SOCIOLOGY UPSC MAINS SYLLABUS
Introducing Indian Society:
(i) Perspectives on the study of Indian society:
(a) Indology (GS. Ghurye).
(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
- Literally means Systematic study of Indian society and culture.
- It is the scholarly examination of the Indian society, its culture, languages, history, philosophy, and literature.
- In other words, an inquiry into the current and past details of the Indian society – its people, traditions, values, background, etc. – which is sustained and corroborated by the exploration of written work of Indian languages is called Indology.
- Indology consists of studying language, beliefs, ideas, customs, taboos, codes, institutions, rituals, ceremonies and other related components of culture.
INDIC STUDIES AND ORIENTAL STUDIES
- Indologist like Jones, Louis Renou and Bougle in France and Wilson in British India are the reputed figure and the Orientalist include Muller, William Archard, Max Weber, Karl Marx.
- There is a general tendency among the Indologist either to exaggerate the virtue of Indian culture, Orientalist were trying to see negative aspect of Indian tradition and rationalize missionary activities and colonial legacy.
- Indologist over emphasized Indian spiritualist and under emphasized the materialistic culture but the Orientalist did the reverse as they undermined spirituality and over emphasized on materialistic culture.
BOOK VIEW AND FIELD VIEW
- Textview or book view refers to the study of the Indian society by interpretation of ancient texts such as Vedas, Puranas, Manusmriti, Ramayana, Mahabharata etc. This text-based approach is also known as Indology. Louis Dumont and Pocock has discussed about the importance of studying classical texts for a sociologist to understand the Indian society.
- Field view in common parlance refers to the study of any phenomenon with the help of collecting data from the concerned field with the help of intensive field work, Beteille viewed that field view is actually an orientation to the experiences of people, with their inner tensions and contradictions which one seeks to understand and interpret.
INDIGENISATION
- Sociology of India refers to the approaches to the study of Indian society. It encompasses the researches carried out in India e.g., caste, kinship, village studies in India.
- Sociology for India is the kind of modification made in the approach to study social system in India. It mainly emphasizes on emancipation and contextualization (indigenisation or Indianization of sociology).
- In common parlance the word indigenisation refers to the act of making something more native; transformation of ideas to suit a local culture. Therefore, the indigenisation
of Social Science or Sociology refers to the changes brought to the discipline to suit the local situation. - Indigenisation is an appeal for self-awareness and rejection of borrowed consciousness. It always gives importance to the need of an inside view. Its proponents wish to promote thoughtful analysis of own society by indigenous scholars in order to replace the trend of knowing via West. It advocates the desirability for alternative perspectives on human
societies with a view to making the social sciences less parochial and enriching them.
