Answer 6

Sociologists, unlike psychologists, concentrate on social identities rather than the individual
features or personalities of people. Societal identities, such as cultural (or ethnic) identity,
gender identity, and social class identity, are reflections of how people and groups absorb
societal categories. As a result of these social categories, our perceptions of ourselves and the
groups we belong to are shaped. (Mead, 1934) Mead's landmark work, Mind Self and
Society, demonstrated that our social identities are developed via our constant social contact
with other people and our subsequent self-reflection about who we believe we are based on
these social exchanges. According to Mead's research, people's identities are formed via their
interactions with others. Based on our interactions and our own self-reflection, we modify our
behavior and our self-image (this is also known as the looking glass self).
Many people consider George Herbert Mead to be the father of symbolic interactionism in
sociology, despite his own self-description as a "social behaviorist" in his writings. His idea
of the self has had a profound impact on the way people think about themselves. "The self, as
something which may be an object to itself, is ultimately a social structure, and it develops in
social experience," Mead writes in her seminal work.
(Mead, 1934) developed a sociological approach to the self that was more in-depth than the
previous one. According to him, a person's separate identity can only be formed via social
contact in the form of a distinct sense of self. He maintained that the ability to be "an object
to one's own self" is a critical component of the self. Using this framework, he divided the
self into two halves, the "I" and "me," which he labelled "phases." Self-recognition of one's
own "ordered sets of attitudes" toward oneself is referred to as the "me." Our jobs, our
"personalities," and our public personas are all examples of this.
A person's sense of self-determination is embodied in their sense of "I," which is a self-
referential pronoun. Self-awareness, in this context, refers to a person's ability to recognize
and respond to new and unexpected situations. The self is constantly entangled in a social
process in which one moves between two distinct phases, the I and the me, as one mediates
between one's own unique acts and reactions to diverse social circumstances and the attitudes
of the community. In order for us to be sociable, we must be able to switch back and forth.
The capacity to communicate effectively is not a trait that we are born with. To demonstrate
the consequences of a lack of social engagement in early life, consider the instance of
Danielle. As a result, she was unable to perceive herself as others saw her.
In Mead's eyes, there was no "me." "It is difficult to conceive of a self-developing outside of
social experience," says Sigmund Freud.
Let us take an example of a family consisting of father, mother and child, in our society
father has a greater command on the working of the family and house he exercises his "me"
factor to run the family and hence hold power while commanding the child to do a certain
task and the wife, the wife on the other hand holds more power than child but less than the
husband and child the least, all the power factors come from the interactions they involve in
and how they develop their language, with time as child and parents grow in age the child
takes up the role and plays with the power dynamics by exercising his way of interaction and
languages.

Answer 11 a)

Equitable opportunity is a political ideal that rejects caste stratification but not class
stratification in general. The underlying assumption is that there is a social hierarchy
consisting of more desired and less desirable positions, as well as superior and inferior ones.
Alternatively, there might be a slew of similar structures. In a caste system, the social
positions of people are established at birth and cannot be changed. At the very least, if the
parents' relationship is socially sanctioned, the kid receives the social position of his or her
parents. Social mobility may be feasible in a caste system; however, it is only available to
those who have already achieved a certain degree of social standing and so have the ability to
ascend the social ladder. However, when equal opportunity exists, all members of society are
eligible for equal participation in some type of competitive process, which assigns people to
positions in the social hierarchy. This notion of fair competition is interpreted in a variety of
ways by different interpretations of the concept of equal opportunity. All candidates should
be able to apply for roles and postings that give them a leg up in the race for the top jobs and
positions. Applications are evaluated on their own merits, and the candidate considered best
competent by suitable standards is given the job. Winners and losers benefit from fair
competition, which reduces applications to a manageable number.
There are several social contexts where formal equality of opportunity may be achieved. This
ideal does not need those commodities and services be produced and distributed in a market
economy dominated by private ownership. Equality of opportunity might be met by an
autocratic society, in which economic life is governed by the autocrat's orders, where the
office of autocrat is available to all candidates and selection is based on the relative qualities
of their applications.
It is impossible to achieve the full potential of formal equality of opportunity. Public life, not
private life, is the focus of its application. The question of where to draw the boundary
between what is public and what is private is one that has yet to be resolved. It's fairly
uncommon for the concept of equal opportunity to be restricted in scope in another way. Its
focus is on a single political society or nation-state at a time. All Chinese universities are
available to Chinese students and all Austrian universities are accessible to Austrian students,
therefore not having Austrian universities open to Chinese students or Chinese universities
open to Austrian students isn't seen as a problem. As long as official equality of opportunity
is restricted in scope, Austrian young will have considerably more educational opportunity
than Chinese youth.
(Deshpande & Usha, 2013) This is one of the few works addressing the treatment of Dalit
and Bahujan students in our country's higher education system. As a starting point, it points
out that getting underprivileged students into college is only the beginning of what should be
a lengthy and complicated process. As with the NotA testimonies, chapters 6 and 7 contain a
compilation of anecdotes from the college experience. On the college and home fronts, pupils
have had to overcome obstacles. Their stories of abuse and neglect by teachers, classmates,
and the school administration are striking. "Why do you believe the universities or other
public institutions would be different from the outside society?" one of them dryly inquired.
This is a place where the Bahujan students have equal chance, yet they can't stand since the
infrastructure just provides them with a seat at an esteemed institution, but the main fight
begins from there, and equality is a long way off for them.
Answer 15.

This poignant documentary, "The World Before Her," by Nisha Pahuja depicts the characters
as they leave their homes and workplaces. Miss India hopeful Ruhi Singh has flown back to
Jaipur after completing the pageant boot camp and competition. Her father greets her as she
exits the airport, her heart wounded and morose after her loss. One hundred and twenty
kilometers away in Maharashtra, India, the Durga Vahini (The Army of Durga) camp for
young girls and women ends. Prachi Trivedi, the youthful leader of the camp, slows down,
giving way to peaceful contemplation. Amidst the screams of farewell, the young girls depart
the camp, pondering their futures in the Hindutva movement. All of the females had their
phone numbers exchanged and pledges to see each other again made as they are driven away
from the camp.
At first glance, the documentary introduces the audience to two realms that seem to be on
different ends of the spectrum.
(Pahuja, 2012) The Bajrang Dal's women's section, the Durga Vahini, is known as the
Bajrang Vahini. A martial arts and weapons school, it teaches its participants to be defenders
of Hindutva. As a result, the girls are able to defend themselves and their faith.
Westernization may be dangerous; thus, they're taught about it at the camp. Women should
never leave their families in order to pursue a job, and they should be married off at the age
of 18 to avoid becoming 'too old to tame', their tutors have said. They also feel that gender
equality is against Indian culture and a trend that they should avoid participating in.
The Miss India training programme, on the other hand, urges contenders to be confident and
embrace their sexuality. Professionals here instruct them on how to move, speak, and seem in
accordance with their ideals of beauty. Adapting to the times is a belief held by these females.
It is their belief that they symbolize the 'Modern Indian Woman,' and they are proud of this.
At some point in the film, it dawns on you just how similar the characters' worlds are to one
other. When the two worlds are contrasted, the distinctions between regressive and
progressive begin to blur.
There are echoes of the idea they are attempting to dispel on both sides. Although Ruhi is
eager to find a spouse and settle down, Prachi is repelled by the concept of marriage. Despite
the fact that Prachi is a devotee of the Hindu Parishad, you can sense her yearning for
freedom and independence in her 'regressive' society. 'I appreciate when other females are
afraid of me,' she adds. Despite everything she's been taught, she enjoys being in charge. You
may grimace at some of the things that happen in Ruhi's "liberal" setting (such as when a
young candidate is encouraged into obtaining a botox injection because her face isn't
perfectly symmetrical).
While the country is seeing a surge in so-called nationalist movements, this film is
particularly timely because it depicts a nation at a crossroads between the preservation of
tradition and the embracing of modernity. That both of these women are ensnared in a system
built by males, which claims to empower them, but is merely an excuse to mould and
perpetuate the corrupt scheme, becomes clear as we get closer to the climax of the film.
Answer 16.

There's no denying that Ernest Gellner, 2012 is a major player in the field of nationalism
theory. Gellner was exposed to nationalism and identity politics as a young man, when he
was first exposed to these issues. A high culture is imposed on society by nationalists,
according to Gellner, while low cultures and most forms of diversity are suppressed. His most
popular explanation on the origins of nationalism begins by looking at the shift from an
agrarian-based economy and social structure to one based on industrialism. For Gellner,
society was vertically integrated prior to industrialization, with peasant farmers accounting
for more than 80% of the population. Communities (fiefdoms) and classes were separated by
rigid borders. Despite their links to the 'state,' these disparate groups have nothing in common
in terms of culture, language, memory, mythology, religion, or heritage. Due to the absence
of an uniform education, peasants were born and died as farmers with little hope of economic
or social improvement. As a result, these groups were wary of imposing their own language
and culture on their neighbors. Due to the absence of systematic education, there was also no
imposition of a high culture.
(Gellner, 2012) He claims that this shifts as industrialism takes hold. There is a uniform mass
education in industrial society that enables for economic and social mobility across areas. As
Gellner points out, the development of industry is not uniformly distributed across the "state."
As a result, people who live in an industrialized community have more possibilities than
those who live in a less-industrialized neighborhood. Both assimilation and non-assimilation
are possible, in Gellner's view. Assimilation via uniform schooling is achievable if both
populations have a same language and culture (thus the term "ethnicity"). However,
assimilation will be impossible if a common 'ethnicity' cannot be established. There will be
an emergence of nationalism in this situation because an excluded 'ethnicity' demands
political autonomy.
In Gellner's view, nationalism is a movement that aims to unite people of a single ethnicity or
cultural group behind a single flag. Gellner sees this as the most fundamental principle of
successful nations. According to him, when a state's monarch is not a member of the ethnic
majority living inside the state's borders, it is the worst-case scenario. Nationalism is
inevitable, according to Gellner, since members of a "nation" aspire to develop through
gaining control of the state.
Gellner's thesis has received a great deal of criticism since he is one of the leading figures in
the field of nationalism research. Critics point out that Gellner's reasoning is overly
functionalist. Meadwell also raises a number of objections to Gellner's work. Firstly, Gellner
never demonstrates why nationalism is essential for industrial civilization. While it is true
that nationalism is only possible to those who have been controlled, this is definitely not
always the case. Recuperating from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, Rwanda is a former
Belgian colony and a country recovering from internal unrest caused by long-term
discrimination between two of the country's main ethnic groups. Rwanda became part of
German East Africa after the Berlin Conference in 1884. With Belgium's takeover of the
province following World War I, a new era of direct colonial authority began. Large-scale
initiatives in agriculture, education and public works were introduced in Rwanda during an
era of industrialization. However, Rwanda's economy has subsequently rebounded
substantially. Since the introduction of criminal tribunals to handle the aftermath, there has
been a period of relative tranquilly. More than 2.1 million Rwandans were forced to flee their
country during the crisis, and about 100,000 of them remain overseas today. A "refugee status
should cease if the conditions that led to flight no longer exist in the country of origin" came
into effect on June 30th, 2013.
References
 Mead George. Mind, Self, and Society: From a Standpoint of a Social Behaviorist.
The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, 1934. pp. 144- 164.
 Deshpande, Satish., and Usha. Zacharias. Beyond Inclusion: The Practice of Equal
Access in Indian Higher Education / Editors, Satish Deshpande, Usha Zacharias. New
Delhi: Routledge, 2013.

 Nisha Pahuja, The World Before Her, (documentary film).

 Ernest Gellner, ‘The Coming of Nationalism and its Interpretations’, in. eds.
Balakrishnan, Gopal. Mapping the Nation. London: Verso, 2012. pp. 98-111.