SOCIOLOGY-2014-UPSC-MAIN-EXAM

SOCIOLOGY-2014-UPSC-MAIN-EXAM

Instructions for UPSC Mains Sociology Paper

• For each paper: Time Allowed : Three Hours Maximum Marks : 250
• There are EIGHT questions divided in two Sections and printed both in HINDI and in ENGLISH.
• Candidate has to attempt FIVE questions in all.
• Question Nos. 1 and 5 are compulsory and out of the remaining, THREE are to be attempted choosing at least ONE question from each Section.
• The number of marks carried by a question/part is indicated against it.
• Answers must be written in the medium authorized in the Admission Certificate which must be stated clearly on the cover of this Question-cum-Answer (QCA) Booklet in the space provided. No marks will be given for answers written in medium other than the authorized one.
• Word limit in questions, wherever specified, should be adhered to.
• Attempts of questions shall be counted in chronological order. Unless struck off, attempt of a question shall be counted even if attempted partly. Any page or portion of the page left blank in the Question-cum-Answer Booklet must be clearly struck off.

Sociology Optional Paper 1: SECTION-A

Q1. Write short answer of the following in about 150 words each: 10×5=50           

1. How is objectivity different from value neutrality? Discuss with reference to Weber’s views on methodology.
2. How did the emergence of industrial society change the family life in Western Europe?
3. How is sociological approach to human actions different from that of psychological approach?
4. In what way biographies could be used to study social life?
5. How can we use reference group theory to understand fashion in society?

Q2.Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. Which research technique would be most suitable for the study of consumer behaviour and its social correlates? Explain.20 marks
2. Identify the similarities and differences between Marx’s theory of ‘alienation’ and Durkheim’s theory of ‘anomie’.20 marks
3. How could one use Merton’s concept of deviance to understand the traffic problem in urban India?10 marks

Q3. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. What do you understand by gender? How does it shape ‘male ‘identity?20 marks
2. “According to Max Weber, ‘class’ and ‘status’ are two different dimensions of power.” Discuss.20 marks
3. Using Merton’s concepts of ‘manifest’ and ‘latent’ functions, explain the persistence of corruption in Indian society.10 marks

Q4. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. How does Weber use the notion of ‘ideal types’ in his theory of bureaucracy?20 marks
2. In what way ‘interpretative’ method is different from ‘positivist’ approach in the study of social phenomena?20 marks
3. Using Mead’s theory of symbolic interactionism, discuss the stages in the formation of gender identity.10 marks

Sociology Optional Paper 1: SECTION-B

Q5. Answer the following questions in about 150 words each: 10×5=50

1. For Marx, class divisions are outcomes of ‘exploitation’. Discuss.
2. What are the distinctive features of social organization of work in slave society? How is it different from feudal society?
3. Discuss T. H. Marshall’s views on citizenship.
4. Distinguish between Political Parties and Pressure
5. “According to Durkheim, the essence of religion in modern society is the same as religion in primitive society.” Comment.

Q6. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. “Power is not a zero-sum game”. Discuss with reference to Weber’s and Parsons’s views.20 marks
2. Critically examine the functionalist views on the institution of family. How do those help us in understanding family in the present times?20 marks
3. What do you understand by institutionalization of ‘live-in-relationship?10 marks

Q7. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. How is religious revivalism different from communalism? Elaborate with suitable examples from the Indian context.20 marks
2. Education is often viewed as an agency of social change. However in reality it could also reinforce inequalities and conservatism. Discuss.20 marks
3. According to Marx, capitalism transforms even the personal relationships between men and women. Critically examine with illustrations from the contemporary Indian context.10 marks

Q8. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. How is the increasing use of technology changing the status of women in Indian society?20 marks
2. Write a short essay on the Latin American perspective on ‘dependency’.20 marks
3. What do you understand by social movement? How has the mobilization by Scheduled Castes helped them in constructing a new identity?10 marks

Sociology Optional Paper 2: SECTION-A

Q1.Write short notes with a sociological perspective on the following in about 150 words each: 10×5=50

1. Gandhi’s efforts on communal harmony
2. Modernisation of Indian traditions
3. Types of kinship systems in India
4. Features of caste system
5. G.S. Ghurye’s Indological approach to understand society in India

Q2. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. Analyse the different views on integration and autonomy of tribes in India.20 marks
2. Discuss the social background of Indian nationalism.20 marks
3. Define Patriarchy. How does it impact the overall entitlement of a girl child in India ?10 marks

Q3. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. Give a sociological analysis of the problems of migrant urban poor.20 marks
2. Discuss the problems of religious minorities in India.20 marks
3. Write some of the important social reforms in India for the removal of untouchability.10 marks

Q4. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. Discuss the status of women among the emerging urban middle class.20 marks
2. Describe the impact of land reforms on the peasants of Indian society.20 marks
3. What is the idea of ‘Indian village’? Explain.10 marks

Sociology Optional Paper 2: SECTION-B

Q5. Write short notes with a sociological Perspective on the following in about 150 words each: 10×5=50

1. Trends of Infant Mortality Rate among females10 marks
2. Domestic Violence Act, 2005
3. Dynamics of Contemporary Dalit movements
4. Impact of privatisation on educational disparities
5. Rural landless labourers and development induced displacement

Q6. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. What are the main features of the second wave of Women’s movement in the Indian context ?20 marks
2. Discuss the ‘Chipko movement’ as an example of eco-feminism.20 marks
3. Discuss the impact of globalisation on the workers in the Informal sector.10 marks

Q7. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. What are the demographic projections for the ageing population (60+) for the next decade? What are the implications for formulating policy for them ?20 marks
2. What are the possible underlying causes of the spurt of increased violence against women in public spaces in the last decade ?20 marks
3. How do caste and class come together in creating the category of extreme poor ?10 marks

Q8. Answer the following: (20+20+10 marks)

1. Many caste conflicts are between castes which are close to each other on the hierarchical scale.’ Give a sociological explanation for this phenomenon.20 marks
2. Tribal conflicts based on ethnic differences often camouflage a struggle for political and economic advantage.’ Substantiate with examples.20 marks
3. Who are the elites? Discuss their roles in bringing social transformation.10 mark
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DECLINING SEX-RATIO IN PUNJAB AND HARYANA

DECLINING SEX-RATIO IN PUNJAB AND HARYANA       

 MALE CHILD IS THE DETERMINING FORCE FOR FEMALE FOETICIDE AND

             INFANTICIDE

• Male child is an old age insurance
• Male child brings social status

GIRL CHILD IS AN INCREASING LIABILITY

• Perceived as the “other”, over which parents have no claims.
• Dowry exchange is crucial in preventing the birth of a girl child.
• Penetration of the market has appropriated male child preference to promote
consumption patterns through large scale celebrations of birth, lohri, mundal,
namkaran etc.
• Celebrating rituals associated with the birth of a male child and his
life stages are becoming status symbols.
• Technology is differentially utilised to practise male child preference.
• Revivalism of the fundamentalist movement and identity assertions
• Women perceived as the group’s honour
• Imposing codes of conduct
• Restrict mobility
• Norms of seclusion.
• Small family norm has displaced the girl child
• Segmented initiatives to promote women’s development have marginalised
the girl child
• Property laws in peasant patrilocal society have resulted in increased
dowry and resentment towards the girl child
• Shagun scheme at the level of norm has endorsed the view that the
girl child is a liability therefore provided compensation for by
government.

INTERVENTION STRATEGY

Any strategy to combat female foeticide and infanticide needs to address all factors that
determined male child preference and those that enhance the worth of the male child.
The core elements of patriarchy (gender typed roles, male descendancy and
inheritance, defining the male as the earner and protector, the vanguard of family
lineage and inheritor of resources and property) ensure the male child to be the
preferred sex at birth. The initiation into each life stage revolves around these
prototypes and reinforce them. This differentiation between male and female continues
around the life cycle initiated by different institutions and practices at different junctures.
Thus the coming of age of both male and female adolescents charter their
respective responsibilities and functions in accordance with their gender placement.
Female mobility gets restricted, dress and conduct codes and imposed, as is earnest
harnessing of capacities to be dictated towards being a home-maker,pro-creator and
nurturer. The male, on the other hand, is encouraged to acquire productive income
earning skills. The institution of marriage and death-related practices form part of the
gender determined constructs with unfolding of each life stage the hegemony of the male
is dictated. Therefore, intervention cannot be restricted to birth, pre-birth or post-birth
activities that discriminate between the male and the female. It is the entire life cycle and
associated institutions (gender structures that attach a high value to the male child and
lower the worth of the girl child), practice through differentiating roles have to be
undermined. In other words, the male child preference does manifest starkly in the
preferred birth of a male child, but the hegemonic importance of the male is instated at
every juncture of life with different social mechanisms and processes supporting the
difference. It has also been found that while patriarchy does ensure the importance of the
male child with the male being the preferred child at birth, intervening external factors
interlink with patriarchy to ensure that the girl child is received as a burden and the
importance of the male child is enhanced. The penetration of the market has ensured that
celebration for the birth of a male child, dowry exchange and associated marriage
ceremonies have acquired the dimensions of status symbols.
Market forces have thus transformed normative rituals, practices or customs into an
entity, valued for their material and resource worth. For instance, celebrations at the
time of the birth of a male child are seen as a status symbol enhancing social worth of
the family in terms of popularity, goodwill, in providing an occasion to display its
opulence. The politics of fundamentalist extremism and identity assertion have glorified
the female as the family’s honour posing bodily restrictions in terms of appearance,
codes of conduct and mobility. The added burden of visible control over female
sexuality and reproduction has reinforced the sense of liability of a female while also
targeting her for avenging honour. These fundamentalist assertions continue to fuel the
culture of violence in Punjab which promotes violence as a method of conflict
resolution. This regenerates violent masculinities be it for martyrdom or for heroism.
Shedding blood for one’s land or women has a mandate, increasing the value of
protection – male to provide the protection over female. The culture of violence may
perhaps even be providing acceptability to acts of violence including female foeticide and
infanticide.
Simultaneously, the adoption of the small family norm has displaced the girl child in this
milieu of increasing importance of the male child. Other development initiatives such as
property laws in the peasant patriarchal society and subsequent increase in dowry has also
impacted towards the negative worth of the girl child. Implementation of schemes to provide
positive discrimination to the female and the girl child, such as favourable labour laws have
ousted women from the formal sector. The Shagan scheme which at the level of norm has
endorse the view that the girl child is a liability and, therefore, the provision of
compensation. These initiatives could be effective measures to check the discrepant male
female worth only when these are contextualised in a gender sensitive environment. In
other words, simultaneous efforts at the level of practice, norms and values have to address
the practice of differentiation between the male and the female.