PAPER-III

SOCIOLOGY


Note This paper is of two hundred marks containing four sections. Candidates are required to attempt the questions contained in these sections according to the detailed instructions given therein.

SECTION I
Note This section consists of two essay type questions of twenty marks each, to be answered in about five hundred words each. ×
20 40 marks)

1. Analyse the factors contributing to depeasantization in India.

OR


Does industrialization necessarily lead to capitalism Comment.

OR


Discuss how development has led to displacement of traditions

OR


To what extent has the Indian population policy contributed to the improvement in quality of life

OR


Bring out the cultural determinants of gender roles in Indian family.

2. Critically examine the role of religion in the present Indian politics.

OR

Discuss the impact of Information-Communication technology on the institutions of marriage and family in India.

OR

How has lack of development led to rise of militancy in India Discuss.



SECTION II

Note This section contains three questions from each of the electives/specializations. The candidate has to choose only one elective/specialization and answer all the three questions from it. Each question carries fifteen marks and is to be answered in about three hundred words. ×
15 45 Marks)

Elective I Rural Sociology

3. 'Jajmani relations are becoming contractual relations.' Elaborate the contributing factors to this change.

4.
'Rural leadership is faction-ridden.' Discuss with suitable examples.

5.
How are the recent Peasant Movements different from earlier Peasant Movements Explain.



OR
Elective II Industry and Society

3. Critically examine the views of Karl Marx on the role of trade unions in industrial societies.

4. To what extent has the workers' participation in management improved the quality of industrial relations


5. Critically examine the Indian Industrial Policy since independence (1947).

OR

Elective III Sociology of Development


3. What are the limitations of the dependency theories of development Examine Frank's theory in this regard.

4. Has the State policy of development succeeded in eradicating socio-economic disparities in India Support your views with suitable examples.

5. Critically examine the socio-cultural barriers in the process of modernisation of India.

OR
Elective IV Population and Society


3. Analyse Demographic Transition theory in relation to India's population growth since 1901.

4. Critically examine the effects of declining sex ratio in India.

5. To what extent have the measures taken for population control been effective in checking the population growth in India Explain.

OR Elective V Gender and Society q


3. Gender being a social construct, can it be changed Substantiate your answer.

4. Discuss patriarchy as an ideology of oppression. Suggest strategies to deconstruct patriarchy.

5. Can eco-feminism contribute to sustainable development Elucidate your answer with suitable case studies.

SECTION III
Note This section contains nine questions of ten marks, each to be answered in about fifty words. ×
10 90 marks)

7.
What is the 'Crisis of Marxism' as perceived by Althusser

8.
Explain Derrida's concepts of signifier and signified.



9. What are the major forms of cultural diversities in India

10. Distinguish between the indological perspective propounded by Louis Dumont and
G.S. Ghurye.


11. Discuss the causes and consequences of domestic violence.

12. Elaborate the causes of regional disparities in India.

13.
Clarify the meaning of 'white collar crime'.

14.
What do you mean by indigenisation of sociology



SECTION IV

Note This section contains five questions of five marks each based on the following

passage. Each question should be answered in about thirty words. ×
5 25 marks)

In Theoretical Logic in Sociology, I (Anthony Giddens) suggested that the positivist persuasion in the social sciences rests on four major postulates. The first is that a radical, epistemological break exists between empirical observations, which are held to be specific and concrete, and non-empirical statements, which are held to be general and abstract. Only because, this break is taken for granted can the second postulate be made more general and abstract concerns philosophical or metaphysical do not have fundamental significance for the practice of an empirically oriented discipline. Third, questions which are of a generalised, abstract and theoretical nature can be evaluated only in relation to empirical observations. This suggests that, whenever possible, theory should be stated in propositional form and further, that theoretical conflicts are decided through empirical tests and crucial experiments. Finally, because these first three postulates supply no ground for structured scientific disagreement, the fourth postulate suggest that scientific development is progressive, that is, linear and cumulative. Differentiation in a scientific field, then, is taken to be the product of specialisation in different empirical domains rather than the result of generalised, non-empirical disagreement about how to explain the same empirical domain. While these four postulates still accurately reflect the common sense of most practicing social scientists especially those of the American variety they have been sharply challenged by the new wave of post-positivist philosophy, history and indeed, sociology of natural science, which has emerged over the last two decades. Whereas the postulates of the positivist persuasion effectively reduce theory to fact, those of the post-positivist position rehabilitate the theoretical. Scientific commitments are not based solely on empirical evidence. As Polanyi convincingly demonstrates, the principled rejection of evidence is the very bedrock upon which the continuity of science depends. Fundamental shifts in scientific belief occur only when empirical changes are matched by the availability of convincing theoretical alternatives. Because such theoretical shifts are often in the background, they are less visible to those engaged in scientific work. It is for this reason that empirical data give the appearance of being concretely induced rather than analytically constructed.


15. What kind of break exists between the empirical and non-empirical observations

16. In what form should theory be stated

17. What results do the positivist postulates bring to theory

18. How do changes in scientific belief occur

19. Distinguish between positivist and post-positivist approaches to theory.