Sociology: Caste, Class, Gender, and Social Change
What the Sociology section tests
Caste, class, tribe, gender, family, religion, social change, and social movements in India, with Karnataka examples. Questions ask you to distinguish concepts and explain how social structures shape opportunity.
Core rules
- Caste is hereditary, endogamous, and traditionally linked to occupation and ritual status; class is achieved and based on income, education, and occupation. They overlap but are not the same.
- Sanskritisation (M. N. Srinivas) is mobility by adopting the customs of a higher caste; it changes custom, not the caste system itself.
- Tribes are identified by distinct culture, territory, language, and community living; constitutional safeguards include Scheduled Areas and reservations.
- Gender is a social construction; patriarchy operates in family, workplace, and politics. Sex is biological; gender is social.
- Social movements include reform (abolition of sati, widow remarriage), peasant, labour, tribal, environmental, and women's movements.
Worked example
A family changes its surname, follows upper-caste rituals, and claims higher status without gaining income. Which concept fits, and what does it not change? This is Sanskritisation: ritual style changes, but endogamy and the caste hierarchy persist, so it is not a change of caste status in law or economy. Show the concept, the evidence, and the limit.
Traps
Treating caste and class as synonyms; saying Sanskritisation abolishes caste; confusing sex and gender; describing tribes as backward rather than naming distinct cultural and territorial features; writing about movements without naming the issue.