If you are looking for BSOE-142 IGNOU Solved Assignment solution for the subject Indian Sociological Traditions, you have come to the right place. BSOE-142 solution on this page applies to 2021-22 session students studying in BASOH courses of IGNOU.
BSOE-142 Solved Assignment Solution by Gyaniversity
Assignment Code: BSOE-142/ASST//2021-22
Course Code: BSOE-142
Assignment Name: Indian Sociological Traditions
Year: 2021-2022
Verification Status: Verified by Professor
Total Marks: 100
Assignment I
Answer the following Descriptive Category Questions in about 500 words each. Each question carries 20 marks. 2 × 20 = 40
Q1. Describe the social antecedents of sociological thought in India.
Ans) India has an approximately four-thousand-year-old history. Religious and philosophical texts written in classical languages such as Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Pali make up the country's cultural history.
Pre-British Period Social Thought
India is a complex civilisation, particularly in terms of its literary legacy. Yoga, Sankhya, Nyaya, Vaishesika, Vedanta, and Mimamsa are the six schools of thought in Indian philosophy. This is a significant contribution to Indian thinking. The thirteen Upanishads are philosophical investigations of the inner existence and ultimate destiny of humans. Aside from these, there are many philosophical works in the Buddhist and Jain religions. In general, these schools of thought are concerned with humanity's evolution toward particular ultimate ideals. In many of these systems, the goal of inquiry and cogitation is salvation, which in India implies escape from the cycle of births and deaths.
Indian society, on the other hand, has been developing and adjusting to new circumstances. In pre-modern India, social thinking was the expression of a multi-ethnic community. The Islamic legacy, which gave rise to the Sufi religion and had a wide-ranging influence on life style and morals, especially in the North, has had an impact on us. The Sikh faith is an excellent example of Hindu and Islamic ideas colliding. In India, freedom of inquiry reigned everywhere, and there was little persecution of a group on religious grounds. As a result, the Indian social groupings were known for their tolerance of one another. While Indian faiths were widely practised, Indian philosophy was mostly practised by the educated and urban classes.
The British influence
The arrival of the British in India has far-reaching ramifications for Indian society. Due to new social and economic forces, long-held customs began to fade. Classical languages like Sanskrit and Persian fell out of favour, and English took its place as the official language. Traditional handicrafts in India's countryside deteriorated as a result of the British bringing machine-made textiles and other commodities to Indian marketplaces from Manchester, Lancashire, Sheffield, and London. Under colonial authority, Indian communities were unable to function as viable economic entities. The installation of railways, mails, and telegraphs by the British increased communication across communities and brought significant improvements to India. In addition, several portions of the subcontinent received administrative and judicial services. As a result, India entered the modern era. The British monarchs established schools, colleges, and universities. Missionaries and non-governmental organisations in India have also taken measures to promote modern education in the country.
The Middle Class's Ascension
The feudal classes of the past, such as the Rajas, Zamindars, Talukdars, and others, were no longer at the centre of the stage. Indeed, the middle classes, which arose during the British colonial period, now dominate practically every aspect of Indian society. The social philosophers profiled in this unit are from a middle-class background. Classes have grown essential in vocational, professional, and public life, despite the importance of castes in ceremonial and home domains. The term "middle class" is not used in this context to refer to a single economic category. Both economics and culture have shaped the middle class. Middle-class people share not just a common economic existence, but also a common socio-cultural life.
Q2. Explain Elwin-Ghurye debate on protection and integration of tribal identity.
Ans) We must analyse the ways in which various identity movements toward tribal autonomy approach the subject of country and the idea of national integration in order to fully comprehend them. In this environment, the state becomes an active participant in identity-based movements by constructing power and governance institutions that identify and acknowledge people in terms of specific identities.
In the context of tribal identity issues, Verrier Elwin's writings on tribal tribes throughout the pre-independence and post-independence periods of India became essential for anthropology and policymaking. Elwin engaged in critical debates on the subject of tribal identity in the 1940s and 1950s, which resulted in passionate polemics among his detractors. Elwin's separation from mainstream Indian nationalism, as well as his protectionist attitude toward tribal tribes, earned him the scorn of fellow sociologists and anthropologists.
Elwin's first project was to work with anthropologists on the subject of incorporating indigenous groups into Hinduism. In this argument, Elwin's major opponent was G.S. Ghurye. Ghurye wants tribal tribes to be treated as part of the Hindu fold and integrated into the greater Hindu religious identity. He accused Elwin of purposely disconnecting tribals from Hindu culture, as well as 'isolating' tribal groups in the mountains, jungles, and other isolated areas, where they remained underdeveloped and backward, and cut off from the rest of civilization.
Ghurye further chastised Elwin for arguing for the deliberate separation of tribal communities from the outlines of Indian nationalism and the rising Indian country, which is largely Hindu religious. Elwin noted that tribal groups have always had a strong sense of community, unlike Hindu religion, which lacks a caste system. They enjoyed an intimate and conversational relationship with nature, as well as gender equality.
Elwin's interaction with social reformers who wanted to implement prohibition and outlaw tribal dances was fraught with controversy, as he was labelled a "anti-reformist." Elwin was opposed to the social reformers' move toward prohibition. Whether it is him or not, ethnocentric tendencies cannot be tolerated in any action aimed at social improvement. He pushed vehemently for the preservation and maintenance of unique cultural forms that were essential components and building blocks of tribal cultures' collective lives.
Elwin was passionately opposed to Christian missionaries' ideals of religious conversion of tribal cultures to Christianity, which he believed would bring civilization and development to the tribal world. Both Christian and Hindu reformers were equally accused by Elwin for being intolerant of tribal culture, art, rituals, and dancing, as well as for disturbing community morale and harming "new converts by making them ashamed of their heritage." Elwin gradually gravitated to a middle ground between Ghurye's assimilationism and his own view of tribal communities' isolation from the rest of India in the latter stages of these disputes.
Assignment II
Answer the following Middle Category Questions in about 250 words each. Each question carries 10 marks. 3 × 10 = 30
Q3. Discuss Ghurye’s notion of caste.
Ans) Ghurye defines caste as a sort of social organisation that is unique to Indian civilisation and stands in stark contrast to other social groups around the world. Caste divisions exist in Hindu society, with differing degrees of legitimacy and social contact.
Ghurye identified the following six characteristics of the caste system:
Caste society is made up of varied groups with their own lives, and membership is decided by birth rather than selection.
Hierarchy: This refers to a defined system of social precedence among the castes, with the Brahmin at the top.
Feeding and Social Intercourse Restrictions: While lower castes have no qualms about receiving cooked food from any higher caste, Brahmins and other castes refused to receive food or water from castes that were lower on the social scale than themselves. Ghurye also addresses the contamination hypothesis propagated by some castes to members of upper castes.
Civil and Religious Disabilities and Privileges of Various Sections: According to Ghurye, segregation of individual castes or groups of castes in a hamlet was one of the most visible markers of civil privileges and disabilities that existed throughout India. Certain areas of the town or village were inaccessible to certain castes in Southern India.
Lack of Unrestricted Choice of Occupation: The upper castes, such as Brahmins, are free to read holy writings, whilst the lower castes are unable to do so. Sweeping restrooms, washing clothing, scavenging, and other low-paying tasks have been placed in an untouchable category.
Caste groups follow the idea of endogamy, which restricts marriage. This means that caste groupings marry amongst themselves. Marrying outside of one's caste is frowned upon.
Q4. In what way is economic structure responsible for poor condition of rural economy in the six villages studied by Ramkrishna Mukherjee?
Ans) The poor state of the rural economy is primarily due to the economic structure, as the upper class has no motivation to develop production processes. Because of the high demand for land as a result of the poor development of industry, the upper-class benefits from inexpensive labour. Furthermore, they can coerce destitute peasants to work as sharecroppers on their land, which, according to Mukherjee, provides a higher profit margin than contracting daily wage labour.
The degree of the dissolution of the previous system in a subsistence economy can be seen in a study of the economic structure from 1922 to 1942. There was only a modest migration from the middle to the upper ranks, but a significant movement from the middle to the lower ranks, emphasising inequality.
He discovers that caste hierarchy reflects the partition of individuals into discrete economic entities to some extent. As a result, he discovers that all upper-caste Hindu families (Brahmin, Kayasthas, and their half-castes) reside in the upper rank of the economic structure, whereas 83 percent of Scheduled Caste families reside in the lower rank, and the rest in the intermediate rank. The "joint family" (parents and dependent children) is more common among the higher rank, while the "simple family" (parents and dependent children) is more common among the lower rank, with the intermediate rank acting as a hybrid of the two. Literacy is low, and little education there is mostly limited to the top classes.
Q5. What were the factors that led to increased focus on women in Leela Dube’s work?
Ans) Dube investigated the vulnerable position of girls within the household, particularly the natal household, which discriminates against the girl child in terms of nutrition and health needs, as well as marriage, as a member of the committee to examine the status of women in writing the 'Towards Equality' Report. When she was asked to join this group in the early 1970s, a slew of key papers on the 'anthropology of women' appeared. Her research into the role of women in matrilineal communities piqued her interest in comparing women's social positions in different descent systems.
The information about the region and their practises came from ethnographic research and interviews, and her article Conflict and Compromise: Devolution and Disposal of Property in a Matrilineal Muslim Society, published in 1994, paints a detailed and intricate picture of a Matrilineal system under the umbrella of Islam, as well as how the two systems coexist. This work is significant in today's setting because it demonstrates how local contexts can reinterpret an established institution. These factors combined piqued her interest in the field of gender studies and how it relates to familial relationships. In some ways, this shift gave her work a distinct identity, as it began to include findings from anthropology and women's studies.
Assignment III
Answer the following Short Category Questions in about 100 words each. Each question carries 6 marks. 5 × 6 = 30
Q6. Compare Bombay and Lucknow schools of sociological traditions.
Ans) Bombay School and Lucknow School were both forerunners in India's interconnected trend of professionalisation and institutionalisation of Sociology and Anthropology. Both Indian and foreign teachers vigorously trained the students in both schools. At the time of the nationalist movement, the founders of both schools were writing. Some of them expressed their nationalist zeal in their writings. These writers harped on Indian culture's beautiful traditions and used ancient sources in their writings. G.S. Ghurye attended Bombay School, and Radhakamal Mukherjee and Dhurjati Prasad Mukerji attended Lucknow School. There is also an urgent and passionate cry on their part to revitalise historic values, not in the sense of revivalism, but rather in the sense of putting them to good use in current times.
Q7. What do you understand by social ecology?
Ans) Mukherjee was also interested in the subject of social ecology. He wrote several books on the subject. For him, social ecology was a complicated formulation involving several social sciences. An ecological zone was created by the interaction of geological, topographical, and biological variables. Ecology, in turn, is influenced by social, economic, and political issues. Many Indian ecological zones, for example, have been opened up for human settlement and agrarian growth in the past as a result of political conquests. Because there is a clear link between ecology and society, the development of ecological zones must be viewed as a dynamic process: that is, the environment's challenge and the people's reaction.
Q8. Explain D. P. Mukerji’s Views on Unity in Diversity in Indian tradition.
Ans) D. P. Mukerji worked on a film about Hindu-Muslim relations. In the diversity of Indian culture, his search for truth led him to seek humanistic and spiritual harmony. He was looking at a variety of topics related to Hindu-Muslim relations in general. Mukerji observed that the Hindu mind worked in cycles, with the good and evil succeeding one another. The Hindus had a pessimistic outlook.
Furthermore, the Hindu worldview arose from a separate geographical region, the subcontinent. Islam, on the other hand, was a multi-national, multi-ethnic religion. Hindu nationalism was idealistic, while Islamic nationalism was pragmatic. For Hindus, freedom was a "born right," whereas for Muslims, it was a chance. The Muslim perspective was non-fatalistic and non-cyclic. As a result, the Muslim perspective favoured direct action in order to make the most of a political crisis or opportunity.
Q9. In which areas were research interests of Irawati Karve concentrated?
Ans) Karve's main themes in India were Hindu culture and its caste system, as well as familial organisation. She worked extensively on the Mahabharata, and her character studies examine the epic's protagonists as historical figures, using their views and behaviour to explain the times in which they lived. Her research focused on the following topics: the racial makeup of India's people, family organisation in India, the origins of caste, and sociological studies of rural and urban groups.
Q10. What was the most important aspect of fieldwork outlined by Bose?
Ans) In fieldwork, Bose emphasised the necessity of attentive and detailed observation. Conducting fieldwork was a priority for Bose. Every notion, he believed, should be put to the test via observation and experience. He believed that an anthropologist should look beyond the practical aspects of Hindu civilisation in order to fully comprehend it. Bose had created his own method of examining social events and cultural characteristics in certain situations. He believed that there could be no predetermined methods for genuine fieldwork. Depending on the subject under examination, the researcher should be guided by the nature of the task at hand in terms of the tools of investigation to use or even what fashion to use. He was always emphasising the need of rigorous and careful observation.
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