AIR 131 · CSE 2021 · Sociology II · 52 pages

Atulesh Jha: Sociology II answer copy

8 answers by Atulesh Jha, as written in the test. Each question opens a page with how other toppers answered it.

The questions

  1. Q1(a)1(a)
  2. Q1(b)Buddhism originally began as a cult around the figure of lord Buddha. It was given a lot of importance since the various kings of Kashi and Magadha adopted its practices under the influence of Buddha. It then diffused gradually to various parts of the nation and world. It came to vogue largely because of its simplicity of rituals and no demand on members in comparison to Brahmanical Hinduism. It was also a great vehicle for cultural exchange for it spread to countries of South East and East Asia too, thus giving us cultural exchange. Modern Buddhism is largely absent in India apart from some pockets of Tantric Buddhism in Ladakh and NE India. Even Ambedkar released it new life by converting and starting NavBauddha movement for emancipation of Dalits through conversion. The neighbouring countries on East are largely Buddhist and thus form a good cultural backbone in Geo-Political International Relations. Thus, we see that Buddhism is as relevant today for social emancipation and cultural exchange as it was in ancient times. 1(c) Robert Redfield gave the theory of Little Tradition and Great Tradition in his study of Mexican village as a theory of cultural change in society. In India it was applied by Milton Singer and Mckim Marriott in their studies.
  3. Q1(d)What is Brahmanical Patriarchy? Discuss how it manifests in the intersection of caste and gender. 1(e) Explain the role and characteristics of the Indian Middle Class during the colonial period.
  4. Q3(a)Caste system in India continues to exist despite multiple predictions of its demise; the latest by M.N. Srinivas in 1990s post-LPG era, when he wrote about 'Death of Caste'. Evaluate. (Also discuss: Structural functionalist perspective on caste, Dipankar Gupta's view on caste, Andre Beteille's view on caste, and Tribal unrest under British and Post-independence era).
  5. Q4(c)Socio-economic challenges faced by minorities in contemporary India are:
  6. Q5(a)Ethnicity as a source of conflict. 5(b) How did Ambedkar conceptualize Dalit identity? 5(c) Discuss cooperatives as economic organizations in India. 5(d) 'Indian villages now survive as an idea only'. Discuss. 5(e) Examine the social implications of surrogacy in India.
  7. Q5(d)5(d)
  8. Q6(a)Globalisation is a phenomenon of increased interconnectedness due to economic systems merging together. Impact of Globalisation on family structure in India: 6(b) Recently India has witnessed a trend of single party politics and decline of coalition politics. From 1989-2014 India's Union had coalition parties but not it is governed by single party for nearly 8 years. Discuss the causes and prospects of this trend. 6(c) Untouchability has been explicitly declared unconstitutional under Article 17 and also by Civil Disabilities Act. However it still persists in various forms in India. Comment.

The answers

Question 1(a) · 164 words written

1(a)

Opening · a definition

Charles Metcalfe was a British colonial officer who during his surveys made the observation that Indian villages were self-sufficient Little Republics which were able to function completely independent of what happened outside even if dynasties changed.

However, he has been criticized severely for his monolithic view:

Body · points

(1) Indian villages had extensive kinship networks expanding upto over a dozen villages as Mckim Marriott found in his study of Kishangarhi.

(2) Even economically they were dependent on outside villages and local markets for a lot of day to day functions; even Jajmani relations extended to multiple villages as S.C. Dube observed in Shamirpet.

(3) Andre Beteille and M.N. Srinivas too objected to this view and believed Indian villages to be economically and socially connected to other outside especially due to factors like village exogamy in North India.

Close · a summary

However, we cannot ignore the importance of Charles Metcalfe's study for it helped to bring Indian villages to the fore in sociological studies as an important unit of study.