Eurasia Publishing
House, New Delhi, 1979.
 7. Das, Veena 2004 ed. Handbook of Indian Sociology New Delhi, Oxford University Press

II. Basic Concepts:

 Culture
 Society, Community, Institution, Association, Social Groups, Norms and Values,
Status and Role, Customs, Folkways and Mores
Readings:-
1. Davies, Kingsley. Human Society, Surjeet Publications, Delhi. 1981.
2. Gisbert, S.J. Pascual. Fundamental of Sociology, Orient Longman, Bombay, 1991.
3. Mac Iver, R.M. and Page, Charles H. Society: An Introductory Analysis, Mac Millan
India Limited, Madras, 1986 (pages 1-22, 213-237, 280-309)
4. Ogburn, William F. (1964) On Culture and Social Change. Chicago and London: The
University of Chicago Press (Page 3-16)
5. Ogburn, William F. Nimkoff, Meyer F. (1979) A Handbook of Sociology. New Delhi:
Eurasia Publishing House (Page 27-46)
6. Swingewood, Alan. A Short History of Sociological thought, Mac Milan, London, 1991

III. Social Control

Forms of Social Control
 Custom and Law
 Morality and Religion
 The State
 Education
Readings:-
1. Coser, Lewis A. and Rosenberg, Bernard (ed.). Sociological Theory: A Book of Readings
(4th edition), Mac Millan Publishing Co., INC., New York, 1976.
2. Gisbert, S.J. Pascual. Fundamentals of Sociology, Orient Longman, Bombay, 1991
(pages 188-217).
1V. Socialisation
 Agencies of Socialisation
 Socialisation and the Life Cycle
Readings:-
1. Cooley, Charles Horton. Human Nature and Social Order, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New
York, 1922 (1902).
2. Davies, Kingsley. Human Society, Surjeet Publications, Delhi. 1981.
3. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Problems and Perspectives, Polity Press, UK, 1993.
4. Mead, George Herbert. Mind, Self and Society, The Chicago University Press, Chicago
and London, 1972 (1934).
V. Social Institutions
 Kinship
  Marriage
 Family
Readings:-
1. Bertrand, Alvin L. Basic Sociology: An Introduction to theory and method, Meredith,
New York, 1967.
2. Mac Iver, R.M. and Page, Charles H. Society: An Introductory Analysis, Mac Millan
India Limited, Madras, 1986
3. Majumdar, D.N. and Madan, T.N. An Introduction to Social Anthropology, Mayoor
Paperbacks, New Delhi, 2002.
4. Ogburn, William F. Nimkoff, Meyer F. (1979) A Handbook of Sociology. New Delhi:
Eurasia Publishing House
5. Uberoi, Patricia (ed.). Family, Kinship and Marriage in India, Oxford University Press,
1994

VI. Social Structure: Definition and types

Readings:-
1. Mc Nall, Scott G. The Sociological Perspective, Brown and Company, Boston, 1974
2. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Problems and Perspectives, Polity Press, UK, 1993.
3. Singh, Yogendra. Indian Sociology: Social Conditioning and emerging concerns, vistaar
publication, New Delhi, 1986.
VII. Social Stratification and types: Slavery, Caste, Estates, Class, Gender, Ethnicity,
Religion and Race

Readings:-
1. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Problems and Perspectives, Polity Press, UK, 1993.
2. Singh, Yogendra. Social Stratification and Change in India, Manohar Publishers, 1977

VIII. Social Change

 Agencies of social change
 Science, Technology and Change
 Social Movements

Readings:-
1. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Problems and Perspectives, Polity Press, UK, 1993.
2. Gisbert, S.J. Pascual. Fundamentals of Sociology, Orient Longman, Bombay, 1991. (519-
587)
3. Deshpande, Satish Contemporary India: A Sociological View, Penguin, Delhi, 2003
4. Menon, Nivedita. Seeing Like a Feminist, Penguin, Delhi 2012.

Introduction to Study of Society

Course No. : SL 101
No. of credits: 4
I. The Nature of Sociology and Sociology as a critical discipline
 Meaning of Sociology
 What is Society?
 Subject Matter and Scope of Sociology
 Sociology and other Social Sciences
 Economics
 Political science
 History
 Psychology
 Social Anthropology
 Origins and Development of Sociology
Readings:-
8. Gisbert, S.J. Pascual. Fundamental of Sociology, Orient Longman, Bombay, 1991.
9. Haralambos, Michael and Heald, Robin. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, OUP,
Delhi, 1994.
10. Inkeles, Alex. What is Sociology: An Introduction to the discipline and profession, PHI,
New Delhi.
11. Introducing Sociology (Textbook for Class XI), National Council of Educational
Research and Training
12. Ogburn, William F. and Nimkoff, Meyer F. A Handbook of Sociology, Eurasia
Publishing House, New Delhi, 1979.
II. Basic Concepts:
 Culture
 Society, Community, Institution, Association, Social Groups, Norms and Values,
Status and Role, Customs, Folkways and Mores
Readings:-
7. Davies, Kingsley. Human Society, Surjeet Publications, Delhi. 1981.
8. Gisbert, S.J. Pascual. Fundamental of Sociology, Orient Longman, Bombay, 1991.
9. Mac Iver, R.M. and Page, Charles H. Society: An Introductory Analysis, Mac Millan
India Limited, Madras, 1986 (pages 1-22, 213-237, 280-309)
10. Ogburn, William F. (1964) On Culture and Social Change. Chicago and London: The
University of Chicago Press (Page 3-16)
11. Ogburn, William F. Nimkoff, Meyer F. (1979) A Handbook of Sociology. New Delhi:
Eurasia Publishing House (Page 27-46)
12. Swingewood, Alan. A Short History of Sociological thought, Mac Milan, London, 1991

III. Social Control

Forms of Social Control
 Custom and Law
 Morality and Religion
 The State
 Education
Readings:-
3. Coser, Lewis A. and Rosenberg, Bernard (ed.). Sociological Theory: A Book of Readings
(4th edition), Mac Millan Publishing Co., INC., New York, 1976.
4. Gisbert, S.J. Pascual. Fundamental of Sociology, Orient Longman, Bombay, 1991 (pages
188-217).
1V. Socialisation
 Agencies of Socialisation
 Socialisation and the Life Cycle
Readings:-
5. Cooley, Charles Horton. Human Nature and Social Order, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New
York, 1922 (1902).
6. Davies, Kingsley. Human Society, Surjeet Publications, Delhi. 1981.
7. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Problems and Perspectives, Polity Press, UK, 1993.
8. Mead, George Herbert. Mind, Self and Society, The Chicago University Press, Chicago
and London, 1972 (1934).
V. Social Institutions
 Kinship
 Marriage
 Family
Readings:-
6. Bertrand, Alvin L. Basic Sociology: An Introduction to theory and method, Meredith,
New York, 1967.
7. Mac Iver, R.M. and Page, Charles H. Society: An Introductory Analysis, Mac Millan
India Limited, Madras, 1986
8. Majumdar, D.N. and Madan, T.N. An Introduction to Social Anthropology, Mayoor
Paperbacks, New Delhi, 2002.
9. Ogburn, William F. Nimkoff, Meyer F. (1979) A Handbook of Sociology. New Delhi:
Eurasia Publishing House
10. Uberoi, Patricia (ed.). Family, Kinship and Marriage in India, Oxford University Press,
1994

VI. Social Structure: Definition and types

Readings:-
4. Mc Nall, Scott G. The Sociological Perspective, Brown and Company, Boston, 1974
5. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Problems and Perspectives, Polity Press, UK, 1993.
 6. Singh, Yogendra. Indian Sociology: Social Conditioning and emerging concerns, vistaar
publication, New Delhi, 1986.

VII. Social Stratification and types: Slavery, Caste, Estates, Class, Gender, Ethnicity and
Race
Readings:-
3. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Problems and Perspectives, Polity Press, UK, 1993.
4. Singh, Yogendra. Social Stratification and Change in India, Manohar Publishers, 1977
5. Sharma, K.L. Perspectives on Social Stratification, Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 2010.
VIII. Social Change
 Agencies of social change
 Science, Technology and Change
 Social Movements

Readings:-
5. Davies, Kingsley. Human Society, Surjeet Publications, Delhi. 1981.
6. Giddens, Anthony. Sociology: Problems and Perspectives, Polity Press, UK, 1993.
7. Gisbert, S.J. Pascual. Fundamental of Sociology, Orient Longman, Bombay, 1991. (pages
519-587)
8. Social Change in India (A Sociology Textbook for Class XII), National Council of
Educational Research and Training
9. .
 Work and Organizations
Course No. : SL 352
No. of credits: 4
This is an introductory course on the Sociology of Work and Organizations. There have been
radical changes in work and organizations since the Industrial Revolution and Globalization. The
course focuses on the organization of work, control and co-ordination in organizational settings
with different approaches to understand the same.
1. Work, Definition, Forms, Historical transformation: Pre industrial, Industrial,
Service work, Work & Alienation, Gendered Division of labour, Concepts of
Deskilling, Upskilling, Industrial work, Service work
2. Formal Organizations - Organizations as rational systems natural systems and
open systems
3. Approaches to the study of Organizations - Scientific Management – F.W. Taylor,
Human relations, Hawthorne studies, Contingency approach
4. Organizational Processes, Typologies of organizations Leadership, Motivation,
Communication, Power & authority, Leadership
5. Industrial relations
6. Globalization & work – Call center work
7. Culture and Organizations
8. Emotional labour, McDonaldization

Readings:

1. Blau, M. Peter. and Scott, W. Richard. 1977. Formal Organizations: A Comparative

Approach. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul
2. Champion, J. Dean. 1975. The Sociology of Organizations. New Delhi: McGraw-Hill.
3. Clegg, Stewart and Dunkerley, David. 1980. Organization, Class and Control. London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul.
4. Edgell, Stephen. 2012. The Sociology of Work: Continuity and Change in Paid and
Unpaid Work. London: Sage.
5. Etzioni, Amitai. Ed.1961. A Sociological Reader in Complex Organizations. New York:
Holt, Rienhart and Winston Inc.
6. Janardhan, V. Arguing for 'Industrial Relations': Journey to a Lost World. Economic and
Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 31 (Aug. 2-8, 2003), pp. 3254-3260
7. Robbins, P. Stephen. 1983. Organization Theory: The Structure and Design of
Organizations. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
8. Scott, W. Richard. 1998. Organizations: Rational, Natural and Open Systems. New
Jersey: Prentice Hall.
9. Strangleman, Tim and Warren, Tracey. 2008. Work and Society: Sociological
Approaches, Themes and Methods. New York: Routledge.

Rural and Urban Societies

Course No. : SL 251
No. of credits: 4
The course will provide Sociological perspective on the origin, Development and characteristics
of rural and urban societies. The course will deal with both the structural and process related
aspects of change in the urban and agrarian societies. Lectures are delivered for students to
understand the conceptual and empirical issues pertaining to rural and urban India.
Outline of course:
1. Rural society – Urban society, Industrial society – Post-industrial society, Traditional and
Modern societies, Peasantry – Agrarian social structure, Rural-Urban continuum, City
and Village, Land reforms, Green revolution, Social stratification and social change,
Migration
2. Growth and development: Emergence of social differentiation, occupational
specialization, division of labour, Rural development – Programmes, Policies (Panchayat
Raj)
3. Urban society – Gemeinschaft versus Gesellschaft, Urbanism as a way of life, Metropolis
and mental life, Chicago School, Models of growth, Compositional and cultural
approaches, Critical urban theory, Indian cities – Urban Planning, Zoning, contemporary
changes
4. Consequences of change in rural and urban India – Change in Family, Class, Caste and
Gender relations, Rural and urban poverty, marginalized groups (bonded labour, landless
tenants, artisans etc.), Uneven development of Regions and social groups
Readings:
10. Das, Veena. 2004. Handbook of Indian Sociology. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
11. Desai A. R. Ed. 1969. Rural Sociology in India. New Delhi: Popular Prakashan.
12. Doshi S.L. and Jain P.C. 2010. Rural Sociology. Jaipur: Rawat Publications.
13. Gupta, Narayani. 2004. The Indian City. In Veena Das. (Ed.). Handbook of Indian
Sociology. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
14. Jodhka, Surinder S. Ed. 2012. Village Studies. New Delhi: Orient Blackswan.
15. Lin, Jan and Christopher Mele (Ed.). 2005. The Urban Sociology Reader. London:
Routledge.
16. Patel, Sujata and Deb, Kushal. (Ed.). 2006. Urban Studies. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press
17. Sharma. K. L. (Ed.). 2009. Social Inequality in India. Jaipur: Rawat Publications.

Religion and Society

Course No. : SL 351

No. of credits: 4

Course outline and class sessions

1. Preliminary Considerations of Religion (Fuerbach and Durkheim).
2. Defining religion in Sociology
a. Religion and Morality
b. Theories on the origin of religion
c. Approaches to the study of religion
d. Classical sociological perspectives on religion: Durkheim, Weber and Marx
Core Readings:
a. Bottomore, T.B. 1986. Sociology: A guide to problems and literature (chapter 14).
b. Turner, Bryan. 2006. The sociology of religion: The sage handbook of sociology
(chapter 16).
c. Venugopal, C.N. 1998. Religion and Indian Society: A Sociological Perspective
(Chapter 7&8).
d. Weber, Max. 1958. The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of capitalism. New York:
Charles Scribner’s Sons Publishers.
e. Durkheim, Emile. 1912 (1954). The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. London:
Allen& Unwin
f. Marx and Engels. 1975 (1957). On Religion. Moscow: Progress Publishers

3. Religion and the Indian Society

a. Religious pluralism
b. Religion and social stratification
c. Asceticism and Nation-building
d. New religious movements

Core Readings:
a. Oommen, T.K. Religious Pluralism in India: A Sociological Appraisal
b. Venugopal, C.N. 1998. Religion and Indian Society: A Sociological Perspective
(Chapter 5&6).
c. Dumont, Louis. 1999. Homo Hierarchicus: The caste system and its implications.

4. Sacred space and time

a. Rituals and rites of passage (birth, marriage and death)

Core Readings:
a. Van Gennep, Arnold. 1960. The Rites of Passage.

5. Religion in Public Life

a. Nationalism and communalism
b. Secularism and secularization debate
c. Contemporary debates on religious intolerance.
 d. Religion, modernity and identity

Core readings:
a. Kaviraj, Sudipta. 1997. Religion and Identity in India. Journal of Ethnic and Racial
Studies.
b. Madan, T.N. 2011. Modern Myths, Locked Minds. New Delhi: OUP.
c. Bhela, Anita. Globalization, Hinduism and Cultural Change in India. Asia Journal of
Global Studies, Vol 4, No 2 (2010-11).

6. Gender and Religion

a. Religion, Women and Patriarchy

Core readings:
a. Wadley, Susan S. Women and the Hindu Tradition, Signs, Vol 3, No 1, Women
and National Development: The Complexities of Change (autumn, 1977).
b. Jean Holm and John Bowker (Ed.) 1999. Women in Religion. King’s Lynn (pp.
30-58). Norfolk: Great Britain, Biddles Ltd.
c. Guelke, Jeanne Kay. Karen M. Morin. 2007. Women, Religion and Space: Global
Perspective on gender and faith. New York: Syracuse University Press.

Course Requirements: Requirements will include regular attendance, strict discipline and
active participation from the students. There will be three internal assessments which include two
written exams and one term paper.

Note: Course instructor may change, recommend, in addition to the above, supplementary and
other readings for the course.
 Contemporary Development Issues
Course No. : SL 302
No. of credits: 4

Coarse Objective:
The objective of the course is to familiarize the students with the current issues and debates
concerning development. The concept of development has had several connotations, starting
from incessant pre-occupation with economic growth during the years following independence to
the current engagement with the human and social development with active inclusion of local
communities in the process. The course attempts to understand the current practices of
development by an analysis of the approaches, agencies and issues involved in it.

Coarse Outline
1. From Economic Growth to ‘Human Development’
2. Approaches to development: Social justice approach; Rights-based approach; Capabilities
approach; Community- based approach.
3. Agencies of Development: State, NGOs and Community
4. Issues in Development:
a. Gender and development
b. Development, displacement, and rehabilitation
c. Agriculture and sustainable development
d. Micro credit and self-help groups
e. Regional imbalances in development
5. Development with Dignity

Readings: *The readings will include the following or selections from the following*

Baviskar, A. (1995). In the Belly of the River: Tribal Conflicts over Development in the
Narmada Valley. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Bhaduri, Amit. (2005). Development with Dignity. Delhi: National Book Trust.
Dreze, Jean and Sen, Amartya. (1995). India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity.
Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Dube, S. C. (1988). Modernisation and Development: Search for Alternative Paradigms. New
Delhi: Vistaar Publications.

Haq, Mahbub ul. (1995). Reflections on Human Development. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Mathur, H. R. Ed. (1995). Development, Displacement and Resettlement: Focus on Asian
Experience. Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.
Nussbaum, M. C. (2000). Women and Human Development: The Capabilities Approach.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Economic Papers, New Series. No.2: Vol. 35.
(Series. No. 4: Vol. 37. (pp. 669-676).
Sengupta, A., Negi, A., and Basu, M. Eds. (2005). Reflections on the Right to Development.
New Delhi: Sage. --A Rejoinder to. Oxford Economic Papers, New Series. No. 4: Vol.37.
(pp. 659-668).
Thukral, E. G. Ed. (1992). Big Dams, Displaced People: Rivers of Sorrow, Rivers of Change.
Delhi: Sage Publications.

*Note: individual teachers may recommend, in addition, supplementary and other readings
for the course.

Equality and Inequality

Course No. : SL 201
No. of credits: 4
Unit 1 Understanding Inequality
 Nature and types of Inequality
 Contextualizing Inequality
 Various Theoretical Perspectives on Inequality.

Unit 2 Dimensions of Social Inequality

 Caste Inequality
Analyzing Caste in historical context
Caste – Modern Political Construction
Caste Hierarchy – Understanding the resource distribution in India
  Class Inequality
Class as Universal category of Inequality
Nature of Class and the Notion of Open Stratification
Class and Classless societies
 Gender Inequality
Understanding Gender Inequality
Second Sex: Constructing of Gender
Culture, Inequality and Patriarchy
 Race and the persisting Inequality
 Tribes of India: Lesser Citizens
Unit 3 Poverty and Inequality
 Understanding Poverty: Politics and Policies of Manufacturing Poverty
 Poverty and Culture

Unit 4 In Defense of Equality

 Equality as a Political right and a social value
 Equality, Culture and Nation

Unit 5 Realizing Equality

 Positive Discrimination and Affirmative Action
 Reservation Debate in India.

Essential Readings
Books
1. Andre Beteille (ed): Social Inequality, Penguin Books, 1969.
2. Dipankar Gupta (ed): Social Stratification, Oxford University Press, 1992

3. Nicholas B. Dirks: Castes of Mind, Permanent Black, 2002.

4. M.N.Srinivas: Caste in Modern India, Asia Publishing House, 1962
5. M.N.Srinivas (ed): Caste: Its Twentieth century Avatar, Penguin Books, 1996
6. Gerhard Lenski: Power and Privilege, McGraw-Hill, 1966
7. Tom Bottomore: Classes in Modern Society, Allen&Unwin, 1965
8. Simone de Beauvoir: The Second Sex, Penguin Books, 1972
9. Gunnar Myrdal: Asian Drama, Pantheon Books, 1968.
10. Anthony Giddens: Sociology, Wiley India Pvt Ltd, 2013, (Chapters 12, 13 and 14)
Articles
1. Andre Beteille: Hierarchical and Competitive Inequality, Sociological Bulletin, vol.51,
no:1; March 2002, pp.3-27.
2. A.R.Desai: Relevance of the Marxist Approach to the Study of Indian society,
Sociological Bulletin, vol.30, no.1, 1981, pp.1-20
3. Ashwini Deshpande: Recasting Economic Inequality, Review of Social Economy, vol.58,
no.3, September 2000, pp.381-399.
4. Ashwini Deshpande: Overlapping Identities under Liberalization: Gender and Caste in
India, Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol.55, no.4, July 2007, pp.735-760
5. K.L.Sharma: Caste and Class in India – Some Conceptual Problems, Sociological
Bulletin, vol.33, no.1/2 March-September 1984, pp.1-28.
6. Maria Charles: Culture and Inequality – Identity, Ideology and Differences in
‘Postascriptive Society’, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social
Science, vol.619, September 2008, pp.41-58.
7. Celia Banks: The Sociology of Inequality, Race, Gender and Class, vol. 14, no.3/4 2007,
pp.175-188.
8. Sukhadeo Thorat and Katherine Newman: Caste and Economic Discrimination – Casues,
Consequences and Remedies, Economic and Political Weekly, vol.42, no.41, pp.4121-
4124.
9. Lance Brennan, John McDonald and Ralph Shlomowitz: Caste, Inequality and the
Nation-State – The Impact of Reservation Policies in India 1950-2000, South Asia,
vol.XXIX, no. 1, April 2006, pp.117-162.
10. Kanchar Sarkar: Economic Growth and Social Inequality – Does the Trickle Down Effect
really take place?, Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry, vol.3, no.1, October
2009, pp.42-60.
11. Padma Velaskar: Unequal Schooling as a Factor in the Reproduction of Social Inequality
in India, Sociological Bulletin, vol.39, no.1/2 March-September 1990, pp.131-145.
12. Dharma Kumar: The Affirmative Action Debate in India, Asian Survey, vol.32, no.3,
March 1992, pp.290-302.
13. Prakash Louis: Scheduled Caste and Tribes – The Reservation Debate, Economic and
Political Weekly, vol.38, no.25, June 21-27 2003, pp.2475-2478.
 14. Anand Teltumbde: Reservations within Reservations – A Solution, Economic and
Political Weekly, vol.44, no.41/42, October 10-23 2009, pp.16-18.
15. Pratap Bhanu Mehta: Affirmation without Reservation, Economic and Political Weekly,
39, no.27, July 3-9 2004, pp.2951-2954.

University of Hyderabad
College of Integrated Studies
*********
Course No: SL 151 January-April 2018
Course Title: Changing Indian Family Course Instructor: Dr R Thirunavukkarasu

This course aims to introduce the significance of family as a social institution and
intends to familiarize the students with different approaches, themes and debates in
sociology of family. Besides the general orientation, this course plans to contextualize
the changing nature of family in India and encourage students to explore different
dimensions (political, economic and cultural) of family structure in India.
Unit I: Understanding Family
1. The Evolution of Family as a social institution
2. Theoretical approaches to Sociology of Family – Functionalism and Marxism
3. Sociological Significance and Characteristics of Family
Essential Readings
1. William Goode: The Family, New Delhi 1987.
2. Ralph Linton: The Study of Man-An Introduction, New York, 1936 (Chapter 10)
3. R.M.MacIver and C.H.Page: Society, London, 1953 (Chapter 11)
4. Friedrich Engels: The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, Penguin
Books, 2010 (Chapters 1 & 2)
5. Kathleen Gough: “The Origin of the Family”, Journal of Marriage and Family, 36(4),
1971, pp.760-771

Unit II: Family in India

1. Functions and Types of Family in India
2. Nuclear Family and Joint Family – Structure and Function
3. Changing Nature of Family structure
Essential Readings
1. David Mandelbaum: Society in India, Vol-I; Part-II, 1998
2. K.M.Kapadia: Marriage and Family in India, 1966 (Chapters 10-14)
3. A.M.Shah: “Changes in the Indian Family-An Examination of Some Assumptions”,
Economic and Political Weekly, 3(1/2), 1968.
4. Premilla D’Cruz and Shalini Bharat: “Beyond Joint and Nuclear-The Indian Family
Revisited”, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 32(2), 2001, pp.167-194.
5. Henry Orenstein and Michael Micklin: “The Hindu Joint Family-The Norms and the
Numbers”, Pacific Affairs, 39(3/4), 1966-67; pp.314-325
6. J.P.Singh: “Nuclearisation of Household and Family in Urban India”, Sociological
Bulletin 52(1), 2003, pp.53-70

Unit III: Family - Economy and Politics

1. Industrialization and Family
2. Capitalism and Family
3. Gender and Family
Essential Readings
1. Patricia Oberoi: Family, Kinship and Marriage in India, 1994, (Part IV)
2. Jack Goody and S.J.Tambiah: Bride Wealth and Dowry, 1975, pp.59-160.
3. Milton Singer and Bernard Cohn: Structure and Change in Indian Society, 1968
4. Amartya Sen: “Economics and the Family,” Asian Development Review, 1(2), pp.14-26,
1983.
5. L.Jaganmohan Rao: “Industrialization and the Family”, International Journal of
Sociology of the Family, 3(2), 1973, pp.179-189.
6. Gary Becker: “Human Capital and the Economy”, Proceedings of the American
Philosophical Society, 136(1), pp.85-92.
7. Malavika Karlekar: “Domestic Violence”, Economic and Political Weekly, 33(27), 1998,
pp.1741-51.
 8. Michelle Hackett: Domestic Violence against Women, Journal of Comparative Family
Studies, 42(2), 2011, pp.267-288.

*************

Supplementary Readings

1. Tulsi Patel(ed): The Family in India-Structure and Practice, Sage Publications,

2005.
2. William Goody: World Revolution and Family Patterns, NY, 1963.
3. M.S.Gore: Urbanization and Family change, Bombay, 1968.
4. K. Ishwaran: Family in India, The Hague, 1974.
5. Brigitte Berger and Peter Berger: The War Over the Family, 1983.
6. Thomas Trautmann: Dravidian Kinship, Cambridge, 1981.
7. Kathleen Gough: “Dravidian Kinship and Modes of Production”, Contributions to
Indian Sociology, 13(2), pp.265-91
8. A.M.Shah: “Basic Terms and Concepts in the Study of the Family in India”, The
Indian Economic and Social History Review, 1(3), pp.1-36, 1964.
9. Stanley Freed and Ruth Freed: “Changing Family Types in India”, Ethnology,
21(3), 1982, pp.189-202.
10. Narendra Subramanian: “Making Family and Nation-Hindu Marriage Law in
Early Postcolonial India,” Journal of Asian Studies, 69(3), 2010, pp.771-798.

Roots of Social Protest (Foundation Course)

Offered by: Department of Sociology

Semester: SL 322
Credits: 4
Semester: July-December, 2018

Course Objective:

Protest is an inherent feature of human society. The progress of any society to a large extent
tends to be determined by the degree of social protest. India is not an exception to this process.
Indian society witnessed a wide range of protest movements differentiated by ideologies,
methods and objectives in different historical conjunctures. This course proposes to introduce
the concepts, theories, and case studies that seek to clarify protest as a social, cultural, political,
economic and historical phenomenon which has the potential to unleash larger implications for
policy changes, social reforms, and even economic and political revolutions.

Course Outline:
Social Protest : Definitions and forms

Theories of social movements

Social movements in India

(a) Socio-religious movements
(b) Caste, tribal and peasant movements
(c) Trade union movement
(d) Women’s movement

4. Social protest and identity politics today

Readings:

Lyford P Edwards (1973). The Natural History of Revolution. Chicago : The University of
Chicago Press.

Das, Veena. Ed. 2003. The Oxford India Companion to Sociology and Social Anthropology,
Vol. II. Delhi: Oxford University Press (Sect.9).

Giddens, Anthony. 2001. Sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press, 4th Edition.

Goodwin, Jeff and Jasper, James M. Ed. 2003. The Social Movements Reader: Cases and
Concepts. Oxford: Blackwell.

Kumar, Radha. 2001. From Chipko to Sati: The Contemporary Indian Women's Movement. In
Nivedita Menon (ed.), Gender and Politics in India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Oommen, T. K. 1990. Protest and Change: Studies in Social Movements. New Delhi: Sage,
1990

Rao, M. S. A. Ed. 1978. Social Movements in India, Vol. I. New Delhi: Manohar.

Shah, Ghanshyam. Ed. 1990. State and Social Movements in India. New Delhi: Sage.

Singh, Rajendra. 2001. Social Movements, Old and New: A Post-Modernist Critique. New
Delhi: Sage.
 Theories of Society

Course No.: SL

Credit: 4

This course introduces students with the social, political, economic and intellectual context in
which sociological theory was developed over two centuries along with different approaches and
perspectives to the study of society. This would also deal with the contributions of the
forerunners of the discipline as well as masters of sociological thought who gave a systematic
shape to the subject.

Unit I: Introduction to Theories of Society

Emergence of Social Theory - Montesquieu and Rousseau.

Conceptualizing society - Herbert Spencer, George Simmel -sociability.

Origin of Positivism: Condorcet, Saint Simon and August Comte

Unit II: Consensus Model of Society

Herbert Spencer- Institution.

Emile Durkheim - Social Fact, Collective Conscience, Social Solidarity.

Talcott Parsons - Pattern Variable, AGIL.

Unit III: Conflict Model of Society

Karl Marx - Dialectics, Class Conflict.

C. Wright Mills – Elite.

Lewis Coser (functionalist interpretation of conflict) and Ralf Dahrendorf.

Unit IV: Interactionist Perspective

Hermeneutic Understanding of Max Weber - Status, Rational Society, Social Action, Authority.

Legacy of Max Weber and George Simmel.

Pragamatism of G.H. Mead, Symbolic Interactionism of Herbert Blumer and Dramaturgy of

Goffman.

Unit V: Voluntaristic/Exchange Theory

George Homans and James Coleman

Unit VI: Standpoint Theory.

Dorothy E Smith - Gender.

W.E. B. Du Bois - Race and Double Consciousness.

Key Readings:

1. Aron, R. (1971). Main Currents in Sociological Thought. Penguin Books.

2. Allen, K. (2006).The Social Lens: An Invitation to Social and Sociological Theory. Sage.
3. Wallace, R.A. and Wolf, A. (1995). Contemporary Sociological Theory: Continuing the
Classical Tradition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

4. Coser, L. Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context , (2nd
ed.) New York :Harcourt , 1977.

5. Turner, B.S. (Ed.) (2009). The New Blackwell Companion to Social Theory. Sussex.
Blackwell. (Introduction, Chapter One, Chapter nine)

6. Talcott Parsons, Edward Shils, Kaspar D Naegele and Jesse R Pitts’s (ed.)
(1961).“Theories of Society”. New York: Free Press. (Preface, Chapter Nine and twelve of Part
A, Chapter one and two of Part B).

7. Calhoun, C. et al (Ed.) (2002). Contemporary Sociological Theory. Massachusetes:

Blackwell. (Chapter 3,4,5,7,8, 22).

8. Joseph, J. (Ed.), (2005) Social Theory: A Reader. Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.

9. Adams, B. N. and Sydie, R.A. (2001). Sociological Theory. California: Pine Forge Press-
Sage.

10. Shils, E. A., and Finch, H. A. (eds.) (1949).The Methodology of the Social Sciences: Max
Weber. New York: Free Press.

11. Giddens, A., and Turner, J. (eds.) (1987) Social Theory Today. Cambridge: Polity.