Name- Shashwat Somvanshi

Enrolment No- L19BALB032

BALLB-B

Section ‘A’
Q2.
The majority of women's problems were brought to light throughout the nineteenth century,
and reforms were undertaken. Many of the early reforms for Indian women were led by men.
By the late 1800s, however, their husbands, sisters, daughters, protegees, and other people who
had been directly affected by campaigns for women's education had joined them in their efforts.
As a result of the rise of autonomous women's own organisations in the late twentieth century,
women gained more autonomy. A new narrative about "women's activism" arose in the late
1930s and early 1940s. This was researched and expanded upon in order to demonstrate
"logical" and organic linkages between feminism and Marxism, as well as anti-communalism
and anti-casteism, among other things. Although the Indian Constitution guarantees "equality
of sexes," women's activities remained largely quiet until the 1970s. During the early years of
women's rights organisations, the distinction between the sexes was more or less assumed, in
the sense that their roles, functions, ambitions, and wants were distinct. As a result, they needed
to be bred differently as well as handled differently. This discrepancy became a major impetus
for the establishment of women's movements over time. According to early nineteenth-century
reformers, there was no rationale for women's subjection in society because of their gender
differences. Later reformers, on the other hand, argued that it was this distinction that
imprisoned women to their roles as mothers in society. As a result, women's rights needed to
be properly protected. Women's responsibilities as mothers were once again emphasised with
the development of women's organisations and their own participation in campaigns, but this
time in a different light: the argument was for women's rights to speech, education, and
emancipation. On the other hand, the image of a woman with the mother as a symbol has
changed over time, from a focus on family to the construction of an archetypal mother figure,
evoking profound, often atavistic ideas.1
Democracy, equality, and individual rights were all notions introduced by the colonial push
towards modernity. Social reform movements connected to caste and gender relations arose as
a result of the growth of nationalism and examination of discriminatory practises. Men
spearheaded the first phase of feminism in India, which aimed to eliminate societal problems
such as sati (widow immolation), allow widow remarriage, prohibit child marriage, and reduce
illiteracy, as well as limit the age of consent and secure property rights by legal involvement.
Furthermore, some upper caste Hindu women objected to the restrictions imposed by
Brahminical norms. However, as nationalist movements arose in India in the late nineteenth
century, efforts to improve the role of women in Indian society were hindered. These

1
https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/contemporary-womens-movements-in-india/32976
movements fought against "colonial interference in gender relations," notably in the household.
There was a nationwide type of opposition to any colonial attempts to'modernize' the Hindu
family in the mid to late nineteenth century. The Age of Consent debate emerged after the
government attempted to raise the legal age of marriage for women. During this time, the
resistance to colonial control grew stronger. Nationalism rose to prominence as the most
important cause. Claiming Indian superiority became a tool of cultural revivalism, resulting in
an essential model of Indian womanhood that was similar to Victorian womanhood: unique but
separate from public space. By involving Indian women in the nonviolent civil disobedience
movement against the British Raj, Gandhi legitimised and increased their public actions. He
elevated their feminine duties of compassion, self-abnegation, sacrifice, and tolerance, and
established a place in the public sphere for them. Feminists began to rethink the extent to which
women were permitted to labour after the country gained independence. Prior to independence,
the majority of feminists acknowledged the gender disparity in the workplace. Feminists of the
1970s, on the other hand, contested and campaigned to reverse the injustices that had been
established. Uneven salaries for women, relegation of women to 'unskilled' sectors of work,
and the use of women as a labour reserve army were among the inequities. In other words, the
feminists' goal was to eliminate women's free labour, which was essentially being used as cheap
labour. In the 1970s, feminists began to recognise inequities not only between men and women,
but also within power systems such as caste, tribe, language, religion, area, and class. This
presented a dilemma for feminists as they shaped their far-reaching campaigns, as there had to
be a focus within efforts to ensure that meeting the demands of one group did not result in the
creation of new injustices for another.
Through legal, political, and social reform, the women's movement aims to eradicate
discrimination and violence against women. And today, in legislation, politics, the workplace,
and society as a whole, gender inequities must be eliminated. A women's movement is a long-
term, well-organized movement with a defined goal, strong leadership, a set of institutionalised
roles, and an organisation dedicated to improving women's status in society. The modern Indian
women's movement (1975–present) has been instrumental in bringing gender concerns to the
forefront of development planning and establishing feminist politics. Many women's groups
were created to support the cause of Indian women, such as the National Federation of Indian
Women (1954) and the Samajwadi Mahila Sabha (1559). By 1970, India's political climate had
begun to shift. Many major political parties have recognised the necessity of involving women
in their efforts to achieve their goals. Women were included as a vanguard force for a variety
of reasons, including compassion and attaining their goals.
The well-known Chipko movement, which was essentially an ecological movement, not only
raised awareness among middle-class and rural women, but also enunciated a new notion that
women should be granted the right to self-determination. Women, like nature, were seen as
exploited in the Chipko movement, and any aggression against nature became associated with
violence against women. 2

2
https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/modern-women-
movement.php#:~:text=The%20women's%20movement%20strives%20to,%2C%20political%2C%20and%20so
Feminist perspectives might be divided into three categories:
1. The Liberal Stream focuses on reforming components of the political system that
disproportionately harm women.
2. The Leftist Stream situates women's oppression within a holistic view of oppression as a
whole, and asks for the unification of particular social change groups in order to accomplish
revolutionary change in society.
3. Radical Feminists experimented with recovering historic sources of women's power,
creativity, and so on by characterising the development of feminity and masculinity in society
as basic opposites.
Small-scale initiatives like the Blank Noise Project in 2003, the Pink Chaddi (underwear)
protest in 2009, and the 2011 SlutWalk protest set the tone for this new form of protest. The
feminist movement is currently confronted with challenges arising from India's vast variety.
As a result, Feminism in India is divided along the lines of class, caste, sexuality, and disability,
and as India's regions grow faster, rising social and economic disparities are producing new
challenges including sexual harassment at work and on public transit. Indian feminism is still
wrestling with a number of old issues in addition to dealing with new ones. The recent #MeToo
campaign in India demonstrates the evolution of women's movements in India.

Q3.
From a sociological standpoint, alienation is characterised as a feeling of powerlessness,
meaninglessness, and estrangement as a result of not being able to find fulfilment in one's
career. During the Industrial Revolution, when the "agrarian, handicraft economy" was being
superseded by "industrial machine manufacture," Karl Marx's early writings first stated the
concept. Work is both a medium for people to express themselves creatively and an essential
component of human nature, according to Marx. Prior to industrialization, work was more
creative and flexible; craftspeople, for example, worked at their own pace and had complete
control over what they made and how they did it. Farm work was seasonal and important
because the ultimate product was food, which was a basic requirement. Factory workers, on
the other hand, had little control over the process, work hours, or final product due to
technological advancements and labour division. To make ends meet, they had to do tedious
work that wasn't necessarily beneficial to them but was profitable for their company. Because
of class separation and rivalry, workers were estranged from their bosses and one other. Work,
according to Marx, had become "dehumanised" and no longer provided delight of self-
realization. 3
Alienation, which first appeared years ago when labour was taken into consideration, is still
important now with all of the advancements; nevertheless, the context in which it is used has

cial%20change.&text=The%20second%20has%20focused%20on,workplace%2C%20and%20society%20in%20g
eneral.
3
https://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/videos/modern-times-excerpt
changed with the passage of time. Marx initially characterised workplace alienation in the
1840s, and it is still applicable today. During the Industrial Revolution, people were forced into
unfulfilling factory jobs, which alienated them. The problem persisted into the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries, particularly in low-autonomy areas. Despite the automation of manual
labour, today's variables such as division of labour and skill displacement lead to alienation.
Through the participatory component of the internet, which generates new alternatives, new
technology, on the other hand, contributes to de-alienation. Despite technological
advancements, the fundamental causes of alienation are the same now as they were in the
1840s, and can be traced back to the capitalist system's dehumanisation of work and workers.
As a result, while the alienating and de-alienating aspects of technology in the twenty-first
century are important, they must be understood in the context of the social and economic
environment in which they operate.4
Alienation was more pervasive than manual labour in the 1950s and 1960s, according to
sociologists, and it was important to modern work, particularly bureaucracies and service
industries with limited independence. Braverman predicted that technological advancements
and increased labour division would result in "deskilling" of the workforce, which would make
workers less valuable and lead to greater disempowerment. Blunter, on the other hand, claimed
that more automation in the workplace would lead to a decrease in alienation because people
would be able to focus on more fascinating and important jobs instead of boring, monotonous
employment. Nonetheless, some modern critics contend that new technologies have elevated
alienation to new heights. Employers attempt to boost efficiency through technological
innovation in order to compete in today's marketplaces. The majority of ordinary
manufacturing tasks is now automated. Many information processing and "transactional" tasks,
such as cashing checks and handling phone calls, have been automated or outsourced to nations
with lower labour costs. This is due to modern technology' increased processing and connection
capabilities. Certain abilities have been replaced by technology, while others have been
developed. Employers are also attempting to boost efficiency by "disintegrating" the highest-
paid jobs. This is a common technique in healthcare, engineering, and computer science, when
mundane activities are removed from the job and mechanised or outsourced to lower-skilled
workers.
Opponents have also claimed that modern technology like the Internet create "new sorts of
alienation." Separation from people, our bodies, nature, and "reality" are all included. Kellner
dismisses such assertions as unfounded. He claims that alienation was defined by Marx as the
separation of workers from their creative potential as a result of exploitation, but that claims of
"new alienation" lack proof of detrimental repercussions for users
.5
Kellner also points out that the major source of alienation, according to Marx, was capitalism
and the absence of worker control over production, not technology. He felt that under a new

4
https://www.yorku.ca/horowitz/courses/lectures/35_marx_alienation.html
5
https://www.e-ir.info/2008/06/12/does-karl-marx%E2%80%99s-theory-of-alienation-explain-contemporary-
social-disaffection-and-disappointment/
system (socialism), technology might relieve people of difficult labour and be used to promote
"democracy, fairness, and human self-development." A 2012 poll of 227 industrial employees
in the United Kingdom found that Marxist ideals are still relevant in the modern workplace. It
discovered a strong link between alienation and a lack of meaning in work, "not having a say
in the work process," and having one's abilities underutilised. It further stated that these
concerns "arise from a capitalist mode of production," which objectifies and commodifies work
and employees, and that they must be understood and addressed. This suggests that the social
environment in which technology is utilised may be more important than the technology itself
in determining alienation. As it was 150 years ago, the link between technology and alienation
is still pertinent today.
As a result, we can say that alienation is the separation of people from their labour, as Marx
defined it in the context of capitalism and industrialisation, which pushed workers into
exploitative, monotonous manufacturing jobs. According to current sociologists, alienation is
more likely in jobs with little worker autonomy. As a result of technology improvements, many
manual or low-skilled work have been mechanised or outsourced, however components that
lead to alienation still exist. Among these include the disintegration of skilled employment,
polarisation of skill demand, and rising income inequality. The workforce may become
deskilled and degraded if these issues are not addressed. On the other side, technology has
offered greater connectedness, flexibility, and empowerment. According to a recent study, the
factors that contribute to alienation today are similar to those that contributed to alienation 150
years ago, and they are linked to the capitalist system's commodification of workers. The
relationship between alienation and technology, in general, is still relevant in the twenty-first
century. However, the extent to which technology will alienate or de-alienate workers is
controlled by social and economic factors.

Section ‘B’

Q4.

Different mechanisms that have redefined classic social movements can be understood through
the use of the Internet in attempts to transform society. Emails and social media, as well as
online forums and petition platforms, can all be used on the Internet, which is unusual in the
context of traditional social movements. The Internet has aided the distribution of information
about movements by allowing for rapid dissemination, allowing for increased traction and
exposure to the cause. The social movement's communication expenses are also decreasing,
enabling for more affordable and effective communication with audiences. Furthermore, the
Internet provides a platform for people to openly share their frustrations and inequities.
Improved communication is vital for developing a rational understanding of social injustices
and inequality, which are often at the heart of social movements. The Internet fosters the
creation of common understandings, which stimulates broader participation in movements,
thanks to improved communication. Physical limitations, such as geography and resources, can
be bypassed by using the internet to organise. Individuals from many backgrounds have come
together through social networks to form widespread and worldwide social movements. This
assembly of geographically dispersed people and the dissemination of a single narrative can
highlight collective identity. The existence of the Internet facilitates movement coordination
and resource recruiting. Grievances and public awareness aren't enough to propel social
movements; they also demand a lot of coordination and money. The internet also facilitates
many kinds of interaction, such as sharing thoughts and participating in forums, signing online
petitions, and participating in decision-making processes. Movements can build legitimacy to
some extent through content transmitted via the Internet, rather than relying on mass media or
in-person organisation. The Internet makes it possible to raise funding for political campaigns.
Potential donors could find thorough information on the website, as well as clear indicators of
how the donations will be used. The inexpensive cost of using the Internet to communicate also
freed up financial resources for other operations, which is especially important when
campaigns have restricted budgets. This technique can also free up resources so that online
movements can be supplemented with in-person organisation, making growth goals more
attainable.6

While social media can be an efficient tool for distributing meaningful ideas and giving
underrepresented voices in politics a platform, it is not necessarily the most effective approach
to truly advocate. Careless infographics can propagate disinformation, and there are far more
effective ways to make a difference, such as writing emails to legislators, signing petitions, and
urging others to do the same. Under a new wave of peer pressure and performative activism,
students should be cautious in their online actions: they should avoid advocating for things they
don't care about, and they should conduct research on current events to avoid believing
everything they read on the internet. Social media activism will only begin to make a true
difference when a generation of socially conscious media users emerges. Infographics are often
displayed as an Instagram slide post with a cover and a breakdown of statistics on each slide to
attract attention or followers.7 Infographics not created by reputable organisations or reliable
news sources, on the other hand, are frequently not fact-checked; designers are less likely to
focus solely on facts and sources when designing covers that people will click on in the hopes
of increasing exposure and encouraging reposts. Silence may appear to be a sign of dissent or
animosity to the prevailing cause when the majority of the community supports it. The slogan
"silence is violence" has been chanted at protests and shared on social media recently. Students
may feel obligated to publicly express their support or opposition to a subject because they
believe inactivity equals oppression, but there should be no moral need to do so. There are
several reasons why someone would avoid taking a public position on an issue, especially on
social media. At times, a student may feel unsuited to speak about the problem; at other times,
they may disagree with majority opinion and believe it is preferable to remain silent than to
offend their peers. It's not a bad idea to refrain from posting for whatever reason; there are
many other, and often more effective, ways to promote a cause.

6
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/05/in-person-protests-stronger-online-activism-a-
walking-life/578905/
7
https://gunnoracle.com/19927/election-issue/the-dark-side-of-social-media-activism/
Q6.

Discrimination against people based on their sexual/gender identity and orientation follows
them into jobs, relationships, adoption decisions, and general social acceptance. Homophobia,
transphobia, and biphobia are deeply embedded in people's minds, leading to a wide range of
derogatory behaviours. From refusing to acknowledge the LGBT community to
straightforward violence, deaths, and conversion therapy, people have done everything from
refusal to acknowledge the LGBT community to blatant violence, killings, and conversion
therapy. LGBT people are hesitant to come out because of stigma and family reactions to
homosexuality. The majority of LGBT people's families will only accept them if they agree to
behave like heterosexuals. Due to a lack of familial support, their mental health suffers, and
the pressure to conform frequently leads to despair, suicidal thoughts, and psychosomatic
illnesses. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual young adults who had experienced strong rejection from
their families were compared in a 2009 study. They were eight times more likely to try suicide,
six times more likely to be sad, and three times more likely to take illegal drugs than the general
population. Homophobic landlords refuse to rent to gay and lesbian couples because of the
society, and tell their children not to go since they will be transformed into homosexuals.8

The common practise of family members forcing LGBT people to undergo "conversion"
therapy, which can range from conditioning and shock treatment to hormone replacements and
surgery, adds to the stigma. It's important mentioning that these treatments have no scientific
backing and result in serious ethical infractions. Transphobia is another serious issue in today's
world. 300 doctors were questioned in a study performed by Stanford in collaboration with the
Civilian Welfare Foundation, a non-profit in Kolkata, to establish their preconceptions. It has
been observed that some 'doctors' find it difficult to believe that transgender individuals are
raped and refuse to treat them with anti-HIV medication (despite the fact that they are at high
risk for HIV). These core beliefs date back to childhood, when children were told to "behave"
or the hijra or eunuchs would come to take them away. They are regularly met with
disapproving stares, refusals to enter public places, and accusations that they are prostitution
dealers. Biphobia is inherently regressive, despite the fact that it presents itself in more subtle
ways. Hearing such statements might elicit feelings of rage, grief, and resentment in a bisexual
person who is already struggling with feelings of not being 'gay enough' or'straight enough,'
deterring them from seeking intimate relationships9. Gay people include some of the world's
most talented brains, artists, musicians, and others. Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vince are
among the names on the list. Although they are from the Renaissance era, there are people
today that are just as intelligent, skilled, and dedicated to bringing joy to others as those in the
past. Even after all the efforts there’s oppression against LGBT people in around the world,
Advancement in political, social and legal scenario has supported the rights for LGBT people.
Even though LGBT has constantly into organising community activities and social actions
since very back in time, but still it doesn’t reach the ears of people who doesn’t belong to their

8
Homophobic India? Survey Finds 56% of Respondents Would Refuse Organ from LGBTQ Donor (2019)
9
Stigma and Discrimination (2016) Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Retrieved from
community. LGBT has suffered forms of oppression which has to be addressed to bring a
change.10

Q7.

Profit was the primary aim of the British when they first arrived on the Indian subcontinent in
the 18th century. The men who controlled the province for the East India company were more
interested in making a profit than in establishing a functional administration. By the turn of the
nineteenth century, this mindset had begun to shift. A succession of conquests increased the
British territory under their control, and the concept of responsible trusteeship began to pervade
the minds of those in command of British India. The 18th century's freebooters were giving
way to the 19th century's bureaucrats. Ironically, it is debatable which of the two groups,
freebooters or bureaucrats, posed the greatest threat to the Indian people. Treasure is
replaceable. Once interfered with, cultures are nearly impossible to restore. Since their arrival
in India, the British have been fascinated with the caste system. The British attempted to
connect the caste system to the class system since they came from a society divided by class.
The overall categorization is based on classes, whereas the specific classification is based on
castes.11 The former reflects the exterior picture of the social system, while the latter represents
the internal view." The problem with such classifications is that whereas class is determined
by political and economic forces, caste is not. To be fair to Professor Hodson, caste had taken
on many of the traits that he and his predecessors had given to it by the time he wrote, but caste
was not what the British understood it to be during the nineteenth century. It didn't represent a
precise description of a group's vocation or social status, and it had no true relation to the class
structure. This, however, will be addressed later in this essay. The biggest worry at the moment
is that the British saw caste as a mechanism to deal with a large population by dividing it into
discrete portions with distinct characteristics. Furthermore, as will be demonstrated later in this
paper, the caste structure that existed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries appears to have
been altered as a result of British acts, and has gradually taken on the qualities that the British
ascribed to it. The census was one of the most important tools employed by the British in their
attempt to understand the Indian population. Attempts to estimate population in various
sections of the country were made as early as the early nineteenth century, but these were
methodologically defective and led to wildly erroneous conclusions, as previously stated.
Nationality, race, tribe, religion, and caste were among the many questions asked. None of this
has anything to do with the government's emergency response plans. Furthermore, neither the
notion of curiosity nor the administration's deliberate deception are sufficient to explain their
inclusion in the census. On the issue of race or nationality, it could be argued that these figures
were required in order to conduct analysis of various locations in order to predict internal
unrest. 12The numbers, on the other hand, do not appear to have been used in that context. The
similar assertion may be made for information on religion and caste, but there do not appear to

10
Varma, P. (2018) Where Is The B in LGBTQ
11
https://thewire.in/caste/caste-history-postcolonial-studies
12
https://www.e-ir.info/2012/11/26/the-impact-of-european-colonialism-on-the-indian-caste-system/
have been any studies done with the idea of internal disturbance in mind. Extraneous questions
would not have been included owing to time constraints due to the size of the population and
the region to be covered, therefore there has to be a reason for collecting this information. As
a result, there must have been some justification for their inclusion. Simply put, the British idea
that caste was the key to understanding the people of India was the reason. The system by
which all of the diverse groups of indigenous people might be classified according to their
ability to be of service to the British, as indicated by caste, was considered as the essence of
Indian society.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

• https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/essay/contemporary-womens-movements-in-
india/32976
• https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/politics/modern-women-
movement.php#:~:text=The%20women's%20movement%20strives%20to,%2C%20p
olitical%2C%20and%20social%20change.&text=The%20second%20has%20focused
%20on,workplace%2C%20and%20society%20in%20general.
• https://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/videos/modern-times-excerpt
• https://www.yorku.ca/horowitz/courses/lectures/35_marx_alienation.html
• https://www.e-ir.info/2008/06/12/does-karl-marx%E2%80%99s-theory-of-alienation-
explain-contemporary-social-disaffection-and-disappointment/
• https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/05/in-person-protests-stronger-
online-activism-a-walking-life/578905/
• https://gunnoracle.com/19927/election-issue/the-dark-side-of-social-media-activism/
• Homophobic India? Survey Finds 56% of Respondents Would Refuse Organ from
LGBTQ Donor (2019)
• Stigma and Discrimination (2016) Centres for Disease Control and Prevention
Retrieved from
• Varma, P. (2018) Where Is The B in LGBTQ
• https://thewire.in/caste/caste-history-postcolonial-studies
• https://www.e-ir.info/2012/11/26/the-impact-of-european-colonialism-on-the-indian-
caste-system/