SOCIOLOGY

1. Perspectives
Evolutionary; Functionalist; Conflict; Interactionist

2. Social Thinkers

Forerunners of Sociology; Founding Fathers of Sociology; Modern Contributors to Sociology

3. Society

Some Definitions; Evolutionary Model; Organismic Model (Structure Fuctionalism); Equilibrium vs. Conflict Models; Characteristics of Society; Types; Important Terms
4. Community, Association and Institution

What is a Community? Bases of Community; Great and Small Communities; Community Sentiment; Association; Associations as Agencies and Corporate Character; What is an Instituion? Institutionalisation; Institutions and Associations; Institutes and Communities; Important Terms
5. Culture

Culture and Society; Culture as a system of Norms : Folkways, Mores, Institutions, Laws, Values, Norms and Values, Cultural Lag; The Structure of Culture : Traits and Complexes, Subcultures and Countercultures, Cultural Relativism; Ethnocentrism and Xenocentrism; Culture in Anthropological Perspective; Attributes of Culture; Belief System; Theories of Culture Growth : Evolutionism, Diffusionism, Kulturkreise School, Area Approach, Acculturation; Theories of Culture Integration; Important Terms
6. Race

Some Definitions; Major Races of the World; Determinants; Races in India; Culture and Race; Breaking Some Myths; Important Terms
7. Human Evolution

8. Group: Primary, Secondary, Reference

Concept of Group; Group and Society; Group and Institution; Classification of Groups; Ingroup-Outgroup; Group and Community; Tribe and Clan; Primary and Secondary Groups; Referencce Group; Other Types of Groups
9. Social Structure and Social Organisation

Concept; Social Structure in Anthropology; Social Organisation; Important Terms
10. Structure and Function

11. Status and Role

Role; Role Behaviour; Role-Taking; Role Conflict; Status; Ascripted and Role Conflict; Status Inconsistency and Status Crystallisation; Important Terms
12. Deviance and Sanctions, Laws and Customs

Deviance; Theories of Deviance; Types of Deviants; Factors Responsible for Deviance; Sanction; Custom; Law; Difference between Custom and Law; Important Terms
13. Socio-Cultural Processes

Concept; Assimilation; Accommodation; Integration; Cooperation; Competition; Conflict; Relative Deprivation; Social Distance; Important Terms
14. marriage

Definitions; Rules of Marriage; Forms; How Mates are Acquired; Preferential Forms; Prohibitory Category and Incest; Marriage in India; Important Terms
15. Family

Basic Characteristics; Types; Functions; Future; Important Terms
16. Kinship

Concept; Role of Residence; Descent; Types of Kin; Range; Kinship Usages; Kinship Terms
17. Social Stratification

What it is; Slavery; Caste; Dominant Caste; Sanskritisation; Westernisation; Pollution and Purity; Jajmani System; Class; Important Terms
18. Types of Society

Definitions; Tribal Society; Agrarian Society; Industrial Society; Post-Industrial Society
19. Economy and Society

Man, Nature and Social Production; Non-Economic Determinants of Economic Behaviour; Economy in Simple Societies; Economies in Complex Societies; Division of Labour; Property; Types of Exchange; Free Market Economy; Centrally Planned or Controlled Economy; Important Terms
20. Industrial and Urban Society

Urbanisation; Rural-Urban Continuum; Urban Social Structure and Stratification; Urban Life in India; Structures of Towns and Cities; Impact of Automation on Society; Industrialisation and Environment
21. Social Demography

Scope and Importance; Population Controversy; Demographic Transition Theory; Demographic Concepts : birth rate, death rate, fertility etc.; Population Size, Growth, Composition and Distribution in India; Population and Social Development; Population Policy; Glossary
22. Political Processes

Power; Authority; Legitimacy; Political Sociology; Types of Political Systems; Nation State; Democracy; Socialism; Communism; Contemporary Political Institutions and Political Behaviour; Modernisation; Case of India; Politics in Developing Countries; Pressure Groups; Caste and Politics
23. Religion

Origin; Theories; Religion in Simple Societies; Religion in Modern Societies; Religious Organisations; Religion and Secularisation; Manifest and Latent Functions of Religion; Magic, Religion and Science; Important Terms
24. Weaker Sections and Minorities

Social Justice; Protective Discrimination; Equal Opportunity and Special Opportunity; Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; Constitutional Provisions; Backward Classes
25. Social Change

Definitions; Social and Cultural Change; Theories of Social Change; Process; Factors in Rate of Change; Science and Technology and Social Change; Social Movements; Types of Social Movement; Dalit Movement; Backward Classes Movement; Women?s Movement; Peasant Movement
26. Rural Sociology

27. Glossary

APPENDICES

I. Objective Facts
II. Extracts from India : Social Structure by M.N. Srinivas
III. Important Concepts
IV. Important Case Studies
Multiple Choice Questions

Question Review
Answers
Explanatory Notes
Solved UPSC Preliminary Sociology Papers

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