HCS mains sociology optional syllabus Frontier IAS

HCS Syllabus:  Sociology HCS Mains Optional Syllabus

HPSC HCS mains optional subject syllabus

Part- I General Sociology

1. Sociology as a Discipline
Sociology as a science and as an interpretative discipline. Impact of industrial and French Revolution on the emergence of sociology. Sociology and its relationship with history, economics, political science, psychology and anthropology.

2. Scientific Study of Social Phenomena
Problem of objectivity and value neutrality. Issue of measurement in social science. Elements of scientific method–concepts, theory and fact, hypothesis. Research designs–descriptive, exploratory and experimental.

3. Techniques of Data Collection and Analysis
Significance of social research. Participant, Non participant and quasi-participant. Methods and techniques of data collection (observation, interview, questionnaire and schedule, survey and case study). Sampling–size, reliability and validity. Types and sources of data (primary and secondary). Tabulation, classifications and analysis of data. Scaling techniques–social distance and Likert scale. Statistical methods in social research–measure of central tendency (mean, median, mode), measure of dispersion (mean deviation, standard deviation).

4. Pioneering Contributions to Sociology

(a) Karl Marx : Historical materialism, mode of production, alienation and class struggle. (b) Emile
Durkheim : Division of labour, social fact, religion and society. (c) Max Weber : Social action, ideal types, authority,
bureaucracy, protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. (d) Tolcott Parsons : Social system, pattern variables. (e)
Robert K. Merton ; Latent and manifest functions, conformity and deviance, reference groups.

5. Marriage and Family
Types and forms of marriage. Family-structure and function. Personality and socialization. Social control. Family lineage, descent and property. Changing structure of family. Marriage and sex roles in modern society. Divorce and its implications. Gender issues. Role conflicts.

6. Social stratification
Concepts–hierachy, inequality and stratification. Theories of stratificatin–Marx, Davis and Moore Critique. Forms and functions. Different conceptions of class. Class-in-itself and class-for-itself. Caste and class. Caste as a class.

7. Social Mobility
Types of mobility–open and closed models. Intra-and inter-generational mobility. Vertical and horizontal mobility. Social mobility and social change.

8. Economic System
Sociological dimensions of economic life. The impact of economic processes on the larger society. Features of pre-industrial and industrial economic system. Industrialization and social change. Social determinants of economic development. Globalization and Liberalization.

9. Political System
The nature of power–personal power, community power, power of the elite, class power, organisational power, power of the un-organised masses. Authority and legitimacy. Pressure groups and political parties. Voting behaviour. Modes of political participation–democratic and authoritarian forms.

10. Educational System
Education and Culture. Equality of educational opportunity. Social aspects of mass education. Problems of universalisation of primary education. Role of community and state intervention in education. Educating as an instrument of social change.

11. Religion
Origins of religious beliefs in pre-modern societies. The sacred and the profane. Social functions and dysfunctions of religion. Monistic and pluralistic religion. Organised and unorganised religions. Sect and cults. Magic, religon and science.

12. Social Movements
Concept of social movement. Genesis of social movements. Ideology and social movement. Social movement and social change. Types of social movements.

13. Social Change and Development
Continuity and change as fact and as value. Theories of social change–Marx, Persons and Sorokin. Directed social change. Social policy and social development.

Part-II

Study of Indian Society

1. Historical Moorings of the Indian Society and Indian Social Structure.
Traditional Hindu social organisation. Socio-cultural dynamics through the ages. Impact of Buddhism, Islam, and the West. Factors in continuity and change. Unity and diversity.

2. Caste System
Origin of the caste system. Cultural and structural views about caste. Mobility in caste system. Caste among Muslims and Christians. Change and persistence of caste in modern India. Issues of equality and social justice. Views of Gandhi and Ambedkar on caste. Caste and Indian polity. Emergence of Dalit consciousness.

3. Marriage, Family and Kinship
Meaning of marriage. Types of marriage. Rules of mates selection. Stability of marriage. Patterns of marriage among Hindus, Muslims. Ways of acquiring mates among the tribes. Marriage among different ethnic groups, its changing trends and its future. Family –its structural and functional aspects–changing forms. Types of family (nuclear, extended and joint family). Family problems. Disintegration of family, its causes, future of family. Impact of legislation and socio-economic change on marriage and family. Generation gap. Inheritance, succession and descent of kinship. Regional variations in kinship systems, North and South Indian kinship patterns.

4. Class and Agrarian Class Structure
Indian Social class structure. Emergence of middle class. Peasant society and agrarian systems. Land tenure systems–historical perspectives. Social consequences of land reforms and green revolution. Feudalism and semifeudalism debates. Emerging agrarian class structure. Agrarian unrest.

5. Industry and Society
Path of industrialisation and occupational diversification. Trade union and human relations. Market economy and its social consequences. Economic reforms–liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation.

6. Political Processes
Working of the democratic political system in a traditional society. Political parties and their social bases. Social structural origins of political elites and their orientations. Regionalism, pluralism and national unity. Decentralisation of power. Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalikas. 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amedments. Women and Panchayati Raj.

7. Education
Directive Principles of State Policy and primary education. Educational inequality and change. Education and social mobility. The role of community and state intervention in education. Universalisation of primary education. Total literacy campaign. Educational problems of disadvantaged groups.

8. Religion and Society
Size, growth and regional distribution of different religious groups. Educational levels of different groups. Problems of religious minorities. Communal tensions. Secularism. Religious fundamentalism. Conversions.

9. Tribal Societies
Distinctive features of tribal communities and their geographical spread. Problems of tribal communities– land alienation, poverty, indebtedness, health and nutrition, education. Tribal development efforts after independence.
Tribal policy–isolation, assimilation and integration, issues of tribal indentity.

10. Population Dynamics
Population size, growth, composition and distribution. Components of population growth (birth rate, death rate and migration). Determinants and consequences of population growth. Issues of age at marriage, sex ratio, infant mortality rate. Population policy and family welfare programmes.

11. Dimensions of Development
Strategy and ideology of planning, poverty, indebtedness and bounded labour. Strategies of rural development–poverty alleviation programmes. Problems involved in urban growth–basic infrastructure, environment, housing, slums, and unemployment. Programmes for urban development.12. Social Change Endogenous and exogenous sources of change and resistance to change. Processes of change–sanskritisation and modernisation. Factors (agents) of social change – demographic, environmental, technological, economical, mass media and communication, educational, cultural, religious, legislative. Processes of social change in India – Sanskritizatiion, urbanization, westernization, secularization, industrialization, modernization. Problems of change and modernisation. Structural contradictions and breakdowns. Development and social change. Theories of social change– linear, cyclic fluctuation, conflict. Formal strategies of social change – social planning and legislation. Informal strategies of social change – social movements in India.

13. Social Movements
Reform movements–Brahm Samaj, Arya Samaj and Satya Sadhak Samaj. Peasant movements–Kisan Sabha, Telengana and Naxalbari. Backward castes movement. Self-respect movement. Backward castes mobilisatin in North India.

14. Women and Society
Demographic profile of women. Special problems–dowry, atrocities, discrimination, gender inequality, marital adjustment, famility tension and violence. Welfare programmes for women and their impact. Child welfare Schemes.

15. Social Problems
Prostitution, AIDS, alcoholism, drug addiction, corruption, dowry, youth unrest, regionalism, casteism, poverty, unemployment, bonded labour, discrimination and atrocities on S.C./S.T. and women. Legal measures to eradicates to social problems.