Questions
- Explain how sociology emerged as a distinct discipline based on rationality and scientific temper. 20
- In the context of globalization, has the scope of sociology been changing in India? Comment. 10
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Model Solutions
1. Explain how sociology emerged as a distinct discipline based on rationality and scientific temper. 20
Model Framework:
Introduction
- Define Sociology
- Sociology is a scientific and systematic study of values, norms and social structures.
- Emergence of Sociology- rooted in the Enlightenment and Scientific revolution
Main Body
- Intellectual Development in Europe -
- Greek philosophers Plato
- Renaissance - Changes in religion
- Enlightenment - Rousseau General will of people
- French and industrial Revolution -
- Old Traditions challenged by Modernity (Eg - Political structure, Feudalism, Old forces of production)
- Changes due to modernity
- Challenges in the society due to modernity -
- Urbanisation, Poverty, Deviance
- Contradictory ideas caused Antithesis -
- Pro-modernist (Comte, Durkheim) versus anti-modernist (Marx) debate causing intellectual unrest
- Already established social disciplines were not able to address the social problems
- New discipline was established to study societal phenomena scientifically.
Conclusion
- Concluding on lines of Question
- Can conclude giving a futuristic dimension - how Sociology progressed after emergence
2. In the context of globalization, has the scope of sociology been changing in India? Comment. 10
Model Structure
Introduction
- Sociology is the study of man’s behaviour in groups or of the interaction among human beings, of social relationships and the processes by which human group activity takes place.
Main Body
Sociologists differ on what should be the scope of sociology.
- Auguste Comte- Sociology should study social phenomena on scientific lines. He has thus laid stress on scientific approach.
- Emile Durkheim- tried to separate sociology from other social science subjects and also tried to give an independent status to this subject.
- Pareto has tried to give it scientific orientation. According to him in sociology there should be no place for inferences. He is of the view that sociology is much of science and social problems should and can be scientifically studied.
- Max Weber has however said that sociology should merely be an interpretative understanding of social actions and nothing beyond that.
- Non-positivist sociologists such as Mead, Peter Berger etc. emphasis on studying sociology from a micro perspective.
Changing scope of Sociology in the context of Globalization - - Shift from caste based perspectives to class based sociology. As in post-globalised India, class become more important than class
- Re-emergence of Marxist/Conflict perspective to study social institutions → as globalization eventually perpetuated the idea of class society → creating conflicts between haves and have nots
- Emergence of new perspectives in response to the new challenges created by Globalization
- Eco-feminism - In response to environmental destruction and issues faced by female gender
- Post structuralism - It doubts the possibility of attaining universal laws or truths as there is no world that exists independently.
Conclusion
- Thus, globalization has broadened the scope of Sociology in India