Sociology

What the official syllabus says

RAS Main Examination, Paper I: General Studies I, Unit III (Sociology, Management, Accounting & Auditing), Part A: Sociology. Under the heading “Sociological thought in Indian Society”:

• Concept of Caste & Class, Changing dimensions of Caste and Class in Indian Society.
• Changes in Contemporary Indian Society and Culture: Secularisation, Urbanisation, Modernisation and Globalisation.
• Concepts related to Indian Social system: Doctrine of Karma, Dharma, Purushartha and Ashram system.
• Issues related to Family & Marriage, Elderly people and Disabled in present Indian Society. Impact of Cyber crime and Social Media on Indian Society.
• Challenges and Issues before Indian Society: Dowry, Divorce, Corruption, Poverty, Prostitution, Unemployment and Drug addiction.
• Problems related to weaker sections of Indian Society (with special reference to Rajasthan): Women, Marginalised groups, Dalits, SC&ST and their Welfare schemes.

Topics in detail

In RPSC's Scheme, Unit III has only 5-mark questions with a 50-word limit, so learn definitions, the names of thinkers and laws, and one example for each point.

Caste and class

• Varna and jati; features of caste (G. S. Ghurye); the jajmani system
• Class: meaning; Marx and Weber on class; caste and class compared
• Changing dimensions: sanskritisation and westernisation (M. N. Srinivas), dominant caste, caste in politics, reservations, occupational mobility, the rise of a middle class

Changes in contemporary society and culture

• Secularisation: meaning and Indian model; religion in public life
• Urbanisation: migration, slums, changes in family and caste in cities
• Modernisation: meaning, Indian experience, tradition and modernity
• Globalisation: effects on culture, consumption, work and the family

Concepts of the Indian social system

• Doctrine of karma and its social meaning
• Dharma: duty according to stage and station of life
• Purusharthas: dharma, artha, kama and moksha
• Ashrama system: brahmacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha and sannyasa

Family, marriage, elderly and disabled

• Joint and nuclear family; changes in marriage (age, choice, inter-caste marriage); Special Marriage Act (1954)
• Elderly people: ageing, care and the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act (2007)
• Persons with disabilities: the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (2016), accessibility and inclusion
• Cyber crime and social media: fraud, cyberbullying, misinformation, privacy; the Information Technology Act (2000); effect on youth and relationships

Challenges before Indian society

• Dowry and the Dowry Prohibition Act (1961); divorce and its causes
• Corruption: causes, the Prevention of Corruption Act (1988), the Lokpal and Lokayuktas
• Poverty and unemployment as social problems
• Prostitution and trafficking: the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act (1956)
• Drug addiction: causes and the NDPS Act (1985); de-addiction and awareness

Weaker sections, with special reference to Rajasthan

• Women: child marriage (Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006), sex ratio and female foeticide, purdah, education gap, violence
• Marginalised groups: nomadic and denotified tribes, bonded labour, migrant workers
• Dalits, SCs and STs: untouchability, the Protection of Civil Rights Act (1955) and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act (1989)
• Welfare schemes: education, scholarships, hostels, housing and livelihood schemes for these groups

Overlaps

Welfare schemes for these groups are also on Indian Economy and Economy of Rajasthan; tribes on Rajasthan: Art, Culture, Religion and Heritage.