Sociology

About this optional

Sociology is one of the optional subjects of the UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination. A candidate chooses one optional subject from the Commission's list, and it is examined in two papers: Paper VI (Optional Subject Paper 1) and Paper VII (Optional Subject Paper 2) of the Main Examination. Both papers are counted for merit. See UPSC Mains: Optional Subject (two papers) for the full list of optional subjects.

• Questions are of the conventional (essay) type.
• The two papers carry 500 of the 1,750 marks of the written part; the written marks and the Personality Test (275 marks) together decide the final ranking.
• The scope of the optional papers is broadly of the honours degree level: higher than the bachelor's degree and lower than the master's degree.
• The question papers are set in Hindi and English. You answer in English or in one of the languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution; a candidate who writes the Essay and General Studies papers in an Eighth Schedule language may still write the optional papers in English.

Paper I, Fundamentals of Sociology, is the discipline itself: its method, research techniques, the classical thinkers and the core themes of stratification, work, power, religion, kinship and social change. Paper II, Indian Society: Structure and Change, applies these ideas to India: perspectives on Indian society, its social structure (village, caste, tribe, class, kinship, religion) and the changes since independence.

Paper I

The official syllabus of Sociology Paper I, as printed in the notice (the Commission's own wording, spelling and numbering).

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIOLOGY

1. Sociology - The Discipline

• (a) Modernity and social changes in Europe and emergence of Sociology.
• (b) Scope of the subject and comparison with other social sciences.
• (c) Sociology and common sense.

2. Sociology as Science

• (a) Science, scientific method and critique.
• (b) Major theoretical strands of research methodology.
• (c) Positivism and its critique.
• (d) Fact value and objectivity.
• (e) Non-positivist methodologies.

3. Research Methods and Analysis

• (a) Qualitative and quantitative methods.
• (b) Techniques of data collection.
• (c) Variables, sampling, hypothesis, reliability and validity.

4. Sociological Thinkers

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

5. Stratification and Mobility

• (a) Concepts - equality, inequality, hierarchy, exclusion, poverty and deprivation.
• (b) Theories of social stratification - Structural functionalist theory, Marxist theory, Weberian theory.
• (c) Dimensions - Social stratification of class, status groups, gender, ethnicity and race.
• (d) Social mobility - open and closed systems, types of mobility, sources and causes of mobility.

6. Works and Economic Life

• (a) Social organization of work in different types of society - slave society, feudal society, industrial capitalist society.
• (b) Formal and informal organization of work.
• (c) Labour and society.

7. Politics and Society

• (a) Sociological theories of power.
• (b) Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups and political parties.
• (c) Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.
• (d) Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.

8. Religion and Society

• (a) Sociological theories of religion.
• (b) Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.
• (c) Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism.

9. Systems of Kinship

• (a) Family, household, marriage.
• (b) Types and forms of family.
• (c) Lineage and descent.
• (d) Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
• (e) Contemporary trends.

10. Social Change in Modern Society

• (a) Sociological theories of social change.
• (b) Development and dependency.
• (c) Agents of social change.
• (d) Education and social change.
• (e) Science, technology and social change.

Paper II

The official syllabus of Sociology Paper II, as printed in the notice (the Commission's own wording, spelling and numbering).

INDIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURE AND CHANGE

A. Introducing Indian Society

(i) Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society:

• (a) Indology (G.S. Ghure).
• (b) Structural functionalism (M. N. Srinivas).
• (c) Marxist sociology (A. R. Desai).

(ii) Impact of colonial rule on Indian society:

• (a) Social background of Indian nationalism.
• (b) Modernization of Indian tradition.
• (c) Protests and movements during the colonial period.
• (d) Social reforms.

B. Social Structure

(i) Rural and Agrarian Social Structure:

• (a) The idea of Indian village and village studies.
• (b) Agrarian social structure— evolution of land tenure system, land reforms.

(ii) Caste System:

• (a) Perspectives on the study of caste systems: G. S. Ghurye, M. N. Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre Beteille.
• (b) Features of caste system.
• (c) Untouchability-forms and perspectives

(iii) Tribal Communities in India:

• (a) Definitional problems.
• (b) Geographical spread.
• (c) Colonial policies and tribes.
• (d) Issues of integration and autonomy.

(iv) Social Classes in India:

• (a) Agrarian class structure.
• (b) Industrial class structure.
• (c) Middle classes in India.

(v) Systems of Kinship in India:

• (a) Lineage and descent in India.
• (b) Types of kinship systems.
• (c) Family and marriage in India.
• (d) Household dimensions of the family.
• (e) Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour.

(vi) Religion and Society:

• (a) Religious communities in India.
• (b) Problems of religious minorities.

C. Social Changes in India

(i) Visions of Social Change in India:

• (a) Idea of development planning and mixed economy.
• (b) Constitution, law and social change.
• (c) Education and social change.

(ii) Rural and Agrarian Transformation in India:

• (a) Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives, poverty alleviation schemes.
• (b) Green revolution and social change.
• (c) Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
• (d) Problems of rural labour, bondage, migration.

(iii) Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:

• (a) Evolution of modern industry in India.
• (b) Growth of urban settlements in India.
• (c) Working class: structure, growth, class mobilization.
• (d) Informal sector, child labour.
• (e) Slums and deprivation in urban areas.

(iv) Politics and Society:

• (a) Nation, democracy and citizenship.
• (b) Political parties, pressure groups, social and political elite.
• (c) Regionalism and decentralization of power.
• (d) Secularization.

(v) Social Movements in Modern India:

• (a) Peasants and farmers movements.
• (b) Women’s movement.
• (c) Backward classes & Dalit movements.
• (d) Environmental movements.
• (e) Ethnicity and Identity movements.

(vi) Population Dynamics:

• (a) Population size, growth, composition and distribution.
• (b) Components of population growth: birth, death, migration.
• (c) Population Policy and family planning.
• (d) Emerging issues: ageing, sex ratios, child and infant mortality, reproductive health.

(vii) Challenges of Social Transformation:

• (a) Crisis of development: displacement, environmental problems and sustainability.
• (b) Poverty, deprivation and inequalities.
• (c) Violence against women.
• (d) Caste conflicts.
• (e) Ethnic conflicts, communalism, religious revivalism.
• (f) Illiteracy and disparities in education.

Overlaps with General Studies

• General Studies I: the closest overlap. The Indian society part of GS I (diversity of India, role of women and women's organisations, population and associated issues, poverty, urbanisation, communalism, regionalism and secularism) is covered in depth by Paper II, and Paper II's colonial-period themes (social reform, protest movements, the social background of nationalism) support modern Indian history.
• General Studies II: social justice, the vulnerable sections of the population, education and poverty and hunger connect with Paper II's sections on caste, tribes, minorities, education and rural development; Paper I's politics and society section (pressure groups, civil society, bureaucracy) supports the governance part.
• General Studies III: land reforms, the Green Revolution, inclusive growth and environment-related displacement.
• Essay: the sociological concepts of both papers (on gender, caste, family, education and development) can give an essay on a social theme structure and depth.

Source: UPSC Examination Notice No. 05/2026-CSE, Civil Services Examination, 2026, 4 February 2026, Appendix I, PDF. Last checked 11 November 2026.