:   1

SOCIOLOGY OPTIONAL
(HANDOUT)
PAPER-I

Raj Rai
Raj Rai
 CONTENTS

1. Sociology the Discipline 3

2. Sociology as Science 11

3. Research Methods and Analysis 20

4.A Sociological Thinkers (Karl Marx) 31

4.B Sociological Thinkers (Emile Durkheim) 38

4.C Sociological Thinkers (Max Weber) 45

4.D Sociological Thinkers (Talcott Parsons) 51

4.E Sociological Thinkers (R K Merton) 56

4.F Sociological Thinkers (G H Mead) 63

5. Social Stratification and Mobility 65

6. Work and Economic Life 76

7. Politics and Society 81

8. Religion and Society 103

9. System of Kinship 113

10. Social change in Modern Society 119

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UNIT

1 SOCIOLOGY THE DISCIPLINE

Sociology, Originally, the idea was to study society with application of natural science as celebration
of science and rational thoughts of early 19th century was hard to ignore.
‰ Auguste Comte, who coined the term sociology in the year 1839, proposed it as a synthetic
science uniting all knowledge about human activity.
‰ Etymologically, the word Sociology is derived from Latin word Socius, meaning “companion”
(it gives rise to word societas that mean society) and Greek word logos meaning study or science.
Thus, sociology, literally means science or study of society.

MODERNITY AND SOCIAL CHANGE IN EUROPE AND EMERGENCE OF

SOCIOLOGY
European society after the fall of Roman Empire (5th century) witness decline in new ideas and
innovation in social and scientific field. The teaching of Church dominated the human mind engaging
it into metaphysical speculation making them prone to social evil and ignorance.
Some of the characteristic feature of structures of European society during that time included:
‰ Land becomes central to economic system.
‰ Church becomes supreme and sacrosanct.
‰ Emergences of Class viz. feudal lords, vessels, peasants etc.
‰ Feudal structure and monarchy.
‰ Family and kinship becomes central to individual life.
Europe suffers from religious dogmas and class divide. Hence, this period in Europe was referred as
“The Dark Ages”.
Renaissance is a French word, which means re-birth, revival or re-awakening. The Renaissance was
cultural and intellectual movement that begins from 14th century onwards to 17th century, promoted
the rediscovery of classical philosophy, literature, architecture and art etc.
Renaissance period, who becomes agents of change including:
‰ Scientist: Proposed major shift toward rational thoughts
‰ Philosopher: Made attempts to projects a picture of an ideal society.
‰ Scholars: Tend to use stories, satire to attach on superstition, dogmas and tradition.
‰ Painters, Sculpture and Artist: Promoted realism and naturalism by depicting objects and people
in a true to life way.
‰ Explorer/Voyager: Opened a new route for trade and interconnection
‰ Religious reform: Promoted idea of centrality of human being and their rights.

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It ended by early 17th century. Scholars believes several factors as responsible in the demise of
Renaissance i.e., Counter Reformation Movement by catholic church that censored artist and writers,
economic decline due to changing trade route, Council of Trent, that made any views challenging
church as punishable by death etc.
Despite its ends, the Renaissance is credited with bridging the gap between the Middle Ages and
modern-day civilization. The Renaissance period is also credited to bring the idea of modernity in
Europe.
Emergence of sociology as a separated discipline can be traced to the social, economic, political
and ideological changes in European society brought by modernity embodied in following:
‰ Commercial Revolution during Renaissance period.
‰ Scientific revolution during Renaissance period.
‰ Enlightenment period
‰ French revolution
‰ Industrial revolution

Commercial Revolution
The initiative was taken by Spain, Portugal, and England to consolidate their economic and political
power and to break the Italian monopoly over trade.
‰ Overseas discoveries and conquest
‰ Shift from land route to sea route
‰ Expansion of banking
‰ Growth of companies
‰ Rise of middle class
‰ Europeanization of world

Scientific Revolution
Its impact was not restricted to changes in natural life, but also people’s idea about nature and society.
Unlike science of medieval period in Europe that was characterized by feudal system, domination of
church rigid religious belief and dogmas that throttle scientific temper, scientific revolution during
renaissance marked a clean break from past. It expanded in the sphere of visual art, medicine,
chemistry navigation and astronomy.

The Enlightenment Period

The Enlightenment period marked a radical change from the traditional thinking of feudal Europe.
It introduced a new way of thinking. Individual started questioning each and every aspect of life
without considering anything sacrosanct including church, state, monarch etc.

French Revolution
French society was divided into feudal estates(comprised of 3 estates). Estates are system of
stratification in European society on the basis of status, privileges and restriction.

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In 1989, France’s society was based on a system created

in the Middle Age. The ancien régime separated
everyone in Franch society into one of three estates:

First Estate
Clergy
Second Estate Nobility
The remainder of the
Third Estate population, including the
bourgeoisie and rural peasants

Intellectual development in France

During 18th century, France entered age of reason and rationalism. Some of the major philosopher,
whose ideas influenced the French population were:
‰ Montesquieu: In his book “The Spirit of Law”, he proposed theory of separation of power and
individual liberty.
‰ Locke: He advocated that every individual has certain rights which cannot be taken, by authority.
It includes Right to property, Right to personal freedom and Right to live.
‰ Rousseau: In his book “The social contract”, he mentioned that people have right to choose their
ruler (sovereign) as they can develop their personality best under government of their choice.
These ideas struck the imagination of French people. It resulted into following important events:
‰ Louis XVI, in 1778 imposed tax on everyone as bankruptcy of French government due to
extravagance of king and support of American war of independence. To deal with it, King
imposed tax on everyone irrespective of their social status.
‰ In response to this, Rich nobles and clergy demanded meeting of Estate general, a parliamentary
body in which all 3 estates were represented, and that could levy tax.
‰ Unlike earlier practice, the third estate wanted all estate to meet and vote as one assembly that
was refused by first two estates.
‰ Their refusal led to formation of National assembly led by middle classes and liberal minded
leader, met with stiff resistance.
‰ Announcement of Declaration of Rights of man that guaranteed freedom of speech, religion
and freedom from arbitrary punishment. It abolished special privilege of nobles and clergy,
declaring ‘all men were born and remain equal before law’.
Thus, ideas of liberty and equality put end of feudalism and brought democracy by changing
political structure.

Industrial Revolution
‰ The Industrial revolution began around 1760 AD in England. It brought great changes in social
and economic life of people Europe and other continent.
‰ Industrial revolution promoted development of banks insurance companies, Finance Corporation
resulting in emergence of new class of industrial worker, managers, and capitalist.
‰ With increase in production, there was rise in urbanization and population.

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‰ Industrial worker lives in unhygienic living conditions, doing repetitive work and suffer from
socio-economic disparities.
‰ These changes moved both conservation and radical thinker. Conservatives feared that such
condition would lead to chaos and disorder, the radical (like Engels) felt that factory worker
would initiate social change.
Intellectual influence affecting the emergence of sociology:
1. Influence of the Enlightenment thinkers
„ Scientific approach to the study of society.
„ Reason as measure to judge social institution and their suitability for human nature.
„ Human beings are capable of allowing perfection by criticizing and changing social
institution and create greater degree of freedom for themselves.
2. Philosophy of history: The basic assumption of this philosophy was that society must have
progressed through series of step from simple to complex stage. Its contribution on philosophical
side was motion of development and progress and on scientific side, it gives concept of historical
period and social type as reflected in works of Comte and Marx.
3. Biological theories of evolution: Sociology moved toward evolution approach, to be modelled
on biology. It conceives society as on organism and attempt to formulate general term of social
evolution e.g., It was used by Spencer and Durkheim in their sociology writing.
4. Survey of social condition: With knowledge of social condition, one can arrive at solution to
solve the prevalent social problem.
Social force in Development of Sociological Theory:
‰ Political revolution in France disturbing social order
‰ Industrial revolution and Rise of capitalism
‰ Rise of socialism
‰ Feminism
‰ Urbanization
‰ Religious changes
In a nutshell, emergence of sociology can be understood at two levels, i.e. General context that
included renaissance (commercial and scientific revolution), enlightenment period and industrial
revolution that brought social and economic changes in European society and Immediate context i.e.,
French revolution that replace monarchy with democracy and change in French society. The anarchy
that followed French revolution deeply, stirred French thinker to believe the need of new discipline
that offer scientific interpretation of society.

SCOPE OF THE SUBJECT

Scope means the subject matter or areas of study.
TWO main schools of thought regarding the scope of sociology:
1. The Synthetic School or Encyclopedia School: This school believes that each and every aspect of
society is within domain of sociological study, The supporter of synthetic school was sociologist
like A. Comte, E. Durkheim, P. Sorokin, L.T. Habhouse, Ginsberg etc.
Emile Durkheim divided scope of sociology into three fundamental branches:
1. Social morphology: It studies geographical or territorial basis of life of people and
demographic aspects of society e.g., population size, density etc.

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2. Social physiology: It include number of branches like sociology of family, sociology of
religion, sociology of law etc. There are called as special sociologies.
3. General sociology: It is the philosophical part of sociology. It deals with general character
of social facts. It tries to formulate general social law.
Karl Manheim divided the scope of sociology into two sections :
1. Systematic and general sociology: General sociology deals with the factors responsible for
people living together, i.e., about the rules and law governing social life.
2. Historical sociology: It deals with historical variation and different forms of society.
2. Formal or Specialist School :This school of though is headed German sociologist Georg Simmel.
The other main supporters of this school are Alfred Vierkandt, Max Weber, Ferdinand Tonnies
etc. This school consider confining sociology to study certain aspect of human relationship or
micro aspect.
„ Max Weber, The main aim of sociology is interpretation and understanding of social action
and social behavior. It should confine itself in the analysis and classification of social action.
„ Ferdinand Tonnies divided societies into two categories namely Gemeinschaft (Community)
and Gessellschaft (association or large society) on the basis of forms of relationship. Hence
support formalistic school.
Parson in his book the structure of social action and social system blurs the macro and micro
distinction. R.K. Merton Latent and manifest function combined both macro and micro subject
matter. C.W. Mills sociological imagination allows to see that many events which appear to concern
only individual actually affect larger society (e.g., Divorce, unemployment considered as personal
trouble, yet their rise is a public issue). Likewise, Anthony Gidden, theory of structuration or
congruence between agency (actor or action) with structure make it dynamic and bridges macro and
micro unit gap.
Chicago School’ is best known for its ‘urban sociology’ and development of the ‘symbolic
interactionism’ main sociologist associated with the school were Robert Park, Charles H. Cooley,
George Herbert Mead, E. Burges and Louis Wirth.
A critical perspective added to scope of sociology led by Marxian sociologist. It tried to include
a cultural perspective into Marxian thought. That is why, they were also called Neo-Marxian and
school of thought was referred as Frankfurt School. Main sociologist associated with the Theodore
Adorno, Max Horkhiemer, Herbert Marcuse and Habermas.
During 1960’s Feminist sociology emerged and offer radical alternatives to established sociological
theories. It offers distinctive gender-based explanation to social reality.
Walter J.H. Sprott while defining scope of sociology aptly put it as, “A brave attempt to confine an
enormous mass of slippery material into relatively simple system of pigeon holes”.

COMPARISON WITH OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES

The scope of sociology is different from these social sciences as it studies social relationships in
society. But the study in any social phenomenon cannot be made in isolation. Hence it is necessary to
contemplate upon other social science. E.g., To study status of women in India during British times,
one will have to seek ideas from history, economy, political science etc.

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Sociology and Philosophy

The word sociology itself first appears in Auguste Comte book “System of Positive Philosophy”.
Sociology begins its journey with philosophical ambition by raising lot of philosophical questions,
their cause and effects, in order to develop grand theory etc. Marxist sociology originally was work
on society now transform into Marxist philosophy. To conclude, as Alfred Vierkandt says, sociology
is productive only when it has philosophical basis.

Sociology Philosophy
Sociology focuses on present society & restricts Philosophy focus on what society ought to be
speculation i.e., their ideal form
Concrete Speculative
Marxist sociology provide sound philosophical Social philosophy originally was analyzing
base for Marxism family, marriage, state etc before sociology.

Sociology and History

Sociology History
Sociology is present history (G.E. Howards). History is past sociology.
Sociology is nomothetic History is idiographic.
Scope of sociology is wide and analytical Scope of history is narrow and descriptive
Primary focus on analysis of pattern of events Primary focus is on events and personalities

‰ Karl Marx used historical data in “Historical Materialism”. Max Weber collects historical data
on religion to compile “Protestant Ethics & Spirit of capitalism”. Arnold Toynbee, British historian
formulated complex theory of growth and demise of societies based on history. Annales school
founded by Marc Bloch to study feudal societies in historical context.
‰ Robert Bierstedt indicates that if past is of as a continuous cloth unrolling through centuries,
history is interested in individual thread and strands that make it up and sociology focus on
the pattern it exhibits. Hence history without sociology is fruitless, sociology without history is
rootless.

Sociology and Economics

Sociology Economics
Sociology is general and inclusive study of Economics is special study of economic aspect
human life and consider human as social and human as an economic animal.
animals.
Sociological analysis takes multidimensional Economic analysis takes into account only
factors into account viz social, cultural, political economic factor.
economic etc.
Sociology is abstract in nature and less precise Economics is concrete in nature and more
making social variable difficult to measure & precise. Economic variables can be measured
quantify. and quantified.

Karl Marx uses Economic determinism to explain class conflict and Alienation. Max Weber uses
comparative study of religion to understand growth of capitalism among Protestants. Jajmani System
studied by William Wiser as a form of barter exchange in traditional Indian society had economic
reason.

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Sociology and Political Science
Sociology Political Science
Sociology is science of society Political science is science of state and
government
Sociology studies all kind of societies- Political science studies only politically
unorganized (simple) and organized (modern). organized societies & political system
Sociology has a wider scope & devoted to study Political sciences restricted its scope by studying
all aspect of society political aspect of societies

Karl Marx wrote historical materialism indicated changes in political structure. Max Weber in his
Ideal type mentioned about Bureaucracy and authority which are subject matter of political science.
Talcott Parson considers an essential function of Goal attainment to be performed by government
and law.

Sociology and Psychology

Sociology Psychology
Sociology studies society & social group Psychology studies individual personality
Sociology subject matter include family, Psychology subject matter include basic instincts,
individual, religion, power etc empathy suggestions, initiation etc.
Sociology claims to be scientific discipline, uses Psychology has more scope of experimentation
multidimensional perspectives. & even psychological labs are used for it making
if more scientific

‰ Weber gave emphasis on human mind and individual actor that give meaning to any action it
gives rise to formal school in sociology. C.H. Cooley in his “Looking glass self” indicate that
through this interactive process, person develop an image of themselves based on how they
appear to other and interpreting their reaction.
‰ G.H. Mead in his study of Mind, Self and Society highlighted the role played by socialization
on development of self. Ginsberg holds that sociology cannot ignore prejudices, preferences and
emotion of man. Man as psychic being goes to socialization process to inherit social ability to
make structural life of society possible.

Sociology and Anthropology

Sociology Anthropology
It studies complex societies It studies simple societies
Focus on survey method and quantitative data Focus on field work and ethnographic research
using statistics and questionnaire. method
Sociology mainly focuses upon social aspects. It studies also physical aspect related to evolution
and biology

Anthropological study prepares the background for the sociological investigation. Emile Durkheim
used data on Arunta Tribe for religion, William Foot Whyte, M.N. Srinivas adopted participant
observation for their sociological study. Work of Talcott Parson and R.K. Merton is an attempt toward
adaptation of Functional approach to study modern societies. Malinowski indicates that another
name of social anthropology is comparative sociology.

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Thus, the union of social anthropology and sociology would benefit both discipline in their
research and growth.

SOCIOLOGY AND COMMON SENSE

Common sense refers to routine knowledge that people have of their everyday world and activities.
‰ Durkheim outrightly rejected the role of common sense in sociological enquiry. He considers it
as deceptive, unrealistic, untested and speculative. In his study of suicide, Durkheim refused to
accept the common-sense notion that suicide is committed by mentally sick people.
‰ Marxist also considers common sense knowledge is based on dominant class ideology who
wishes to ensure their cultural hegemony over masses. Hence role of common sense is very
limited in understanding of the world.
‰ Subjectivity is foundation to common sense knowledge. It was led to different and often
contradictory meaning e.g., “Bird of feather flock together” and “opposite attract”. However,
sociology emphasize on positivism and objectivities.
‰ Peter Berger consider that social reality has many layers of meaning and goal of sociology is to
discover these multiple meaning. He called this theme as De Bunking Motif.
Sociology Common Sense
Sociology is verified, self-correcting academic Common Sense is unexamined and taken for
discipline, objectivity and scientific enquiry granted knowledge, subjective and intuitive.
Sociology is based on evidence , high validity Common Sense is based on assumption, lacks
and reliability validity and reliability
Sociology is subjected to unending debate and Common Sense is unreflective since it rarely
consider as science of organized skepticism questions its own origin.
Sociology aims for generalization and theory Common Sense is particular and localized
building (universalization)
Sociology is coherent across time and space. Common Sense not coherent and subject to time,
place and social constraint (different in India
and USA).

Points of similarity and complementarities between common sense and sociology:

‰ Common sense helps sociologist in making hypothesis or tentative generalization.
‰ Common sense provides raw material for sociological investigation as sociology tends to answer
the question generated from common sense knowledge.
‰ Common sense helps sociology by challenging its conclusion and thereby enriching the discipline.
‰ Common sense and sociology, both attempts to explain any phenomenon or exploration of truth
in their own way.
‰ Anthony Giddens indicates that sometimes, sociological investigation itself become part of
common sense.
All social science subjects are concerned with the behaviour of people but each of them studies
different aspects.

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UNIT

2 SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE

Sociology emerged as a discipline to study society from perspective of science. Sociologist like Saint
Simon initially called sociology as social physics to establish its connection with science. Auguste
Comte and Herbert Spencer firmly believed that natural science theories and methods are equipped
to study dynamic human action and society.

Sociology is Science: Reasons

‰ Positivist indicate that like science, sociology emphasize on empirically verifiable observation
and data. E.g., M.N. Srinivas collect data from Coorg.
‰ Structure functionalist argued that like science, sociology study structure through segmentation
i.e., by dividing it into parts and study it in detail. (Reduction analysis) E.g., Family performing
socialization, anxiety management, economic gratification, security etc.
‰ Positivist highlight that like science, sociology engage into theory building e.g., Emile Durkheim
study of Division of Labour.
‰ Sociology, like science, use scientific methods viz. statistics analysis, causal analysis, multivariate
analysis, comparative methods etc. to conduct research. E.g., Emile Durkheim study of Suicide.
‰ Sociology, like science, focus on experimentation to establish relationship between different
variable. E.g., Impact of MNREGA on migration.
‰ Sociology like science, focus on objectivity in sociological research. E.g., Emile Durkheim study
of suicide.
‰ Sociology, like science tends to establish cause-effect relationship. E.g., Max Weber in Protestant
Ethics and Spirit of capitalism indicate role of infrastructure and value for development of
capitalism.
‰ Sociology, like science gave emphasis on reliability and validity.

Sociology Not as Science: Reason

‰ Subject matter of science is matter i.e., static in nature unlike sociology that studies dynamic
human behavior. Hence, it is practically neither possible nor desirable to conduct experiment in
lab like situation on human.
‰ Objectivity is one of the prime emphases of science and scientific investigation. However, it
remains elusive goal in sociology e.g. It began with the choice of research topic.
‰ Unlike science, quantification of data and variables is difficult in sociology. E.g. happiness,
religion.
‰ Phenomenology and Ethnomethodology consider that reality should be studied from people’s
perspective and not through application of scientific method. Hence, they refuse to consider
sociology as science.

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SCIENCE, SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND CRITIQUE

Science refers to a systematized body of knowledge which is based upon sensory observation of
empirical data.
R.K. Merton in his book “The sociology of science” introduced FOUR sets of “Norms of science”
inferred from moral consensus and common practices of scientist. The norms were assigned the
abbreviation CUDOs, can be summarized as: Communism, Universalism, Disinterestedness and
Organized skepticism.

Science can be reflected as:

‰ Methodology: That focus on building of a body of scientific knowledge through observation,
experimentation, generalization and verification.
‰ Spirit: Driven by principle of rationality, logic, criticality etc.
‰ Essence: Science is considered to be exploring the truth and find solution to the problem/queries.
Robert Burns describe scientific method as a systematic investigation to find solution to a problem.
Horton and Hunt mention following characteristics:
‰ Verifiable evidence: Factual observation that can be seen and check.
‰ Accuracy: Describing things exactly as they are avoiding undue conclusion.
‰ Precision: Attempting giving exact number or measurement avoiding any vague statement.
‰ Systematization: Collecting data in organized and systematic way.
‰ Objectivity: Observation must be free from observer’s value, belief and preferences.
‰ Recording: All data must be recorded in complete details.
‰ Controlling condition: Allowing one variable in experimentation to vary keeping other constant
to observe its impact.
‰ Training investigators: Imparting necessary knowledge to investigators to make them
understand about how to collect data, interpret and avoid inaccuracy.
Horton and Hunt indicate eight steps in scientific method of investigation:
‰ Identification and defining the problem of research: That is worth studying through method of
science.
‰ Review of literature: To analyze previous work on that problem or issue.
‰ Formulated the hypothesis: Tentative generalization of problem or issue.

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‰ Plan the research design: Blue print of entire process including how data is to be collected,
processed and analyzed.
‰ Data collection: Collection of facts, information as per research design
‰ Analysis of data: Classification, comparison, testing of data as per hypothesis.
‰ Developing generalization and conclusion: Outcome of whole method, or results, learning,
implication, new knowledge etc.
‰ Replicate the study: Applicability of research study or finding to other areas of research.

Critique
Karl Popper in his book “The logic of scientific discovery” indicate that:
‰ Science fails to distinguish between science and pseudo-scientific discipline.
‰ Science cannot explain absolute truth, it only studies the truth which is subjected to observation.
Theodor Adorno highlight destructive power of science in production of weapon of mass destruction,
genocide, etc., so one should refrain from celebration of science.
R.K. Merton in his book “The sociology of science” indicate that ethos of science includes
communism, universalism, disinterestedness and organized skepticism (CUDOs).
Habermas observed that science in the making is as subjective as any other branch of human behavior
as what is the purpose and meaning of science receive different answer at different point of time by
different people.
Carl Jung indicates that various aspects of life like happiness beauty, pleasure, bliss are not quantifiable
even with help of scientific method.
A researcher needs to be careful of its limitation and avoid drawing conclusion of science and
scientific method as panacea to all research.

MAJOR THEORETICAL STRANDS OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research methodology is the path through which researchers need to conduct their research.

Functionalism
Functionalism or structural functionalism is framework for building theories that consider society as
a unit, made up of inter-related parts working together. This theoretical strand reflect society through
a macro-level orientation, which is based on social structure that shapes society as a whole.

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Functionalism focus on following aspects:

‰ Structure: Functionalism observes presence of structure in society, behavior, institutions etc. For
structure to sustain, there is a need of rule, norms, values that provide general guideline to
people based on their specific role.
‰ Function: After establishing a structure, next analysis began with observing function of that
structure. This involves examination of relationship between different parts of structure and to
society as a whole.
‰ Functional pre-requisite: Functionalist believed that societies have certain basic needs or
requirement that must be met for its survival.
‰ Value consensus: From functionalist perspective, society is regarded as a system made up of
interrelated parts. In order for system to survive, its various parts must have some degree of
compatibility.
‰ Social order: Functional theory considers certain degree of order and stability is essential for
survival of social system. Here value consensus and socialization played an important role in
origin and maintenance of social order.

Criticism
‰ Conflict theorist consider functionalism as utopian in nature as it ignores presence of conflict in
society which is universal, all pervasive and omnipresent.
‰ Functionalism is criticized for being unable to account for social change or structural contradiction.
‰ Interactionist criticize functionalism for being deterministic theory which gave no importance
on individual action.
‰ Feminist criticize functionalist idea of role allocation to women (housewife) in traditional nuclear
family that makes them dependent on men and forced them for unpaid domestic work.
‰ Phenomenology and ethnomethodology criticize functionalism as it rejects causal explanation
of human behavior. It also rejects functionalist notion of social life as ordered and social action
is systematic and patterned.
‰ Post-modernist argues that functionalism attempt to create meta-narrative that explain working
of society as a whole.

Conflict Perspective
The conflict perspective view society as composed of diverse group with conflicting values and
interest. Majorly, there are two conflict theories: Marxism and feminism.
‰ Marxism: Marxism offers radical alternative to functionalism. It takes its name from its founder,
Karl Marx. The core ideas are that world is divided into classes, the workers (proletariat) and the
rich capitalist (Bourgeoisie) who exploit the workers, these is a class conflict that should result in
revolution and socialism (workers own means of production) and then communism (stateless,
classless society).
‰ Feminism: Feminist tend to consider society as divided into different social group, based on
gender. They characterize society as patriarchal (male dominated) and exploitative where
women are exploited by men.

Criticism
‰ Conflict theory has been criticized for its focus on change and neglect of social stability.
‰ Conflict theory is criticized on being deterministic and ideologically biased.

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‰ Symbolic interactionism consider that micro level analysis of interaction leads to social meaning
which is not possible in conflict theory’s macro perspective
Interpretive Perspective
Interpretive Sociology can be defined as the study of society that focuses on discovering the meanings
that people attach to their social world.
‰ This can also be loosely defined as ‘understanding’, rooted in the concept Verstehen (German
term which means ‘empathic understanding of human behaviour’ introduced by Weber).
‰ It is an approach that centers the importance of meaning and action when studying social
behaviour and interactions.
‰ Weber believed that Verstehen method has an advantage to the social sciences over the natural
sciences. While, in the natural sciences we can only observe and generalize; in social sciences, we
can understand the actions and comprehend the subjective intentions of the actors also.
‰ Weber also wanted to establish an alternative approach (to positivism) as it would focus on
understanding subjective experience and not be merely based on observation or adherence to
facts.
Positivist Interpretive
The concept of positivism was developed by the Interpretive sociology was initiated by German
French sociologists Auguste Comte and Emile sociologist Max Weber and developed by Georg
Durkheim, modelled along natural or rational Simmel and others
sciences- physics or chemistry
Positivist sociology aims to understand social Interpretive sociology aims to understand the
institutions by relying on observation and meaning behind actions through the subject’s
knowledge or facts position within a system of meanings.
Positivist sociology makes use of quantitative Interpretive sociology relies on qualitative
methods and data methods and data

Limitation
‰ It is possible that observation may be influenced by personal bias.
‰ Direct observation also requires prior knowledge of the culture being studied.
‰ It assumes that people in society consider their actions to be rational, which may not always be
the case.

Branches of Interpretive Sociology

Some of the prominent ones are symbolic interactionism, dramaturgy, phenomenology and
ethnomethodology.
Interactionism
Interactionism is concerned with action between individuals. It begins from assumption that action
is meaningful to those involved. Therefore, understanding of action requires an interpretation of the
meaning that actors give to their activities, as meaning are not fixed.
It has following aspects:
Self-concept: A self-concept develops over a period of interaction process, i.e., reflection of others
toward individual. Hence, Charles Cooley coined the term, looking - glass self.

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Meaningful symbols: G H Mead indicated that the ongoing process of social interaction and creating,
defining and redefining of meaningful symbols make society possible.
Definition of the situation: It refers to the idea that if people define situations as real, they are real in
their consequences.
Dramaturgical Analysis: Within interactionism (symbolic) a useful theoretical framework is referred
as dramaturgical analysis.
Labeling approach: In this, people attach various labels to certain behaviors, individuals, and groups
that become part of their social identity and shape other’s attitudes and response to them.

Phenomenology
Phenomenological perspectives in sociology consider that it is impossible to measure objectively
any aspect of human behavior. Phenomenologist do not try to establish causal relationship to certain
event. Instead, they try to discover how certain events defined it that way.
Peter Berger argues that society often been viewed as puppet theatre with its members as little
puppets jumping through one end of invisible string playing their parts assigned to them.
Criticism
‰ Phenomenology is criticized as nothing more than mere common sense.
‰ It is criticized as narrow and speculative in nature.
‰ Phenomenology is criticized for its inability to delivered concrete concepts.

Ethnomethodology
Ethnomethodology means a study of the methods used by people to construct and give meaning to
their social world. Harold Garfinkel first coined the term in 1967.
‰ Ethnomethodology makes an attempt to study the body of common-sense knowledge and the
range of methods by means of which the ordinary members of society make sense of, find their
way about in and act on the circumstances in which they find themselves.
It has following aspects:
‰ Social order is Imaginary - Social life appears orderly to members of society only because
members actively engage in making sense of social life.
‰ Documentary method - Garfinkel argue that member employ the documentary method to make
sense of and account for the social world and its orderly appearance. This includes selecting
certain aspects of the infinite number of features contained in any situation, defining them in
particular way and seeing them as evidence of underlying pattern.
Indexicality means that the sense of any object or activity is derived from its context. Nothing has
fixed meaning and is always potentially unclear independently.
In ethnomethodology, reflexivity is a way to describe the acausal determination of meaningful action
in context. In other words, reflexivity enables us to behave as it meaning (which are not always fixed)
are clear and obvious.
Criticism
‰ Marxian theory criticizes interactionism to focus on human interaction at microlevel ignoring
the impact of historical or social setting/structure.
‰ Manford Kuhn criticized the vagueness of concept like mind, self, I, and me that make it incapable
to provide firm basis for theory and research.

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 Unit 2: Sociology as Science 17
POSITIVISM AND ITS CRITIQUE
Positivism is defined as application of scientific method in sociology. It was based on following
assumption:
‰ Behavior of humans can be objectively measured like matter.
‰ Methods of measurement can be devised for human behavior.
‰ Based on previous assumption, a statement of cause and effect can be product.
Saint Simon (1760-1825) was among the first thinker who propose a new science to analyze the social
structure and change brought by enlightenment period.
Auguste Comte (1798-1857) laid the real foundation to the positivistic tradition.
Comte consider that sociology has following aim:
‰ Scientific analysis of society
‰ Co-ordination among the various sciences being the science of science.
‰ Social reorganization with emphasis on three institutions i.e., family, morality and religion.
Marx writing on positivism are based on various ground. It includes causal analysis, comparative
methods, theory building and generalization, empiricism etc.
Emile Durkheim applied positivistic methodology in study of social phenomena like Division of
labour, suicide, religion through the concept of social fact and research methods.
R.K. Merton use positivistic methodology in his study of reference group behavior and relative
deprivation.
In general, salient feature of positivism can be characterized as follows:
‰ It believes in unity of method
‰ It celebrates objectivity and value neutrality
‰ Sociology is not common sense.
‰ Sociology is a formal and organized body of knowledge, characterized by specialized skills and
techno-scientific vocabulary.
‰ Sociology can strive for abstraction and generalization.
‰ The scientific knowledge of society can be used for social engineering.
‰ It attempts to establish causal relationship while studying any social phenomena.
‰ Based on sociological knowledge and theories, it attempts to predict about social life. As per
Auguste Comte, “from science comes precision, from precision comes action”.
Criticism
‰ Interpretive sociology of Dilthey and Weber consider that scientific study of human behavior
is not possible. Thus, sociology must apply Verstehen method to interpret meaning and motive
of social action by individual.
‰ Interaction sociology of G.H. mead, C.H. Cooley and Herbert Blumer focuses on small scale
interaction rather that society as a whole. It considers that social meaning arises through process
of social interaction.
‰ Phenomenologist considers it impossible to measure any aspect of human behavior objectively.
‰ Ethnomethodologist consider that reality must be studied from people’s perspective and not
from researchers’ perspective as advocated by positivist.
‰ Post-modernist scholars like Derrida, Foucault believed that reality can be studied in many
ways. Sociology cannot study the reality as advocated by positivist.

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‰ Reflexive sociology forwarded by Alvin Gouldner consider that sociologist must be driven by
reflexive thinking i.e., deepening sociologist own awareness by putting themselves in particular
situation to explain reality.
‰ Structuration theory by Anthony Giddens considers that all agency or social action involves
structure and all structure involves social action (agency). It was referred as double hermeneutics.
Positivist emphasize on single interpretation, which will not help in understanding reality.
‰ Feminist theory criticize positivist for using conventional scientific method which are not
particularly good to understand social reality.
Conclusion
Positivism as a method of enquiry sought to give immense cognitive prestige to the discipline, and
wanted to convince its adherents that sociology too could be a science and follow the scientific
methodological principles of empirical observation, deductive reasoning, and formulation of laws or
universal generalizations.

FACT VALUE AND OBJECTIVITY

According to Goode and Hatt, fact is ‘an empirically verifiable observation’. Thus, facts are those
situations or circumstances concerning which there does not seem to be valid room for disagreement.
Characteristics of Facts :
‰ A fact refers to something actually happened.
‰ It can be subjected to empirical scrutiny.
‰ Its existence cannot be denied as it refers to ‘what is’ and not ‘what ought to’.
‰ A fact is an objective reality.
Values refers to relative worth, utility, or importance. In other words, it also connotes desirability.
Characteristics of Value:
‰ Values are Preferences.
‰ Values are in the form of “What Ought To”.
‰ Values are not absolute.
‰ Values are relative.
‰ Values are based on Speculation
‰ Values are all about Right and Wrong
Objectivity means freedom from personal biases. It refers to a state of being objective where observer
is not influenced by personal feeling or opinion. Thus, objectivity can be defined as ability to see and
accept facts as they are and not to be influenced by mere appearance or by prevalent notion or by
one’s own wishes.
Saint Simon and Auguste Comte attempted the scientific study of society through positivism.
Durkheim argued that Social Fact must be treated as things and all preconceived notion about the
social facts must be abandoned to ensure objectivity. Radcliffe Brown argued that the social scientist
must abandon the ethnocentric or egocentric biases in research.
It is difficult to achieve objectivity in social research because of:
‰ Personal preferences
‰ Effect of emotional tendencies

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 Unit 2: Sociology as Science 19
‰ Ideological biases that usually acquired in the course of education and training
‰ Confusion regarding general knowledge: as we take our general knowledge as the final authority
in deciding research, which can mislead us.
Possibility of Subjectivity in research:
‰ The very choice of Research topic is based on preferences/likeness
‰ During the time of formulation of hypothesis
‰ During course of Collection of empirical data
‰ On the finding of research, chances of ideological biasness are possibility E.g., Tepotzsten
village in Mexico studied by Robert Redfield conclude to be under total harmony between
different group, however, Oscar Lewis studying same village concluded that village is ridden
with conflict.
To achieve objectivity or at least minimize subjectivity, the social scientist must take the following
precautions:
‰ Use of empirical methods
‰ Not accepting any self-evident truth
‰ Researcher should be value neutral
‰ Employing trained and skilled research worker
‰ Subject their data to rigorous verification procedure.
‰ Offer his hypothesis for test
‰ Use of random sampling to avoid biases.
‰ Make methodology public
Robert Bierstedt highlighted that Objectivity indicates conclusions arrived as outcome of inquiry
and investigation are independent of the race, color, creed, occupation, nationality, religion, moral
preference, and political predispositions of the investigator.

NON-POSITIVIST METHODOLOGIES
Positivists saw society as given and man as mere part of it being governed by its rules. Non-positivists
considered man as an independent thinking being who can also influence society. They rejected the
over socialized conception of man.

Table: Positivist and Non-Positivist Paradigm - Comparison

Characteristic Positivist Non-Positivist

Dominant data type perspective Quantitative Objective Qualitative Subjectivist
Focus Scientific Humanistic
Methodology context Experimentalist Traditionalist Interpretive Reflexive/reactive

Some common features of Non positivist methodologies are:

‰ They study the internal processes represented through emotions, motives, aspirations and the
individual’s interpretation of social reality.
‰ Non-positivists emphasized upon using qualitative methods and not the scientific methods
similar to the ones used in natural sciences. Earlier Weber and Mead emphasized upon the use
of scientific methods but later Alfred Schutz and Garfinkel rejected their use.

¡¡¡¡

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20 Unit 3: Research Methods and Analysis

UNIT
RESEARCH METHODS AND
3 ANALYSIS

Scientific knowledge provides us the possibility of gaining a true understanding of nature of social
and natural world. This understanding is not based on opinion or unproven superstition.
As per Comte, main task of Sociology was to discover “general laws of social development”. He
divided general laws into following categories (Comte Positivism):
‰ Laws of co-existence or social static
‰ Laws of succession or social dynamics
Task of Sociologist was to discover the laws of development by:
‰ Systematic observation
‰ Collection of data or facts
‰ Development of theories to explain facts
Comte gave 3 stages of evolution namely
1. Age of religion (theological society)
2. Age of metaphysics.
3. Age of reason (more emphasis on science)

QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE METHOD

1. Quantitative research employs quantitative measurement and the use of statistical analysis. This
type of research method is based on the methodological principles of positivism.
2. Qualitative Method This research method describe reality as experienced by the groups,
communities, individuals etc. It is primarily exploratory research.

Difference between Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

Qualitative methods Quantitative methods

Methods include focus group, in depth interviews and Surveys, structured interview
reviews.
Primarily inductive process used to test formulate theory. Primarily deductive process used to prespecified concepts,
constructs and Hypothesis the make up a theory.
More Subjective: Describe a problem or condition from the More Objective: Provides objective effects of a program on
point of view of those experiencing it. a problem or condition.
Less formal method Formal methods
Not necessarily replicable Replicable analysis
Seek understanding or interpretation Seek social regularities and low

Qualitative Methods Advantages:

‰ Help in widening the scope of sociology.
‰ Flexible in collection of data.

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 Unit 3: Research Methods and Analysis 21
‰ Detailed understanding of reality
‰ Comparatively cheaper for smaller sample.
Limitation:
‰ It required expertise in its application.
‰ It is difficult to apply when sample size is large.
‰ Need trained researcher/investigators.
Example: Observation method, Unstructured interview, Case studies, Focus group discussion
Quantitative Methods Advantages:
‰ Objectivity is higher.
‰ Easy measurement as expertise is not required.
‰ Validity and reliability are easier to check.
‰ Chances of biasness (user and subject bias) is less.
‰ Higher reproducibility.
Limitation:
‰ Difficulty in applying on social world.
‰ Cannot be used for non-observable attributes.
E.g: Statistics, Comparative method, Multivariate analysis, Survey, tructured interviews, Closed
ended questionnaire and Sampling
Triangulation
In social research, Triangulation is defined as the mixing of methods, data etc.
Norman K. Denzin was one of the pioneers of such methods and he identifies four types of
triangulations in social research:
1. Data triangulation
2. Investigator triangulation involving multiple researchers in an investigation
3. Theory triangulation involving more than one theoretical scheme
4. Methodological triangulation involves clubbing various methods.
E.g: Survey data can be mixed with interview or participant observation, Content analysis, semi
structured interview.
Advantages:
‰ Quantitative and qualitative data can be used to check on the accuracy of the conclusion reached
on the basis of each.
‰ Qualitative research can be used to produce hypothesis which can be checked using quantitative
methods.
‰ The Two approaches can be used together so that a more complete picture of social group being
studied is produced.
‰ Qualitative research may be used to illuminate why certain variables are statistically corrected.
In sociological research, combining different methods is referred as methodological pluralism.
M. Hammersley distinguish 3 approaches to research which uses several research methods :
1. Triangulation

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2. Facilitation: Facilitation involves using one research Method to assist in the use of another
method E.g., Participation observation or interview might be used to generate ideas which could
be used to produce questionnaire.
3. Complementarity: In this case two research strategies are employed in order of different aspect
of investigation can be fit together.

TECHNIQUE OF DATA COLLECTION

Questionnaire
It is a document that contains a set of questions, the answer to which are to be provided by respondents.
Types of Questionnaires:
‰ Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
‰ Closed ended and Open-ended Questionnaire
‰ Direct and Indirect questions
‰ Nominal, Ordinal and Interval Questions
Advantage:
‰ Lower cost
‰ Saves time
‰ Higher accessibility
‰ Greater anonymity
Limitation:
‰ Only for educated people.
‰ Return rate is low.
‰ Misinterpretation of question by respondents.
‰ No scope for additional information.

Interview
It is a research tool/method of data collection in the form of verbal questioning.
Types
‰ Unstructured and Structured Interview
‰ Standardized and Unstandardized interview
‰ Individual vs Group interview
‰ Self-administered vs Other’s administered interview
‰ Unique vs Panel Interviews
‰ Personal vs non-Personal interview
Advantage: 1. Response rate is high. 2. In-depth probing/enquire is possible. 3. Clarification of
question is possible to remove confusion. 4. Easy administration.
Disadvantage: 1. Identify is disclosed so interviewee might hide information. 2. It is more costly. 3.
Time consuming. 4. It depends more on interviewee mood

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Observation
It is a systematic, direct, definite and deliberate examination of spontaneous occurrence at the time of
their occurrence. It is conducted only in case of qualitative research method.
Types of Observation
1. Participant and non-participant’s observation:
In Participant Observation, observer/ investigator becomes part of situation, he/ she is
studying. He/she involve him/herself in the setting and group life of the research subjects. E.g.,
MN Srinivas used this method to study Sanskritization.
In Non-participant observation, the observer remains detached and does not participate or
intervene in the activities of those who are being observed.
Advantages of Participant Observation
„ It gives a detailed, in-depth and holistic views of the events about a social phenomenon or
institution.
„ It can avoid any pre-conceived notions and can shape his or her research as the new
information arrives.
„ It allows for the correction of initial impression, which might be biased or mistaken.
„ It permits researchers to track changes in subject of research. Eg different aspect in village
study in good harvest and bad harvest year.
Limitations of Participant Observation:
„ Difficulty in validation (validity of finding is difficult to test as there is no hard data and
results are in the form of observation only).
„ Poor reliability as some observation cannot be repeated.
2. Systematic and Unsystematic observation
3. Naive and Scientific observation
4. Structured and unstructured observation
5. Natural and Laboratory observation
6. Direct and Indirect observation
7. Covert and Overt observation
Advantage of observation
„ It is less complicated and less time consuming.
„ It allows collection of wide range of information.
„ It is relatively inexpensive.
„ It offers date even when respondents are unable and unwilling to cooperate for giving
information.
Disadvantage of observation
„ Lack of anonymity especially when study sensitive issues.
„ Difficulties of quantification.
„ Lack of control by researcher.
„ Smaller sample size

Case Studies
It is an empirical inquiry that investigate a phenomenon within its real-life context. Hence case study
is not just a method of data collection rater it is a research, strategy and empirical inquiry also.

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Types of Case Studies

‰ Historical Case Studies
‰ Observational Case Studies
‰ Oral History Case Studies
‰ Situational Case Studies
‰ Clinical Case Studies
Sources of Data Collection for Case Studies
Primary data collections are through interview and observation. 2. Secondary data are collected
through variety or sources like, reports, records, newspapers, magazines, book, diaries etc. The
secondary data may not be accurate or may be biased.
Advantage:
‰ It makes in-depth study possible.
‰ It is flexible with respect to using methods for collecting data E.g., Questionnaire, interview etc.
‰ These are inexpensive.
‰ They can be conducted in practically any kind of social setting.
Disadvantage/limitation:
‰ Chances of subjective biasness is higher in case study method E.g., Biographers.
‰ It is time consuming because it involves extensive research on topic
‰ It has doubtful reliability.
‰ Validity might be missing.

Content Analysis:
It is a research method used to analyze social life by interpreting words and images from documents,
films, art, music, media and other cultural products.
Ray Pawson identifies 4 different approaches to carry out content analysis, in which researchers
analyses the content of documents. These are either quantitative or qualitative or combination of both
approaches.
‰ Formal Content Analysis
‰ Thematic Content Analysis
‰ Textual analysis
‰ Audience Analysis
Strengths:
‰ It is unobstructive (as it has no effects on the person being studied)
‰ It is relatively easy to gain access to sources (media etc.)
‰ It can present objective account of events, theme.
Weakness:
‰ It is limited in what it can study (as based on mass communication medium).
‰ It may not be as objective as it claims since researcher might select and record data as per his/
her need/requirement/biasness.
‰ It is time consuming process

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Focus Group Discussion
Focus Group Discussion is a form of qualitative research. During a focus group discussion, a group
of individuals – usually 6-12 people – is brought together in a room to engage in a guided discussion
of some topic.
Advantage:
‰ It is flexible.
‰ It has high face validity meaning that it measures what it is intended to measure.
‰ It generates quick result.
‰ It cost little to conduct.
‰ Socially oriented research method, it carries real life data
Disadvantages/Limitation:
‰ Data are often difficult to analyze.
‰ Moderators required certain skill.
‰ Researcher has less control over the session that he/she does in individual interview.
‰ Differences between group can be troublesome.
‰ Groups can often be difficult to pull together. E.g., William Gamson uses focus group discussion
to examine how US citizens frame their views on political issues.

Serendipity
In general, serendipity is the act of finding, something valuable or delightful, when one is not looking
for it, (by accident or more coincidence). Qualitative research inevitably contains such good fortunes
but serendipity consist in how we transform our fortune into substantive discovery.
E.g., Malinowski trapped at Trobriand Island and became an anthropologist.
R.K. Merton provided a systematic attempt to make sense of serendipity in sociology. He indicates
serendipity pattern as unexpected data, provide spark for creation of theoretical analysis. For Merton,
three features characterize serendipity pattern. It must be (a) Unanticipated, (b) Anomalous, (c)
Strategic.

Schedule
It is usually a set of questions which are asked and filled by an interviewer in face-to-face situations
with another person.
The difference between Questionnaire and Schedule lies in the fact that whereas Questionnaire is
filled in by a respondent without any direct oral explanation, a Schedule is filled in by the investigator
himself who can, if necessary, explain any point to respondent on the spot.
Advantages:
‰ It is generally used to survey relatively small geographical area.
‰ Response rate is high
‰ It can be used where respondent is illiterate.
‰ In its wording is not in the form of questions.
‰ Convenient way of data collection

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Limitation:
‰ It involves relatively higher cost in conducting.
‰ It is more time consuming.
‰ No anonymity.

Ethnography
It is described as the production of highly detailed accounts of how people in a social setting lead
their lives, based upon systematic and long-term observation of, and conversation with informants.
Eg Bronislaw Malinowski’s study of Trobriand Islands

Life Histories
It is specific type of case study, which is concern with individual life. Alan Bryman calls it as
Biographical Method. It uses extended, unstructured interviews or personal documents
Eg Study of Polish Peasants, conducted by Thomas and Znaniecki

Pilot Studies
It is a small-scale preliminary study done before the main research.
Advantages: (a) It saves times and money in conducting flawed and inadequately designed research.
(b) It helps improving response rate. (c) It is useful for number of reasons: (d) Checking the suitability
of interviews/ questionnaire to the respondents. (e) It helps in establishing rapport with the
respondents. (f) It is used to develop research skills of those taking part. (f) To help in discovering
unsurmountable practical problems in the research ahead.
Limitation: (a) Poor validity. (b) Inconsistent Reliability

Social Survey
It is defined as research projects which collect standardized data about large numbers of people. Data
are usually in a statistical form. It is usually collected with the help of schedule.
Stephen Ackroyd and John Hughes distinguish 3 main types of surveys :
(a) Factual Survey (b) Attitude Survey (c) Explanatory Survey

Longitudinal Research
It follows same sample over time and makes repeated observations.
Eg with longitudinal surveys, same group of people are interviewed at regular interval enabling
researchers to track changes over time. It describes pattern of change and establish direction of control
relationship.
Advantage:
‰ Facilitate analysis of duration of phenomena.
‰ Bring researchers close to causal explanation
‰ Allow measurement of differences in a variable
‰ Facilitate over time prediction of future outcomes.
Limitations:
‰ Data collection method way change over time.
‰ Difficulty in maintaining antiquity of original sample over extended period.

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‰ Difficulty in showing more than one variable.
‰ Assumption of present trends as unchanged.
‰ Can take a longer period of time to gather results

Types of Research
Primarily, it’s of two types ie Basic (pure) and Applied.
1. Pure Research is a search for knowledge without primary concern for its practical use.
2. Applied Research is a search for ways of using scientific knowledge to solve practical problem.
Based on Research design, it is of 3 types i.e., Exploratory, Descriptive and Experimental.
A Research design is a broad plan of a piece of empirical research specifying the manner in which
data is to be collected and analysed in order to test hypothesis derived from theory or to develop
insight in to the problem being investigated.
A particular design may specify the use of tools and technique in research such as: Experiment
method, social survey, participant observation etc.
Following steps are to be included in research design:
1. Universe of study (Tribe, village etc)
2. Subject of study (society or any specify institution)
3. Tentatively relationship between certain variable
4. Sets of selected method (participant Observation, interview, questionnaire)
5. Analytical categories (empirical data subjected to analysis)
Challenges
• Ethical question • Difficulty in formulating control sample and retaining it over time. • The difficulty
encounter in controlling extraneous environment.
Realising these problems, the experimental sample is used as a control sample.
It is debatable whether an absence of control means a non-experimental study.

VARIABLES
Variables are an important aspect of experimental research. They are defined as characteristics or
conditions that are manipulated, observed and controlled by experimenter.

Types of Variables
1. Dependent and Independent Variables :
„ Dependent variable is one about which experimenter makes a prediction.
„ Independent Variable is defined as one which is manipulated, measured and selected by
the experimenter for producing observable changes in Dependent Variable.
2. Quantitative and Qualitative Variable
„ Qualitative variables are those which consist of categories that cannot be ordered in
magnitude. E.g., Race, Religion etc
„ Quantitative Variable refers to those variables which are composed of categories that can
be ordered in magnitude. E.g., age, income etc
3. Experimental and Measured Variables Experimental variable spells out the details of the
investigator’s manipulations while the Measurement variables refer to measurement.

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SAMPLING
A sampling is a portion of unit (or population) drawn from a larger Unit (or population). It will be
representative of population only if it has some basic characteristics of population from which it is
drawn. Here selection of relevant unit of inquiry for the collection of data, must be done in scientific
manner.

Types of Sampling
1. Probability Sampling: It is one in which every unit of population (or unit) has an equal probability
of being selected for sample. It is of following types:
a. Simple Random Sampling: Sample is selected on randomly on the basis of chance.
b. Systematic Random Sampling: sample is obtained by following fix pattern or particular
order from arbitrary list of cases of population (or unit).
c. Stratified Random Sampling: Sample selected by dividing population in to strata or group)
on certain relevant variables and selection of random sample from each.
d. Cluster Sampling: In cluster sampling, researchers divide a population into smaller groups
known as clusters. Cluster sampling is a method of probability sampling that is often used
to study large populations, particularly those that are widely geographically dispersed.
2. Non-Probability Sampling: It makes no claim for equal chances of selection or representation as
every unit doesn’t get the chance of being selected. It is usually used for qualitative exploratory
analysis.
a. Purposive Sampling
b. Quota Sampling
c. Accidental Sampling
d. Snowball sampling
Advantages:
„ It saves times as it requires collection of small portions of population.
„ It is easy to supervise as sample size is small in comparison to population size
„ It increases accuracy of data as it requires control on small number of subjects.
„ It is economical and saves cost on collection of data.
Limitation: 1. Problem of representation in sample size. 2. Study of sample may not always give
correct picture of case. 3. Selection process of sample may be biased

HYPOTHESIS
It is indispensable for any scientific investigation as it guides and gives direction to investigation.
Hypothesis is tentative generalization, the validity of which remains to be tested. It may be guess,
hunch, imaginative idea or intuition which become basis of action or investigation and tries to correctly
explain phenomenon. When verified and found true, hypothesis leads to formation of theory.
It is of following type:
‰ Crude Hypothesis: It is at low level of abstraction and indicate kind of data to be collected but
does not lead to higher theoretical research. E.g., Bad parenting led to brat children.
‰ Refined Hypothesis: It is more significant in research and is at higher level of abstraction. E.g.,
Poverty results in higher fertility (Poor people reproduce more children)

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‰ Inductive Hypothesis: After analysing multiple inputs and observing any pattern. E.g., Based
on multiple news and cases against different politicians, we may make a hypothesis that Most of
Politician are Corrupt in India
‰ Deductive Hypothesis: Based on prevalent ideologies, view point, important issues facing the
society attempting to falsify a prevalent view.
Importance of Hypothesis
‰ It provides direction to research.
‰ It helps in operationalizing procedure of research.
‰ It helps in replication of research.
‰ It helps in drawing logical conclusion.
‰ It helps in establishing relationship between various variables
Nature of Hypothesis: Features
‰ It is conceptual in nature. Some kind of conceptual elements in the framework are involved in a
hypothesis.
‰ It is a verbal statement in a declarative form. It is a verbal expression of ideas and concepts, it is
not merely an idea but is also available in the verbal form, though the idea is in itself is enough
for empirical verification.
‰ It has some empirical referent. A hypothesis contains some empirical referent. It indicates the
tentative relationship between two or more variables.
‰ It has a forward or future reference. A hypothesis is future oriented. It relates to the future
verification and not to the past facts and information.
‰ It is the pivot of a scientific research. All the research activities are designed for its verification.
Sources of Hypothesis
‰ Previous study
‰ Personal Experience
‰ Imagination and Thinking
‰ Observation
‰ Scientific Theory
‰ Culture

RELIABILITY
Reliability refers to consistency of score or measurement which reflected in reproducibility of
scores. It is thus precision or accuracy of measurement or score. In reliability test, identical results are
produced on more than one occasion on same test.
1. Test-Retest Reliability: It is more conservative method to estimate reliability. It relates to the
measure of reliability that has been obtained by conducting the same test more than one time
over period of time with the participation of the same sample group.
2. Parallel Forms Reliability: It relates to a measure that is obtained by conducting assessment
of the same phenomena with the participation of the same sample group via more than one
assessment method.
3. Inter-Rater Reliability: As the name indicates, it relates to the measure of sets of results obtained
by different assessors using same methods.
4. Internal Consistency Method: It estimate reliability by grouping questions in questionnaire that
measures same concept

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VALIDITY
It refers to degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure. It checks the strength of
our conclusion, inference or proposition. In broad sense, Validity is concerned with generalizability-
when a test is valid, it means its conclusion can be generalized. It is a matter of degree and not an all
or none properly.
Types of Validity
1. Conclusion Validity: It is concern about the relationship between observed outcome/ conclusion
and the program research.
2. Internal Validity: It is concerned about causal relationship between program/research and
outcome.
3. External Validity: It refers to our ability to generalized the results of our study to other conditional
setting.
As per Alan Bryman, who wrote “Social Research Methods”2012, there are 4 types of Validity:
1. Internal Validity
2. External Validity
3. Measurement Validity: Its concerned with the fact that whether the measure which is being
employed actually measure what it claims to measure.
4. Ecological Validity: It indicate how closely a research study mirrors the natural setting of
people’s real experience. A valid research has to be natural in its setting as it can.
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UNIT
SOCIOLOGICAL THINKERS
4A – Karl Marx

An important influence on him was his reading of Engels’s The Condition of the Working Class
in England in 1844 which made him aware of the nature and extent of misery of industrial workers.
Subsequently his engagement with the workers’ movement became more and more passionate.
Marx and Engels developed their philosophy of communism and became the intellectual leaders
of the working-class movement.

BASIC CONCEPTS
Dialectics Materialism
Hegel explains dialectics in terms of three elements: thesis, antithesis and synthesis.
‰ Thesis is the dominant form of ideas prevalent in society at any given point of time which are
perceived to be ‘true’.
‰ Antithesis is the contrary set of ideas which are formulated over a period of time.
‰ Over time, the thesis and antithesis reconcile in the form of synthesis.
‰ In due course, this synthesis serves as thesis. Opposing the new thesis emerges new antithesis
and subsequently new synthesis arises.
Marx borrowed his dialectical method from Hegel but modified it in a fundamental way. While
Hegel had applied his dialectical method in the domain of ideas, Marx applied the Dialectics to
explain the material conditions of life.
Marxian dialectical materialism has three dimensions:
(i) The law of transformation of quantity into quality. It means that quantitative changes lead to
qualitative revolutionary situation.
(ii) The law of unity of opposites (contradiction)
(iii) The law of negation of negation (thesis-antithesis and synthesis).

Forces of Production
Forces of production are the ways in which material goods are produced. They include the
technological know-how, the types of equipment in use and goods being produced for example,
tools, machinery, labour and the levels of technology are all considered to be the forces of production.
The forces of production, According to Marx, include means of production and labour power.
It includes 2 aspects
‰ Man
‰ Things

Relations of Production
According to Marx, in order to produce, people enter into definite relations with one another. Only
within these social relations does production take place.

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These are of 2 types

‰ Relation between man and things
‰ Relation between man and man

Mode of Production
Forces and Relations of production are two aspects of mode of production. The productive forces of
society reflect the degree to which human beings control nature. The more advanced the productive
forces, the greater is their control over nature.
Marx considers production as central in understanding of the society. According to his systemic
view, every society has its infrastructure and superstructure.
‰ Economic Infrastructure: It includes forces and relation of production. It is central to economic
or material factors shaping the whole mode of production.
‰ Social superstructure: It includes all other aspects of society like the legal, educational and political
institutions as well as values, cultural ways of thinking, religion, ideologies and philosophies. It
is largely shaped by Economic infrastructure.

Theory of Surplus Value

According to Marx, every commodity has to kinds of value attached to it ‘use value’ and ‘exchange-
value’.
Use-value of the commodity is in its consumption and exchange value denotes the value of a product
when it is exchanged with the other products.
Labour Theory of Value according to both Adam Smith and David Ricardo suggests that it is the
human labour power which makes any commodity valuable in terms of its use and exchange value.
The pure economic categories like ‘use-value’ and ‘exchange-value’ and human labour cost are
modified by Marx within the framework of political economy so as to explain the rise of capitalism.

Fetishism of Commodities
Commodities are the products of human labour, but they can become separated from the needs and
purposes of their creators.
In fully developed capitalism, this belief becomes reality as the objects and their markets actually
become real, independent phenomena. The commodity takes on an independent, almost mystical
external reality. Marx called this process the fetishism of commodities.
‰ In capitalism, the products that one make, their values, and the economy that consists of
exchanges all seem to take on lives of their own, separate from any human needs or decisions.
Even one’s own labour—the thing that, according to Marx, makes us truly human—becomes a
commodity that is bought and sold.
‰ Marx’s discussion of commodities and their fetishism takes us from the level of the individual
actor to the level of large-scale social structures. The fetishism of commodities imparts to the
economy an independent, objective reality that is external to, and coercive of, the actor.
‰ Looked at in this way, the fetishism of commodities is translated into the concept of reification.
Reification can be thought of as “thingification,” or the process of coming to believe that
humanly created social forms are natural, universal, and absolute things.

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HISTORICAL MATERIALISM
Historical materialism is a theory on human society and history that states that thoughts and social
institutions develop only as a superstructure founded on an economic base.
The notion of Materialism as given by Marx can be compared and contrasted with Idealism which is
much associated with Hegel. While, Idealism refers to a theory that ultimate reality can be understood
and interpreted through ideas, Materialism argues that everything, that exists, depends upon matter.
It studies the real conditions of human existence.
Major tenets of historical materialism are:
(i) Economic structure of society is the most important one
(ii) Economy determines politics and culture in society
(iii) Instead of ideas, economic structure determines political and legal superstructure.
„ It is historical because Marx has traced the evolution of human societies from one stage to
another.
„ It is materialistic because he has interpreted the evolution of societies in terms of changes
in their material or economic bases.
Marx outlined his theory of historical materialism in ‘Preface’ to A contribution to the Critique
of Political Economy stating, ‘It is not the consciousness of men, therefore, that determines their
existence, but instead their social existence determines their consciousness.

Basic Assumptions
‰ Society as an Interrelated Whole
‰ Changeable Nature of Society
‰ Human Nature and Social Relationships
The principles or laws of dialectical materialism hold good for nature, world and society alike.
When these laws are applied to the history of society, they take the shape of historical materialism
leading to development of society in 5 stages:
1. Primitive Communism: The primitive-communal system was the first and the lowest form of
organisation of people and it existed for thousands of years. Men and women started using
primitive tools like sticks and stones for hunting and food-gathering. Gradually they improved
these tools, and learned to make fire, cultivation and animal husbandry.
In this system of very low level of forces of production, the relations of production were based on
common ownership of the means of production. Therefore, these relations were based on mutual
assistance and cooperation. In such a situation, exploitation of humans by humans did not exist.
The first antagonistic classes, slaves and slave owners, appeared.
2. Ancient Society: Large-scale agriculture, livestock raising, mining and handicrafts developed.
The relations were based on the slave owner’s absolute ownership of both the means of production
and the slave and everything they produced.
The owner left the slaves only with the bare minimum necessities to keep them from dying of
starvation. In this system, the history of exploitation of humans by humans and the history of
class struggle began.
3. Feudal Society: The progressive development of the productive forces continued under feudalism.
People started using inanimate sources of energy, viz., water and wind, besides human labour.
These relations were based on the feudal lords’ ownership of the serfs or landless peasants. The
production relations were relations of domination and subjection, exploitation of the serfs by the
feudal lords.

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The peasants and the artisans could own the implements or small parts of land. These forces of
production underwent changes due to new discoveries, increasing demands for consumption
caused by population increase and discovery of new markets through colonialism.
4. Capitalist Society: Large-scale machine production is the specific feature of the productive
forces of capitalism. Huge factories, plants and mines took the place of artisan workshops and
manufacturers. Marx and Engels described the capitalist productive forces in the ‘Manifesto of
the Communist Party’.
5. Communism: Communism is explained by Marx as a form of society which the proletariat
will bring into existence through its revolutionary struggle. In Communist Manifesto Marx
and Engels argued that the communists have no interests separate and apart from the interests
of the proletariat as a whole. In his Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts, Marx defined
communism as the positive abolition of private property. It also entailed the abolition of classes
and abolition of division of labour.
Communism for Marx is not only the positive abolition of private property but also the abolition
of state and abolition of human self-alienation. It will be a class less and stateless society in which
government of men will be replaced by administration of things. It will be return of man to
himself as a social, i.e, really human being.
Communism is viewed by Marx as the true final solution of the conflict between existence and
essence; objectification and self-affirmation; freedom and necessity; individual and the species.
Marx also claimed that communism is the final solution to the riddle of history and knows itself
to be this solution. Man in communism will become conscious of himself as the prime mover of
history as well as its product.

Criticism
‰ Steiner consider that History is not always predetermined, but accidental also.
‰ Max Weber consider that it is difficult to determine beginning and end of history. Sequence of
stages is not found in reality as United State is yet to move in direction of Communism, Russia
switched from communism to capitalism.
‰ Zeitlin consider that Marx looks at history through class perspective but actions of people keep
on changing and it’s not based on Class relations only.

CONTRIBUTION OF HISTORICAL MATERIALISM TO SOCIOLOGICAL

THEORY
The theory of historical materialism played an essential part in the formation of modern sociology.
‰ He introduced an entirely new element to understand the structure of each society. It was
derived from the relations between social classes. These relations were determined by the mode
of production.
‰ Historical materialism introduced into sociology a new method of inquiry, new concepts, and a
number of bold hypotheses to explain the rise, development, and decline of particular forms of
society.
‰ Originality of historical materialism was in its immense effort to synthesise in a critical way,
the entire legacy of social knowledge since Aristotle. Marx’s purpose was to achieve a better
understanding of the conditions of human development. With this understanding he tried to
accelerate the actual process by which mankind was moving toward an association, in which the
free development of each was the condition for the free development of all.
‰ Historical materialism not only provides a method to understand the existing social reality; it is
a method to understand the existence of other methods.

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Conclusion
Despite its limitation, Karl Marx thesis of Historical Materialism provide sequence to social
development. Historical materialism is a dialectical theory of human progress. It regards history as
the development of human beings’ efforts to master the forces of nature and, hence, of production.

MODE OF PRODUCTION
Four Modes of Production
More than one mode of production may exist within any particular society at a given point in time. But
in all forms of society there is one determinate kind of production which assigns rank and influence
to all the others.
1. Asiatic Mode of Production:
„ The Asiatic mode of production is characteristic of primitive communities in which
ownership of land is communal. These communities are still partly organised on the basis
of kinship relations. State power, which expresses the reality of imaginary unity of these
communities, controls the use of essential economic resources, and directly appropriates
part of the labour and production of the community. This mode of production constitutes
one of the possible forms of transition from classless to class societies.
2. Ancient Mode of Production
„ In this system of production, the master has the right of ownership over the slave and
appropriates the products of the slave’s labour. The slave is not allowed to reproduce.
„ The reproduction of slavery depends on the capacity of the society to acquire new slaves,
that is, on an apparatus which is not directly linked to the capacities of demographic
reproduction of the enslaving population. The rate of accumulation depends on the number
of slaves acquired, and not directly on their productivity.
3. Feudal Mode of Production
„ Just as capitalists exploited the workers or the ‘proletariat’, so did the feudal lords exploit
their tenants or ‘serfs’. Capitalists grabbed surplus value and feudal lords appropriated land
rent from their serfs. Feudal rent whether in the form of services or taxes was an important
component of the feudal mode of production.
„ Feudal society was seen by Marx and Engles as intermediate, i.e., between the slave society
of the ancient world and capitalists and proletarians in the modern era.
4. Capitalist Mode of Production
„ In capitalist mode of production, the private ownership of capital in its various forms is in
the hands of a class of capitalists. The ownership by capitalists is to the exclusion of the mass
of the population. This was central feature of capitalism as a mode of production.
As a mode of production, capitalism has the following characteristics:
„ Goods are produced for sale rather than own use.
„ The capacity to do useful work or labour power is bought and sold in a market.
„ The use of money as a medium of exchange. This gives an important role to banks and
financial intermediaries. 4. The production process is controlled by the capitalists or their
managers.
„ Financial decisions are controlled by the capitalist entrepreneur.
„ Individual capitalists compete for control over the labour and finance.

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Criticism
‰ Antonio Gramsci in his book, Prison Notebook, consider that Hegemonistic form of control is
dominant over economy, culture and political apparatus.
‰ Marxian Mode of Production theory was criticised for its limited analysis to production and has
ignored the aspects related to consumption.
‰ Feminist theorist criticizes Mode of production theory for ignoring Patriarchy as ground for
growth of capitalism.
‰ Max Weber consider that Proliferation of Middle class is higher in comparison to polarization
of classes into haves and have nots.

CLASS STRUGGLE
The word ‘class’ originated from the Latin term ‘classis’ which refers to a group called to arms, a
division of the people.
Criteria for Determination of Class - Two major criteria:
1. Objective Criteria: People sharing the same relationship to the means of production comprise a
class. It is also referred as ‘Class in itself’.
2. Subjective Criteria: Any collectivity or human grouping with a similar relationship would make
a category, not a class, if subjective criteria are not included. The members of any one class not
only have similar consciousness but they also share a similar consciousness of the fact that they
belong to the same class. Here this similar class consciousness towards acting together for their
common interests is what Marx calls – “Class for itself”.
Class Struggle and Revolution
Disparity lies on the inequal, exploitative relations of production which distribute the produce in
an inequal manner. This contradiction, according to Marx, will eventually produce a revolutionary
crisis.

Criticism
‰ Marx believes that class struggle will intensify with passage of time but in actual history, we
observe that forces of nationalism is more dominating than feeling of class struggle.
‰ In era of globalization, the conventional class struggle has completely changed and we find a
class of manager or professional who are very affluent but they are themselves not capitalist as
argued by Burns and Stalker.
‰ Marx ignored the rise of Middle class in society and Embourgeoisement.
‰ It is arbitrary to declare that working class will win the class struggle. Gandhi believed that main
element of social life is cooperation and not conflict.

Conclusion
The concept of class struggle was one of the core ideas of Marxism. Marx considered that due to
extreme exploitation, Class struggle is inevitable resulting into revolution.

ALIENATION
Alienation literally means “separation from”. Marx has conceived of alienation as a phenomenon
related to the structure of those societies in which the producer is divorced from the means of
production and in which “dead labour” (capital) dominates “living labour” (the worker).

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In Marx’s sense alienation is an action through which (or a state in which) a person, a group, an
institution, or a society becomes (or remains) alien
(a) to the results or products of its own activity (and to the activity itself), and/or
(b) to the nature in which it lives, and/or
(c) to other human beings, and in addition and through any or all of (a) to (c) also
(d) to itself (to its own historically created human possibilities).
Alienation is always self-alienation, i.e., one’s alienation from oneself through one’s own activity.

Criticism
‰ Goldthorpe consider that alienation is preconceived by the worker before joining any institution.
They tolerate psychological dissatisfaction with better salary.
‰ Girth and Mill consider that Alienation is a subjective feeling and vary from person to person.
‰ Durkheim had highlighted that anomie and alienation can be corrected by existing structures
also.
‰ According to C W Mills in his study of middle class entitled ‘White Collar, 1951’, it is not just the
working class that suffers alienation, but white collared staff also witness alienation.

Conclusion
The concept of alienation is a key tool of analysis in Marx’s thought. According to Marx, one had
always been self-alienated thus far. The bourgeoise relations of production are the last antagonistic
form of the social process of production causing alienation.

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UNIT
SOCIOLOGICAL THINKERS
4B – Emile Durkheim

Durkheim was a social realist as he visualized society as sui generis and having an existence prior
to the individual. He believed that economic and utilitarian explanations cannot explain individual
phenomena.
Durkheim was influenced by Rousseau’s belief that there is a need for common social and moral
rules that can keep society together. However, Durkheim did not agree with Rousseau’s individualist
theories that looked for explanation of morality in ‘original human nature’ of individuals.

SOCIAL FACTS
Durkheim was concerned to demarcate the boundary of Sociology as discipline and attempt to outline
its nature and scope. In his first monogram titled ‘Montesquieu and Rousseau, 1892’ he attempted to
laid down general conditions for the establishment of Science of Society as:
‰ Science has a specific subject matter of its own and does not deal with total knowledge.
‰ It has definite field to explore and concerned with objective reality.
‰ It does not describe individuals but describe its subject matter. This subject matter of science
yields general principles or universal laws.
‰ Science needs ‘methods’ and the methods similar to natural science can also be used in Science
of Society as well.
For Durkheim the ‘subject matter’ of sociology is the “social fact”, and that social facts must be
regarded as ‘things’.
In Durkheim’s view sociology as an ‘objective science’ must conform to the model of the other
sciences. It posed two requirements:
‰ First the ‘subject’ of sociology must be ‘specific’. And it must be distinguished from the ‘subjects’
of all other sciences.
‰ Secondly the ‘subject’ of sociology must be such as to be “observed and explained”.
Durkheim defines social facts as the ways of acting, thinking and feeling which are external to the
individual but have coercive power by reason of which they control of him. Legal codes, customs,
moral rules, religious beliefs and practices, language etc. are all social facts.
Durkheim distinguishes between different types of social facts, On basis of structure/
institutionalization, they are:
1. Structural or Morphological Social facts: These are part of Material Social Facts. These social
facts are clearly visible and make up the substratum of collective life.
2. Institutionalized forms of social facts: They are part of Non-Material Social facts. They are
firmly established and developed, more or less general and widely spread in society as a whole.
3. Non institutionalized form of social facts: This category of social facts has not attained a total
objective and independent existence. These social facts are not institutionalized and not acquired
crystallized form and are the social currents.

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On basis of acceptability, Durkheim makes an important distinction in term of Normal and
pathological social fact:
1. Normal social facts: A social fact is normal when it is generally encountered in a society of a
certain type at a certain phase in its evolution and is confirmed by collectivity. It is also functional
to the society in which it exists.
2. Pathological fact: Every deviation from the standard is a pathological or abnormal fact. It will
have harmful consequence for the society.
Main characteristics of social facts are:
1. Externality: Social facts, according to Durkheim, exist outside individual consciences. Their
existence is external to the individuals.
2. Constraint: Social fact exercises a constraint on individuals. “Social fact” is recognized because it
‘forces itself’ on the individual. They are ‘commanding and obligatory’ for all. Such a phenomenon
is typically social because its basis, its subject is the group as a whole and not one individual in
particular.
3. Independence: Social facts are not dependent on individual for its existence, nor they have been
brought into existence by any one individual. They exist and function independently. Social facts
are collective creation and it is collectivity which keep them going.
4. Generality: Social facts have a more or less general in occurrence in society ie they are collective
in nature and operation. Also, it is ‘independent of the personal features of individuals’ or
‘universal attributes of human nature.
Rules of observing social facts:
1. Treat social facts as things
2. All preconception must be eradicated
3. Observation of social facts should be confined to their external attributes only which can be
tested and verified
4. Social facts must be separated from individual facts
5. The voluntary nature of social facts should not be assumed before hand
6. The observation of social facts should be as definite as possible and the concept should be
formulated precisely

Criticism
‰ Gabriel Tarde criticized Social Fact theory of Durkheim for overemphasizing society and
neglecting individual.
‰ Harry Elmer Bayons criticized Durkheim for putting more thrust on the constant part of social
fact.
‰ Heidleman considers that Durkheim is more concerned about making of society, rather than
describing a methodology for it.
‰ Gunnar Myrdal states that total objectivity is an illusion which can never be achieved. It is
because all research is guided by certain view point that involves subjectivity, so are the social
facts.
‰ Peter Berger accuses Durkheim of doing an injustice to discipline by ignoring individual human
behavior in his bid to objectivity. Further, objectivity is not possible in social observation. He
couldn’t explain why same social facts influences different individuals differently.
‰ Identification of social facts becomes a big problem for sociological analysis. According to Max
Weber, ‘Social facts don’t exist as things in their own right waiting to be gathered like pebbles
on beach’.

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DIVISION OF LABOUR
The Division of Labour in Society (French: De la division du travail social) is the doctoral dissertation
of the Emile Durkheim, published in 1893.
Division of labour, in general means the separation of a work process into a number of tasks, with
each task performed by a separate person or group of persons. It is most often applied to systems of
mass production and is one of the basic organizing principles of the assembly line.
Durkheim studied division of labour as a social institution and not as an economic institution as
it generally taken to be.
Durkheim studies division of labour in terms of:
‰ the function of division of labour
‰ the causes underlying division of labour
‰ deviations from the normal type of division of labour, i.e. abnormal forms.

Function of Division of Labour

According to him, the basis or focus of social integration differs in preindustrial and post-industrial
societies. Durkheim described how social order was maintained in societies based on two very
different forms of solidarity – mechanical and organic – and the transition from more “primitive”
societies to advanced industrial societies.
Hence, on the basis of social solidarity, Durkheim divides society in to two parts
‰ Society based on Mechanical Solidarity
‰ Society based on Organic solidarity.
Mechanical Solidarity Organic Solidarity
It is based on likeness It is based on difference and Division of labour
Less volume of interdependence High Volume of Interdependence
Relatively week Social bond Relatively strong social bond
Low volume of population Relatively high volume of population-moral and material
density
The laws in mechanical solidarity are repressive and penal The laws in Organic solidarity would be more restitutive
in character than penal, seeking to restore rather than punish excessively.
Highly religious (closed for discussion) Secular, human oriented (open for discussion)
Attaching supreme values to the society Attaching supreme values to the individual

Division of Labour performed following functions:

1. The increased division of labor makes for greater efficiency, with the result that resources
increase, making the competition over them more peaceful.
2. In absence of strong collective conscience, Division of Labour integrates modern societies.
3. Division of labor grants autonomy to individual as expansion of needs and specialization
provides them freedom to innovate.
4. Division of labor fulfills dual needs of both individual autonomy and integration of society.
Causes Underlying Division of Labour:
According to Durkheim, division of labour can only be explained in terms of three social factors
namely
1. Volume of society: Refers to the size of population.

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2. The material density: Refers to the density of population.
3. Moral density: Refers to the intensity of communication between individuals
Abnormal Forms of Division of Labour:
According to Durkheim, the kind of division of labour that was taking place was not the ‘normal’-
type rather it was Abnormal types or deviations from the normal were being observed in society. It
includes:
1. Anomie: This term means a state of normlessness. Material life changes rapidly, but rules norms
and values do not keep pace with it. There seems to be a total breakdown of rules and norms.
In the work sphere, this reflects in conflicts between labour and management, degrading and
meaningless work and growing class conflict.
2. Forced or Division of labour based on inequality of opportunity: According to Durkheim, it
fails to produce long-lasting solidarity. Such an abnormal form results in individuals becoming
frustrated and unhappy with their society. Thus, it resulted in tensions, rivalries and antagonism.
3. Inadequate organization: In this abnormal form the very purpose of division of labour is
destroyed. Work is not well organised and coordinated. Workers are often engaged in doing
meaningless tasks. There is no unity of action. Thus, solidarity breaks down and disorder results.
Karl Marx also mentioned two types of division of labour, namely,
1. Social division of labour: It exist in all societies and is a complex system of dividing all the
useful forms of labour to maintain social and economic life with the help of mutual exchange.
2. Division of labour in manufacture: It is prevalent in industrial societies where capitalism and
the factory system exist. In this process, manufacture of a commodity is broken into a number of
processes.
Durkheim Marx
Causes of Dol Increased material and moral density Capitalist intention to extract more profit.
Consequence Integration Dehumanisation and alienation
Solution to Problems Durkheim sees division of labour as a process, According to Marx, capitalism itself is
Related To DOL which under normal circumstances will bring the problem. The way out is through
about social integration. The pathological or revolution, through which workers gain
abnormal forms of division of labour can be control over the means of production.
handled by making workers conscious of their role
in society
Approach ‘Functional Model’ ‘Conflict Model’
Nature of DOL Durkheim stresses cooperation Marx stresses exploitation and conflict.

Criticism
‰ British legal philosopher Michael Clarke argues that Durkheim fell short by lumping a variety
of societies into two groups: industrialized and non-industrialized.
‰ Durkheim didn’t see or acknowledge the wide range of non-industrialized societies, instead
imagining industrialization as the historical watershed that separated goats from sheep.
‰ Goodlocke criticizes Durkheim for misinterpreting system integrity and interdependence as
social integrity.
‰ Malinowski criticizes Durkheim for equating Division of Labour with human progress.

SUICIDE
Suicide as, “any case of death caused by directly or indirectly, positive or negative action of the
victim himself, which he knows will produce this result”.

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‰ Durkheim choose to study suicide because it is a relatively concrete and specific phenomenon.
‰ Durkheim collected huge pile of suicide data (~26k cases) and spent months in its compilation to
calculate annual rate of suicide for each society from where data is collected.
‰ Durkheim tested all these explanation like people commit suicide due to climatic conditions,
people who commit suicide are psychologically diseased or suffering from mental problems.
‰ Durkheim accepted that there were individual reasons also why people committed suicide but,
in a society, numbers of suicides/rate of suicides remained remarkably same.
Durkheim holds that the rate of suicide and crime generally remain static in a recognized group. It
was based on Durkheim’s use of statistical analysis, especially to :
‰ To refute theories of suicide based on alcoholism, Psychopathology, race, biology, genetics,
climatic, and geographical factors, and
‰ To support with empirical evidence his own sociological explanation of suicide.
Durkheim’s interpretation of suicide has the following characteristics:
1. No adequate interpretation of suicide is possible in normal society in the context of the
psychological factors.
2. There is no sudden increase in the rate of suicide and crime in a normal society.
3. Durkheim holds that suicide can be interpreted in the context of a sick society. Social factors such
as social solidarity, collective consciousness, sociability and normlessness provide the required
context for the study of suicide.
To understand the causes for these social facts, Durkheim looked at the data for pattern.
‰ One such was catholic rate of suicide was lesser than those of protestant.
‰ Another data indicate that unmarried people had higher rate of suicide than married with no
issues.
‰ Also, men commit suicide more often than women.
‰ Peace time rates of suicide are higher than war time.
In these, solidarity/integration is the common factors among all the above pattern. For example,
Catholic churches had more solidarity/ integration than those of protestant. Similarly, in other cases,
higher is the solidarity/integration, lower is the suicide rate. For instance, cohesion is greater in
women than men. So, rate of suicide is inversely proportional to the solidarity/integration in group.
Based on 2 social facts i.e. Integration and Regulation, Durkheim proposed four types of suicide

1. Egoist Suicide: It is result of low integration of individual in society. Eg Protestant Christian

have higher rate of Suicide than catholic as they are more free and less integrated in society.

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2. Altruist Suicide: It results from over-integration of an individual in society. It is characteristic of
traditional society with high degree of mechanical solidarity. Eg Soldier sacrificing their life in
war.
3. Anomic Suicide: It is the result of disappearance of social regulation from individual, due to
sudden changes leading to situation of desperation or disjunction. Eg Suicides during COVID-19
crisis.
4. Fatalistic Suicide: These are the result of excessive control of society over an individual.
Oppression of individual lead to suffocation and powerlessness.
Durkheim acknowledges that there may be a secondary role of psychological factors too, but the real
cause of suicide is social. He concludes that rates of suicide are fairly consistent in different societies,
making it a social phenomenon, linked with nature of a particular society. A particular rate is normal
in society as it highlights the problem of integration and regulation. If suicide rate increases beyond
certain limit, it becomes pathological or abnormal.

Criticism
‰ J.B. Douglas highlighted that there is systematic bias towards considering a death as suicide.
Hence, suicide statistics are not reliable. Also, different meanings are attached to an act in
different culture.
‰ Gibbs and Martin (1964) argued that Durkheim’s concept of social integration is too vague and
unclear and he did not properly define the concept of integration.
‰ Gabriel Tarde criticized Durkheim theory on suicide indicating that theory of imitation rules out
suicide as a social fact.

Conclusion
Durkheim theory on suicide is the first scientific study in sociological theoretical tradition which
gave a way to other thinkers to go for empirical studies and develop sociological theories on individual
actions in social context.

RELIGION AND SOCIETY

Durkheim considered Religion as a reflection of man’s relation with society and nature. Religion
cannot be reduced to belief in God. Because there are religions without an apparent God.
In his book ‘Elementary Forms of Religious Life, 1912’, Durkheim defines religion as ‘A unified
system of beliefs and practices related to sacred things, that is to say – things set apart and forbidden,
beliefs and practices which unite them into a single moral community, for all those who adhere to
them’.
According to Durkheim, beliefs are ‘system of ideas’ which explain the sacred, they constitute of
myths, spiritual ideas, ethical code etc. Practices are rites or rituals explaining individual’s behavior
towards the sacred.
There are two types of such rites – positive and negative.
‰ Positive rites bring individual and sacred together and are easier to perform, for example –
worship.
‰ Negative rites help in maintaining the distance between the two and keep them separated, for
example – fasting, sacrifice etc.
Religious representations must be seen as work of the nature of collective conscience. They help in
the formation of ideas and developing deeper interest in collective representations in social life.

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In a primitive society, members of a clan feel that they are somehow related through a common
symbol, like a plant, an animal or an object. One group is called ‘Crow’ yet another ‘Eagle’ or a
‘Snake’; there are others that take a place name. This name helps them in many ways. Their attitude
towards the totem is one of respect. They will not harm that plant or animal. If there is a grave
emergency, they will first worship it and offer collective excuse before killing it. They have a system
of rituals for preserving their totem symbol.
Extension of science reduced the sphere of religion. Earlier religion represented all forms of
knowledge — sacred and secular. With the growth of science, the sphere of the secular increased.
Earlier morality was considered as religious duty.
Durkheim rejected the religious part of that duty and expressed his faith in secular morality. In the
modem times secular morality would, according to him, provide the basis for the moral order in
society. Thus, secular morality could become a new form of group conscience In the other words,
Durkheim predicted that religion’s influence would decrease as society modernizes.

Function of Religion
Durkheim’s discussion on functions of religions can be classified into FOUR :
1. Disciplinary
2. Cohesive
3. Vitalizing
4. Eupheric social forces

Criticism
‰ Steven Lukes criticize Durkheim’s description on relation between religion and society as
ambiguous and even tautological.
‰ Ludwig Feuerbach in ‘Essence of Christianity’ criticizes the functional role of religion by saying
that it makes people weak and dependent.
‰ Peter Berger consider that Modern societies are not engaged in society worship but different
sects, cults and denominations address to immediate needs of people and emerging into sub
religions. Hence, Religion is not as integrative as Durkheim envisaged it to be.

Conclusion
In-spite of the above criticisms, sociology of Religion of Emile Durkheim is very much appreciated by
the sociologists as it gave the much-needed subject matter to the nascent discipline.

¡¡¡¡

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 Unit 4C: Sociological Thinkers 45

UNIT
SOCIOLOGICAL THINKERS
4C – Max Weber

SOCIAL ACTION
Action is social when the actor behaves in such a manner that his action is intended to influence the
action of one or more other persons. In sociology it was Max Weber who first explicitly used and
emphasised social action as the basis for sociological theory.
According to Max Weber, “Sociology is a science which attempts the interpretative understanding
of social action in order thereby to arrive at a causal explanation of its cause and effects”. Important
elements of social action
‰ Social action includes all human behaviour.
‰ Social action attaches a subjective meaning to it.
‰ The acting individual or individuals take into account the behaviour of others.
‰ Social action is oriented in its course.

Weber’s Theory of Social Action

Marx describes motivation as the expression of human-beingness through productive activity and
the desire to survive and prosper, Weber argues that social action also provided social actors with
opportunities to live out their values and beliefs.
Weber’s theory of social action centres around an analysis of the rationality of otherwise of different
types of action. If individuals are indeed immersed in a rationalised and rationalising social world,
then presumably this has an important impact on the way they act. The basic point of departure of
Weber’s theory of social action is that actions can be distinguished one from the other depending on
which kind of rationality the actor is trying to express.
Types of Social Action: Weber has talked about four types of social actions.
1. ZWECK Rational or rational action in relation to a goal: Rational action with reference to goals
is classified in terms of the conditions or means for the successful attainment of actor’s own
rationally closed ends.
2. WERT Rational or rational action with reference to a value: Rational action with reference to
value is classified in terms of rational orientation to an absolute value, that is, action which is
directed to overriding ideals of duty, honour or devotion to a cause.
3. Traditional Action: Traditional action type is classified as one which is under the influence of
long practice, customs and habits. This is an action, which is guided by customs and longstanding
beliefs which become second nature or habit.
4. Affective Action: Affective action is classified in terms of affectual orientation, especially
emotional, determined by the specific states of feeling of the actor.
Conclusion: For instance, the use of rational ideal types can help in measuring irrational deviation
and one can understand particular empirical action by interpreting as to which of the four types of
action it most closely approximates.

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IDEAL TYPES
Ideal type is a mental construct, like a model, for the scrutiny and systematic characterisation of a
concrete situation. Indeed, he used ideal type as a methodological tool to understand and analyse
social reality.
It scrutinises, classifies, systematises and defines social reality without subjective bias.
To quote Max Weber: “The ideal typical concept will develop our skill in imputation in research.
It is not a description of reality but it aims to give unambiguous means of expression to such a
description”.
Ideal types are formulated by the abstraction and combination of an indefinite number of elements,
which though found in reality, are rarely or never discovered in specific form.

Characteristics
‰ Ideal types are not general or average types
‰ Ideal types are not a presentation of total reality or they do not explain everything.
‰ Ideal types are neither a description of any definite concept of reality, nor a hypothesis, but they
can aid both in description and explanation.
‰ They also help in reaching to general propositions and in comparative analysis.
‰ Ideal types serve to guide empirical research, and are used in systematisation of data on historical
and social reality

Purpose and Use of Ideal Types

Ideal types are not formed out of a nexus of purely conceptual thought, but are created, modified and
sharpened through the empirical analysis of concrete problems. This, in turn, increases the precision
of that analysis. We can therefore say that, ideal types are a methodological device which not only
help us in the analysis of empirical questions, but also in avoiding obscurity and ambiguity in the
concepts used, and in increasing the accuracy of our analysis.
Weber does not believe that one element of society is determined by another. He conceives the causal
relations both in history and sociology as partial and probable relations. It means that a given fragment
of reality makes probable or improbable, favourable or unfavourable to another fragment of reality.
Weber used ideal types in three distinctive ways. Indeed, his three kinds of ideal types are
distinguished by three levels of abstraction:
‰ The first kind of ideal types are rooted in the historical particularities namely, Western city, the
Protestant ethics etc. In reality, this kind of ideal types refer to the phenomena that appear only
in the specific historical periods and in particular cultural areas.
‰ The second kind relates to the abstract elements of social reality, for example, the concepts of
bureaucracy or feudalism. These elements of social reality are found in a variety of historical and
cultural contexts.
‰ The third kind of ideal type relates to the reconstruction of a particular kind of behaviour.

Ideal Types of Historical Particulars:

Weber constructs an ideal type of capitalism by selecting a certain number of traits from the historical
whole to constitute an intelligible entity. This was to show that there was a spiritual affinity between
Calvinism and the economic ethics of modern capitalist activity.
According to the Calvinist ethic, God is all powerful and above common man. Man has to work for
God’s glory on earth and this can be done through hard work and labour which are rational, regular
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 Unit 4C: Sociological Thinkers 47
and constant. The calling of the individual is to fulfil his duty to God through the moral conduct of his
day-to-day life whether he is rich or poor. For him work is worship and there is no room for idleness
and laziness.
This specific character of Calvinistic belief accounted for the relation between Calvinist doctrine
and the spirit of capitalism which was characterised by a unique devotion to the earning of wealth
through legitimate economic activity.
The affinity between the two and the emergence of Capitalist economic regime as defined by Weber
existed only in the west, which made it a historically unique phenomenon.

Abstract Elements of Social Reality

These elements of social reality are found in a variety of historical and cultural contexts. Bureaucracy
and types of authority and types of action are important examples of these abstract elements.
Bureaucracy: Weber pointed out that bureaucracy was the best administrative form for the rational
or efficient pursuit of organisational goals.
Weber’s ideal type of bureaucracy comprised various elements such as
‰ High degree of specialisation and a clearly-defined division of labour, with tasks distributed as
official duties,
‰ Hierarchical structure of authority with clearly circumscribed areas of command and
responsibility,
‰ Establishment of a formal body of rules to govern the operation of the organisation and
administration based on written documents,
‰ Impersonal relationships between organisational members and the clients,
‰ Recruitment of personnel based on ability and technical knowledge,
‰ Long term employment, promotion on the basis of seniority and merit,
‰ Fixed salary and the separation of private and official income
Types of Authority: To understand the various aspects of authority Max Weber constructed its ideal
types in terms of three types of authority. These are traditional, rational and charismatic.
‰ Traditional authority is based upon the belief in the sanctity of age- old customs and rules.
‰ Rational authority is maintained by laws, decrees, regulations.
‰ Charismatic authority is characterised by exceptional virtue possessed by or attributed to the
leader by those who follow the leader, have confidence in the leader and are devoted to the
leader.

Reconstruction of a Particular Kind of Behaviour

This ideal type includes those elements that constitute rationalising reconstructions of a particular
kind of behaviour. For example, according to Weber, all propositions in economic theory are merely
ideal typical reconstructions of the ways people would behave if they were pure economic subjects.
These include laws of supply and demand, marginal utilities etc.

POWER AND AUTHORITY

Power
Sociologists describe it as the ability of an individual or group to fulfil its desires and implement its
decisions and ideas.
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Power is present in social interaction and creates situations of inequality since the one who has
power imposes it on others. The impact of power varies from situation to situation. On the one
hand, it depends on the capacity of the powerful individual to exercise power. On the other hand, it
depends upon the extent to which it is opposed or resisted by the others. Weber says that power can
be exercised in all walks of life.
Sources of power:
1. Power which is derived from a constellation of interests that develop in a formally free market.
2. An established system of authority that allocates the right to command and the duty to obey.

Authority
The German word “Herrschaft”, used by Weber, has been variously translated. Some sociologists
term it as ‘authority’, others as ‘domination’ or ‘command’. Herrschaft is a situation in which a
‘Herr’ or master dominates or commands others.
Power refers to the ability or capacity to control another. Authority refers to legitimised power. It
means that the master has the right to command and can expect to be obeyed.

Elements of Authority
‰ An individual ruler/master or a group of rulers/ masters.
‰ An individual/group that is ruled.
‰ The will of the ruler to influence the conduct of the ruled which may be expressed through
commands.
‰ Evidence of the influence of the rulers in terms of compliance or obedience shown by the ruled.
‰ Direct or indirect evidence which shows that the ruled have internalised and accepted the fact
that the ruler’s commands must be obeyed.

Types of Authority
According to Weber, there are three systems of legitimation, each with its corresponding norms,
which justify the power to command.
1. Traditional authority
2. Charismatic authority
3. Rational-legal authority

Traditional Authority
It is based on customary law and the sanctity of ancient traditions. It is based on the belief that a
certain authority is to be respected because it has existed since time immemorial.
Traditional authority derives its legitimacy from longstanding traditions, which enable some to
command and compel others to obey. It is hereditary authority and does not require written rules.
The ‘masters’ exercise their authority with the help of loyal relatives and friends. Weber considers
this kind of authority as irrational. It is therefore rarely found in modern developed societies.

Charismatic Authority
Charismatic authority is based on extraordinary devotion to an individual and to the way of life
preached by this person. The legitimacy of such authority rests upon the belief in the supernatural
or magical powers of the person. The charismatic leader ‘proves’ his/her power through miracles,
military and other victories or the dramatic prosperity of the disciples.

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 Unit 4C: Sociological Thinkers 49
Example : Saints, prophets and some political leaders are examples of such authority. Kabir, Nanak,
Jesus, Mohammed, Lenin and Mahatma Gandhi, to name a few were charismatic leaders.

Rational-Legal Authority
The term refers to a system of authority, which are both, rational and legal. It is vested in a regular
administrative staff who operate in accordance with certain written rules and laws.
Rational-legal authority is a typical feature of modern society. It is the reflection of the process
of rationalisation. Remember that Weber considers rationalisation as the key feature of western
civilisation.

BUREAUCRACY
Bureaucracy, as just mentioned, is the machinery, which implements rational legal authority.
Major Features of Bureaucracy:
‰ Bureaucracy may function adequately, it relies on the rules and regulations.
‰ There is a hierarchy of officials in authority. By this, it means that there is a firmly built structure
of subordination and superordination.
‰ The management of the bureaucratic office is carried out through written documents or files.
‰ The work in the bureaucratic office is highly specialised and staff is trained accordingly.
Weber mentions the following characteristics of officials in a bureaucratic set-up
‰ Office-work is a ‘vocation’ for officials.
‰ They are specially trained for their jobs.
‰ Their qualifications determine their position or rank in the office.
‰ They are expected to do their work honestly

Criticism
‰ Robert Merton and other sociologist have questioned the rationality of Weber’s model saying
that it results in certain dysfunctional consequences. Merton emphasises that the bureaucracy
means inefficiency.
‰ Talcott Parsons questioned the internal consistency of Weber’s bureaucracy. Weber expected the
administrative staff to be technically superior as well as poses the right to give orders. Parsons
thinks that, this itself is not always possible to ensure that the higher-level authority will be
matched by equivalent professional skills.
‰ Simon and Barnard have proved that administrative efficiency would be reduced if we follow
Weber’s structural approach. It is possible to increase the efficiency in the organisations through
informal relations than formal practices.

Relevance
Weber is right in saying that when we are accustomed to the bureaucracy we cannot think of any
other alternative. It is highly useful for managing large-scale organisations. His ideas on selection of
officials based on qualifications, utility of written documents in administration, hierarchy etc., can be
seen in any administration of the present day.

THE PROTESTANT ETHIC AND THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM

Weber located a positive relationship between the Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism.
Weber argued that the Protestant ethic is closely associated with the spirit of capitalism.

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The Spirit of Capitalism

The ‘spirit of capitalism’ does not refer to the spirit in the metaphysical sense but rather a set of
values, the spirit of hard work and progress.

The Protestant Ethic

it is a religion of protest. It arose in the sixteenth century in Europe in the period known as the
Reformation. Its founding fathers like Martin Luther and John Calvin broke away from the Catholic
Church.
Calvinism founded by the Frenchman John Calvin was one such sect. The followers of Calvin in
England were known as the Puritans. They migrated to the continent of North America and were the
founders of the American nation. Weber observed that in the West, it was by and large the Protestants
who had made greatest progress in education and employment. They were the top bureaucrats, the
most skilled technical workers and the leading industrialists.
Main Features of Calvinism
‰ Calvin’s Image of God
‰ Doctrine of Pre-destination
‰ Calvinism and “this-worldly asceticism” :By ‘asceticism’ we mean strict self-discipline, control
and conquest of desires.
‰ The Notion of “Calling”
Weber summarised the Calvinist ethic in five points.
1. There exists an absolute transcendent God who created the world and rules it, but who is
incomprehensible and inaccessible to the finite minds of men.
2. This all powerful and mysterious God had predestined each of us to salvation or damnation, so
that we cannot by our works alter a divine decree which was made before we were born.
3. God created the world for His own glory.
4. Whether he is to be saved or damned, man is obliged to work for the glory of God and to create
the Kingdom of God on earth.
5. Earthly things, human nature, and flesh belong to the order of sin and death and salvation can
come to man only through divine grace.
Critical Evaluation of Weber’s Studies on Religion and Economy
‰ His studies on the Hindu ethic, Weber has seen only one aspect of the Hindu ethic and has over-
emphasised the fatalistic and passive aspect of it. Some scholars and students would argue that
the notions of “karma” and “dharma” actually spur individuals to act, to perform their duties,
to live up to their obligations.
‰ Milton Singer has presented a functional equivalent of the Protestant ethic in India in his study
of the leading industrialists of the city of Madras. To him caste background and tradition may
equally be fitted for the industrial development in India.
¡¡¡¡

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 Unit 4D: Sociological Thinkers 51

UNIT
SOCIOLOGICAL THINKERS
4D – Talcott Parsons

A social system has been defined as ‘consisting of a plurality of all actors interacting directly or
indirectly with each other in a bounded situation. There may be physical or territorial boundaries
but the main point of reference sociologically is that here individuals are oriented, in a wide sense,
to a common focus’.
Parsons’ ideas on social systems and his theory of action or action approach are rooted in the thinking
of his predecessors. In his monumental book The Structure of Social Action (1937), Parsons reviewed
the contribution of Pareto, Durkheim and Max Weber and felt that by combining them, he could put
forward a general theory of social system. He borrowed mainly from 3 broad schools of thought viz.
the utilitarian, the positivist and the idealist.

Economic Theory or Utilitarian Economic Theory

The utilitarian theory observes social action in a highly individualist fashion. They emphasise
utilitarian rational calculation but at the level of the individual. For this reason, they are unable to
accommodate the fact that social life is collectively cohesive and not a random effect.

Positivism
The positivists believes that social actors have complete knowledge of their social situation. This
leaves no room for error on the part of actors or variation among actors.

Idealism
The idealist posits that social action is the realisation of the social spirit and the ideas such as, of
a nation or a people, and consequently pay scant attention to real everyday impediments on the
ground that obstruct the free realisation of ideas.
By drawing from all these theories, Parson made an attempt to create a single theoretical scheme. For
this, he took the concept of system from Pareto.

Parsons’ Action Approach

The concept of action, according to Parsons, is derived from behaviour of human beings as living
organism. As living organisms, they interact (orientate) with outside reality as well as within their
own mind.
Behaviour becomes action when four conditions are present:
1. It is oriented to attainment of ends or goals,
2. It occurs in situations,
3. It is regulated by norms and values of society,
4. It involves an investment of ‘energy’ or motivation or effort.

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Action according to Parsons does not occur in isolation but occurs in constellations. These
constellations of action constitute systems. These systems of action have four modes of organisation :
1. The Organismic System or Biological System or Behavioural System- It is the physical or
biological aspects of social reality. It is the storehouse of energy, as per Parsons.
2. The Personality System refers to those aspects of the human personality, which affect the
individual’s social functioning. It is storehouse of motivation.
3. The Social System, in this context, refers to the forms and modes of interaction between
individuals and its organisation.
4. The Cultural System encompasses instead, the actual beliefs, concrete systems of values and
symbolic means of communication. It is storehouse of information.
A social system, According to Parsons, has the following characteristics.
‰ It involves an interaction between two or more actors, and the interaction process is its main
focus.
‰ Interaction takes place in a situation, which implies other actors or alters. These alters are objects
of emotion and value judgement and through them goals and means of action are achieved.
‰ There exists in a social system collective goal orientation or common values and a consensus on
expectations in normative and cognitive (intellectual) senses.
‰ Interaction will develop an abstract Boundary around the system
Like Weber, he also classified actions as 3 types:
1. Instrumental Action (similar to Zweckrational Action of Weber) – In this both means and ends
are logically decided.
2. Expressive Action (similar to Affective Action of Weber) – In this appreciative component is
dominant.
3. Moral Action (similar to Traditional and Wert rational Action) – Here, the actor’s own motivation
is subordinate to values of society.
Motivation Value Type of Action
Cognitive (to understand the objectivity of Cognitive (issue of validity of judgement) Instrumental Action
the subject matter of observation)
Cathectic (emotional attitude of actors Appreciative (to judge their emotional response Expressive Action
towards their object.) to object, its appropriateness or consistency)
Evaluative (to organise their effort in Moral (value commitment of an actor towards Moral Action
realisation of their object with optimum his or her objects.)
efficiency.)

PATTERN VARIABLES
To explain the choices of action available to individuals in the social system as a collectivity, Parsons
has developed the concepts of pattern variables.
There are in all five pattern variables, each side of it represents one polar extreme. These pattern
variables are
(i) Affectivity versus Affective neutrality
(ii) Collective orientation versus Self-orientation
(iii) Particularism versus Universalism
(iv) Ascription versus Achievement
(v) Diffuseness versus Specificity

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 Unit 4D: Sociological Thinkers 53
Affectivity versus Affective Neutrality
Affectivity versus affective neutrality concerns the dilemma of role performance where evaluation is
involved in relation to a situation. How much should a situation be evaluated in emotional terms or
with a degree of emotional neutrality? This poses a difficult choice in most roles that we are expected
to perform in society.

Collective orientation versus Self-orientation

In self-orientation versus collectivity orientation pattern variable the main issue is that of moral
standard in the procedure of evaluation. The moral standard arises from the fact that actor has to
make a choice between his or her own gratification and its deferment for the good of a larger number
of people, a collectivity.

Particularism versus Universalism

Particularism versus Universalism is a pattern variable which defines the role situation where the
actor’s dilemma is between the cathectic (or emotional standards) versus the cognitive evaluation.

Ascription versus Achievement

The actor’s dilemma in the ascription versus achievement pattern variable is based on whether or not
the actor defines the objects of his or her role either in terms of quality or performance.

Diffuseness versus Specificity

The Diffuseness versus Specificity pattern variable concerns the scope of the object of role performance.
Scope, in this case, is to be understood in terms of the nature of social interaction.
Pattern Variable-A Pattern Variable-B
Parson consider it is as typical of simple Parson consider it as typical of industrial
society society.
1. Identification of actor ASCRIPTION ACHIEVEMENT
Status is ascribed ie determined by Birth Status is achieved through Person’s own
efforts
2. Range of Obligation DIFFUSENESS SPECIFICITY
People enter in to relations with others People enter into relations to satisfy
to satisfy large no. of needs eg Friends, particular needs eg Shopkeeper-Client
Relative
3. Role situation between PARTICULARISM UNIVERSALISM
Cathectic or cognitive Individual behaviour is particular toward Individual behaviour is rule bound.
known person ie friend, family Eg Act equally
4. Degree of Emotion AFFECTIVITY AFFECTIVE NEUTRALITY
Mother-child Doctor-Patient
5. Procedure of evaluation COLLECTIVE ORIENTATION SELF ORIENTATION
People put interest of social group above People pursue their own interest first.
their own interest

The System of Social Action

According to Parsons, Social action constitute the subject matter of all social sciences.
The characteristic of system are:
‰ System is a unified whole made up of interdependent parts called Sub-systems.
‰ Structural stable condition

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‰ Each system has a boundary

‰ Internal dynamics
‰ Functional Prerequisite
Parsons distinguished among four structures, or subsystems, in society in terms of the functions
(AGIL) they perform. According to him a system exists because it performs certain functional pre-
requisites which are necessary to sustain the system in equilibrium.
1. Adaptation as a functional prerequisite implies generation and acquisition of resources from
outside the system, its external environment and to affect its distribution in the system.
2. Goal-Attainment is that functional prerequisite which involves, firstly, the determination of
goals, secondly, the motivating of members of the system to attain these goals, and thirdly, the
mobilising of the members and of their energies for the achievement of these goals.
3. Integration is that functional prerequisite which helps to maintain coherence, solidarity and
coordination in the system. In the social system this function is mainly performed by culture and
values.
4. latency is that functional prerequisite of the social system which stores, organises and maintains
the motivational energy of elements in the social system.
Social System is linked with other systems through ‘Energy flow’ and ‘Information control’, which
Parsons termed as ‘Cybernetic Hierarchy of Control’.
Social Change occurs when there is change in the energy flow or the information control as equilibrium
stage is disturbed. This is restored by:
‰ Socialization: shared values are transmitted from one generation to another by various
institutions like family, education etc.
‰ Social Control: it discourages deviance and various institutions enforcing it are law, police etc.

Criticism
‰ Parson’s theory was utopian and an armchair philosophy as it was not based on any empirical
research
‰ Social System theory fail to explain conflict and change concretely.
‰ Grand functional theory with little practical utility and low on empirical testability. His ideas
are too abstract with little empirical verifiability. Dahrendorf called his conception as utopian.
Pattern variables illustrate in a precise manner the principal types of clustering of social structures.
Parsons mentions four such types
‰ Universalistic achievement pattern – Eg: Modern American Society.
‰ Universalistic Ascription Pattern – Eg: Nazi Germany.
‰ Particularistic Achievement Pattern – Eg: Classical Chinese Family (even the royal blooded
members of the family have to prove their worth via individual achievements)
‰ Particularistic Ascription Pattern– Eg: Indian caste system.

Comparision Between Weber and Parsons Theory of Social Action

Max Weber Talcott Parsons

1. Studies Social actions and its types Studies Structure of Social Action
2. Ideal Types Absolute Types
3. Subject matter of sociology Basic unit of Social Life

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Max Weber Talcott Parsons

4. 4 types of social action ie Zwek and Wret 3 types of Social Action ie Instrumental,
rational, Affective and Traditional Action Expressive and Moral Action
5. Any action is social by the virtue of the Any act consciously performed is Social
meaning attached to it by actors, takes into Actions.
account behaviour of others and thereby
Social actions must fulfil 4 conditions ie
oriented in its course.
(i) It is Goal oriented
Social actions must fulfil 2 conditions ie
(ii) It occurs in situations,
(i) It is Oriented toward others (iii) It is regulated by norms and values of
(ii) Some Meaning attach with it by actor. society,
(iv) It involves an investment of ‘energy’ or
motivation or effort.

¡¡¡¡

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56 Unit 4E: Sociological Thinkers

UNIT
SOCIOLOGICAL THINKERS
4E – R K Merton

The word ‘Function’ in sociology has different connotations.

Function is often used to refer to the activities assigned to the incumbent of a social status. For
example, the function of a doctor is to cure his or her patient.
According to Merton such an understanding diverts attention from the fact that functions are
performed not only by the occupant of designated positions, but by a whole range of standardised
activities, social processes, cultural patterns and belief systems found in society.
Radcliffe-Brown’s structural-functional approach comprises the following assumptions:
‰ A necessary condition for survival of a society is a minimal integration of its parts.
‰ The concept of function refers to those processes that maintain the necessary integration or
solidarity.
‰ And, in each society, structural features can be shown to contribute to the maintenance of
necessary solidarity.
Malinowski’s approach distinguishes between three levels:
1. The biological, 2. The social structural, and 3. The symbolic
In general, all functionalists share the following five propositions:
1. Society (or culture) is a system like any other system, such as solar system, or organic system.
2. As a system, society (or culture) consists of parts (like, institutions, groups, role, associations,
organisations), which are interconnected, interrelated, and interdependent.
3. Each part performs its own function – it makes its own contribution to the whole society (or
culture) – and also, it functions in relationship with other parts.
4. A change in one part brings about a change in other parts, or at least influences the functioning
of other parts, because all the parts are closely connected.
5. The entire society or culture – for which we can use the term ‘whole’ is greater than the mere
summation of parts.

A Paradigm for Functional Analysis

Robert K. Merton was extremely particular about the necessity of a paradigm for functional analysis.
The paradigm contains the minimum set of concepts without which the sociologist cannot adequately
carry out a functional analysis. Its benefits include: -
1. Paradigm is intended to lead directly to the postulates and often to the tacit assumptions
underlying functional analysis.
2. Paradigm seeks to sensitise the sociologist to the political and ideological implications of
functional analysis.
3. The paradigm brings out into open the array of assumptions, concepts and basic propositions
employed in a sociological analysis.

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4. Without a paradigm, it is difficult to properly codify a theory.

5. It reduces the possibility of randomness and arbitrariness in sociological research.
Functional Paradigm is a methodological push to functional analysis that acts as a guide to
investigators to develop functional theories. It must focus on following aspects: -
‰ Study of Standardized pattern, not individual events.
‰ Area/Boundary of Study need to be specified.
‰ Use of Primary as well as Secondary sources/ techniques of data collections.
‰ Identify the latent and Manifest Functions.
‰ Identify the Latent and Manifest dysfunctions.
‰ Functional Alternatives.
‰ Net balance analysis

MANIFEST AND LATENT FUNCTION

Manifest functions: The intended, conscious, or deliberate functions of the social policies or action
which are created for the benefit of the society are called manifest functions. Manifest functions are
consciously and deliberately intended to produce beneficial outcomes, latent functions are neither
conscious nor deliberate but also produce benefits.
Latent functions are those functions which are unintended or unrecognized consequences of any
social pattern. They are present but are not immediately obvious. They are, in effect, unintended
positive consequences.
What Appears ‘Irrational’ Becomes Meaningful:
A concrete example that Merton suggests would help understand the point. With secular rationality
how do one look at the Hopi ceremonials? The Hopi ceremonials are designed to produce abundant
rainfall. But it is not as if rain really falls on account of the ceremonials performed by the Hopis.
Rainfall does not depend on ceremonials. This may tempt one to conclude that the Hopi ceremonials
reflect nothing except an irrational, superstitious belief of the primitive folk.
Although, the ceremonials do not produce rainfall. But the ceremonials enable the scattered members
of the group to assemble together and engage in a common activity. This reinforces their group
identity and solidarity, which is no mean achievement. This is the latent function of the ceremony.

Application
Merton theory of Latent and Manifest Function is immensely useful in explaining many real-life
phenomena. For instance, the persistence of corruption in Indian society can be explained using
Merton’s concepts as:- The manifest dysfunctions of corruption are:-
‰ Corruption can lead to an uneven distribution of wealth as small businesses face unfair
competition from large companies that have established illegal connections with government
officials.
‰ In a corrupt economy, resources are inefficiently allocated and companies that otherwise would
not be qualified to win government contracts are often awarded projects as a result of bribery or
kickbacks.
‰ The quality of education and healthcare also deteriorates under a corrupt economy, leading to
an overall lower standard of living for the country’s citizens.

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In-spite of so many dysfunctions attached to corruption, corruption is still prevalent in our society
because of its latent function: -
‰ Corruption makes things done in places where it would have taken years for files to move. Saves
time.
‰ It compensates for the low wage of the public officers.
‰ Quick, easy and unaccounted source of money.
‰ Creates informal association of give and take.

Conclusion
Thus, Merton’s conception of latent and manifest functions are of great utility to sociologists who
wish to perform structural-functional analyses to study any social phenomenon.

THE SOCIOLOGY OF ANOMIE: CONFORMITY AND DEVIANCE

Anomie, for Durkheim, referred to the failure of society to regulate or constrain the ends or goals
of human desire. Merton, on the other hand, is more concerned with social regulation of the means
people use to obtain material goals.
‰ Merton perceives a ― strain toward anomie in the relative lack of cultural emphasis on
institutional norms – the established rules of the game – that regulate the legitimate means for
obtaining success in American society.
‰ Structural blockages that limit access to legitimate means for many members of American society
also contribute to its anomic tendencies. Under such conditions, behavior tends to be governed
solely by considerations of expediency or effectiveness in obtaining the goal rather than by a
concern with whether or not the behavior conforms to institutional norms.
Together, the various elements in Merton’s theoretical model of American society add up to a social
environment that generates strong pressures toward deviant behaviour.

1. Conformity, for instance, is a nondeviant adaptation where people continue to engage in

legitimate occupational or educational roles despite environmental pressures toward deviant
behaviour. That is, the conformist accepts and strives for the cultural goal of material success (+)
by following institutionalized means (+).
2. Innovation, on the other hand, involves acceptance of the cultural goal (+) but rejection of
legitimate, institutionalized means (-). Instead, the innovator moves into criminal or delinquent
roles that employ illegitimate means to obtain economic success.

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3. Ritualism, represents quite a different sort of departure from cultural standards than does
innovation. The ritualist is an over conformist. Here, the pursuit of the dominant cultural goal of
economic success is rejected or abandoned (-) and compulsive conformity to institutional norms
(+) becomes an end in itself.
4. Retreatism, the rejection of both cultural goals (-) and institutionalized means (-). Therefore,
retreatism involves complete escape from the pressures and demands of organized society.
5. Rebellion, is indicated by different notation than the other adaptations. The two ± signs show
that the rebel not only rejects the goals and means of the established society but actively attempts
to substitute new goals and means in their place.
Causes of Deviance
‰ Differential and faulty Socialization.
‰ Unrealistic means and Goals.
‰ Subcultural Traits.
‰ Relative Deprivation
‰ Different sets of opportunities.
‰ Subjectivity in Deviance
Criticism of theory of deviance/anomie
‰ According to interactionists like Howard Becker, Deviance is not the intrinsic quality of behavior
itself. One is ‘labelled’ as a deviant and one ‘is’ not deviant. Same person may not be labelled as
deviant by one group, but can be by another group.
‰ Lemert and Laurie Taylor argue that those who wield power also decide who will be deviant.
Definitions of deviance don’t reflect consensus of society, but views of the powerful.
‰ Merton refers to only goals and means, there may be other aspects of social structure which may
cause anomie.
‰ Albert Cohen argues that deviance is due to a specific subculture that members of particular
subgroups develop. Hence, it is collective in nature and not at individual level as Merton has
tried to prove.

CONCEPT OF REFERENCE GROUP

Robert Merton evolves his theory of reference groups in his famous book Social Theory and Social
Structure.
A Reference group is one to which a person always refers in order to evaluate their achievements,
their role performance, their aspirations and ambitions. It is only a reference group that tells a person
whether they are right or wrong, whether whatever they are doing, they are doing badly or well.
The fact, therefore, is that not solely membership groups, even non membership groups act like
reference groups. Human beings look at themselves not solely through the eyes of their group
members, but also through the eyes of those who belong to other groups.

Concept of Relative Deprivation

Merton’s understanding of relative deprivation is closely tied to his treatment of reference group and
reference group behaviour. Essentially, Merton speaks of relative deprivation while examining the
findings of The American Soldier, a work published in 1949.
Finding of The American Soldier from which the meaning of relative deprivation was derived are
as follows: “Comparing himself with his unmarried associates in the Army, the married man could

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feel that induction demanded greater sacrifice from him than from them; and comparing himself with
the married Soldiers, he could feel that he had been called on for sacrifices which they were escaping
altogether”.
In other words, married soldiers are deprived of the kind of freedom that their unmarried associates
are enjoying. Likewise, the married soldier feels deprived when he compares himself with his
civilian married friend. Because the civilian friend can live with his wife and children and fulfil his
responsibility. The married soldier therefore, feels deprived that by virtue of being a soldier he cannot
afford to enjoy the normal, day to day family life of a civilian. It is precisely because of the kind of
reference group with which the married soldier compares his lot that he feels deprived.

Concept of Group and Group Membership

With the study of reference group, Merton mentions of three characteristics of a group and group
memberships.
(i) There is an objective criterion, viz., the frequency of interaction. In other words, the sociological
concept of a group refers to a number of people frequently interact with one another.
(ii) A second criterion is that the interacting persons define themselves as members. In other words,
they feel that they have patterned expectations or forms of interaction, which are morally binding
on them and on other members.
(iii) The third criterion is that the persons in interaction are defined by others as ‘belonging to the
group’. These others include fellow members as well as non-members.

Concept of Non-Membership
Merton tries to highlight the dynamics of non-membership. It is true that non-members are those
who do not meet the interactional and definitional criteria of membership. But, at the same time,
as Merton says, all non-members are not of the same kind. Broadly speaking. non-members can be
divided into three categories:
(i) Some may aspire to membership in the group
(ii) Others may be indifferent toward such affiliation
(iii) Still others may be motivated to remain unaffiliated with the group

Anticipatory Socialisation
Merton highlight anticipatory socialisation in the context of non-membership reference groups. It
is like preparing oneself for the group to which an individual aspires but does not belong. It is like
adopting the values, life-styles of a non-membership reference group.

Positive and Negative Reference Groups

Reference groups, says Merton, are of two kinds.
‰ First, a positive reference group is one, which one likes and takes seriously in order to shape
one’s behaviour and evaluate one’s achievements and performance.
‰ Secondly, there is also a negative reference group which one dislikes and rejects and which,
instead of providing norms to follow, provokes one to create counter-norms.
As Merton says, “the positive type involves motivated assimilation of the norms of the group or the
standards of the group as a basis for self-appraisal; the negative type involves motivated rejection,
i.e., not merely non-acceptance of norms but the formation of counter-norms”.

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Determinants of Reference Group :
It is necessary to know the factors that determine one’s choice of reference groups. That is why,
Merton speaks of innumerable possibilities, the way a person chooses reference individuals, select
among different membership groups and finally even their choice of non-membership group.

Reference Individuals
It is necessary to remember that a person select not only reference groups, they select reference
individuals also. This is because individuals with their charisma, status, glamour often attract people.
Selection of Reference Groups Among Membership Groups: When one belongs to many groups like
family, caste, political party, religious organization etc, it is difficult to select the reference group. As
per Merton, a “suitable classification” of groups is therefore necessary. Merton evolves a provisional
list of twenty-six group properties.
SELECTION OF NON-MEMBERSHIP GROUPS
According to Merton, there are primarily three factors for which a person chooses a non-membership
group.
1. The selection of reference groups is largely governed by the capacity of certain groups to ‘confer
some prestige in terms of the institutional structure of that society’. As not all groups are equally
powerful or prestigious in the society.
2. It has to be examined regarding what kind of people generally accept non-membership groups
as their reference groups. As Merton says, it is generally the “isolates” in a group (either for
sensitivity or rebelliousness or urge for mobility) who may be particularly motivated to adopt
the values of non-membership group as ‘normative frames of reference’.
3. A ‘social system with relatively high rate of social mobility’ will tend to make far widespread
orientation to non-membership groups as reference groups. This is because in an open system
people come to know of groups other than their own and feel tempted to alter their positions
continually.
Criticism
‰ The reference group theory does not propound any new fact.
‰ It only explains the behaviour but does not suggest any means to control it.
‰ It only explains how an individual is influenced by a Reference Group, but it does not explain
how the Reference Group is influenced by his entry into the group.

Application
Reference Group Theory found application in various fields. For instance, it is useful to understand
Fashion in Indian Society. The fashion sported by the reference group gets wide acceptance as they
make new fashion look trendy and those who do not follow the trend seems to be old fashioned,
hence generating negative stereotype. Fashion industry is well aware of this fact so they choose
highly popular celebrities as their brand ambassador for their product.
This theory is also applied to Indian society by M. N. Srinivas. His theory of Sanskritization is a
form of anticipatory socialization that provides space for tribes, lower cates to experience mobility in
their caste position in search of a superior caste status.
Merton’s study of reference groups was instrumental in bringing forward new concepts in
sociology like
‰ Role conflict
‰ Role strain

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‰ Anticipatory socialization
‰ Marginal man
‰ Relative deprivation.

Conclusion
With the help of Reference group, analyses of the relationship of the individual with the group
becomes easier and possible. It is used in order to evaluate and determine the nature of a given
individual or other group’s characteristics and sociological attributes.

MIDDLE RANGE THEORY

Middle-range theory, developed by Robert K. Merton, is an approach to sociological theorizing
aimed at integrating theory and empirical research.
Raymond Boudon has argued that ‘middle-range’ theory is the same concept that most other
sciences simply call ‘theory’. Merton proposed middle range theories in wake of apparent failure of
Grand Functional Theories to help in study of society. Merton criticized such grand theories as sterile,
futile and of no use to the present sociology. Middle range theories are a middle path between the
macro theories, which were too ambitious, and micro theories, which had little consequence.
Middle range theories must be supported by quantitative as well as qualitative method and should
use both primary and secondary sources of data. Thus, middle range theories are a triple alliance
of – theory, data and method.
Advantages of middle range theories include:
‰ Scientific Nature,
‰ Testability,
‰ Empiricism,
‰ Practical Applicability
‰ Less Time/Cost Consuming Etc.
Limitation
‰ Difficult to formulate Universal theories
‰ Difficult to define Middle range as it brings subjectivity
‰ Over emphasis on empirical data collection

Conclusion
Hence, middle range theories will help in proliferation of research, as new hypothesis can be
formulated from specific and falsifiable theories and enrich Sociology as discipline.

¡¡¡¡

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 Unit 4F: Sociological Thinkers 63

UNIT
SOCIOLOGICAL THINKERS
4F – G H Mead

George Herbert Mead was a major American thinker and philosopher. He taught philosophy and
social psychology at the University of Michigan, and never published anything in his lifetime. His
book, Mind, Self, and Society: From the standpoint of a Social Behaviourist was compiled and
published posthumously by his students in 1934. This book laid the foundations of the school of
symbolic interactionism. His theory about the development of self and of consciousness is the
bedrock on which other theories were built.

SELF AND IDENTITY

The basic premises of his theory are that the self emerges, not by itself but through interaction with
others. We learn to see ourselves through the eyes of others. Or, how we perceive who we are is
largely influenced by what feedback we get about ourselves from those around us.
Our understanding of our own self, will also be conditioned by the response and communications
about one’s self as received from others. The most consistent of these gestures are the symbols of
significance that are made significant by the important role they play in the society to which a person
belongs.
Growing up the sense of self develops in two stages. In the first, the infant absorbs the responses of
those close to itself. Thus, its sense of self is formed by the organisation of the particular attitudes
of the specific persons towards it. But with maturity the specifics combine to form the generalised
others, that is the community as a whole. The interaction of self and society is never completely one
sided or static. If this were so then society would comprise of robots and not humans.
Thus, Mead brings on the difference between ‘I’ and ‘Me’. ‘I’ is the ego, the self that is consciously
self, the one we perceive as being our self as an individual. ‘Me’ is the self that is reflected by society.
In our actions if we act as ‘Me’ then we are doing what society expects from us. But at one instance of
time, we can also act as ‘I’. There is an ongoing conversation between the ‘I’ and the ‘Me’, when we
negotiate what it is, we want to do and how we do it.

Theory of the Development of Self

According to George Herbert Mead, young children begin to develop as social beings by imitating
the actions of those near them. By doing so the child is able to develop the ability to understand the
action of the person with whom he is interacting.
‰ Play Stage: It is doing this stage that children learn to take the attitude of particular or discrete
others to themselves.
‰ Game Stage : The Child must take the role of everyone else involved in the game, that is take the
roles of which Mead terms as the Generalised other. Mead refers to act of imitation as “taking
the role of the other”. This stage being a complex one is known as the game stage where children
begin to attain maturity and develop a sense of self and others.
The “me” is the social self while the “I” is the response to the “me”.

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Mead introduces the concepts of “generalised other” and “significant other”.

‰ “Generalised other” can be understood as those rules and values of the culture of a particular
group in which the child is engaged. By understanding the “generalised other” the child is able
to understand what kind of manners is expected as well as valued in any social setting.
‰ “Significant other” consists of those persons who are of importance in the child’s life and affect
her/his understanding of self along with the child’s emotions and behaviours.

Criticism
‰ Mead theory of self and society ignore the historical and social context in which interaction takes
place
‰ Mead sees social life as too consensual – while traditional societies might have a lot consensus,
present day societies are characterized by mutual coexistence of distinct cultural norms
‰ Mead theory downplay the social constraints on action.

Conclusion
According to him socialisation depends upon the child’s understanding of others’ views as important
in her/his life. Hence, through the study of Self and identity, the usefulness of micro sociology in
understanding everyday life, particularly the dynamic of small groups was firmly established.

¡¡¡¡

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 Unit 5: Social Stratification and Mobility 65

UNIT
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AND
5 MOBILITY

Stratification, as a concept borrowed from Geology. Geologist looks into different layers of the
rock. One layer placed above the other. Developing this metaphor, sociologist make an attempt to
understand how people into different societies are ranked one above the other.
Social difference no longer remains mere differences but now become inequalities. While differences
are created by nature, human create inequalities. Thus, social inequalities come in to existence into
every society.
Four stages highlighting journey from natural differences to patterned inequalities.
1. Differentiation: Existence of differences which can be perceived by people.
2. Evaluation: Attaching values to it at collective level, evaluated in terms of prestige, desirability,
leading to feeling of superiority and inferiority among people with difference.
3. Ranking: Elementary ranking through comparison – based on earlier evaluation/ desirability
and undesirability.
4. Rewarding: After Differentiation, Evaluation and Ranking, society develops a system of rewards
and punishment – in form of differential opportunities to some (Good-Reward, Bad-Punishment)
For Haralambos, Social Stratification is a particular form of social inequality and it refers to the
presence of social groups which are ranked one above the other, usually in terms of the amount of
power, prestige and wealth their members possess.
In a nutshell, it can be said that Pattern of unequal access to social resources are called Social
Inequality And Social stratification is a process in which social inequalities exist in the form of
structural hierarchical strata, one placed above the other.

Stratification Systems
Before we look into stratification, it is necessary to examine certain aspects of stratification systems:
1. Subculture: In such system, there is a tendency for members of each stratum to develop their
own subculture i.e. norms, attitudes and values which are distinctive to them as a social group.
Eg. Rich culture, poor culture, Caste group in India- closed stratification system
2. Social mobility: Social mobility refers to the ability to change positions within a social stratification
system. When people improve or diminish their economic status in a way that affects social class,
they experience social mobility. Social mobility is one way to attempt to measure opportunity.
Stratification system which provides little opportunity for social mobility may be described as
closed and those with relatively high rate of social mobility as open.
3. Life chances: Weber used the term life chances (Lebenschancen in German) to describe the
opportunities to increase one’s position in the social class structure. Categories that affect life
chances include the social class one is born into, geographic location, family ancestry, race,
ethnicity, age, and gender. For Example, if we are born into a rich family then our life chances
like are more as compared to one brought up in a middle-class family. Life chance: Money
centric

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4. Life Style: Weber expands and relates these life chances with our lifestyle. Lifestyle defines our
way of living. In the sociological term, lifestyle connects our habits with several social dimensions.
Life style: Status conscious.

Equality
Social Equality refers to a situation/ condition in which members of a group/society have equal
access to wealth, prestige, power etc.
Gerhard Lenski indicate equality as relative concept that refers to:
‰ Absence of special privilege
‰ Adequate opportunity to all
‰ Absence of economic and social exploitation
Various dimensions of equality include:
‰ Legal Equality: It support idea of equality before law and equal protection of law.
‰ Political Equality: Equal political right, universal adult suffrage, equal value of vote, right to
hold political office.
‰ Economic Equality: Fair distribution of income and wealth.
‰ Social Equality: Abolition of all kinds of discrimination based upon religion, caste, language,
race, gender etc.

Inequality
The existence of unequal opportunities and reward for different social position/status within group
or society is referred as social inequality.
Karl Marx studied society and come to conclusion that cause of inequality is because one group
(Bourgeoisie) have ownership and control over forces of production, hence rules over other
(Proletariat).
Feminist consider that Patriarchy or male dominance is the root cause of social inequality between
men and women in society.
Functionalist argued the inevitability of inequality to ensure integration, order and stability in society
based on value consensus.
Andre Beteille, applied Trinitarian/Weberian model to study inequality and suggest it exist in Two
forms:
‰ Dispersed inequality
‰ Cumulative inequality

Hierarchy
Hierarchy refers to social order where position of person who are placed one above each other’s is
fixed, permanent and unchangeable.
Marxist believed that hierarchy is the design of the dominant class to consolidate their position in
higher social order. It is usually done through ideas, values, norms, laws (ideological state apparatus)
and police, military (repressive state apparatus).

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Louis Dumont wrote book titled Homo Hierarchicus which indicate that Indian society with
presence of institution like caste system is driven by values of hierarchy. It provides no opportunity
for mobility to the people of lower caste.
In conclusion, it can be indicated that hierarchy is the value based on inequality in society. It is a
result of unequal opportunities and reward and hence subject of sociological inquiry.

Social Exclusion
Social Exclusion is a process by which individual or household experience deprivation, either of
resources such as income or of social links to society. Social exclusion refers to the ways in which
individual may become cut off from full involvement in the wider community.
According to Michael Haralambos, Exclusion is a situation in which multiple deprivation prevent
individual from participating in important areas of social activities.
Karl Marx consider Alienation as a form of exclusion.
It operates at 4 levels:
1. Alienation from product itself.
2. Alienation from process of production
3. Alienation from production environment
4. Alienation from self and society.
Amartya Sen broaden the concept of exclusion, not limiting it to minimum survival needs like food,
shelter, clothing etc. but it includes political participation, access to education, health and sanitation.
It is of 2 types:
1. Active exclusion: Rights of people are deliberately denied by state/culture eg. Caste system.
2. Passive exclusion: No deliberate attempt is made to exclude from society but because of structure
of society it happens eg. Poverty.
Dalit Sociologist indicate that social exclusion is the domination of one caste over other in order to
marginalize it. Exclusion in modern times exist in multiple dimensions viz economy, political, social,
digital etc.
However, government take various steps to break social exclusion in India that include:
‰ Reservation policy
‰ Abolition of untouchability
‰ MNREGA
‰ Right to Education
Characteristic of Social Exclusion:
1. Social exclusion indicates deprivation of opportunities
2. Social exclusion is not accidental: Eg. Untouchability.
3. Social exclusion is involuntary
4. Prolonged exclusion leading to a reaction against inclusion
Social exclusion – Overlapping usages.
‰ Social exclusion in relation to social rights- which prevent people from exercising their rights due
to certain barrier.

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‰ Social exclusion in relation to social isolation – some people/sections of population are kept
away or distanced from others in most social dealing eg. Discrimination against Untouchables/
LGBT kept them isolated.
‰ Social exclusion in relation to marginalization -some are dented of opportunities and avenues
under pretext of skin color, religious identity etc.
Exclusion is not always deprivation and inclusion are not always justice. It is common practice to
equate exclusion with inequality, deprivation, unfairness and injustice and inclusion with equality,
fairness, and justice.

Poverty
Poverty is a social phenomenon in which section of society is unable to fulfil even the basic needs of
survival.
‰ Absolute poverty: It refer to a state in which the individual lacks the resources necessary for
subsistence eg. Food, shelter.
‰ Relative poverty: It refer to situation in which individual or group suffer from lack of resources
when compared with that of other members of the society.
Theoretical Perspective
‰ Classical theorist indicate that poverty is due to individual inability to tap economic opportunity
forwarded by market. It blames poor for their poverty.
‰ Marxist perspective on poverty indicate that it is outcome of appropriation of surplus value of
labour, wealth is concentrated in the hand of few, depriving others from it.
‰ Oscar Lewis forwarded cultural perspective to poverty.
‰ Feminist like Ann Oakley, Shulamith Firestone indicate that patriarchy and male dominance is
cause of poverty among women.
‰ Vicious circle theory indicate that poverty is a viscous circle, in which a person can never come
out.

Deprivation
According to P. Bourdieu, it is lack of adequate social, cultural, symbolic and economic capital. Thus,
deprivation is broader phenomenon than poverty. When compared to exclusion, deprivation is of
resources, exclusion is from social participation.
Deprivation is of two types
1. Absolute Deprivation: It refers to the situation in which one is deprived of basic necessities of
life like food, water, shelter. Eg Hunger, Extreme poverty.
2. Relative Deprivation: It refers to deprivation experienced when individual compares themselves
with others who are better of them.
Walter Runciman has also further made a distinction between Egoistic Deprivation And Fraternalism
Deprivation. The Egoistic deprivation arises from one’s feelings of deprivation or unfair treatment,
this is more individual and perceived. Fraternalistic deprivation, on the other hand, is more to do
with a mass movement, when a group of people may feel deprived of something.

THEORIES OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION - MARXIST THEORY

Marxist notion of stratification is based on Dialectical Materialism. As per Marx, stratification is
historic phenomena that transformed society from equalitarian to in equalitarian and subsequently to

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equalitarian society (PC->AS->FS->CS->Socialism/Communism). In every society, a minority group
gains control over forces of production and divide society into two broad strata-haves and haves not.
The system of stratification is derived from the relation of social groups to forces of production. Units
or strata are referred as classes. A class is defined as a social group, whose member shares the same
relations to the forces of production.
Due to antagonism between these strata’s (petite bourgeoisie, lumpen proletariat) leads to conflict
and class struggle, there will be revolution in society. Classes will disappear and forces of production
will be communally owned bringing classless society, free from stratification. Marx considers that
this is possible because of stratification, that provide mechanism to bourgeoisie to exploit proletariat.

THEORY OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: WEBERIAN THEORY

Marxian theory of stratification is unidimensional as it stratifies society on the basis of only one
factor i.e. economic factor (control over forces of production-Bourgeoisie). Weberian theory, on the
other hand is multidimensional.
‰ According to Weber, society is stratified on the basis of status/prestige, power and class (economy
factor). This is also referred as Weber’s Trinitarian view on stratification.
‰ According to Weber, class is not community but group of people who share similar position in
a market situation. Based on skills, capabilities, these group of people are rewarded by market
capacity to differentiate into different classes.
‰ Weber create ideal type of classes like propertied upper class, property less white-collar worker,
petty bourgeoisie and manual working class.
‰ Other than class, Weber proposed the concept of status group. Status is determined by positive or
negative estimation of social honour and social esteem. Hence class refer to unequal distribution
of economic reward, status refer to unequal distribution of social honour.
‰ In addition to class and status, Weber proposed concept of parties, as the third basis of social
stratification. While class exist in economic order, status in social order, parties are found in
political order. Parties are concerned with acquisition of power and struggle for domination.
In this way, Weber concluded that equality is a myth as inequality is universal and not society
specific. Even if economic inequality is abolished, inequality of status (prestige) and party (power)
will be there. Hence stratification will remain in future.

THEORIES OF SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALIST

THEORY
Structure functionalists believed that social stratification in society exist as it serves an important
role in functioning of society. Hence social stratification is inevitable.
According to Talcott Parsons, every society is based upon consensus in terms of norms and values.
The conformity to these norms is desirable and rewarded.
For example, in traditional society, where religious values are more important, priest may occupy
higher position. However, individual who fight battles and wars would be ranked above the others
in society which values bravery and gallantry.
Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore: In article “some principle of social stratification” stratification
exist in every known human society. They attempt to explain in functional terms, the universal
necessity of stratification system i.e., Effective role allocation and performance.

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Davis and Moore, concluded that social stratification is a device by which societies ensure that the
most important positions are filled by the most qualified persons. Davis and Moore realized difficulty
with their theory that is how to identify, which position are functionally most important. For this they
suggested:
‰ It can be measured by degree to which “a position is functionally unique” (i.e. can other perform
the same function e.g., Doctor is more important than nurse as it is unique)
‰ The degree to which other positions are dependent on the one in question. Eg. Manager is more
important than routine staff as staff depend on manager on direction.

Melvin M Tumin Criticism of Kingsley Davis and Moore

Melvin M. Tumin define stratification as an arrangement of any social group or society into a
hierarchy of position that are unequal with regards to power, property, social evaluation and psychic
gratification.
Tumin’s criticism was on following grounds:
‰ On functional importance: No objective way to measure functional importance of position.
‰ On power and rewards: Tumin argued that Davie and Moore ignored the influence of power on
unequal distribution of rewards.
‰ The pool of talent: Davis and Moore assume that only limited number of individuals have the
talent to acquire the skills necessary for functionally most important position.
‰ On training: Questioned the view that the training required for important position considered as
sacrifice and therefore need to be compensated.
‰ On motivation: Major function of unequal rewards, according to Davis and Moore is to motivate
talented individuals and allocate them to the functionally most important position. Tumin
rejected this view, he highlighted that social stratification act as a barrier in motivation and
recruitment of talent.
‰ In equality of opportunity: Stratification can never adequately perform the function which
Davis and Moore assigned to it.
‰ Social division: Finally, Tumin questioned the view that Social stratification function to integrate
the social system.

DIMENSION – SOCIAL STRATIFICATION OF CLASS

Greek philosopher Aristotle divided the society into 3 class i.e. Upper, Middle and Lower but this
term was first used by St. Simon as synonym for estate.
Marx popularized this concept in sociology and perceived it as a social group which has similar
position with mode and forces of production, in terms of their ownership and roles.
Marx identified 2 broad class i.e. haves and have not and they varies in different society.
Weber defined Class as “A body of people having identical position in market situation”. He
identified Four types of classes based on skills, capacity, talent and economic relationship in
market situation as:
1. Propertied upper class
2. White collar worker
3. Petty bourgeoisie
4. Manual labour

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He rejected Marxian view of polarization of classes leading to class struggle and revolution.
According to Anthony Giddens, there are Three main sources of power i.e. possession of property
(upper class), qualification (middle class) and physical labour (working/ lower class). Middle class
act as a buffer against polarization.
Post-modernist indicate that class stratification is no longer segmentary, but continuous along
individual inequalities as a result of infinite division of labour, skill set and consumption pattern.

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION OF STATUS GROUPS

Status group is primarily, Weberian concept where he defined status group as social group who
are awarded a similar amount of social honour and therefore share the same status situation. Unlike
class, status is associated with consumption and not production.
Status group are more closed and try to influence their idea of superiority or difference by maintaining
status boundaries and imposing certain sanction on other people, referred as social closure
(phenomenon in which some people or group are excluded from the membership or participation
in particular status group. e.g. caste system, apartheid). Caste is the most developed form of status-
based stratification (Bureaucracy).
‰ G. Lenski in “power and privilege” highlighted how in tribal societies, warriors are keeping
skulls of enemy as trophies attributing to their higher status.
‰ CW Mills in “Power Elite” indicate that class inequality can never replace to status inequality.
‰ Duncan and Blau in his book American occupation structure indicated that occupational
choices are driven by status associated with it in industrial societies as well.

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION OF GENDER

Gender based inequalities and stratification found justification in the writing of Plato and Aristotle
who highlighted that female are inferior to male hence economic rights and civil rights must not
extended to them.
‰ Engel in his book “Origin of family private property and state” indicate that marriage is
foundation to private property and social inequality as it institutionalizes family and reproductive
role of women.
‰ According to feminist scholar Ann Oakley, nature created sexual difference while gender is
social construct. Women are oppressed as class by men as patriarchal structure of society is
universal phenomena.
‰ Talcott Parsons highlighted that family operate most efficiently with a clear-cut sexual division
of labour in which female act in expressive role, providing care and security to children and
offering emotional support. Men, on other hand perform instrumental role, as bread winner of
family.
Different stream of feminism also study gender differently:
‰ Radical feminism: They observe society as patriarchal and blame men for exploitation of women.
‰ Marxist and socialist feminist: They see capitalist as main beneficiary of women exploitation. In
pursuit of profit, they hire women in low wages or gain from women unpaid work indirectly (as
men able to work at cost of their wives). They consider women as potential reserve army.
‰ Liberal feminist: Most moderate believe that culture is culprit for women’s plight and not men.
They aim gradual changes in political, economic and social system.

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Sylvia Walby in her book “theorizing patriarchy” says that patriarchy is indispensable for analysis
of gender inequalities and identifies Six patriarchal structure which help men to maintain dominance
over women. These are: (1) paid work (2) patriarchal culture (3) sexuality (4) violence (5) state (6)
relation within household.
Recent mobility studies show how women are doing considerably better than even before. With
development, many societies are giving high priority to gender in every aspect of planning – e.g.
Gender Sensitization, Gender budgeting, reservation, gender sensitive laws etc.

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION OF RACE

Race is defined as group of people with distinctive physical appearance in terms of hair type, color of
skin, facial feature and stature. However, with advance technology (DNA finger printing) it is well
established now that all human has small variation and no clear-cut lines are separating them.
Scholars like O.C. Cox in his Class caste and race observe that racial stratification is a product of
capitalism, in which ruling class used slavery, colonisation and racism as tool for exploiting labour.

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION OF ETHNICITY

While race is perceived as biological, ethnicity is purely cultural or social in its meaning. An ethnic
group may have common language, history, culture, racial characteristic, people learn their ethnic
differences as process of socialization.
Fredrik Barth in his work “Ethnic group and its boundaries” highlighted that ethnic groups are fluid
and elastic and not fixed group. They use language, culture etc as per demand of situation.
Ethnicity is glorified by ethnic groups because:
‰ It marks their presence in society (Sense of identity)
‰ Offer them opportunity to compare privileges and dis-privileges with other group (Bengali with
Gurkhas)
‰ To protest against exploitation (African refugees in Europe)
‰ To mobilize for empowerment (Roma refugee)
‰ To demand creation of new nation state (Kurds, Kashmir)
Clifford Geertz indicate that ethnicity is manifested in form of food, dressing pattern and symbols.

SOCIAL MOBILITY
Social mobility, as defined by Sorokin – “social mobility is the movement of people from one
social stratum to another”
Importance of Social Mobility: Sociologist (Ken Roberts in his “Class in contemporary Britain”)
are interested in social mobility for Two main reasons:
‰ It gives some indication as to ‘whether we are an equal opportunity society’.
‰ It helps to establish the extent to which occupation based classes are demographic entities.

Open and Closed System

Open System
Open system are those systems which offer free mobility from one stratum to another. It is characterized
by stratification based on achievement.

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Open system mobility is characterized with occupational diversity, a flexible hierarchy and rapidity
of change. The dominant values in such a system emphasize on equality and freedom and on change
and innovation. Eg. Industrial capitalist society.
The factor of mobility varies eg.
‰ Oxford university mobility study - Goldthorpe
‰ Scottish mobility study – Peter Saunders
‰ American study of mobility – Duncan and Blau

Closed system
It is characterised by hierarchy, on the basis of birth, age, sex i.e. ascription. It justifies inequality in
the distribution of means of production, status symbol and power position.
In closed system, individuals are assigned their position in social structure on the basis of ascriptive
criteria. No consideration of functional suitability and equality of opportunity are taken into
consideration in deciding the position of individuals. Closed systems are marked by rigid boundaries,
usually unchangeable.
Example of closed system.
1. Slavery system: In Europe (ancient Rome & Greece) and USA (Modern) slaves are considered as
master’s property having no freedom.
Mobility was possible only in 2 ways: (a) Manumission: Practice where slaves were
unconditionally released by masters. (b) Rebellion: By rebelling against their master, a slave
could end his suffering by placing to country side.
2. Estate system: Whole society was divided into stratification or estate. Position of person, usually
remain fixed. Social mobility was possible through act of grace of monarch. Monarch may bestow
a person in rank to mobility Marriage was an important avenue of social mobility in estate system
especially for women.
3. Caste system: Individual position is largely ascribed by birth. There is little one can do to change
their status.
Avenues for social mobility (criticism of caste system)
„ Sanskritization
„ Hypergamy
„ Flexibility in political system and availability of land cultivation

Conclusion
However, in reality, no system is absolutely close or open because some degree of mobility present in
close and some barrier in open system (as argued by P. Sorokin).

Types of Mobility
Horizontal and vertical mobility ([Link]):
Movement of individual/group from one position to another in society which does not involve shift
into higher or lower strata is referred as Horizontal Mobility.
e.g. Rural labour become industrial worker, Changing job with same position and pay.
Anthony Giddens calls it latent mobility.

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Movement of individual/group from one social stratum to another in which position changes is
referred as Vertical Mobility.
According to direction, 2 types of vertical social mobility:
(a) Ascending/social climbing
(b) Descending/social sinking
e.g. Promotion or demotion, a change in income, loss of job due to corporate downsizing, layoffs.
Anthony Giddens calls it upward and downward mobility
Intra generational and inter-generational mobility:
Intra generational or career mobility, refer to positional change in individual’s social standing, over
a period of time, either upward or downward.
Inter generational mobility refer to a change in social standing across generation.
Contested and sponsored mobility: RH Turner Contested mobility is governed by open completion
and rule of fair play. Eg. USA Sponsored mobility is that in which individual/ group attain mobility
based on sponsorship eg. UK, India (reservation policy).
Structural and non-structural mobility:
Structural mobility happens when societal changes enable a whole group of people to move up or
down the social class ladder.
Individual mobility is a micro view of structural mobility where individuals’ motivation, education,
skills determine individual mobility.
Absolute and relative mobility:
Absolute mobility measures whether and by how much, living standard in a society have increased
or decreased.
Relative mobility refers to the fluidity of society. In other words, if one person moves up in relative
terms, another by definition, must have moved down.
Circulation mobility: The people, who are outside the occupational structure, when enter into
occupation, it is referred to as circulation mobility. Open system has high Circulation mobility, while
closed system has low Circulation mobility.
Objective and subjective social mobility: Objective social mobility is actual change in terms of
objective criteria whereas subjective social mobility is individual’s own or other perception about
social mobility (eg. Government Job)

Sources and Causes of Mobility

P. Sorokin in his book Social Mobility indicated that there are certain primary factors that affects
mobility in all societies and secondary factors that are specific to particular societies at particular
times. Four primary factors are:
1. Demographic factor: Change in demographic profile of society (Age, Birth Rate, Death Rate,
migration and longevity) Eg. Older people have reduced chances as compared to younger people.
2. Talent and ability: Talent and ability of individual responsibility for the mobility.
3. Change of the social environment: Industrialization, creation of more opportunities due to
government policy (reservation) is an important factor for social mobility.
4. Faulty distribution of individual in social position: Sometimes, various factors can force people
to land into right/wrong positions and it hampers/promote their chances of mobility.

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Secondary factors are specific to particular society at particular point of time. These factors are
generally subjective. Eg. Stratification system, Sanskritization.
In general, factors affecting mobility can be of following types:
‰ Industrialization and urbanization
‰ Education
‰ Social factor
‰ Political factor
‰ Environmental factor
‰ Social movement
‰ Law and Constitution
‰ Migration
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76 Unit 6: Work and Economic Life

UNIT

6 WORK AND ECONOMIC LIFE

Work is defined as any activity involving human efforts. However, notion of work in sociology is
different from the natural science. It’s not just application of energy rather a social activity resulting in
catering of human needs. It involves carrying out tasks in group that involve social grouping, rituals
performance, bonding, power relations and even conflict.
‰ Biblical notion of work consider work as part of punishment of original sin committed by Adam
and Eve in the garden of Eden. Man has to work for his daily bread and any time left over from
his daily toil may be spent in leisure.
‰ Calvinist consider work as religious calling to be pursued with single minded determination.
Success in work meant that the individual had not lost grace and favor in the sight of God.
‰ Karl Marx believed that work provided the most important and vital means for man to fulfil his
basic needs, his individuality and his humanity. However, when they unable to express their
true nature in their work, they are estranged from themselves and suffer from alienation.
‰ According to Durkheim, work is integrating force in the modern society and forms the basis of
organic solidarity. Work integral part of Human life. However, rapid expansion of industrial
society contained threats to social solidarity. They tended to produce a situation of anomie which
refers to normlessness.
‰ Weber in his Legal rational authority emphasizes on the emergence of Bureaucracy as organization
of work. Talcott Parsons supported the idea of social stratification in organization of work in
society based on value consensus and effective role allocation and performance.
‰ Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis offer criticism to Capitalist view and highlight fragmentation
in job and specialization results into creation hierarchy of command from lower clerical level to
highest authority. Hence, hierarchical division of labour must be seen primarily as instrument
of control.
‰ In the study of American middle classes entitled White Collar, C.W. Mills states that the
expansion of service sector has led to shift from skills with things to skills with person. Here,
market value is attached with personality characteristics of people, and they sell it in market. For
instance, salesman is given job based on his apparent warmth, friendliness, and sincerity. This
resulted in their self-alienation, as at work, they are not themselves.
‰ Herbert Marcuse in “One Dimensional man” observe that work is exhausting, stupefying,
inhumane slavery. Leisure simply involves modes of relaxation which prolong the stupefaction.
This results into happy consciousness based on false belief and create impression of mindless
happy robot compulsively chasing these false needs in modern industrial society.
‰ Over the last few years, there has been a shift to flexible production and decentralization of work.
Scientific Management of work that analyzes the workflows and tries to optimize them becomes
necessity. The main objective is to improve economic efficiency, especially labour productivity
through rationalization of work and standardized division of labour. It is referred as Taylorism.
Due to Globalization, there is growing competition between various industries and countries. It
makes organization of production more important, suiting to changing market conditions. With
advent of internet and e-commerce, virtual places of work also emerged, which impact the nature of

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work. Hence, all these changes in modern industrial society viz automation, inter-disciplinary working,
promotion of entrepreneurship etc are making organization of work more complex and difficult to
classify under any single category and opened new areas of study.

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION OF WORK

Organization of work is not just driven by economic needs rather it is society, culture, family, kinship
and political organization that determine nature and form of people participation in work. Social
organizations or institutions arise out of social needs and situations of members. These organizations
are the means through which individuals adjust their behaviour to existing conditions.
Social Organization of work also varies in different societies like Slave, Feudal and Capitalist/
Industrial Society. Its Salient features are as follows:-

Slavery Society: Features

‰ Slave society is characterized by presence of two main classes viz Masters and Slaves, based on
their mastering over the skills of simple technology.
‰ Slaves are the human being who now transformed into instruments of production.
‰ Slave do not have control over their own labour as it is owned by Masters.
‰ In slave society, land, technology and the labour of the slave are collectively control by master.
‰ Slavery initiated the seed of exploitation in human history.
‰ Slave now constitutes a class within themselves, who are voiceless, non-articulative and driven
by survivalist need.

CRITICISM
‰ Slaves were not a unified class, rather their present internal segmentation among them on the
basis of color and ethnicity.
‰ Imperialism and colonialism also play important role in propagation of slavery rather than just
change in mode of production.
‰ Relationship between master and slave is not always exploitative. They share paternalistic
relationship with master also.
‰ Slavery may have cultural construct than just being driven by economic reasons. Eg Bonded
labour in India.

Feudal Society: Features

‰ Social Organization of work is characterized by presence of 2 class- Feudal lords and serfs.
‰ Serf do have right to use over land without any ownership title, extended to family on hereditary
basis.
‰ Serf need to pay rent to feudal lord for using land. It led to establish and strengthen taxation
system.
‰ Feudal society further lead to broad division of labour with definite function.
‰ Feudal society also results into evolution of strong monarchal state with well-defined privileges
and obligation.
‰ In Feudal society, tax collectors, police personnel, vassals protect economic interest of feudal
lord. Hence, element of exploitation was present in the tax liability over on the serf or farmers
only.

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Criticism
‰ The intensity of exploitation, organizational characters of feudal society were greatly variable in
time and space. Hence all feudal society are not driven by identical class character and identical
class relationship.
‰ Feudal Society was also not having universal presence. For instance, Many African are of
primitive character and later switched over from primitive stage to capitalist stage.
‰ Feudal Society indicate presence of landed and landless classes only but in different societies,
different class structure was observed.
Eg Russia- Kulak(Rich), Strednik(middle) and Bednik(Poor).

Industrial/capitalist society: features

‰ In this society, allocation of resources is determined by supply and demand in the market.
‰ Both production and distribution are determined by the market forces to ensure competition and
efficiency.
‰ Growth of economy leads to occupational diversification and increasing specialization of
occupation.
‰ Emile Durkheim argued that Industrial Society is the result of more and more complex division
of labour (Organic Solidarity).
‰ Labour engages into production to cater unknown consumer need.
‰ Production lost its social and emotional appeal as Industrial Society promote Commodification
of Labour.
‰ Monotonous nature of work, mechanical work environment and compulsive nature of work lead
to alienation among labour.

Criticism
‰ More division of labour subsequently lead to organic solidarity in Industrial society than conflict.
‰ Right of labour is protected through strong labour law as highlighted by John Scott in managerial
revolution.
‰ Labour is getting upward mobility in Industrial society as indicated by Goldthorpe and Lockwood.
‰ In this way, social organization of work reflect the normative structure of society. It reflects the
stratified order in society, power relations, social mobility and alienation. Sociological study of
organization of work played an important role in understanding of changes in the society from
simple to complex society.

FORMAL AND INFORMAL ORGANIZATION OF WORK

Formal organization of work is one which is deliberately planned, designed and dully sanctioned
by the competent authority. It is a system of well-defined jobs, each bearing a definite measure of
authority, responsibility and accountability. It is consciously designed to enable the people of
enterprise to work most effectively together in accomplishing their goals.
Characteristics of Formal Organization: -
‰ Legal Status- A formal Organization is supported by legal sanction.
‰ Division of Work- It indicates the levels of management, the designation of officers and their
area of operation making the division of work very convenient.

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‰ Primacy of Structure- The Structure is clearly defined and role of individuals working in
organization are clearly spelled out.
‰ Permanence- Formal Organization of work is relatively permanent than informal organization.
‰ Rules and Regulation- It is operated in accordance with well formulated rules and regulation.
‰ Entry barrier- It require to clear some entrance test.
Formal organization of work is important to determine the goal and objectives in absence of which
it would be difficult to direct skills of men and women to accomplish the stated goals. Individual
agrees to work in an organization because they are prepared to contribute their services and receive
in return certain benefits.
Informal Organization of work is characterized by aggregate personal contact and interactions
and the associated grouping of people, while formal organization of work emphasize on structure,
informal organization of work emphasizes on personality and human emotions.
The superior-subordinate relations between important officers may be influenced by the commanding
personality or powerful connections of the subordinates. In informal organization of work, roles are
assigned without recognized status.
Characteristics of Informal Organization: -
‰ Low level of skills- Workers in informal organization of work have low level of education and
skills.
‰ Low Division of labour- No fixed division of work among the labourer.
‰ Easy to Enter- It does not require to clear any exam or entrance test.
‰ Low paid employment- Due to low skills requirement and the easy entry, work in informal
sector has low returns.
‰ No Fixed Remuneration- No fixation of salary or social security for informal labour.
‰ Immigrant labour- Informal organization are largely composed of immigrant labourer. Hence,
migrant status is a characteristic of informal sector.
Thus, informal organization of work are ill defined and difficult to determine. They do not have
definite goals. The relations between workers, therefore, are not specific.
‰ Amitai Etzioni in his book Modern Organizations indicate the importance of modern
organization as he highlighted that we are born in Hospital, educated in School, join industry
or government, form political parties or trade union and when we die, our bodies rest in burial
ground inside church. This indicates the expansion of formal organization to every sphere of
human life.
‰ Elton Mayo in highlighted the importance of Human Relation approach by establishing
relationship between social factors and productivity in Hawthorne Experiments.
‰ In his study of federal law enforcement agency in Washington and placement agencies, Peter
Blau in his book, “The Dynamics of Bureaucracy” argues that the presence of both the formal
and informal structures in the organization may together enhance performance of organization.
Presence of formal structures alone may even hinder the achievement of organizational goals.
‰ Alvin Gouldner, in his study of Gypsum plants in USA proved that formal organizations
don’t work with equal efficiency in all situations. Some organizations work more efficiently in
informal environment. They found that work in Gypsum mines was hampered when formal
organizational rules were implemented.
‰ Burns and Stalker implied in their study of 20 industries in Scotland and England and they
found that certain industries like electronics industry which change very quickly are unsuitable
for formal bureaucratic structure.

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In this way, with changes in society, the nature of organization at work keeps changing with
incorporation of informal relationship within formal organization and vice versa. It also indicate the
shift from traditional society to modern industrial society and further to post-industrial society.

LABOUR AND SOCIETY

Labour is unique gift of nature to human being. The imprint of labour is visible in every sphere of
human life.
Eg Architecture, Industry, Music etc.
Whether labour is controlled and used by human being based on independent choice or by the
prescription of class, culture and society, has always been matter of sociological enquiry.
Sociological approach to labour study emphasizes on linkage between labour and society.
‰ Malinowski argued that it is difficult to distinguish the Economic aspect of labour from its social
aspect. Economic activities like participation in fishing expedition, cultivation, exchanges of gifts
are not driven by utilitarian needs rather they are defined by cultural prescription of society. Use
of labour in production, engagement of labour in distribution are culture bound activities and
decided on the basis of need of society.
‰ Manning Nash indicate that peasants are cultural community. Therefore, use of labour both in
process of production and exchange is determined by cultural values and norms.
‰ Robert Redfield argued that peasant manifest common obligation to family and kinship. Peasant,
being culture bound, never go for surplus production. They prefer leisure and recreation than
profit accumulation or surplus generation.
‰ With change in nature of society and labour gets redefined. Emile Durkheim indicates how
this linkage is variable in time and space. In primitive society, simple division of labour and in
modern society, complex division of labour establish integration between labour and society.
Hence, labour operate at par with direction of society. It results into presence of solidarity
(mechanical and organic) in society.
‰ Weber and Parson conceptualize that modern society has gone through the process of
rationalization. As a result, Formal organization has made appearance in different sphere of
public life. Recruitment of people into such organizations, their roles, wages, scope of promotion
etc are all determined by rules of law spelled out by the society.
‰ Marx argued that labour is creative and productive. Therefore, a labourer through application
of his labour engaged in production. But due to exploitation capitalist mode of production,
productive labour is reduced into a commodity in modern market. Hence, labour become means
to an end then being end in itself. It leads to exploitation and dehumanization of labour and
results into misery of labour in capitalist system.
Globalization of Labour is another aspect of labour in post-modern times. Labour, today, marked by
high mobility, trans-boundary movements etc. World becomes increasingly competitive as industries
also shift in search of cheaper production. Increasing use of technology and IT at workplace has
enhanced control at workplace as these places are now continuously under surveillance. Face to face
interactions is cut and life is restricted to closed spaces. As a result, work has become more mechanical.
In conclusion, it can be advocated that inequality exist in every society. The degree, the nature
and form of inequality is based on directive of society. Sociology of Economic life looks into the
interlinkages between the society and labour. It makes an attempt to understand this inequality in
term of participation of labour or its exploitation in society.

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 Unit 7: Politics and Society 81

UNIT

7 POLITICS AND SOCIETY

Max Weber has defined power as, “The chance of a man or number of men to realize their own will
in a communal action even against the resistance of other who are participating in the social action”.
Power is often compared with Authority, Coercion, Prestige, Influence and Domination. However,
it varies in interpretation in following ways: -
‰ Authority is that form of power which is accepted as legitimate, that is right and just, and
therefore obeyed on that basis. Authority receives voluntary obedience.
‰ Coercion is that form of power which is not regarded as legitimate by those subject to it.
‰ Prestige is usually not accompanied with power. In itself power becomes the basis of prestige
i.e., when a person has power, he / she has prestige but when a person has prestige, he / she
may not have power.
‰ Influence is persuasive rather than coercive. Power calls for intended control, which is usually
executed through sanctions while influence does not involve the use of sanctions or punishment.
‰ Dominance is associated with one’s personality and may be treated as a psychological concept.

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY OF POWER

Weber’s definition of power implies that those who hold power do so at the expense of others. It
indicates that there is a fixed amount of power and there if some hold power, others do not. This view
is known as “zero-sum” or “constant sum” concept of power.

Functionalist Perspective
Talcott Parsons rejects the constant sum concept of power. He regards power as something possessed
by society as a whole. Power is a generalized facility or resource in the society. In this sense, the
amount of power in society is measured by the degree to which collective goals are realized. Thus,
the greater the efficiency of a social system for achieving the goas defined by its members, the more
power exists in society. This view is known as “variable-sum” concept of power, since power in
society is not seen as fixed or constant. Instead, it is variable in the sense that it can be increase or
decrease.
Unlike weber, who said power will be used to promote sectional interests, Parsons says it will be
used to benefit the whole of society because the society as a whole has a common goal.

Criticism
‰ Parsons views are naïve as it ignores power holder’s usage of power to promote sectional interest
than collective goal. Eg Tobacco lobbies
‰ Parsons’s variable sum concept of power is unacceptable as there is fixed amount of power which
is distributed among population of society.

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Marxian Perspective
‰ It rejects the view that power is a societal source held in trust and directed by those in authority
for the benefit of all. Instead, power is seen to be held by a particular group in society at expense
of the rest of society. This is constant-sum concept of power.
‰ From a Marxian perspective, the source of power in society lies in the economic infrastructure.
In all stratified societies, the forces of production are owned and controlled by a minority, the
ruling class.
Measurement of Power
‰ Westergaard and Resler provide an alternative to decision making approach. They argued that
power can be measured by its result. Thus, if scarce and valued resources are concentrated in the
hands of minority, that group largely monopolizes power in society.
‰ Westergaard and Resler maintained that the power is visible only through its consequences,
they are first and final proof of the existence of power.
‰ Ralph Miliband in his book, “The state in capitalist society” refers advertisement as ‘the process
of legitimation’ through which capitalism is legitimated. He regards it as system of ‘massive
indoctrination’.

ELITE THEORY
Elite theory was first developed by two Italian sociologist, Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca. It
was developed in part as a reaction to Marxism rejecting idea of a communist utopia arguing that
an egalitarian society was an illusion.
Elite theory argues that all societies are divided into two main group, a ruling minority and the
ruled. The situation is inevitable. Elite theory claims that personal qualities of individuals separate
rulers from the ruled.
Classical Elite Theory: Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosco
‰ Vilfredo Pareto in his book, “Mind and Society” emphasize on psychological characteristics as
the basis of elite rule.
‰ He argues that there are two main types of governing elites. Taking cue from Machiavelli, he
calls them ‘lions’ and ‘foxes’.
‰ Lions achieve power because of their ability to take direct and incisive action, and they tend to
rule by force Eg Military dictators.
‰ Foxes, by comparison, rule by cunning and guile, by diplomatic manipulation and wheeling and
dealing Eg European democracies.
‰ Members of a governing elite owe their positions primarily to their personal qualities, either lion-
like or fox-like characteristics.
‰ Major changes in society occurs when one elite replaces another, a process Pareto calls the
‘circulation of elites’. All elite tend to become decadent.
‰ In addition, each types of elite lacks the qualities of its counterpart, qualities which in the long
run are essential to maintain power. An elite of lions lack the imagination and cunning necessary
to maintain its rule and will have to admit foxes from masses to make up for this deficiency.
Gradually, foxes infiltrate the entire elite and so transform its character.
‰ Hence, History to Pareto is a never-ending circulation of elites and always will be, ‘graveyard of
aristocracies.’

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Criticism
‰ Pareto’s view of history is too simplistic.
‰ He dismisses differences between political systems viz democratic, communist, fascist dictatorship
and feudal monarchies as minor.
‰ Pareto fails to provide a method of measuring and distinguishing between the supposedly
superior qualities of elites.
Gaetano Mosca in his book, “The Ruling Class” believe that rule by a minority is an inevitable
feature of social life.
‰ He takes historical evidences claiming that in all societies have two classes of people appear-a
class that rules and a class that is ruled. The class that rules always less in numbers, performs all
political functions, monopolizes power and enjoys the advantages that power brings, whereas
the class that is ruled are more in numbers, directed and controlled by ruling class.
‰ He differs from Abraham Lincoln’s famous definition of democracy as “government of
the people, by the people”. To Mosca, democracy was government of the people, it might
even be government for the people but it could never be government by the people as Elite
rule is inevitable. Democracy could be no more than representative government with an elite
representing the interest of the people.

POWER ELITE: C WRIGHT MILLS

American Sociologist C.W. Mills in his book “The Power Elite” analyse the American society and
argued that Elite rule is not inevitable.
‰ He rejects the view that members of elite have superior qualities or psychological characteristics
which distinguish them from the rest of the population.
‰ Instead, he argues that the structure of institutions is such that those at the top of the institutional
hierarchy largely monopolize power.
Mills identifies three key institutions:
1. The major corporations
2. The military
3. The federal government
Power elite owes its dominance to the change in the “institutional landscape” post 19th century.
The cohesiveness and unity of power elite is strengthened by the similarity of the social background
of its members and the interchange and overlapping of personnel between three elites like:
‰ Members drawn largely from upper strata of society
‰ They are mainly protestant.
‰ They are native-born Americans.
‰ They are from urban areas of USA
‰ They share similar educational background
Mill’s theory is also supported by Floyd Hunter in his book Community Power Structure.
He claims that power rests with a small decision-making group which is dominated by business
class.

Criticism
‰ Evidence circumstantial and suggestive rather than conclusive

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‰ Robert Dahl indicates that Mills has simply shown that the power elite has potential for control
which does not mean actual control.
‰ Range of key decisions not investigated; hence case remain unproven.

Elite Theory and Communist Societies

‰ T.B. Bottomore argued that the political system in communist countries approaching towards
the pure type of ‘power elite’.
‰ Milovan Djilas, Yugoslavian writer, argued that those in position of authority in communist
societies use power to further their own interests. Bourgeoisie of the west have been replaced
by a new ruling class in the East. This ‘new class’ is made up of ‘political bureaucrats’, many of
whom are high ranking officials for the Communist Party.

Robert Michels: The Iron Law of Oligarchy

Iron Law of oligarchy: It may be understood that the large collectivity of people in an organisation
cannot govern or administer their common affairs. Over the period of time, specialisation develops
and division of labour evolves.
‰ Oligarchies preserve the stability and longevity of leadership. More importantly, the oppressive
conditions in themselves, do not lead to unrest. It is the awareness of those conditions that
generates class struggle. The struggles and revolts are often suppressed.
‰ Michels maintains that it is appropriate to ascertain the limits imposed by oligarchies over
individuals. He says that decentralisation does not necessarily give way to enhanced liberty in
the hands of individuals; neither does it enhance the power of the rank and file. Usually, it serves
as a mechanism by which weak leaders seek to get away from the dominion of the stronger ones.

Pluralist Theory of Power

‰ Pluralist theory maintain that power is dispersed among a variety of groups in society.
‰ Pluralism begins from the observation that industrial society is increasingly differentiated into a
variety of social groups and sectional interest in society.
‰ Each group develops its own particular needs and concerns. This results in the formation of
organizations to represent and articulate these interests.
‰ From a pluralist perspective, politics involves competition between a variety of interest groups,
each pressing for its own advantage. Since no one group is seen to be dominant, politics is
therefore a business of bargaining and compromise.
‰ Unlike interest groups, two or more political parties in democracy compete for the votes of the
electorate. Political parties must appeal to and represent a wide range of interests in order to
gain power and form a government.
‰ From a pluralist perspective, the government is pictured as kind of honest broker, mediating
and compromising between the demands of the various elites. It is seen to balance the conflicting

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interests of a multiplicity of interest group and in doing so ensure a stable society. In Raymond
Aron’s words, “Government becomes a business of compromise”.
‰ Karl Manheim argues that in a democracy, the governed can always act to remove their leaders
or force them to take decisions in the interests of the many.

Criticism
‰ Pluralist largely ignore ‘non-decision making’, that is the possibility that some have the power to
prevent certain issue from reaching the point of decision and only safe decision that did not alter
the power structure may be taken.
‰ Pluralist tend to concentrate on the process of decision making rather than the result and
consequences of those decisions
‰ Pluralist assumption that all major interest in society are represented is itself questionable.
Steven Lukes put forward a radical view of power. He argued that power has 3 dimensions or faces
that are:-
1. Decision making- Power may be exercised to make decisions.
2. Non-decision making- Power may be used to prevent certain issues from being discussed, or
decisions about them from being taken.
3. Shaping desires-Power may be exercised by manipulating the wishes and desires of social group
or individuals.

Criticism
‰ Difficult to determine whether people’s interest or desires are manipulated or not.
‰ There might be multiple cause of non-decision, and identification of one because that prevent
from decision making will be difficult.

Conclusion
It is evident that the notion of power so commonly used in day-to-day parlance has many dimensions
and operated in many different ways. Sociologists have conceptualised power in terms of domination,
as a repressive and oppressive force as also an enabling resource. Power rests both with the elite and
with the local community.

BUREAUCRACY
Bureaucracy refers to rule of officials. Encyclopaedia Britannica defines Bureaucracy as a professional
corps of officials organised in a pyramidal hierarchy and functioning under impersonal, uniform
rules and procedures to secure the goals of their organisations.

Weber’s Theory of Bureaucracy

Max Weber was the first one to talk about bureaucracy. He gave systematic theory of ‘bureaucracy’
ie the patrimonial type prevalent in ‘traditional’ and ‘charismatic’ authority systems and the ideal
model of ‘legal-rational’ bureaucracy of legal rational authority systems of modern times.
1. In the traditional authority, the basis of acceptance and legitimacy of the authority is sacredness
of the ruler and his orders.
2. In the charismatic authority, charisma or the supernatural qualities of the ruler are the basis of
acceptance of the authority.
3. In the legal-rational system, the acceptance of authority is sought on the basis of the rules, which
are framed in an impersonal, impartial and rational manner.

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Max Weber gave the concept of ideal type bureaucracy with structural and behavioural features.
Characteristics of Weber’s Model
‰ Specialisation and an elaborate division of labour
‰ Hierarchy of positions
‰ Technical competence as the chief criterion for recruitment and promotion
‰ Written rules and regulations
‰ Impersonality and
‰ Formal, written communication

Criticism
‰ Robert Merton argued that there is a tendency for “the rules to become more important than
the ends they were designed to serve, resulting in goal displacement and loss of organisational
effectiveness.
‰ The French sociologist Michel Crozier’s in his book, “The Bureaucratic Phenomenon” study
two French government agencies. In Crozier’s analysis, the social structure consists of highly
cohesive occupational groups, each presenting a unified and rather hostile front towards the
others. Each group tends to manipulate the rules with a view to promote its own privileges and
rights.
‰ Robert Michels, in his “Iron law of oligarchy,” postulates that intensifying complexity and
bureaucratisation of modern organisations is leading to the concentration of power at the top
level, in the hands of a few who tend to rule in a dictatorial manner.

Marxist Views on Bureaucracy

Italian Marxist Bruno Rizzi in his book, “The Bureaucratisation of the World” highlighted that
the Soviet bureaucracy constituted a new ruling class that exploited the proletariat as much as the
capitalists had in the past. It differed from capitalism only in that the new type of domination was
based not on individual but on group ownership of the means of production. In fact, in the Soviet
system the means of production represented not “socialism” but “statism.

Informal Bureaucracy
This idea was developed by Peter Blau and Alvin Gouldner in wake of over-formalized structure of
Weberian bureaucracy.
‰ According to them Weberian bureaucracy is only a theoretical construct and in reality, a more
workable proposition exists in form of informal bureaucratic structures.
‰ In his study of federal law enforcement agency in Washington and placement agencies, Peter
Blau in his book, “The Dynamics of Bureaucracy” argues that the presence of both the formal
and informal structures in the organization may together enhance performance of organization.
‰ Alvin Gouldner, in his study of Gypsum plants in USA proved that formal organizations don’t
work with equal efficiency in all situations.
‰ Burns and Stalker implied in their study of 20 industries in Scotland and England and they
found that certain industries like electronics industry which change very quickly are unsuitable
for formal bureaucratic structure.

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Nature of Bureaucracy in Developing Societies
‰ As state plays a key role in the process of development, bureaucracy has been regarded as an
important instrument for modernisation, growth and development.
‰ Unlike the developed countries, there is less differentiation of functions in the developing
countries as a result of which the powers and importance of bureaucracy crossed its legitimate
limits.
‰ Appointments are done on the basis of merit, which is judged through a public competitive
examination comprising both written and personality tests.
‰ The politicisation of bureaucracy is another characteristic in the developing countries. In India,
the concept of “committed bureaucracy” was mooted by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
in the late 1960s, implying that bureaucrats should be committed to the party in power. There
has been erosion of the principle of bureaucratic neutrality in the country.
‰ Existence of rampant corruption within its ranks.

PRESSURE GROUPS
Pressure groups are organised associations, unions or organisation of people having common
interest. Their aim is to seek better conditions for their members through organised efforts.
Characteristics
‰ Based on Certain Interests
‰ Use of Modern as well as Traditional Means
‰ Resulting Out of Increasing Pressure and Demands on Resources
‰ Alternative to Inadequacies of Political Parties
‰ Represent Changing Consciousness
Pressure groups are different from Political parties in following ways:
‰ The pressure groups unlike the political parties are formed to solve their immediate problems.
‰ They are relatively more temporary than political parties unless there are long term interest
involves.
‰ The pressure groups may have a well-knit organisation and organised membership.
‰ Generally, they do not have cadres and do not directly deal with people. In most of the cases they
deal either with the political parties or governmental apparatus.
‰ The pressure groups have far greater flexibility compared to political parties as they do not go to
people and stake their claims for power.
Lobbying is different from Pressure groups in following ways:
‰ Lobbying is a communication process used for persuasion; it cannot be treated as an organisation.
‰ Lobbying is used in governmental decision making and it aims at influencing the policy process.
‰ It acts as an instrument that links citizens and decision-makers
Types of Pressure Groups
Maurice Duverger mentions two types of pressure groups
1. Promotional Pressure groups
2. Protective Pressure groups

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According to Almond and Powell, Pressure groups can be classified into four categories
1. Institutional Pressure Groups
2. Associational Pressure Groups
3. Anomic Pressure Groups
4. Non-Associational Pressure Groups
The different types of pressure groups found in India are business groups, trade unions, peasant
groups, student groups, teachers’ association, caste and religious associations, women’s associations,
etc.
Methods of Operation of Pressure Groups in India
The pressure groups adopt different methods to realise their goals. The pressure groups finance the
political parties during the election time and sometimes even during the non-election times. They
control the parties through this funding mechanism.
The capacity of a pressure group is determined by:
‰ Leadership: This is one of the essential components of pressure groups. As it has to protect the
interests of the group along with projecting the public image of representing universal interest.
‰ Organisational Abilities: In a vast country like India with its size and magnitude, it becomes
essential that there are units of the organisation throughout the country.
‰ Mass Media: In India, the mass media is slowly gaining importance. The print as well as the
Television in present times through their skills of communication create powerful public images
and through continuous debate and propaganda influence the public opinion. The political
parties and policy-making agencies are sometimes kept on tenterhooks by the media.
‰ Economic Power Base: The influence a pressure group commands are proportionate to its
economic strength. From financing the elections and party funds to carrying propaganda, the
economic power of the group plays an important role.
‰ Mobilizational Techniques: Effectiveness of the pressure groups also depends on their capacity
to mobilise the people.
Limitations of Pressure Groups
‰ In India, organised groups largely influence the administrative process rather than the formulation
of policy. This is dangerous as a gap is created between policy formulation and implementation.
‰ Unlike the pressure groups in the developed countries of the West, where these are invariably
organised to safeguard economic, social, cultural interests, etc., in India these groups are
organised around religious, regional and ethnic issues.
‰ Many a time factors of caste and religion eclipse the socioeconomic interests. The result is that
instead of serving a useful purpose in the political administrative process, they are reduced to
work for narrow selfish interests.
‰ Moreover, many of the groups have a very short life because of the lack of resources.
‰ In a country like India the tendency to politicise every issue, whether it has social, economic,
cultural import, restricts the scope, working, and effectiveness of pressure groups.
‰ Instead of the pressure groups exerting influence on political process, they become tools and
implements to subserve political interests.
Pressure groups are now considered as an indispensable and helpful element of the democratic
process. Pressure groups becomes the hall mark of democracy and played an important role in
democratization of society.

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POLITICAL PARTY
Weber defined political party as ‘an organized structure which promotes candidates, contest
elections for aim of capturing power’.
Edmund Burke had defined the political parties as, “Party is a body of men united for promoting
by their joint endeavours the national interest upon some particular principles in which they are all
agreed.”
Unlike a political party, a pressure group, interest group or non-party civil society organization,
generally do not seek power. However, sometime such organizations also contest elections.
Political parties are the important links between individuals, state and society.
Functions of Political Parties:
‰ Political Parties Contest Elections
‰ Parties put forward different policies and programmes and the voters choose from them.
‰ Parties Make Laws
‰ Parties Form and Run Governments
‰ Role of Opposition
‰ Parties Shape Public Opinions
‰ Parties provide people access to government machinery and welfare schemes implemented by
governments.
As Maclver says, “It is the agency by which public opinion is translated into public policy.”
In appraising the role of parties in public policy-making three facets have to be kept in view. These
are:
‰ Ideological stances
‰ Organisational structures
‰ Leadership
As Maurice Duverger opines, “the present-day parties are distinguished less by their programmes or the
class background of their members than by the nature of their organisation.”
According to R. Michels, the party organisations fall victim to, what he calls, the ‘iron law of
oligarchy’.
Maurice Duverger presented classification of political parties on the basis of organisation-based
categorisations as:
‰ The Elitist or Traditional Parties
‰ Mass parties
‰ The Intermediate Type Parties
Hitchner and Levine classified contemporary political parties into three categories. These are :-
1. Pragmatic parties
2. Doctrinal Parties
3. Interest Parties

Party System
Almond’s classification follows the following pattern:
‰ Authoritarian Parties: One of its sub-categories is called totalitarian parties or dictatorships;
‰ Dominant Non-Authoritarian (democratic) parties: Indian National Congress in post
independent India.

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‰ Competitive two parties: Democratic and Republican party of USA

‰ Competitive multi-parties: Different Political parties in India.
James Jupp accepted the above classification generally, but modified it and gave his own version,
which is as under:
‰ Indistinct (not very clear) bi-partisan system; There are hardly any major differences in the
policies of major American parties namely, the Republican Party and the Democratic Party
‰ Distinct bi-partisan system: The policies followed are different, both ideologically as well as
implementation wise. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have two-party systems.
‰ Multi-party system: Having more than 2 parties, to ensure diversity of views are provided with
political platform.
‰ Dominant (one-party) party system: In a liberal one-party rule there is internal democracy in the
party, leadership is willing to listen to its criticism, and local governments enjoy certain amount
of autonomy. Thus, this may be called democratic one-party system.
‰ Narrow one-party system: In the rigid or narrow one-party rule the party is under absolute
control of a leader, and there is no internal democracy
‰ Totalitarian system: The regimes of Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy and of Stalin in the
Soviet Union were all described as dictatorial.
According to Hitchner & Levine, modern party system may be classified as under:
‰ Competitive two-party systems;
‰ Competitive multi-party systems;
‰ Dominant non-authoritarian systems;
‰ Authoritarian party systems; and
‰ States without party system.
Evolution of Parties and Party System in India
Political parties in India were born during the Indian national movement.
‰ At that time, they were involved in the Indian national movement.
‰ They had also contested elections to legislative assemblies under restricted adult franchise.
After Independence, the Congress emerged as a dominant party. Indeed, during the Independence
movement the Congress was a movement and it became a party after Independence. It means that the
Congress did not have to be involved in a movement like national movement, and its main concern
was to contest elections and form government.

Political Parties in India

Election commission of India (EC) has categorised three kinds of political parties in the country:
National, State/Regional and Registered/unrecognized Parties.
1. National Party: According to the Election Commission, for being considered as a national party,
a political party should atleast have one of the following qualifications:
„ It has to win a minimum of two percent of the seats in the Lok Sabha from at-least three
different States;
„ In general elections, the party must manage to win six percent of the votes and win at least
four Lok Sabha seats;
„ It should be recognised as a state-level party in four or more states.

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2. State Party/Regional Party: According to EC, to be considered as state party, a party should have
one of the qualifications to be acknowledged as a state party:
„ It must have engaged in political activity for at least five years;
„ It must have won either four percent of the seats in a general election or three percent in a
state election;
„ In addition, it must have had the support of six percent of the votes cast;
„ The status of a state party can still be bestowed upon an entity even if it fails to win any seats
in the Lok Sabha or the Assembly if it manages to win at least eight per cent of the total votes
cast in the entire state.
3. Registered/Unrecognized Party: Registered party is a party that is neither recognised as a state
nor a national party, but it is registered with the election commission.

NATION
The word Nation derived from the Latin word “nasci”, meaning to be free. The concept of a nation
was a 19th century phenomenon, which emerged in the West and later spread to other colonies of
Europe i.e. Asia, Africa etc.
The classical definition of nation was given by Joseph Stalin who defined nation as a “historically
evolved, stable community of language, territory, economic life and psychological make-up
manifested in community of culture”.
Nationalism was regarded as an ideological construct which enabled the bourgeoisie to identify its
interests as a class with the interests of the whole society.
Hans Kohn argues that “nationalities are products of the living forces of history, and therefore always
fluctuating never rigid.” Nationalities are not identical with clans, tribes or folk-groups nor are they the
simple outcome of common descent or common habitat.
Anderson argues that a nation is ‘an imagined political community- and imagined as both inherently
limited and sovereign.
Modern idea of nationalism emerged from the early 19th century Western Europe out of a combination
of three strands which composed it:
1. Enlightenment as a liberal conception of political self-determination (Rousseau, JS Mills and
others),
2. The French revolutionary idea of the community of equal citizens, and
3. The German conception of a people formed by history, tradition and culture.
David McCrone in the book, “The Sociology of Nationalism” conducts a comprehensive review of
sociological theory of nationalism.
‰ He finds that no one theory can account for the diverse forms that nationalism takes, but that a
number of theories can contribute to understanding of this phenomenon.
‰ He distinguishes Civic nationalism and Ethnic nationalism.
‰ In civic nationalism, nationalist sentiments are tied to belonging a particular state. It is their
common citizenship that unites them rather than a common ethnic background.
‰ In other situations, nationalism focuses more on ethnicity than on citizenship.
‰ McCrone also distinguishes between the nation and the state. The state is essentially a political
and administrative unit, but people may feel a sense of national identity which does not coincides
with political boundaries. It is referred as ‘Stateless nations’.

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STATE
The modern term ‘state’ has been derived from the word “status”. It was Niccolo Machiavelli, who
first used the term “state” in political science.
State can be taken to mean the following:
(i) An organization of individuals i.e. mankind viewed as an organized unit (Ernest Burgess).
(ii) People organised for law within a definite territory (US President Woodrow Wilson).
(iii) An organization of public law that is monopolistic over the use of violence against a group or
population (Max Weber)
(iv) A state is an organisation which rules by means of a supreme government over a definite territory
(Ogburn).
Elements of the State
(i) A group of human beings, i.e. population (Population)
(ii) A territory upon which they permanently reside (Territory)
(iii) Internal sovereignty and independence from foreign control (Sovereignty)
(iv) A political organization or agency through which the collective will of the population is expressed,
i.e. government (Government).

Nature of The State: Different Theories

The Liberal Theory
‰ The state is there to serve the general interest of society as a whole. It is regarded as an agency
of human welfare, which will secure life and property of man. It is regarded as a contributor to
moral and social development of man.
‰ Liberalism distinguishes between state and society and maintains that state is for society and not
otherwise.

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‰ Classical liberalism is also known as the theory of ‘Laissez-faire’ or the police state, or the
theory of individualism that regards the state as a necessary evil. Necessary, because of the selfish
nature of man and an evil, because it is an enemy of individual liberty. Classical liberalism wants
to give more freedom to the individual by increasing the sphere of his activities and decreasing
the sphere of the state. Adam Smith supported this on an economic basis and Bentham on a
moral and political basis.
‰ Later liberalism or modern liberalism is also called the ‘theory of welfare state’, ‘revisionist’
or ‘reformist liberalism’. Here, the state is not regarded merely as a necessary evil, but it is
assumed that the state can perform various functions of social welfare, can bring equilibrium
and can satisfy socio-economic demands of the masses.

The Marxist Theory

‰ The Marxist theory of state emerged as a criticism of, and as an alternative to the liberal theory
of state.
‰ According to the Marxist theory, the state is a product of class division and class struggle
and serves only the interest of one particular class, because all the classes cannot have a single
interest/common interests. It rejects the state, associates its pressure with the presence of classes,
and suggests that by a revolution and the establishment of a classless society, the institution of
the state would be done away with.
‰ According to the theory, politics and state are parts of the superstructure which is based on the
economic system or the mode of production of a given society.

The Gandhian Theory

First of all, Gandhi accepts the need of the state; though as an advocate of nonviolence, he does see
that the state implies the use of violence or coercion.
‰ Gandhi also holds that state as an institution of violence must be limited.
‰ Gandhi suggests that the state should be limited on the basis of certain considerations. On the
one hand, the authority of the state should be reduced by a system based on decentralization
of power, in which communities below the level of state should have greater autonomy and
independence from the central state. The unit of such autonomy should be the village community.
‰ only non-violently, the state is also limited by moral challenges arising from the individual
“conscience” or the “inner voice”. In Hind Swaraj, he held this kind of polity in which political
powers are dispersed over a large number of self-governing village communities, to be a Swaraj
Polity.
‰ Thus, it would be wrong to call Gandhi an anarchist, if by that is meant a thinker who denies the
need of the state. Certainly, he limits the state, but this does not mean that he dispenses with it.

CITIZENSHIP
According to T H Marshall, citizenship is ‘full and equal membership in a political community’.
For a democracy to improve itself, the citizens should take active part in governance which ensures
accountability. Passive citizenship can lead to stagnation in any democracy and could further alienate
the representatives from the people.
Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law as being a legal member of
a sovereign state or part of a nation.

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A person can be recognised or granted citizenship on a number of grounds like:

‰ Citizenship by Birth (Jus Sanguinis):
‰ Born within a Country (jus soli)
‰ Citizenship by Marriage
‰ Naturalization

Evolution of the Concept of Citizenship

The concept of citizenship goes back to the ancient Greek city-states where the population was
divided into two classes—the citizens and the slaves.
In the medieval times, citizenship was associated with protection by the state as the absolute states
wanted to impose their authority over their diverse population. It was in tradition with the social
contract theorists like Hobbes and Locke who believed that it is the main aim of the sovereign to
protect individual life and property.
French Revolution in 1789 and in ‘The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen’, the citizen
was described as a free and autonomous individual. The modem notion of citizenship seeks to strike
a balance between freedom and equality.

Theories of Citizenship
Liberal Theory
‰ According to this theory, Civil Rights constitute the foundation of citizenship and it revolves
around the notion of individualism. Citizenship is a legal status, which confers certain rights on
the individual protecting him from state interference.
T. H. Marshall, in his book, Citizenship and Social Class, published in 1950 has traced
development of citizenship in Britain. He has divided citizenship in three elements — civil,
political and social. Rights necessary for freedom come under civil, political covers the right to
take part in politics while social rights cover the right to economic welfare and security.
‰ The civil rights are related to individual freedoms like liberty, freedom of speech and expression
etc. These rights can be seen as power against the state as they safeguard dissent in a democracy.
‰ The political dimension includes political rights through which an individual takes part in
political life of his country like the right to vote; right to form or join any political party etc. These
rights are associated with parliamentary institutions in a democracy.
‰ The social dimension refers to right to share social and cultural heritage. The welfare state idea
gained ground after the Second World War and it is the state’s duty to guarantee a minimum
living standard in order to iron out inequalities between its citizens.
‰ He argued that civil rights give ‘equal moral worth’ to individuals, but they will be meaningless
if not supported by social rights which stand for ‘equal social worth.

Republican Theory
‰ The Republican tradition focuses on civic self-rule through participation of citizens.
‰ Rousseau argued in Social Contract that co-authoring of laws through general will makes
citizens free and laws legitimate.

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Libertarian Theory
‰ Libertarian gave more importance to market rights over social rights.
‰ Libertarians say citizenship is the product of free choice and contract among individuals.
‰ It considers market society as its basis and a suitable model of civic life.
‰ Robert Nozick is the chief exponent of this theory.

Communitarian Theory
‰ Communitarians argue that an individual does not exist prior to the community.
‰ Skinner said that individual liberty is maximized through public service and prioritization of
common good over pursuit of individual interests.
‰ Unlike the liberals who focus on individual, communitarian citizenship gives more importance
to group rights.

Marxist Theory
‰ According to the Marxist theory, rights associated with citizenship are a by- product of class
conflict.
‰ Anthony Giddens argued that the development of modern democracy and citizenship began
in the 16th century when the state started to increase its administrative power to supervise the
population and store data regarding them.

Pluralist Theory
‰ This theory treats the development of citizenship as a multi-dimensional and complex process
and attributes the evolution of the concept of citizenship to a diverse set of factors.
‰ It holds that citizenship means a reciprocal relationship between individual and community as
argued by David Held.

Feminist Perspective
Feminists have argued that women are second class citizens world over due to dominance of men in
civil, political, cultural, economic and social spheres of life.
They have also questioned the distinction between public (political participation) and private
(domestic) spheres which is a tool to perpetuate male dominance at the cost of women’s rights.
‰ To bring about equality between men and women, liberals believe there should be constitutional
reforms by which men will contribute to household work. This is called Civic feminism.
‰ Socialist feminists want expansion in areas like free birth control, abortion, health facilities for
women and state recognition of domestic labour.
‰ Radical feminists want women’s entry into public sphere for making them active citizens.

Gandhi’s Views
Gandhi’s views on citizenship focused on ideas of common good and active citizenship.
‰ According to Gandhi, all states have coercive power often used to oppress citizens. That is why,
he believed that a state should not have centralized power.
‰ Dharma (moral law and duty), ahimsa (non-violence in thought and deed) and satya (truth
and sincerity) were three central pillars of Gandhi’s conception of citizenship.

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The Idea of Global Citizenship

The supporters of idea of global citizenship believe that all people have certain rights and
responsibilities by virtue of being a citizen of this world.
‰ According to Hannah Arendt, global citizenship means ‘an ethic of care for the world’.
‰ According to Oxfam, an international NGO, “A global citizen is someone who is aware of and
understands the wider world— and their place in it. They take an active role in their community,
and work with others to make our planet more equal, fair and sustainable.”
‰ Immanuel Kant’s conceptions of world citizenship give importance to personal responsibility
for conduct which may have damaging consequences for the environment, and they defend
compassion for peoples elsewhere.

Conclusion
The contemporary understanding of citizenship is close to liberal tradition where individuals have
certain rights against the state. At the same time, there are other perspectives like Gandhian, feminist
and global which try to offer new insights into the concept of citizenship by breaking gender and
national barriers.

DEMOCRACY
Democracy is a condition where a community of people exercises ‘collective self-determination’. It
is essentially participatory, consultative, and accountable. In its basic meaning, it is a political system
in which the ‘people’, not monarchs or aristocracies, rule.
According to Schmitter, modern political democracy is defined as “a system of governance in which the
‘rulers’ are held accountable for their actions in the public realm by citizens, who act indirectly through the
cooperation of their elected representatives”.
Types of Democracy
‰ Representative Democracy- Since direct democracy is not possible in large and complex societies,
the mechanism through which people take part indirectly in government is through electing
representatives to carry out their will. For early social contract theorists, such as Hobbes and
Locke, representative government was a form of government authorised by the people to act on
its behalf. For Rousseau, however, sovereign power over the state should rest in the hands of
the citizenry and its “general will’’. because the opinions and interests of representatives could
never be identical to those of the electorate.
‰ Participatory Democracy- The classical theory of participatory democracy is found in the
writings of Rousseau and John Stuart Mill. Rousseau’s theory depends upon the participation
of every individual citizen in political decision-making. The relationship between citizens is one
of interdependence, such that each individual is equally dependent upon all the others viewed
collectively as sovereign.
‰ Deliberative Democracy- Deliberative democracy values open and public deliberation on Issues
of common concern. It starts from the assumption of individuals as autonomous persons, but
does not view the social relationships between these autonomous persons as relationships of
conflict of interest.
‰ Social democracy -Social democracy is a form of democracy that is based on a strong
commitment to equality. Social democrats, therefore, support the idea of the welfare state based
on redistribution.
‰ Cosmopolitan Democracy- Cosmopolitan democracy is an idea advanced by political theorists
in the context of globalisation.

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CIVIL SOCIETY
A civil society is comprised of groups or organizations working in the interest of the citizens but
operating outside of the governmental and for-profit sectors.
‰ According to the World Bank, “Civil society refers to a wide array of organizations ie
community groups, non-governmental organizations, labour unions, indigenous groups,
charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, professional associations, and foundations.”
Eg Amnesty International, Greenpeace etc.
‰ Hegel’s in his book ‘Philosophy of Rights’, considers the civil society as one of the moments of
ethical life, the other two being the family and the state.
‰ The civil society in the Marxian tradition represents the interests of the propertied classes, the
bourgeoisie.
‰ Larry Diamond in his article, “Rethinking Civil Society” says that civil society plays a significant
role in building and consolidating democracy.
Civil Society performs following important functions:
‰ To limit state power by checking its political abuses and violations of the law and subjecting
them to public scrutiny.
‰ To empower citizens by “increasing the political efficacy and skill of the democratic citizen and
promoting an appreciation of the obligations as well as rights of democratic citizenship”.
‰ To inculcate and promote the development of democratic attributes amongst the citizens such as
tolerance, moderation, a willingness to compromise and respect for opposing viewpoints.
‰ To provide avenues for political parties and other organizations to articulate, aggregate and
represent their interest.
‰ To function as a recruiting, informational and leadership generating agency.
‰ A well-founded civil society could act as a shock absorbing institution to mitigate conflicts.
‰ To generate public and political support for successful economic and political reforms.
‰ A well-rooted civil society also helps in identifying and training new political leaders.
Characteristic Features of Civil Society
‰ First, civil society is the realm of organised social life that is open, voluntary, self-generating, at
least partially self-supporting, autonomous from the state and bound by a legal order or set of
shared rules. It is distinct from “society” in general in that it involves citizens acting collectively
in a public sphere.
‰ Second, civil society is concerned with public ends rather than private ends. It is an intermediary
phenomenon standing between the private sphere and the state. Thus, it excludes parochial
society: individual and family life and inward-looking group activity; and it excludes economic
society: the profit-making enterprise of individual business firms.
‰ Third, civil society is related to the state in some way, but does not seek to control the state; it
does not seek to “govern the polity as a whole”.
‰ Fourth, civil society encompasses pluralism and diversity. It encompasses a vast array of
organizations, formal and informal, including economic, cultural, informational and educational,
interest groups, developmental, issue-oriented and civic groups.
‰ Fifth, it follows from the fourth that civil society does not seek to represent the complete set of
interests of a person or a community.

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In an article, ‘Civil Society and Democracy in Global Governance’, Dr. Jan Aart Scholte makes a
comprehensive analysis of the relationship between the ‘civil society‘ and ‘democracy’ has highlighted
six areas where civil society advances democracy:
‰ Public education: Civil society promote awareness among masses about any issue of importance.
‰ Voice to stakeholders: It provide Voice to voiceless by giving them platform to raise their voice.
‰ Policy inputs: It provide specialized policy input based on their expertise to government
‰ Transparency of governance: It act as watchdog to the government by continuous vigilance.
‰ Public accountability: Civil society keep an eye on the implementation and effects of policies
and hence ensure public accountability
‰ Legitimacy: The sum total of the preceding actions by the civil society could lead to a legitimate
democratic rule.
Criticism of Civil Society
‰ Civil society activities may not essentially pursue democratic purposes
‰ Ill-equipped government agencies cannot handle civil society inputs
‰ The state funding and benefits could corrupt the volunteers of the civic organisations
‰ Inadequate representation could seriously undermine the very fabric of democracy
‰ Civil society concern for global democracy could be insensitive towards the local cultural practices
‰ Civil society may lack internal democracy
Hence, Civil Society is a double-edged sword and it must be followed as promoting agency for
democracy in domestic as well as international arena with due caution and care.

Civil Society in India

‰ Partha Chatterjee consider that Civil Society in India are colonial construct.
‰ Rajni Kothari consider that mobilization of caste, kinship, regional group have given way to
transformation of communal politics to demand politics where the voice of Civil Society is not
reaching to the masses at large.
‰ Sarbeswar Sahoo in his article, “Civil society and democratization: a counter-case from India”
consider that civil society is not necessarily a democratic force. It may or may not have positive
implications in regard to democratization and the functioning of democracy.
‰ According to Larry Diamond, civil society empowers citizens by increasing political efficacy and
skill of the democratic citizen.

IDEOLOGY
It originated from the Latin word ‘Eidos’ and ‘logus’ meaning ‘science of ideas’. It refers to a set of
particular ideas which present a partial view of reality.
Within the field of sociology, ideology is broadly understood to refer to the sum total of a person’s
values, beliefs, assumptions, and expectations.
An Ideology is, therefore:
‰ Offers a valid world-view.
‰ Interprets the environment and projects the self-image.
‰ Codifies and organises myths, outlooks and values.
‰ Presents a model of desired future.

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‰ Defines people’s aspirations and directs responses to social situations.
‰ Provides the method to reach that vision of good society, so legitimises social action
The modern sociological treatment of ideology stems primarily from Marx’s discussion in “German
Ideology” and “A contribution to the critique of political economy”.
According to him, ideology is a manifestation of false consciousnesses. Marx and Engels held that
ideology is an instrument for protecting the interest of the dominant class.
Karl Mannheim in “Ideology and Utopia” rejects Marx’s theory on 3 grounds:
‰ Style of thought (consciousness) of any group is only indirectly related to its interests. There is
no direct correlation between its consciousness and its economic interests.
‰ All thought (consciousness) is shaped by its social background, hence Marxism itself is the
ideology of a class.
‰ Apart from classes, other social groups, like different generations, also have a significant
influence upon consciousness.
Karl Popper, in his book ‘Open Society and its Enemies’, indicates that every ideology is totalitarian
as it is blinded by ideological bias and hence indifferent to plurality of viewpoints. Hence ideology
is antithetical to objectivity.

End of Ideology
‰ Daniel Bell in his book, “End of Ideology” consider that division between 1st world and 2nds
world is largely getting blurred. He sees an increasing dominance of technical elites in the post-
industrial societies, and this change in direction is not affected by any political ideology.
‰ Fukuyama in his book, “End of History and the Last Man” argues that with the imminent
collapse of the Soviet Union, the last ideological alternative to liberalism had been eliminated.
‰ Fascism had been killed off in the Second World War, and now Communism was imploding.
‰ In states, like China, that called themselves Communist, political and economic reforms were
heading in the direction of a liberal order.
‰ Immanuel Wallerstein spoke of technology and development dependency, seeing no different
between the two political ideologies.

Criticism
‰ C. Wright Mills dubbed them as the advocates of status quo.
‰ CB MacPherson asserted that the champions of this idea make a futile attempt to solve the
problem of equitable distribution within the market society.
‰ Samuel P. Huntington in “Clash of Civilization” talks of clash of cultures when the Western
model of development was implemented in the African and Asian countries. He thus advocates
the presence of ideology.
In Conclusion, it can be advocated that ideology has always played a significant role in the creation
of state, functioning of government etc. It has been used as an instrument to obtain legitimacy for the
state power.

PROTEST, AGITATION, SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, COLLECTIVE ACTION,

REVOLUTION
COLLECTIVE ACTION refers to activities that are undertaken by a group of people whose goal is
to enhance their status and achieve common objective as per Mancur Olson in his book, “The logic
of collective action”.

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Herbert Blumer categories Collective actions in to 4 forms:

1. The crowd: crowds are emotional but they are capable of not only the negative ones like anger
and fear but also positive emotions like Joy.
2. The public: Park distinguishes the crowd, which expresses a common emotion, from a public,
which discusses a single issue. Thus, a public is not equivalent to all of the members of a society.
To Park and Blumer, there are as many publics as there are issues.
3. The mass: It differs from both the crowd and the public in that it is defined not by a form of
interaction but by the efforts of those who use the mass media to address an audience.
4. The social movement: They are large, sometimes informal, groupings of individuals or
organizations which focus on specific political or social issues.

Components of Social Movements

‰ Objectives: Social movement is related to social and political change. So, it has an immediate and
long-term objective.
‰ Ideology: The set of ideas and ideals form ideology. The ideology is not necessarily well-knit,
nor always preconceived.
‰ Programmes: Social movement involves mobilisation of people. They share values and begin to
share perception of common understanding of social reality.
‰ Leadership: It plays important role in articulation of ideology and evolving strategies for action.
‰ Organisation: Social Movement requires some kind of organisation.
Types of Social Movements
‰ Migratory Movements: When a large number of people migrate due to discontent and or due to
the shared hope for a better future in some other land, we talk of migratory movements.
‰ Reform Movements: This type of a movement constitutes a collective attempt to change some
parts of a society without completely transforming it.
‰ Revolutionary Movements: Such a movement seeks to overthrow the existing system and
replace it with a totally different one.
‰ Resistance or Reactionary Movements: These arise among people who are dissatisfied with
certain aspects of change. The movement seeks to recapture or reinstate old values.
According to Touraine, social movements have three important functions. They are:
‰ Mediation
‰ Pressure
‰ Clarification of Collective Consciousness

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M.S.A. Rao in his book, “Social Movements in India” identified three factors relating to the origins
of social movements:
1. Relative Deprivation: A social movement usually starts because the people are unhappy about
certain things. They may feel that they are not getting enough.
2. Structural Strain: Social Movements can also originate from structural strain. When the prevailing
value system and the normative structure does not meet the aspirations of the people, the society
faces strain. It happens at this time, when a new value system is sought so as to replace the old.
This leads to conflicts and tension.
3. Revitalisation: Social Movements are not merely protest movements. Though social movements
express dissatisfaction and dissent against the system, they may also offer a positive alternative.
Life cycle of a social movement is generally seen in form of five stages, all of which may or may
not occur:
1. Emergence: It reflects the social unrest present in a society. Almost all social movements are
rooted in social unrest and problem. Collective tension builds up as a result of this.
2. Collective Excitement: Here, collective excitement can be witnessed in the society, where people
feel they have a problem in common. Certain social conditions are identified as the root cause
of the misery and excitement sets in. The movement gains support and a guiding ideology.
Agitations rise everywhere. This period is generally brief and leads quickly to action.
3. Formalisation: In this stage, a chain of officers is drawn up. There is division of labour among
leaders and the followers. Fund raising is systematised and ideology becomes clearer than before.
4. Institutionalisation: The movement crystallises into a definite pattern. Efficient bureaucrats
replace agitators; buildings, offices are established. The aims of the movement become accepted
in that society. This period may last indefinitely.
5. Dissolution: Different movements come to different ends at different points of time: some
movements end early while some dissolve after the objective has been achieved.
It is not necessary that all movements pass through all these above-mentioned stages. But what can
be certainly said about all social movements are:
‰ they play a major part in social change,
‰ they help in quickening the pace of change, and
‰ they influence many aspects of the people’s lives: moral, political, social, and cultural

New Social Movement

French Sociologist Alain Touraine coined term New social Movement in 1975.
These movements include the civil rights, feminist movements, anti nuclear and ecological
movements, gay rights campaigns and many more. Collectively, this group of movements is often referred to as
new social movements (NSMs).
There are four main ways in which they are said to differ from ‘old movements:
1. New issues:These issues are concerned with the ‘quality of life’, including the state of the global
environment, animal rights, peaceful energy production and ‘identity politics’ associated with
gay rights and disabled people’s movements. These movements therefore reflect a very broad
social transformation from an industrial to a post – industrial society, which centres on post
-material issues. In India the movements around the issue of identity – dalit, adivasi, women,
human rights, environment etc. are also labeled as the ‘new’ social movement.
2. New organizational forms: They have adopted a ‘loose organizational form ‘and they look
much more like‘ loose networks of people.’ In addition, they seem to have no single center or
head preferring a ‘poly cephalous, or ‘many-headed structure’. According to Alberto Melucci,

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the organization form itself carried a message, namely the symbolic rejection of the aggressively
masculine, bureaucratic power politics of the industrial age, typified by some trade unions and
party politics.
3. New action repertories(methods): They use a range of ‘protest actions’ from political lobbying
and alternative festival. Their ‘action repertoire’ is characterised by ‘non-violent, symbolic
direct actions’. Non–violent protest allows them to take a high moral stance. They tend to make
extensive use of the ‘mass media’ to generate support. Through the internet and other channels
of media, they create a perspective on politics that encourages ordinary people to become
empowered to participate.
4. New social constituencies: There has been a predominance of the ‘new middle class’ that works
in, creative and artistic fields and education. It has therefore many times been termed as a form
of middle-class radicalism. It attracts a ‘rainbow coalition’ of retired people, students, feminists,
anarchists, socialists, and many more. The ‘working classes’ are not involved in significant
numbers, marking a significant change from the industrial period.
According to Habermas in his ‘New Social Movements’, the new social movements are the ‘new
politics’ which is about quality of life, individual self-realization and human rights whereas the ‘old
politics’ focus on economic, political, and military security.

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UNIT

8 RELIGION AND SOCIETY

Human societies have a long history, and the word sociology appeared only in the first half of the
nineteenth century. Religion is as old as human societies have been in some form or the other; and
human beings have reflected on the nature of religion for thousands of years.
Sociological understanding of religion takes two paths:
1. Using the writings and explanations of religion given in the texts and practices of peoples by
earlier writers as data, and
2. Developing a perspective or a set of perspectives for understanding the central interest of
sociologicalinquiries viz., the role of the religion in generating cooperation and conflict in society.

THEORIES OF RELIGION

Classical Evolutionary Perspective

It can be categorized as:
Intellectualist Theories of Religion:
The Intellectualist theories of religion assume that the primitives are rational being, although their
efforts to explain natural phenomena are somewhat crude. These are
‰ The Ghost or Dream Theory of Spencer: Herbert Spencer in his book, “The Principles of
Sociology” discussed about primitive beliefs. He shows the primitives to be rational though
with a limited quantum of knowledge. According to Spencer, the appearance of dead persons
in dreams is taken by the primitives to be the evidence of temporary after life. This leads to
the conception of a supernatural being in the form of a ghost
‰ The Soul Theory or Animism : As the word anima (a Latin meaning soul) shows, Sir Edward
Tylor’s theory of animism emphasis the notion of soul. This theory considers both the origin and
development of religion. The ghost theory explains the origin of religion in the idea of ghosts
while the soul theory says the same thing in terms of the idea of soul. Experiences of death,
disease, visions and dreams, according to Tylor, lead the primitives to think about the existence
of immaterial power, i.e., the soul.
Psychological Approach
‰ Sigmund Freud applied systematic psychoanalysis to analyse religion. His thesis was that
religious rituals and beliefs are homologous with neurotic symptoms.
‰ Carl Jung takes a different approach taking the projections to cultural level of a group’s collective
consciousness and Oedipus is just one example, and others include the Trickster, the Hero,
Orphan, the Creator, the Sage or Fool, etc
The Nature-Myth Theory
‰ It was a German School, dealing with Indo-European religions. It established that ancient god
were universally personifications of natural phenomena. Its main propounder was Max Muller.

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‰ Max Muller argued that with the passage of time the symbolic representations came to gain an
independent identity of their own and became separated from that which they represented. The
attributes or the symbols became personified as deities.
Critique of Evolutionist Theories
‰ A major criticism against Tylor and Spencer was that they projected their own ideas regarding
soul etc. into the mind of the primitive people whom they had not studied in their natural habitat
and environment.
‰ Tylor asserts that experiences of death, disease and dreams make primitives believe in the
existence of an immaterial entity which is neither an ‘obvious’ nor the ‘only one possible’
inference.
‰ Lang and Marrett criticised Tylor’s idea of the soul the giving of soul-like qualities to animate
and inanimate objects.
‰ James Frazer in his book “The Golden Bough” attributed to the primitives, a magical mode
of thought. It was argued that rather than religion and related beliefs and practices, primitive
people were actually more inclined towards magic and superstition.
‰ Malinowski consider that origin of religion was under the condition of emotional stress than
being pursuit of intellectual curiosity and analysis of ghost and soul.

Functionalist Perspective to Religion

Emile Durkheim argued that all religions comprise two basic components, namely, beliefs and rites.
Beliefs are the collective representations and rites determined modes of action, which are influenced
by beliefs. Religious beliefs as studied by Durkheim presuppose the classification of all things into
‘sacred’ and ‘profane’. There is an opposition between these two spheres which has to be carefully
regulated through rites and ceremonies.
‰ The sacred is that which is set apart, considered holy and venerated or dreaded and avoided.
‰ The profane, on the other hand, refers to the mundane, ordinary aspects of day-to-day existence.
The sacred and profane are kept apart because they are heterogeneous (different), antagonistic
(in conflict) and isolated (separated).
Durkheim’s definition of religion taking into account these factors is as follows:
“A religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things
set apart and forbidden — beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community”
1. Malinowski had studied the Trobriand Islanders in the Western Pacific. Ritual and magic have
a very great influence on the activities of the society.
2. Radcliffe-Brown provides an account of Andamanese religious beliefs and ceremonies.
3. Parsons treated religion as a repository of the values of society (L). These provide the basis
for legitimation of rules of conduct and discipline the very institution of law (I). Such modes of
resolving disputes in a society enabled the polity to function and achieve common goals of the
society (G); and these guided the manner in which the economy of the society got organised
to make use of the natural resources through adaptation (A). In the famous paradigm of social
system (A-G-I-L; the first activity is governed by the second, the second by the third, and the
third by the fourth). It is to this last function (Latency) that religion belongs. In terms of sectors
of a system, these are represented by economy, polity, legal arrangements, and Religion.
4. Merton commented upon the role of collective participation in the Life of the tribal peoples,
and the practices that seemingly appeared non-rational in terms of cause and effect, certainly

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acquired a significance when viewed in terms of-their contribution to social solidarity (Hopi
Indian tribe). He thought this to be the latent function of religion.
5. M.N. Srinivas’ study of society and religion among the Coorgs is an outstanding contribution to
the study of religion in functionalist perspective.
Critique of Functional Theories:
Evans-Pritchard criticises Durkheim and Radcliffe-Brown’s functionalist approach to religion on
the following bases:
‰ Sociological explanations offered by Radcliffe-Brown did not take into account any negative
evidence.
‰ In his theory Durkheim failed to give the weightage to individual and emotional aspects of
religion.
‰ Sacred-profane dichotomy is not universal. Sacred and the profane are not always antithetical.
Especially among the Vedda of Sri Lanka and Melanesians, sacred- profane dichotomy does not
seem to exist.
Other Criticism
‰ Durkheim was criticised to study only a small number of Aboriginal groups, which were
somewhat untypical of other aboriginal tribe.
‰ Durkheim overstated the degree to which the collective conscience permeates and shape the
behaviour of individuals.
‰ Malinowski has been criticized for exaggerating the importance of religious rituals in helping
people to cope with situations of stress and uncertainty

Marxist Approach To Religion

‰ Religion reflects false consciousness of people that diverts their attention from the miseries of
their lives. It is the outcome of human distress that may have been the consequences of human’s
struggle with the nature in the past, but now it is a way to get along with capitalist culture.
‰ He said, “Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest
against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless
world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people.”
‰ Similarly, Lenin argued that ‘religion is a kind of spiritual gin in which the slaves of capital
drown their human shape and their claims to any decent life’
Engels in his book, “On the history of early Christianity”, argued that some early Christian sects
that opposed Roman rule, communist and socialist political movements.
Otto Maduro, being Neo Marxist, agrees with Marx’s analysis of religion mentioned that religions
have some “relative autonomy”, from economic system of bourgeoisie. Religion is not always
conservative force and it can be revolutionary as well.
Critique of Marxist Approach
‰ Religion does not always favour legitimate power.
‰ Religion is not always status quoist, it can also act as an agent of change.
‰ In communist state, religion did not disappear as Marx predicted.

Feminist Perspective on Religion

Feminist theories of religion emphasize that religion is an instrument of domination and oppression.
They consider it as product of patriarchy. They believed that religion serve the interest of men.

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Anthony Giddens also consider that Christian religion is a resolutely male affair in its symbolism as
well as hierarchy.
‰ Karen Armstrong (British feminist) highlighted that woman have been relegated to the marginal
position in every religion as religion have usually become male affairs.
‰ French feminist Simone de Beauvoir in her book,” The Second Sex” indicate that religion is
used by the oppressors (men) to control the oppressed group (women) and it also serves as a
way of compensating women for their second-class status.
‰ Nawal El Sadaawi, an Egyptian feminist writer, in her book, “The hidden face of Eve”, argues
that religious belief systems such as Islam or Christianity are not in themselves patriarchal or to
blame for the oppression of women.
Criticism of Feminist Approach
Religion is not always patriarchal. Linda Woodhead said that there exist ‘religious forms of
feminism’, when women use religion to gain freedom and respect e.g. the hijab/veil;
‰ It can be a symbol against oppression
‰ It is far from the mobile prison (as said by Julie Burchill).
‰ It eliminates the male gaze.
Other Criticisms
‰ Gender neutral language has been introduced in many hymns and prayers.
‰ Women no longer have to ‘obey’ in wedding services.
‰ Alexandra Wright notes that there have been women rabbis in Judaism since 1972.
‰ Some Christian religious sects, particularly Quakerism, have never been oppressive to women.
‰ Sikhism has always shown respect to women. Kanwaljit Kaur Singh said that Gurus pleaded for
the liberation of women.
‰ Rita Gross, an American Buddhist feminist scholar, detects the signs of a ‘post- patriarchal’
Buddhism that might be developing in western countries.
‰ Leila Badawi studied Islam and the benefits for women like women keeping their own family
name after marriage, different schools of laws within Islam have positive attitudes to women etc.

Rational Choice Theory

Rational choice theory (RCT) proposes that people are self-interested, though not necessarily selfish,
and that people make rational choices ie choices that can reasonably be expected to maximize positive
outcomes while minimizing negative outcomes.
‰ Sociologists Roger Finke and Rodney Stark first considered the use of RCT to explain some
aspects of religious behavior, with the assumption that there is a basic human need for religion
in terms of providing belief in a supernatural being, a sense of meaning in life, and belief in life
after death.
‰ Another assumption of RCT is that religious organizations can be viewed in terms of “costs”
and “rewards.” Costs are not only monetary requirements, but are also the time, effort, and
commitment demand of any particular religious organization. Rewards are the intangible
benefits in terms of belief and satisfactory explanations about life, death, and the supernatural,
as well as social rewards from membership.
Criticism of Rational Choice Theory on Religion
‰ It doesn’t fit well with human spiritual needs, and many sociologists disagree that the costs
and rewards of religion can even be meaningfully measured or that individuals use a rational
balancing process regarding religious affiliation.

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‰ The theory doesn’t address many aspects of religion that individuals may consider essential
(such as faith) and further fails to account for agnostics and atheists who don’t seem to have a
similar need for religious explanations.
‰ Critics also believe this theory overuses economic terminology and structure and point out that
terms such as “rational” and “reward” are unacceptably defined by their use; they would argue
that the theory is based on faulty logic and lacks external, empirical support.
Symbolic Approach Of Religion
Clifford Geertz in his book, “Religion of Java” argued that symbols are vehicle of meanings. He
emphasizes its affective/emotional dimension.
‰ According to him, symbols and meanings are shared by actors between them.
‰ Religion is a system of symbols which acts to establish pervasive and long-lasting moods and
motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and cover these
conceptions with such an aura of factuality, that the moods and motivations, seem uniquely
realistic.

TYPES OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICES

Animism
As per E.B. Taylor, Anima means spirit. Animism refers to religion in which person finds presence
of spirit in every object that surrounds him.
According to Taylor, the most ancient form of animistic practice is manifested in terms of ancestor
worship. This form of religion originated to satisfy man’s intellectual nature to meet his need to make
sense of death, dream and vision.

Animatism
Animatism is a term coined by British anthropologist Robert Marett .
‰ He believed that primitive man could not distinguish between the natural and supernatural and
also between living and dead. This condition that prevailed before the development of the idea
of soul is called animatism, which Marrett named after mana which means power in Polynesia.

Naturism
Max Muller contended that since the gods in various societies were originally from natural
phenomenon, such as sun, thunder, trees, animals, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers, oceans and so
on, the human perception of nature must have had very powerful agencies for origin of Religion.

Totemism
It is a system of belief in which certain objects, plants or animals have kinship relationship with
social groups. Such animate and inanimate objects stand as emblems giving identity to the groups
and form representations of the groups.
‰ According to Durkheim, totemism is the earliest form of religion and it is quite prominently
found among the Australian tribes, and such phenomena are also noted among the American
tribes as well.

Monism
‰ In sociology, Monism is existence of one faith and one Church (religious institution). Simple
society and medieval societies follow monism. Monism strengthens religious stand opposite to
pluralism.

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Pluralism
‰ Pluralism is an ideology that support accommodation of different beliefs and view point.
Religious pluralism is the belief that one can overcome religious difference between different
religion.
‰ As per Amartya Sen, India’s pluralism has always been a doctrine of the state manifested in the
form of secularism in India.
‰ According to Steve Bruce, religious pluralism result from a variety of sources and it has
undermined the communal basis of religious orthodoxy.

Sects
Sects are groups that are formed as a result of division within that religion.
Characteristics of Sects:
‰ Sects are concerned with purity of doctrine and with the depth of genuineness of religious
feelings.
‰ A sect seeks to impose rigid pattern of ideal conduct on its members and is a closed group.
‰ Sect is relatively small group. It is an organized body of people developing a kind of religious
consciousness and raising as a major critic to religion.
‰ Sects tend to arise during a period of rapid social change.
‰ Unlike Church, Sects are not organized through a hierarchy of paid officials.

Cult
Cult were small religious group lacking in organization.
Characteristics of Cult:
‰ Cult are not reactionary or revolutionary but instead they are revisionary. (Not opposed to
religion)
‰ Cult existence is greatly linked to life span of Cult leader (Charismatic authority).
‰ Cult are engaged in catering to day-to-day problem.
‰ Over a period, cult may develop in to sect. eg Calvinism to Protestantism.
‰ Cults are the consequence of rising distance between religion and people, resulting into
people endorsing various cult
Stark and Bainbridge divide cult into 3 types based on different degree of organization
1. Audience Cult: They are least organized and involve little face-to-face interactions. Contacts are
often maintained through the mass media and conferences many of the members of the audience
for such cult may not know each other.
2. Client Cult: They are more organized and usually offer services to their followers.
3. Cult Movement- They involve much more follower a try to satisfy all religious needs of their
members, unlike client and audience cult, membership of other faith is not permitted.
Reasons for the growth of sects, cults and new religious movements:
‰ Marginality- Weber mentioned that emergence of sects is most likely in those groups which
were marginalized in society. Weber called it, “Theodicy of Dis-privilege”, as sects explains
to their members the reasons for their backwardness and promise them a better future either in
afterlife or in the future “new world” on earth.
‰ Relative Deprivation- This explains why middleclass members become part of sects etc.

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‰ Social Change- Rise of sects and cult is higher during the period of rapid changes when the
traditional norms are disrupted
‰ Modernization and Secularization- Steve Bruce believes that the weakness of more conventional
institutionalized religions has encouraged some people to consider less traditional alternatives.

RELIGION IN MODERN SOCIETY

Religion and Science

Religion does not need science, nor science need religion but human being needs both.
Religion and Science are incompatible (mutually opposite)
‰ Religion is based on faith and ritual whereas Science depends on Observation, Experimentation,
Verification, Proofs and facts.
‰ Religion hardly encourages free enquiry, but science began its journey by questioning dogmas
and support free enquiry
‰ Religion encourages faith in God, science encourages faith in self.
‰ Religion emphasizes that life is predestined, science emphasizes that person is maker of destiny.
‰ Religion encourages unquestionable faith in God, Science encourages spirit of rationality,
empirical enquiry.
Richard Dawkins says that problem is faith involves believing in something despite the lack of any
evidence to back it up.
Richard Dawkins considers that belief in all supernatural gods as delusion that is completely at odds
with all scientific beliefs.
Richard Dawkins rejects the idea that religion provides all answer to questions which science cannot
as there is no basis to evaluate religions has a better answer than science.
William Bainbridge consider that religion and science has problem in reconciliation in following
manner:
‰ Religion tends to interpret the world from an anthropocentric viewpoint. For example, Christianity
saw the earth as the center of the universe.
‰ Increasingly religion will find it difficult to fill in the gaps between reality and its interpretation.
‰ Religion might not fulfil the positive functions in society and therefore maybe it will be more
difficult to provide scientific justification for its existence.

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Religion and Science are compatible

‰ Science deals with what is known and its potential knowledge based on sensory evidence.
Religious beliefs refer to the world beyond the senses. If they cannot be proved by methods of
science, they cannot be disproved also.
‰ Both Religion and Science claim access to truth.
‰ Anything which lies outside the area of scientific investigation cannot be proved nonexistent.
Religion hence is not unscientific, rather it is non-Scientific.
‰ If religion is construed as belief in super natural power it remains incompatible with science. But
if it is understood as means to serve cause of humanity then it is compatible.
Stephen J Gould indicate that religion and science are concerned with different aspects of human
life and human needs.
Weber showed that Calvinist/protestant ethics encourage development of rational thought and
in turn development of science.

Secularization
Bryan Wilson defines secularization as the process whereby religious thinking, practice and institution
lose socialsignificance.
Wilson mentions the following three features of a secular society, viz.
‰ The Prevalence of Instrumental Values,
‰ Rational Procedures and
‰ Technological Methods
Harvey Cox in his book, “The Secular City” maintained that secularization was a consequence of
industrialization and urbanization and that its characteristics were urbanization, pragmatism or lack
of interest in the mystery of life, profanity or this worldliness, pluralism and tolerance due to which
no world-view is imposed on anyone.
Features of Secularization
‰ Decrease of Religionism
‰ Differentiation
‰ Rationality
‰ Scientific attitude
Causes of Secularization
‰ Modern education.
‰ Development of means of transport and communication.
‰ Social and religious reform movements.
‰ Urbanization.
‰ Legislation.
‰ Western Culture

Fundamentalism
Steve Bruce defines fundamentalism as, “Movement that responds to problems created by
modernization by demanding society wide obedience to some authentic inerrant text or tradition
and by seeking the political power to impose the revitalized tradition.

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Fundamentalism and Secularization
British Sociologist Steve Bruce was strong advocate of theory of Secularization that strongly influence
his explanation of Fundamentalism.
He argued
‰ Fundamentalism is reaction to modernization.
‰ Modernization involves Societalization (Social life becomes fragmented), Differentiation
(religious life separated from other aspects of social life eg economy), Rationalization (Social life
is planned to achieve certain goal, and not based upon faith or prayers) and Egalitarianism (in
which all members of society share certain equal rights).
Causes of Fundamentalism
‰ Some religions have more potential for developing fundamentalist groups than others like single
sacred text, ideological cohesion makes it much easier to mobilize people.
‰ Fundamentalist belief tends to be stronger where group believes it has a common external enemy.
‰ Centralization of religious authority in which belief system are controlled within a religion.
‰ Religious fundamentalism requires a regular supply of recruits especially members of particular
social strata that feels especially threatened, dispossessed and relatively deprived.
‰ Fundamentalism is most likely to take violent turn where avenue to promote religion through
democratic politics is not available.
Almond, Appleby and Sivan argued that fundamentalism can be understood at 3 levels:
1. Structural level: It is concerned with long term contextual conditions such as structural
unemployment, existence of persecuted ethnic groups, social changes such as secularization etc.
2. Contingency and Chance: This determine whether the situation emerged is translated into actual
movements. For example, illness of the Shah of Iran is partly considered as reason of success of
Iranian revolution of 1979.
3. Human Choice and leadership: Even when other factors create right conditions for
fundamentalism, it will not be developed without religious leaders who can mobilize large
number in support of their beliefs.
Characteristic
‰ Fundamentalism separates a certain community from main stream.
‰ Fundamentalism asserts that religious doctrines provide answer to personal and social problems.
‰ Fundamentalism consolidates during times of rapid change, when many people look for and
finds answer and calm in religion

RELIGIOUS REVIVALISM
It refers to renewal and intensification of interest in an existing religion or denomination. It is a mass
movement based on intense religious upheaval. Periodic religious revivals which seek to restore
commitment and attachment to the religious values and doctrine are a regular feature of society.
‰ The term was first used in 18th century to refer to the sudden increase in the number of church
goers after decline of Church’s power following modernization. In the 20th century, a wave of
religious revivals has taken place throughout the world in general and in 3rd world countries in
particular.

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Reasons for Religious Revivalism

According to Manochehr Dorraj, Modernization leads to emergence of certain contradictions and
dilemmas like:
‰ Instrumental Rationality creates tension between moral and emotional side of the man on
the one hand, and rigidity of bureaucratic existence on the other. It lead to inner emptiness and
emotional isolation
‰ Globalization has led to transfer of western culture to uncommoditified areas threatening to
cultural identities of the 3rd world countries.
‰ Modernizaiton leads to democratization which undermines the authority and hold of traditional.
In India, Arya Samaj is one of the most important revivalist movement. It had profound impact on
hindu especially lower caste hindu. It also sought equal status to women.

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UNIT

9 SYSTEM OF KINSHIP

Kinship system refers to a set of persons recognised as relatives either by virtue of a blood relationship
or by virtue of a marriage relationship.

FAMILY
Family refers to the group comprising parents and children. It may also refer to a Patri-or matrilineage
or to a group of cognates, that is, persons descended from the same ancestor. In some other cases, it
may refer to a group of relatives and their dependants forming one household.
‰ As per Murdock, family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic
cooperation and reproduction.

Functionalist Perspective
The analysis of family from functionalist perspective involves following studies:-
Talcott Parsons concentrate his analysis on the family in modern American society. Parsons argued
that families in all societies perform two basic and irreducible functions. They are: -
1. Primary socialization of children.
2. Stabilization of adult personalities of population of society
Kingsley Davis indicate four important functions of family ie Reproduction, maintenance (of
immature children), placement and socialization.
G P Murdock in his study entitled “Social Structure”, argues that family perform four basic functions
i.e, Sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. They are essential for social life since without
sexual and reproductive functions, there would be no members of society, without the economic
function, the provision and preparation of food, life would cease, and without education, a term used
by Murdock for socialization, there would be no culture. Human society without culture could not
function.
Critical View On Family
Edmund Leach in his study, “A Runaway World” presents a pessimist view of family in industrial
society. He compares family in preindustrial society and industrial society. In pre-industrial society,
family often forms a part of wider kinship unit that provide psychological support and social
relationship between large number of kin. On the other hand, in Industrial society, the nuclear family
is largely isolated from kin and wider community. Unlike past, where kinsfolk and neighbour gave
individual continuous moral support throughout his life, today domestic household is isolate.
R D Laing in his article on “The Politics of family” criticizes functionalist perspective indicating that
children learn to obey their parents in family unquestionably. This becomes basis for authority later.
Laing refers family group as nexus where highest concern is reciprocity with each other. Each partner
is concerned about what the other thinks, feels etc and demand constant unremitting mutual concern
in return. This makes family members in extremely vulnerable situation, where children suffer the
most.

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David Cooper in his book, “The death of the family” argues that Family denies people the freedom
to develop their own individuality. To develop an autonomous self, the child must be free to be alone,
free from constant demand made upon in the family. It results into chronic murder of their self.

Marxian Perspective On Family

Friedrich Engels in his book, “The origin of family, private property and the state” followed
evolutionary approach to study family. As per Engel, during early stage of human evolution, forces
of production were communally owned and family as such did not exist.
Engels argued that throughout history, more and more restriction were placed on sexual relationship
and reproduction of children.

Feminist Perspective on the Family

They tended to emphasize the harmful effect of family upon women. Feminist, based on their analysis
of family indicate that:
‰ Every family has a social structure involving two types of roles- Head of family and their
dependent. Female as head of family is uncommon.
‰ Female had to work for male which is unpaid.
‰ Feminist drawn attention to unequal power relationship that exist within family.
‰ Family leads to domestication of women.
‰ Patriarchy controls the sexual behaviour of women.
Feminists like Margret Benston say that family perpetuates unpaid labor. It also legitimizes violence.
According to Murray Strauss – ‘Marriage license is a hitting license’.
Family also legitimizes sexual abuse and violence.

HOUSEHOLD
Household refers to a group of persons:
‰ Sharing a home or living space.
‰ Those who aggregate and share their income.
‰ Those who takes meals together.
A.M. Shah in his Household dimension of family in India recommended that the proper object of
study should be household. He defined household as strictly commensal and co-resident group. It
emphasizes on “Coparcenership” (Property sharing) and ritual cooperation (as defined in Hindu
Joint family in Indological study).
A.M. Shah studied household of Radhaganj village in Gujrat and classified household in to 2 types:
‰ Simple Household
‰ Complex Household
I.P. Desai, based on the data collected from Mahuwa village in Gujrat, examined household
dimension of family. Jointness is a process, that is a part of household. On the basis of Jointness, he
indicates five types of households:
1. Household with zero degree of Jointness.
2. Household with low degree of Jointness (Jointness by way of fulfilment of mutual obligation).
3. Household with high degree of Jointness (Jointness by way of common ownership of property).

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4. Household with higher degree of Jointness (marginally joint families).
5. Household with highest degree of Jointness (traditional joint families)
Pauline Kolenda classified family or Household in to 12 types in her work, “Religion, caste and
family structure”. It includes both variation of nuclear and joint family. While discussing the nature
of nuclear family in India, she gives the following compositional categories:
‰ Nuclear family
‰ Supplemented nuclear family
‰ Subnuclear family
‰ Single person household
‰ Supplemented subnuclear family
Pauline Kolenda presents the following types of joint family on the basis of the relatives who are its
members:
‰ Collateral joint family
‰ Supplemented collateral joint family
‰ Lineal joint family:
‰ Supplemented lineal joint family:
‰ Lineal collateral joint family
‰ Supplemented lineal - collateral joint family
‰ Residual category

MARRIAGE
Marriage is a union between man and woman such that children born to women are recognized
as legitimate offspring of both partners. This legitimacy is important in the matter of inheritance
and succession. Thus, marriage is not only a means of sexual gratification but also a set of cultural
mechanisms to ensure the continuation of the family.
Malinowski defined marriage as a contract for production and maintenance of children.
Following are functions of marriage:
‰ Biological functions: Sexual gratification.
‰ Social function: Procreation, children for society.
‰ Cultural function: Socialization, transmission of culture and values.
‰ Economic function: Inheritance and succession.
‰ Psychological function: Emotional expression, security and bonding
Forms or Rules of Marriage:
‰ Exogamy: It requires an individual to marry outside a specific culturally defined social group.
‰ Endogamy: It is opposite of exogamy. Here, an individual is required to marry within a specific
group of which he/she is a member. Its objective is to protect the cultural identity of a group.
‰ Hypergamy: It is also called “Anulooma Form” of marriage in which man of higher caste can
marry with woman of other caste.
‰ Hypogamy: It is also called as “Pratilooma form”. In this, upper caste woman can marry with
lower caste man.

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Types and Forms of Family

1. Based on Role
„ Family of Orientation: Family where a person or ego(self) takes birth and socialized.
„ Family of Procreation: Family formed after marriage.
2. Based on Descent:
„ Matrilineal: Trace descent through female line.
„ Patrilineal: Trace descent through male lines.
3. Based on Authority:
„ Patriarchal family: Authority lies with male.
„ Matriarchal family: Authority lies with female.
4. Based on nature of residence
„ Patrilocal: Son after marriage lives in his parent’s house with his wife.
„ Matrilocal: Daughter after marriage lives in her parent’s house with her husband.
„ Neolocal: Newly married couple live in a new house adjacent/near to parents’ house.
5. Based on membership type
„ Conjugal family -family by marriage.
„ Consanguine family- family by blood relation.
6. Based on household size: Joint household, nuclear household, single person household
7. Based on size
„ Nuclear: Nuclear family includes husband, wife and their unmarried offspring.
„ Extended: When other members also become part of this family, it becomes an extended
family.
In the wake of recognition of alternative sex-orientations, the family of choice has emerged in the
context of members of LGBTQ community. Cohabitation without marriage is also now identified as
form of family with legal recognition.

LINEAGE AND DESCENT

Lineage is an exogamous kin group, members of which trace its descent through a common ancestor.
Lineage is a unilineal descent group in which membership may rest either on matrilineal descent or
patrilineal descent. In matrilineal descent, descent is traced to the mother and maternal ancestor.

Characteristics
‰ It consists of families, related through blood.
‰ It is exogamous.
‰ It has real ancestor.
‰ It follows common worship
‰ It has common land holding of property.
‰ It gives social identity
‰ It regulates marriage
‰ It defines right to property.
‰ It defines ritual obligation and ancestor worship.
‰ It is source of social solidarity.

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Descent systems concerned with the rules that people in different cultures use to determine
parenthood and identify ancestry and how they assign people to social categories, groups and roles
on the basis of inherited status.
Descent systems are divided into:
‰ Unilineal systems, in which descent is traced through parents and ancestors of only one sex,
and the uni-lineal descent includes patrilineal, matrilineal, parallel descent.
‰ Non-Unilineal systems, include Cognatic systems, in which descent can be traced through
either or both parents. It includes Bilineal, Ambi orMultilineal cognatic system.

PATRIARCHY AND SEXUAL DIVISION OF LABOUR

Patriarchy is an ideology refers to a system whereby men achieve and maintain social, cultural
and economic dominance over women. It exists both within family and whole society as well.
‰ Robert Stoller in his book “Sex and Gender: On the Development of Masculinity and
Femininity”, was the first person to make distinction between sex and gender.
‰ Sexual Division of Labour is based upon gender where work is divided according to certain
assumption of “men’s work” and “women’s work”.
‰ Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox argued that human behaviour is based on human biogrammar. The
biogrammar is a genetically based programme which predisposes mankind to behave in certain
ways.
‰ [Link] finds biological difference between men and women as the basis of sexual division
of labour. However, he did not support lion and fox view of biogrammar.
‰ Ann Oakley in her work, “The cultural division of labour” argued that division of labour on the
basis of sex is not universal.
The four characteristics of a biological family are:
‰ Pregnancy and breastfeeding make women dependent on males.
‰ In compared to infants of other species, human infants are dependent for a longer period and
because of this, women become dependent on men for longer.
‰ This dependence leads to unequal power relationship between the two sexes.
‰ This leads to inequality in other fields.
Kate Millet in her book, “Sexual Politics”, cited following factors for the existence of patriarchy:
‰ Biology: Superior male strength has played some part in the unequal relationship. Early
socialisation encourages males to be aggressive and females to be passive. Males and females are
taught to behave and think in ways which reinforces their biological differences.
‰ Ideological: Men socialised to have a dominant temperament.
‰ Sociological: Family main institution which helps maintain patriarchy.
‰ Educational: Women are given low-status jobs. It is because women tend to not study high-
status subjects such as science that led to best job opportunities.
‰ Myth and Religion: Used to maintain patriarchy.
‰ Physical factors: Patriarchy is backed up by force.
Sylvia Walby in her “Theorizing Patrarchy” categorized patriarchy into public and private patriarchy.

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Sylvia Walby argued that there are six patriarchal structures that restrict women and help to
maintain male domination. These are:
1. Paid work: Women have been historically discriminated in paid jobs.
2. Patriarchal within the household: Her labour at home is unpaid and unrewarding.
3. Patriarchal culture: Culture distinguishes between men and women and expects different
behaviour from them by promoting sex-specific roles.
4. Sexuality: Women’s sexuality is subject to stricter control in comparison to men.
5. Male violence towards women: It is seen as form of overpowering of women by men.
6. The state: The state, on its part, in its policies and actions is patriarchal towards women, being
biased against them.
Turkish researcher Deniz Kandiyoti in her article “Bargaining with Patriarchy” used the term
Patriarchal bargain. It is described as tactic in which women chooses to accommodate and uphold
patriarchal norms, accepting gender roles that disadvantage women overall but maximizing her own
power and options.
Manifestation of Patriarchy and Sexual division of labour :
‰ Persistent burden of poverty on women.
‰ Inequalities and unequal access to education and health care.
‰ Violence against women.
‰ Persistent discrimination against women.

CONTEMPORARY TRENDS
‰ Shift from marriage as sacrament to marriage as contract which is reflected in increase number
of court marriages and divorces/remarriages etc
‰ Feminist like Anne Philips, Barbara Miller argued that there is a shift from marriage centric to
divorce centric society to further no marriage society.
‰ Same sex relationship (LGBTQ), alternate ways of sexual gratification are more common today.
‰ Decreasing size of family from joint family to nuclear or extended family.
‰ Change from pre-puberty to post puberty marriage.
‰ Decline in influence of clan and other kin group.
‰ Non marital cohabitation between male and female in the form of live-in relation has increased.
‰ Various function of family and other descent groups is taken over by alternative institutions
like Placement function is no longer performed by family and it is done by other economic
organizations.
‰ Similarly, jural rights of kin groups are also taken away by formal judicial institutions. Education
function is also performed by schools now
‰ Increase in instances of marital breakdown that can be divided into three categories – divorce,
separation and empty shell marriage. Divorce is legal termination of marriage; Separation
is physical separation without legal recognition. Empty shell marriages are those in which
spouses live together, but only for sake of living together and marriage remains in name only.
Thus, the institution of marriage, family and kinship has changed significantly in the past few decades.
Despite of that, these changes in no way signify a decline in its importance rather loss of certain
functions has made all these institution’s remaining functions more important.

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 Unit 10: Social Change in Modern Society 119

UNIT
SOCIAL CHANGE IN MODERN
10 SOCIETY

Social change has been defined by Wilbert Moore as a significant alteration over time in behaviour
patterns and culture, including norms and values.

Forms of Social Change

‰ Change in the system: It means all the small changes occurring in the system come under this
form of social change. Ex. - Karl Marx has described it in form of quantitative change.
‰ Change of the System: This form of change brings change in the whole system. Ex. - Qualitative
Change explained by Karl Marx

Factors of Social Change

‰ Internal factors
‰ External Factors

Nature of Social Change

‰ Social change is a universal phenomenon
‰ Social change is a community change
‰ Speed for social change is not uniform
‰ Social change occurs as an essential law
‰ Definite prediction of social change is not possible

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Sociological theory of social change can be categorized into following types
‰ Linear/Evolutionary theory
‰ Circular theory
‰ Structural-functional perspective, and
‰ Conflict perspective

Classical Evolutionary Theory

They are based on the assumption that societies gradually change from simple beginnings into more
complex forms. View it as unilinear, progressive, gradual and beneficial.
‰ Auguste Comte: He believed that human societies evolve in a unilinear way and each society is
driven by some dominant thought or ideology.
‰ L.H. Morgan: Morgan attempted to present materialist conception of evolution. He argued that
human beings have some basic needs. These needs provide stimuli to search for means to satisfy
these needs, leading to technological innovation.

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‰ Herbert Spencer- Spencer’s conception of the notion of social reality was influenced by biology.
Adopting organismic analogy, Spencer believed that like individual organism, societies were
made up of interconnected and interdependent parts. In societies, these parts are social institution
like organism, societies are also characterized by progressive increase in size, increase in size is
followed by increase in differentiation and integration. Thus, Societies either due to change in
environment or population undergo evolutionary change.
‰ Emile Durkheim: He considered that simpler or lower stage societies were based on mechanical
solidarity, while more complex societies were based on organic solidarity. Mechanical solidarity
was based on bonding of likeness that occurred in societies where everyone was like everyone
else.
Criticism
‰ Classical Evolutionist approach claim to be scientific but their theories tended to have a value
bias. It is evident from the fact that they labelled simple societies as primitive or savage, while
describing European societies as model of high civilization.
‰ Historians disagree that history has pattern. Also, they disagree that there is a direction of change.
‰ Most sociologist belonging to classical evolutionist tradition were of arm chair type, so largely
relied on secondary data of questionable values.

CYCLICAL THEORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Cyclical theories of social change focus on the rise and fall of civilizations attempting to discover
and accounts for these patterns of growth and decay. It indicates that social change does not move in
a line, but in a circle.
Its characteristics are
‰ Social change observe recurrence.
‰ Social change found repetition instead of novelty.
‰ Social change observes periodical exhaustion of potentialities rather unlimited possibilities.
‰ Social change temporary return to the beginning of the process.
Arnold Toynbee: In his famous book, “A study of history”, based on study of 21 civilizations,
Arnold Toynbee focus on the key concepts of challenge and response. Every Society faces challenges
at first, from the environment and later from the internal and external enemies.
Vilfred Pareto: Pareto talk about cyclic theory of change with reference to 3 kinds of circulations
‰ Circulation within governing Elites
‰ Circulation between governing and Non governing Elite.
‰ Circulation between governing elite and masses
Pareto divided the whole social system into two parts: - Elite and Masses
Sorokin Cyclical Theory of Social Change: Sorokin indicate that every system has a definite cultural
stage i.e Sensate, Idealistic and Ideational culture.
Here, Sensate and ideational culture are extreme cultural stage.
‰ In sensate culture, material and sensual aspect are given prime importance. In this, status and
position of members of society are considered on the basis of material prosperity.

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‰ In the ideational cultural stage, Spirituality has a prime importance. In this, ideals of life focus
on the search of truth and peace instead of material pleasure. The status and position of members
of society determined on the basis of religious and spiritual success and skill.
‰ Idealistic Cultural stage contain the attributes of both the culture that is sensate and ideational.
It is kind of integrated system which shows the transitional phase.

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONAL THEORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE :

Structure functionalists believe that society, like the human body, is a balanced system. Each
institution serves a function in maintaining society.
Change according to them comes from basically three sources:
1. Adjustment of the system to exogenous change (e.g., war, conquests),
2. Growth through structural and functional differentiation (e.g., changes in the size of population
through births and deaths),
3. Innovations by members of groups within society (e.g., inventions and discovery in a society).
The term ‘cultural lag’ is often used to describe the state of disequilibrium between material and non-
material aspects of a culture.
Ogburn who coined this word, explained that ‘cultural lag’ occurs when parts of a culture that
were once in adjustment with each other change at different rates, and become incompatible with
each other.
Ogburn pointed out how the non-material culture (values, beliefs, norms, family, religion) often lags
behind material culture (technology, means of production output of the economic system).
For example, family planning technologies (i.e., material culture) have advanced, but people take
their time toaccept them.
Critique:
‰ Reaction to extra systemic change is not always adjustive
‰ Change can be revolutionary sudden and profound
‰ Social structure itself generates change through internal conflicts and contradictions
‰ Cumulative dysfunction is possible, which can make chaotic revolution inevitable

CONFLICT THEORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE

The conflict theory takes the principle of dialectic (opposites) as central to social life. Conflict theory
also has its origins in early sociology, especially in the works of Marx.

Development and Dependency

Development and Dependency theory are a collection of theories about how desirable change in
society is best achieved.

Modernization Theory
The idea is that development assistance targeted at those particular aspects can lead to modernization
of ‘traditional’ or ‘backward’ societies. This theory argues that low-income societies can develop
economically only if they give up their traditional ways and adopt modern economic institution,
technologies and cultural values that emphasize saving and productive investment.

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One of the most influential early proponents of such theories was W.W. Rostow.
Walt Whitman Rostow viewed economic growth as evolutionary process going through several
stage.
Economic growth could be achieved by following 5 stages model of growth.

CRITICISM
‰ Dependency theorists hold that modernization theory is ethnocentric and ignores the social and
cultural arrangements in other parts of the world and to their unique historical experiences.
‰ The proponents of modernization failed to examine the impact of colonization on former colonies,
especially in figuring out the historical process over centuries that created an unfavourable
condition for developing countries.
‰ According to dependency theorists, modernization theorists have ignored the exploitation
inherent in the economic relations between the developed and the developing countries in terms
of trade and investment.
Therefore, dependency theorists argue Rostow’s modernization theory emanates from ‘one size fits
all’ assumption and it fails to address the real reasons for the underdevelopment of the peripheral
countries.

DEPENDENCY THEORY
Dependency theory seeks to understand and explain the reasons for the persistent economic
backwardness and underdevelopment of the countries due to the external influence.
Dependency scholars are divided into a number of camps including that of a
‰ Moderate version represented by Raul Prebisch
‰ Radical or Marxist- Leninist version propagated by Andre Gunder Frank
‰ Comprehensive World Systems theory set forth by Immanuel Wallerstein.

MODERATE VERSION OF DEPENDENCY THEORY

Prebisch brought out a ground-breaking study titled, The Economic Development of Latin America
and Its Principal Problems (1950), which was an inquiry into the economic backwardness of Latin
American countries. Indeed, their studies suggested that economic activity in the richer countries
often led to serious economic problems in the poorer countries.

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RADICAL DEPENDENCY THEORY
Radical dependency theory is built upon Marxism and Lenin’s understanding of imperialism.
Gunder Frank, James Cockcroft, and Dale Johnson are considered to be the radical dependency
theorists. The radical dependency theorists argue that the motive force behind the dependency
relationship is global capitalism.
Radical dependency theorists hold that the ‘underdevelopment’ of the countries in the global
south is a historical product. Here ‘underdevelopment’ as a condition differs from undeveloped.
Undeveloped is a condition of lack of development, and underdevelopment is the result of exploitation
by another country.
Unequal exchange advances the ‘development of underdevelopment’.
According to the radical dependency theorists such as Frank, underdevelopment is the condition
created by the exploitation of developing countries by the undeveloped countries. Hence, a socialist
revolution is the only way to break away from this exploitative and dependent relationship.

WORLD SYSTEMS THEORY

World systems theory, proposed by American sociologist Immanuel Wallerstein, is the comprehensive
version of the dependency theory. In contrast to the moderate and radical dependency theorists,
who limit their study to the economic relations between the core and periphery, World Systems
theory is focused on a broader geographical framework. It draws on the Lenin’s understanding of
imperialism and World Systems theory holds that the world as it is today can be understood only in
the context of the development of global capitalism. Because, today there is only one world system,
which is a capitalist world-economy, emerged in Europe during the ‘long’ sixteenth century (1450-
1640).
According to Wallerstein, this capitalist world economy is characterized by the ‘production for the
market to gain the maximum profit, and unequal exchange relations between the core and the
peripheral states’.

‰ The semi-peripheral states are the emerging economies such as India, China, South Africa, and
Brazil, characterized by attributes such as modern industries, cities, and large peasantry.
‰ According to World Systems theorists, the possibility of changing position in the core/semi-
periphery/periphery hierarchy is very rare.
CRITICISMS OF DEPENDENCY THEORY
‰ Goldethorpe (1975) pointed out that those countries that had been colonised at least have the
benefits of good transport and communication networks, such as India, whereas many countries
that were never colonised, such as Ethiopia, are much less developed.

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‰ Liberal and modernization theorists argue that the success of Asian Tigers [i.e., Singapore,
South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong] nullify the claims of dependency theory.
‰ In his later work titled, Crisis in the World Economy (1980), even Frank changed his position
on ‘development of underdevelopment’ and admitted that industrial development is possible in
the peripheral states.
‰ Samir Amin in his work titled, Unequal Development: An Essay on the Social Formations
of Peripheral Capitalism (1976), observes that historical analysis of radical dependency
theory represented by Frank is too generalized. Frank’s theory fails to show unevenness of the
development of the peripheral states, ranging from the backwardness of Ethiopia to the growing
industries of Asian Tigers.

AGENTS OF SOCIAL CHANGE

An agent refers to an entity that facilitates and eases the process. Agents of social changes are set
of those entities including technology, institutions, law, events and even persons that helps in the
process of change.
These are:
‰ Physical Environment: Due to change in climate, it results into social and cultural change. For
instance, the discovery of oil and natural gas in the Arabian and middle eastern region resulted
in change in lifestyle and culture of people.
‰ Population: Population change is itself a social change but also becomes a casual factor in social
and cultural change. Similarly, Migration could also affect to the processes of acculturation,
cultural diffusion and conflict.
‰ Social Institution: Changes in social institutions lead to changes in other social institution. E.g.,
Initiation of caste system led to practice of untouchability in Indian society.
‰ Isolation and Contact: Societies which are close with other societies likely to change most than
societies in isolation.
‰ Technological factors: When scientific knowledge is applied to the problems in life, it become
technology. It played a huge role in the process of social change.
‰ Modernization: Modernization refers to the process of increased differentiation and specialization
within a society, particularly around its industry and infrastructure. It is process that brings
positive changes in attitudes and Values.
‰ Social Movements: It acts as catalyst to Social Change. eg Bhakti Movement, Environment
Movement etc

EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Education can initiate social changes by bringing change in outlook and attitude of person and their
social relationship.
Social scientists have had diverse positions on the relationship between education and social change.
There are some (Louis Althusser) who treat education as the most important ‘ideological state
apparatus’ appropriated by the ruling classes to pursue their own ideas and interests.

Education: Functionalist Perspective

‰ Emile Durkheim: He saw the major function of education as the transmission of society’s
norm and value. As per Durkheim, society can survive only if there exist a sufficient degree of
homogeneity. Education perpetuates and reinforces this homogeneity.

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‰ Talcott Parsons: Parsons argued that after primary socialization within family, the school takes
over as the focal socializing agency. School acts as a bridge between the family and society as a
whole preparing child for their adult role.

Education: Conflict Perspective

‰ Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis: “Schooling in capitalist America” Bowles and Gintis
argued that major role of education in capitalist societies is the reproduction of labour power.
‰ Basil Bernstein: Speech Pattern English Sociologist Basil Bernstein suggested class differences
in speech patterns are related to educational attainment. He distinguished two forms of speech
pattern which he termed as elaborated code and Restricted code. In general, working class uses
restricted code, whereas members of middle class use both codes.
‰ Pierre Bourdieu-Cultural capital theory: Bourdieu argues that the education system is
systematically biased in favor of culture of dominant social classes. It devalues the knowledge
and skills of the working class. According to Bourdieu, the major role of education system is
cultural reproduction. This does not involve the transmission of culture of society as a whole
(Durkheim) but instead, the reproduction of culture of the “dominant classes”

SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Our modern society is the outcome and product of modern technology.
Impact of technology in social change
‰ Industrialization: Technology has contributed to the growth of industries or to the process
of industrialization. The industrial revolution of 18th century led to unprecedented growth
of industries. Industrialization is associated with factory system of production; family lost its
economic importance. It changes the mode of production and though this brings social change.
‰ Development of means of transport and communication: It eased the movement of people and
material goods. It helped people belonging to different corners of the nations or world to have
regular contacts.
‰ Urbanization: This is also result of technological changes in present times. It not only indicates
change in type of occupation, but also changes in the behavioural patterns. E.g., Collectivism to
individualism.
‰ Modernization: It is a process which indicate a change in people’s food habits, dress code, choices,
preferences, ideas, values, recreation activities etc. People in the process of getting modernized
give more importance to science and technology.
‰ Changes in social institution: Technology has profoundly altered our modes of life. Technology
has affected institution of family, religion, marriage, state etc.
In The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman (2005) argues that technology is a driving force behind
globalization, while the other forces of social change (social institutions, population, environment)
play comparatively minor roles.

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Raj Rai