Professional Documents
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Kesy 102
Kesy 102
Kesy 102
CHAPTER 2
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TERMS, CONCEPTS AND THEIR USE IN SOCIOLOGY 25
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Activity 2
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Activity 3
Discuss the age group of teenagers. Is it a quasi group or social group? Were
ideas about ‘teenage’ and ‘teenagers’ as a special phase in life always there? In
traditional societies how was the entry of children into adulthood marked? In
contemporary times do marketing strategies and advertisement have anything
to do with the strengthening or weakening of this group/quasi group? Identify
an advertisement that targets teenagers or pre-teens. Read the section on
stratification and discuss how teenage may mean very different life experiences
for the poor and rich, for the upper and lower class, for the discriminated and
privileged caste.
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The idea of comparing and contrasting You may find that many a time
the old traditional and agrarian way of that interaction among members of
life with the new modern and urban one a formal group over time becomes
in terms of their different and closes and ‘just like family and
contrasting social relationships and friends.’ This brings home the point
lifestyles, dates back to the writings of that concepts are not fixed and
classical sociologists. frozen entities. They are indeed
The term ‘community’ refers to keys or tools for understanding so-
human relationships that are highly ciety and its changes.
personal, intimate and enduring, those
where a person’s involvement is
considerable if not total, as in the
family, with real friends or a close-knit In-Groups and Out-Groups
group. A sense of belonging marks an in-
‘Society’ or ‘association’ refers to group. This feeling separates ‘us’ or ‘we’
everything opposite of ‘community’, in from ‘them’ or ‘they’. Children
particular the apparently impersonal, belonging to a particular school may
superficial and transitory relationships form an ‘in-group’ as against those who
of modern urban life. Commerce and do not belong to the school. Can you
industry require a more calculating, think of other such groups?
rational and self-interesting approach An out-group on the other hand is
to one’s dealings with others. We make one to which the members of an in-
contracts or agreements rather than group do not belong. The members of
getting to know one another. You may an out-group can face hostile reactions
draw a parallel between the community from the members of the in-group.
with the primary group and the Migrants are often considered as an
association with the secondary group. out-group. However, even here the
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avoidance of contact with members of with us. This is because they feel
so-called lower castes were considered and believe they are superior. It has
critical for maintaining purity by the so- been like that for years. No matter
called upper castes. Changes brought how well we dress they are not
in by urbanisation inevitably prepared to accept certain things
challenged this. Read well known (Franco et. al. 2004:150).
sociologist A.R. Desai’s observations
below. Even today acute caste
Other social consequences of discrimination exists. At the same time
urbanisation in India are commented the working of democracy has affected
upon by sociologist A.R. Desai as: the caste system. Castes as interest
groups have gained strength. We have
Modern industries brought into also seen discriminated castes asserting
b e i n g modern cities honey- their democratic rights in society.
combed with cosmopolitan hotels,
restaurants, theatres, trams, Class
buses, railways. The modest hotels There have been many attempts to
and restaurants catered for the explain class. We mention here, very
workers and middle classes became briefly just the central ideas of Marx,
crowded in cities with persons Weber and that of, functionalism. In
belonging to all castes and even the Marxist theory social classes are
creeds... In trains and buses one defined by what relation they have to
occasionally rubbed shoulders with the means of production. Questions
members of the depressed classes... could be asked as to whether groups
should not, however be supposed are owners of means of production such
that caste had vanished (Desai as land or factories? Or whether they
1975:248). are owners of nothing but their own
labour? Weber used the term life-
While change did take place, chances, which refers to the rewards
discrimination was not so easy to do and advantages afforded by market
away with, as a first person narrative capacity. Inequality, Weber argued
suggests. might be based on economic relations.
In the mill there may be no open But it could also be based on prestige
discrimination of the kind that exists or on political power.
in the villages, but experience of private The functionalist theory of social
interactions tells another story. Parmar stratification begins from the general
observed… presupposition or belief of function-
alism that no society is “classless” or
They will not even drink water from unstratified. The main functional
our hands and they sometimes use necessity explains the universal
abusive language when dealing presence of social stratification in
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requirements faced by a society the lower levels of the system, are not
of placing and motivating individuals just disadvantaged socially but also
in the social structure. Social economically.
inequality or stratification is thus an
unconsciously evolved device by which Status and Role
societies ensure that the most The two concepts ‘status’ and ‘role’ are
important positions are deliberately often seen as twin concepts. A status is
filled by the most qualified persons. Is simply a position in society or in a
this true? group. Every society and every group
In a traditional caste system social has many such positions and every
hierarchy is fixed, rigid and transmitted individual occupies many such
across generations. Modern class positions.
system in contrast is open and Status thus refers to the social
achievement-based. In democratic position with defined rights and duties
societies there is nothing to legally stop assigned to these positions. To
a person from the most deprived class illustrate, mother occupies a status,
and caste from reaching the highest which has many norms of conduct as
position. well as certain responsibilities and
prerogatives.
Activity 7 A role is the dynamic or the
behavioural aspect of status. Status is
Find out more about the life of
occupied, but roles are played. We may
the late President K. R. Narayanan.
say that a status is an institutionalised
Discuss the concept of ascription role. It is a role that has become
and achieved status, caste and regularised, standardised and forma-
class in this context. lised in the society at large or in any of
the specific associations of society.
Such stories of achievement do It must be apparent that each
exist and are sources of immense individual in a modern complex society
inspiration. Yet for the most part the such as ours occupies many different
structure of the class system persists. kinds of status during the course of
Sociological studies of social mobility, his/her life. You as a school student
even in western societies are far may be a student to your teacher, a
removed from the ideal model of perfect customer to your grocer, a passenger
mobility. Sociology has to be sensitive to the bus driver, a brother or sister to
to both the challenges to the caste your sibling and a patient to the doctor.
system as well as the persistence of Needless to say, we could keep adding
discrimination. Significantly those, at to the list. The smaller and simpler the
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You will recall how sociology has groups on the one hand, and on the
different perspectives and debates other, to mitigate tensions and conflicts
about the meaning of concepts. You among individuals and groups to
will also recall how functionalist maintain social order and social
sociologists understood society as cohesion. In this way social control is
essentially harmonious and conflict seen as necessary to stability in society.
theorists saw society as essentially Conflict theorists usually would see
unequal, unjust and exploitative. We social control more as a mechanism to
also saw how some sociologists impose the social control of dominant
focussed more on the individual and social classes on the rest of society.
society, others on collectivities like Stability would be seen as the writ of
classes, races and castes. one section over the other. Likewise, law
For a functionalist perspective social would be seen as the formal writ of the
control refers to: (i) the use of force to powerful and their interests on society.
regulate the behaviour of the individual Social control refers to the social
and groups and also refers to the process, techniques and strategies by
(ii) enforcing of values and patterns for which behaviours of individual or a
maintaining order in society. Social group are regulated. It refers both to
control here is directed to restrain the use of force to regulate the
deviant behaviour of individuals or behaviour of the individual and groups
The ultimate and, no doubt, the oldest means of social control is physical
violence... even in the politely operated societies of modern democracies the
ultimate argument is violence. No state can exist without a police force or its
equivalent in armed might... In any functioning society violence is used
economically and as a last resort, with the mere threat of this ultimate violence
sufficing for the day-to-day exercise of social control... Where human beings live
or work in compact groups, in which they are personally known and to which
they are tied by feelings of personal loyalty (the kind that sociologists call primary
groups), very potent and simultaneously very subtle mechanisms of control are
constantly brought to bear upon the actual or potent deviant... One aspect of
social control that ought to be stressed is the fact that it is frequently based on
fraudulent claims... A little boy can exercise considerable control over his peer
group by having a big brother who, if need be, can be called upon to beat up any
opponents. In the absence of such a brother, however it is possible to invent
one. It will then be a question of the public-relations talents of the little boy as to
whether he will succeed in translating his invention into actual control (Berger
84-90).
Have you ever seen or heard a young child threaten another with “ I will tell
my elder brother.”
Can you think of other examples?
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... The elder brother of a 19-year-old girl here carried out an apparent ‘honour
killing’ by allegedly beheading her while she was asleep at a hospital ... police
said on Monday.
The girl... was undergoing treatment at ... Hospital for stab wounds after her
brother... attacked her on December 16 for marrying outside the caste, they
said. She and her lover eloped on December 10 and returned to their houses
here on December 16 after getting married, which was opposed by her parents,
they said.
The Panchayat also tried to pressurise the couple but they refused to be swayed.
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values held by most of the members of be considered deviant at one time, and
a group or society. What is regarded as be applauded at another time even in
‘deviant’ is as widely variable as the the same society. You are already
norms and values that distinguish familiar with how sociology is different
different cultures and subcultures. from common sense. The specific
Likewise ideas of deviance are terms and concepts discussed in this
challenged and change from one period chapter will help you further to move
to another. For example, a woman towards a sociological understanding
choosing to become an astronaut may of society.
GLOSSARY
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TERMS, CONCEPTS AND THEIR USE IN SOCIOLOGY 39
EXERCISES
READINGS
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