Sociology NCERT XII.pdf

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1STRUCTURAL PROCESSES OF CHANGE

CHAPTER 1

Structural Process of Change

Change is a fact of human life. We may not be aware of it in our day-to-day experience but it continues to affect usin one way or the other. A hundred andthousand years might be a moment inthe life of rocks and mountains but inhuman society changes take place inthe course of merely a generation or two.

Think of a situation in which your grandmother was living in a village

where a large number of fami ly

members were staying together in onehousehold. She had to maintain purdah

and was not allowed to come out of thefour walls of the house till she had

become old. Now compare it with thecondition of your mother. Do you not find a change in the structure of your own family, now when only a few members are staying together? Your uncle is living in another household

with his wife and children. Likewise, your grandfather was an agriculturist

but your father might have shifted tothe urban area to take up a job in a government office. You will noticeseveral corresponding changes even inthe life-style of your own family. Thesealterations have occurred merely in a generation or two. A close look will

reveal changes both in the structureand function of family and in patternsof occupations.

It is this dimension of change that we intend to study in the present course. Our focus will be on the natureand extent of social change incontemporary Indian society. Thestudy of social change in India isimportant for several reasons. It tells ushow contemporary Indian society is

transforming from a traditional society to a modern developed society. It showshow changes are occurring in our socialinstitutions and what are the factors

bringing about such changes. It alsoindicates our achievements as a nationand identifies problems and setbacksin certain areas of our life.

Social change is a process, in thesense that it involves a series of eventsover a period of time. The idea of continuity is implied in it and shows a

sequence of operations that bring about change. Thus, the notion of processindicates two major dimensions of socialchange—its nature and direction. Whilethe nature of change reveals content of change, the direction speaks about theline in which it is moving. We intend to

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2 SOCIAL CHANGE IN INDIA

discuss here both the substance andthe factors of change.

Sociologists in India have analysedthe process of social change under two

broad categories—structural processesand cultural processes. Structuralprocesses of change are due to a transformation in the network of socialrelationships. Caste, kinship, family and occupational groups constitutesome of the structural realities. Changein these relationships is a structuralchange. When the traditional agrariansystem based on family labour istransformed into agrarian system

based on hired labour with a view toproduce for the market, we may call it a structural change. The transfor-mation of joint family to nuclear family

brings about change in structure andfunction of family. It is through theprocess of differentiation of roles that

structural change takes place. To put it differently, role of a social institutionchanges due to specific sequence of events making it more effective in thechanged situation. In fact, structuraldifferentiation of roles leads tofunctional specialisation. Reverting toour earlier example, in addition toprocreation and rearing of children,

joint family performed numerous rolesin traditional society in the fields of education, occupation and social

security . But after its transformationinto nuclear family most of thesefunctions have been taken over by specialised agencies such as schools,economic organisations, government departments and other institutions.Structural change as a result of role

differentiation is noticed in almost alldomains of social life.

You are already familiar with thefactors of social change. Therefore, weshall focus on structural processes of social change namely, industrialisation,

Westernisation and modernisation.

INDUSTRIALISATION

Science is an important element of

human heritage that produces a systematic knowledge of nature.

Technology, on the other hand, is that element which contains the applicationof this knowledge. In this sense,technology has a utilitarian goal. It hasdeveloped mainly due to a desire toapply it for the advantage of commonpeople. This goal has been realised inalmost every sphere—industry,agriculture, transport, communicationand such other areas. The rapidchanges that we experience in our day-to-day life are related to thedevelopment of new techniques, new inventions and new modes of production. The application of moderntechnology in industry has influencednot only our economic life but also our social and cultural system.

Industrialisation is a process of technological advancement fromdomestic production with simple tools

to large-scale factory based production.However, sociologically, the term impliesa process of economic and socialchanges arising out of the change in thestructure of industry. Industrialisationinvolves a broad range of social factorsthat deeply affect the character of social

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life. For instance, factories give rise toelaborate division of labour, new work culture, etc.

Industrialisation in India

A wide network of domestic and cottageindustries was existing in India evenprior to British colonial rule. But modern large-scale industry came only during the later part of the nineteenth

century after the Industrial Revolutionin Europe. Between the 1850’s whenthe first major industries started, and1914 India had established the world’slargest jute manufacturing industry,the fifth largest cotton textile industry and the third largest railway network.In this manner, India had almost a century of industrial development onthe eve of the independence.

After independence, the pace of

industrialisation was significantly accelerated during the periods of Five- Year Plans. It saw the expansion anddiversification of the industrialstructure with the establishment of several new units. In 1951, there wereonly two major units producing ironand steel. The number of such major steel plants increased to six by 1980s

with the installed capacity of 80 lakhtonnes. The country has madeconsiderable progress in the field of new

industries, agricultural tractors,electronics, fertiliser etc., which werepractically nonexistent in 1951. Thetextile industry is no longer confined tocotton and jute textiles but to a largenumber of units producing different types of synthetic fibres. An important

feature of industrial growth after

independence has been the rapid

expansion of the public sector

enterprises. These produce diverse

products such as steel, coal, heavy and

light engineering goods, locomotives,

aircraft, petroleum products and

fertilizers. A brief sketch of industrial

growth in India may give us an idea of

the extent of industrialisation that has

taken place in the country sinceattaining independence.

Social Consequences of

Industrialisation

We may now turn our attention to the

economic and social consequences of

industrialisation. Our economic life has

witnessed tremendous structural

change in the wake of industrialisation.

Production has been brought

substantially to the factory. Elaboratedivision of labour, specialisation of

tasks and the growth of a class of

industrial workers have resulted from

changes in the industrial system.

Similarly, the nature of agricultural

production has also changed because

of change in agricultural practices.

With the alteration in agricultural

practices, alterations have also

occurred in agrarian relations and the

life-styles of farm households.Moreover, industrialisation has

changed the family mode of productionand women are increasingly found infarms, firms and factories to performdifferent tasks. The new economic rolehas placed women in the new

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environment where they experience a changed social status. This new role of

women in turn has brought greater participation of women in decisionmaking in the family. These changeshave occurred due to occupationaldiversification that has been brought about by industrialisation. For example, it cannot be expected that all

working members of a family will get jobs in simi lar occupations and

professions and will be posted at thesame place. One member, for example,may be engaged in the cultivation of family land in Uttar Pradesh and theother may take up an employment asan engineer in Chennai. Under thesecircumstances, the break-up of a joint family into small nuclear families isnatural. Such structural changes arealso accompanied by functionaldistinctive-ness. For example, thetraditional joint family as mentionedearlier, was a multifunctionalinstitution. It had innumerableeconomic, educational, recreational,socialisational and biological functions.Now, except for the biological andsocialisational functions of the family,most of the other functions have beentaken over by formal economicorganisations, associations and thestate.

Development of transport and

communication have resulted in far reaching consequences. Railways,automobiles and marine transporta-tions have not only increased spatialmobility but have also quickened therate of internal and external migration.

A large number of people are migrating

from rural to urban areas to take upnew occupations. Similarly, both skilledand unskilled women and men aretravelling out of the country in searchof better careers.

Changes are also witnessed in thesystem of social stratification.Significant changes are observed in thecase of caste system, which is animportant structural reality of Indiansocial system. The separation betweencaste and occupation is a significant change that has taken place. Theoccupational diversification has madeseveral occupations ‘caste free’. It is,however, more in towns than in villagesand even greater in the largeindustrialised cities. A considerablenumber of people located earlier at thelower levels of caste hierarchy andengaged in caste-based occupationsare now entering into new occupations.

Likewise, castes considered higher inthe hierarchy are coming forward for occupations not preferred earlier. Themembers of lower castes dispensed withtraditional occupations primarily

because they were considered ‘impure’and were endowed with low status

besides being less profitable. On theother hand, members of upper castessuch as Brahmin , Rajput and Kayasth

in North India were compelled to takeup work like manual labourers, peons

in offices and such other low status jobs. In addition to modifications inoccupational structure and mobility,changes are seen in the inter-castepower structure.

We have so far ana lysed thesocio-economic consequences of

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industrialisation but we should not overlook one basic fact in this regard.

The way in which a society responds tothe industrial changes depends on itsown creative genius and socialenvironment. We, therefore, find a substantial difference between onesociety and another in the degree to

which changes take place as a result of industrialisation.

URBANISATION

Urbanisation is a process by whichpeople instead of living in villages start living in towns and cities. It involves a mode by which agriculture-basedhabitat is transformed into non-agricultural urban habitat. The growthof urban centres is the result of accelerated industrial and servicefunctions. An increase in the size of towns and cities leading to growth of urban population is the most significant dimension of urbanisation. Thesecentres are essentially non-agriculturalin character.

Urbanisation as a structuralprocess of change is related toindustrialisation but it is not always theresult of industrialisation. In certaincases, urbanisation has taken placeeven without industrialisation.Industrialisation is always connected

with economic growth but we cannot say the same about urbanisation.

Urban environment produces a particular kind of social life whichLois Wirth, a core member of theChicago School, calls urbanism. Sociallife in cities is more formal and

impersonal. The relationship is basedon a complex division of labour and iscontractual in nature.

Urbanisation in India

India is a land of villages and will remainso for decades to come. However, it doesnot mean that cities have been absent from this vast sub-continent. Existenceof cities in India can be traced back to

as early as third millennium B.C. Archeological excavations reveal older traces of urbanisation. Historians tell usthat a truly urban civilisation emergedin the Indus Valley with Mohenjodaroand Harappa as important urbancentres. In addition to these two cities,several other urban settlements such asKalibangan in northern Rajasthan,Lothal in Gujarat and Banwali inHaryana also emerged as the major centres. In the subsequent period,urbanisation was not confined to a particular area. This phase of urbanisation finds mention in the post-Vedic literature in the north and Sangam

literature in the south. The Buddhist texts also mention the existence of the urban centres. Furthermore,urbanisation during the medieval times

was spread out from Srinagar in thenorth to Madurai in the south. Thisperiod was marked more by the revival

of old cities than the establishment of new cities and towns. These pre-industrial cities, however, existedprimarily as centres of pilgrimage, asroyal capitals and as trading centres.

Cities with modern industrialcharacter grew in India only after the

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contact with the West. The process of urbanisation was accelerated duringthe British colonial regime. The BritishIndian administration promotedurbanisation on a large scale. Themajor port towns of Kolkata, Mumbaiand Chennai owe their beginning,growth and importance to the colonialefforts. Similarly, regional summer capitals were established in remotemountainous areas like Srinagar,

Shillong and Shimla. The princely statesdid not develop as fast but even they had capital towns. Some of the princely states like Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur and Mysore had population exceedingone lakh.

The urban scenario changedremarkably after independence. Theproportion of urban population to thetotal population increased from 17.6per cent in 1951 to 25.7 per cent in

1991. The number of cities withpopulation of one million or moreincreased from 5 to 23 during the sameperiod. According to the census of 2001urban population stands at 27.78 per cent and number of cities havingpopulation more than one million hasincreased to 35. The noteworthy growth of urban population after independence has been largely due tothe rapid increase in population, rural-urban migration, city-centred

industrialisation and the over allneglect of villages.

The emerging trends of urbanisation in India reveal that urbanmigration is fairly significant. A largenumber of people from rural areas areshifting not only to big cities but even

to medium-sized cities and smalltowns. Distance is not a barrier. Onereadily finds villagers moving from far-flung areas of north Indian state to thecities in south India. Migrants aremainly employed in manufacturing andservice occupations. Besides, theseasonal migration of unskilledlabourers, too, has become common.

We find labourers fr om Andhra

Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa working inagricultural farms of Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh. Labourers

begin with seasonal migration and later on start settling permanently in areasof their choice.

Social Effects of Urbanisation

Let us now turn to the social effects of accelerated urbanisation. Urbanisationhas altered the structure of joint family

as a result of occupational diversi-fication. Consequently, the functions of family and kinship have declinedconsiderably. The traditional family norms are relaxed and interpersonalrelationships have become more formal.

An urban child now grows within muchsmaller world. No kinsmen are availablein nuclear family to take care of her/him. The child has to select playmatesoutside the family. In this manner, thechild develops a new type of personality

characterised by ideas of freedom andinnovation. Such a situation isremarkably different from theenvironment of dependence found in a

joint family. The nature of love andaffection in interpersonal relationshiphas also changed. While children and

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their mothers receive considerableattention, sentiments and attachment towards other relatives have weakened.Likewise, the division of domestic duties

between wife and husband is changingin the urban settings. They both sharedomestic duties, as there is no other adult member available to sharethe burden.

Thus, social life in urban areasfaces isolation due to diminishingkinship obligations. Several ties that formerly bound members of the family to group and community life are now

broken. Consequently, the quality of human relationships tends to becomemore formal and impersonal.

Another visible change is in thedomain of caste identity. Urbandwellers participate in networks that include persons of several castes.Individual achievement and modern

status symbols have become moreimportant than caste identity. Castenorms are not strictly maintained

which is mani fest in commensalrelations, marital alliances and inoccupational relations. It is, thus,possible to suggest that urban way of life has made people think more asindividuals than as members of a particular caste. The importance of ascription as the basis of social statusis declining and the significance of

achievement is taking its place. Thelevel of education, nature of occupationand the level of income are now major indicators of one’s achievement in anurban setup. Therefore, peoplerecognise education, occupation andincome as prerequisites for higher

social status. It does not mean that theachieved status has completely replaced ascribed status and class hasfully overshadowed caste.

It is, however, necessary to clarify that changes brought about by urbanisation have not altogether replaced the traditional patterns of family, kinship and caste. They gothrough adaptations and their functions are not completely eroded.

Urban Problems

We have already seen how urbanisationis proceeding at a considerable pace inIndia. It has affected different domainsof people’s life. The expansion of urbancentres has also given rise to a variety of problems. The physical space isdingy, quality of life is poor and urbangovernance is unimaginative. Over-crowding and pollution, sub-standardhousing and slums, crime anddelinquency, alcoholism and drugabuse are a few of them. We shalldiscuss some of them which have far reaching consequences for the country.

Urban overcrowding is the result of the massive size of India’s urbanpopulation. Its impact is visible indeclining services in the areas of housing, water supply, sanitation,transport, power supply and

employment opportunity. Increasingnumber of homeless people, high rateof rent and a scramble for the few available houses are commonly foundin most of the cities and towns. Thedensity of urban population in India

works out to be around 3,500 persons

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per square kilometre in 1991. This ismore than the accepted norm of 400per square kilometre. Thus, urbanareas have more people than they cansupport with the available infrastructure.

Related to the problem of housingand overcrowding is the problem of slums. The slum is an area of dingy neglected houses where people live inpoverty without minimum civicamenities. The estimates of India’surban population living in slums vary

widely. However, according to anestimate, not less than 45 million people

were living in slums in 1995 and as theurban population is increasing fast,their number must have had increased

by now. It is said that the Indianpopulation living in slums is more thanthe total population of about 107countries of the world. Generally, thelarger a city, the more the people live in

slums. Naturally, metros like Mumbai,Delhi and Kolkata have more slumsthan the small and medium size towns.In 1991, slum-dwellers formed 45 per cent of the population in Mumbai, 44per cent in Delhi and 42 per cent inKolkata. The situation is no better inother metropolises like Chennai,Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmadabadetc. In reality, the problems of slumsare multiplying in the wake of city’sincapacity to meet the rising demands

of growing population.Pollution is another major problem

of cities. There are several sources of rising pollution. Cities discharge 40to 60 per cent of their entire sewageand industrial effluents into theadjoining rivers. The smaller towns

dump garbage and excreta into thenearest waterways through their opendrains. Likewise, urban industriespollute the atmosphere with smoke andgases from their old chimneys.

Vehicular emission in Delhi accountsfor 64 per cent of its air pollution. Infact, Delhi has the dubious distinctionof being one of the most polluted citiesin the world. The poison that we put inthe environment comes back to usthrough air, water and food. It gradually causes diseases anddisorders making life miserable andhazardous.

The issue of env ironmentalpollution in urban areas has beenrecognised and steps have been takento ease the situation. Even the SupremeCourt of India intervened and orderedclosure of polluting industrial units inDelhi. Recently, the use of non-

polluting Compressed Natural Gas(CNG) has been made mandatory for

buses and three-wheelers in Delhi asper the order of the Supreme Court.

There are a number of other problems faced by urban centres whichare not discussed here for the sake of

brevity. Important among them are theproblems of urban poverty, urbanplanning and urban governance.

MODERNISATION

Modernisation is both an idea and a process. As it is an idea, there is noagreement among social scientists onits meaning and interpretation. In thedecades after the Second World War it

was believed in industrial capitalist

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countries such as Britain and theUnited States that the key to economicdevelopment in the Third World wasmodernisation. The concept of modernisation, thus, emerged as anexplanation of how these societiesdeveloped through capitalism. By providing such an explanation Westernscholars desired to convince theunderdeveloped countries like India that economic development waspossible under capitalism.

According to this approach ,modernisation depends primarily onintroduction of technology and theknowledge required to make use of it.Besides, several social and politicalprerequisites have been identified tomake modernisation possible. Some of these prerequisites are:

1. increased levels of education,

2. development of mass media,

3. accessible transport andcommunication,

4. democratic political institutions,

5. more urban and mobilepopulation,

6. nuclear family in place of extended family,

7. complex division of labour,

8. declining public influence of religion, and;

9. developed markets for exchangeof goods and services in placeof traditional ways of meetingsuch needs.

Modernisation is, thus, supposed to be the result of the presence of theseprerequisites in the social system. It is

clear that the term modernisation has been used here in a very broad sense. We, therefore, find different views about the scope and area to be covered by theconcept of modernisation.

Some sociologists limit moderni-sation to its structural aspect, othersemphasise its cultural dimension. A few studies highlight the issue of politicalmodernisation and still others analyseits psychological meaning. Of course,the treatment of the concept in terms of it being a process of social changeis found in Learner’s writing.Daniel Lerner in his essay on‘Modernisation’, included inEncyclopaedia of Social Sciences,

explains modernisation in these words:“Modernisation is the current term for an old process — the process of socialchange whereby less developedsocieties acquired characteristics

common to more developed societies.”He further writes, “Modernisation,therefore, is the process of social changein which development is the economiccomponent.” Obviously this under-standing of the term corresponds withthe meaning which we have given to theterm at the beginning of our discussion.

Accordingly, modernisation is a processof change, which takes a country fromunderdevelopment to development. It produces social environment for

economic development. The growth inindustrialisation, urbanisation,national income and per capita incomeare taken as criteria of development.

However, while accepting theeconomic criteria of development, somesociologists have added non-economic

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criteria to judge development. They argue that rising output alone is not sufficient to assess the level of development. A society has to move fromrising output to self-sustaining growth.

Therefore, non-economic criteria suchas the level of education, function of media, growth of communication andsocial norms conducive to change haveto be taken into consideration.

The meaning of modernisationgiven above incorporates primarily,structural aspects of change. In other

words, with modernisation structuraltransformation takes place in economy,polity and social institutions. It is to benoted here that the concept of modernisation has also been explainedin cultural terms. In this sense,modernisation implies change in valuesand attitudes. Modernity involves

values and norms that are universal in

nature. Explaining this aspect of modernisation Yogendra Singhsuggests that modernisation implies a rational attitude towards issues andtheir evaluation from a universal

viewpo int. Thus, technolog icaladvancement and economic growth arenot the sole criterion to judge the levelof modernisation of a society. Thecommitment to scientific world-view and humanistic ideas are equally important.

Moreover, the idea of modernisationhas also been analysed in terms of thepaired concepts of tradition andmodernity. It has been argued that modernity stands as opposite of tradition. In this sense, all theunderdeveloped societies are

characterised as traditional and thedeveloped societies as modern.Modernisation, thus, implies a changefrom tradition to modernity. Changeoccurs, according to this view, inpredictable direction. In other words,in order to modernise, every society hasto follow the same direction and adopt a similar path. All the existing valuesand structures have to be replaced by the new values and structures.

Nonetheless, sociologists from thedeveloping countries are critical of thisunderstanding of modernisation. They maintain that modernisation does not stand as a polar opposite to tradition.

Traditional values and institutions arenot necessarily discarded while takingup new values in the process of change.Society adopts new values because they are considered more efficient andrewarding. In view of this, thesesociologists hold that modernisation

would develop typical forms in different societies. Patterns of modernisation,thus, may vary from society to society.

The discussion shows that processes of modernisation involve both structuraland cultural dimensions. However,given the present context, we shall deal

with modernisation primarily as a structural process of change.

Modernisation in India

Some sociologists make a distinction between social change andmodernisation in order to assess thenature of change in the traditionalIndian society. Though, social changeoccurred in traditional India, it wasessentially pre-modern in nature. One

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traditional institution was just replaced by the other and no basic structuralchange took place in social system andculture.

Historically, modernisation in India started from the establishment of theBritish rule and has continued evenafter independence. The nature anddirection of modernisation during thesetwo phases have been different.

Therefore, it is appropriate to examinethe processes of modernisation under two distinct phases— the colonialphase and the post-colonial phase.

As has been mentioned earlier,modernisation in India commencedafter the arrival of the British rule. Thecontact with the West brought about far reaching changes in social structureand cultural institutions. Changes were

witnessed in almost all important areasof life. The British administration

introduced new arrangements inlegal, agrarian, educational andadministrative domains. Most of theseled to structural modernisation.For instance, the bureaucratic systemof administration and judiciary introduced by them were based onmodern rational norms, which replacedthe traditional Indian legal norms,

based on the principle of hierarchy andascription. A similar transformationtook place in the system of education

and agrarian structure. The Westernsystem of education was introducedtowards the middle of the nineteenthcentury and expanded significantly thereafter. New patterns of landsettlements such as Zamindari,

Raiyatwari and Mahalwari covering

the whole of British India resulted insystematisation of revenueadministration. Some other areasexperiencing modernising trends wereindustrialisation, urbanisation,transport and communication, army and the emergence of industrial

working class and so forth. Theemergence and growth of a nationalist political leadership was also the result of growing modernisation of Indian

society. In fact, the nationalist leadership became so strong towardsthe early part of the twentieth century that freedom movement itself generateda new culture of modernisation.

It is apparent from the above that the colonial phase of modernisationcreated a wide network of structure andculture which was modern and had anall-India appeal. However, it isimportant to point out here that during

the colonial phase the local regionalstructures of family, caste and villagecommunity remained more or lessunaffected by the forces of modernisation. At these levels, theBritish, by and large, followed a policy of least interference. Consequently, wedo not find much change in thestructures of family, caste and village.

Let us, now, briefly examine theprocess of modernisation in the post-colonial India. Modernisation process

has undergone some fundamentalchanges after the Independence. Every domain of social system is under theactive influence of modernisingprocess. Modernisation has, now,

become an integral part of thedevelopmental strategy.

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The political system has assumeda new shape after the adoption of a parliamentary form of government

based on adult franchise. Politicalparties have emerged as powerfulorgans of the system. Thus, democraticpolitical structure has effectively led toincreasing political consciousnessamong people. The process of politicisation has, further, beenaccelerated through the Panchayati Ra j

institutions.

The foundations of traditional family structure have come under theinfluence of legal reforms in marriageand inheritance. The family introducedegalitarian norms in family leading toraised status of women. Similarly, castehas assumed new functional roles. It has acquired an associationalcharacter. New consciousness hasemerged among dalits. Increasing role

of caste in politics is a pointer to thistrend. Moreover, land reforms, too, have brought structural transformation inagrarian social structure.

However, it is pertinent to callattention to the fact that modernisationin India has not been a uniformly progressive movement. Two crucialissues may be pointed out in thisregard. First, in the process of

modernisation several traditionalinstitutions and activities have beenreinforced. For example, religiouspreachers are using modern media tospread their ideas. Now, there aretelevision channels in India exclusively devoted to religious preaching. Casteassociations are using new modes of communication to consolidate their position. Second, inconsistencies are

visible in the patterns of modernisation.

Though structural change is wi tnessed in fami ly , jo int fami ly loyalties and norms still prevail.Democratic participation is increasingdespite increase in caste conflicts.

What we wish to point out is that modernisation in India has not thoroughly dispensed with traditionalinstitutions. Yogendra Singh has,appropriately highlighted this fact in hisstudy titled Modernisation of Indian

Tradition. He writes, “The form of traditional institutions may remainintact but their substance might undergo major transformationsincorporating modernisation.” In thissense modernisation process in India has acquired a typical form. Traditionalinstitutions have displayed their potential for adaptations in courseof change.

GLOSSARY

CONTRACTUAL RELATIONSHIP. It is a formal agreement between two or more partiesin which the parties entering this relationship must give up their part of the bargain without abusing the terms of the agreement.

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SEASONAL MIGRATION. The movements of agricultural labourers from one placeto other during harvest time in search of employment.

EXERCISE

1. What is meant by structural change?

2. What are the significant changes in the sphere of industry after Independence?

3. Explain the social and the economic consequences of industrialisation.

4. Distinguish between urbanisation and urbanism.

5. Discuss the impact of urbanisation on Indian society.

6. What is modernisation?

7. Explain the process of modernisation in India.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Rao, M.S.A. (ed.), Urban Sociology in India , Orient Longman, New Delhi,1974.

2. Singh, Yogendra, Modernisation of Indian Traditions , Thomson Press Ltd.,New Delhi,1973.

3. Srinivas, M.N., Social Change in Modern India , Orient Longman,New Delhi,1972.

4. Srinivas, M.N., The Dominant Caste and Other Essays , Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1987.

5. Singh, Yogendra,Essays on Modernisation in India , Manohar Publications,Delhi, 1978.

6. Mishra, R.P., Urbanisation in India : Challenges and Opportunities ,Regency Publications, New Delhi, 1998.

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99SOCIAL DEVIANCE

CHAPTER 10

Social Deviance

In every society, we find people breaking established social norms. While some disregard marriage andfamily norms, others are involved inactivities like shoplifting, drug abuse or alcoholism. All these actions areexamples of deviance. Viewed thus,deviance may be seen as a form of

behaviour that violates norms.

No society can claim to have a complete conformity to its norms.Society has a balance between

conformity to and deviance from norms.However, all forms of deviance fromcriminal behaviour to civil disobedienceare considered deviance because peopleperceive and interpret them as such.Norms and deviance are linked withcultural values. Thus, the understandingof deviance is socially important

because it produces consequences not only for the individuals themselves but also for the social system as a whole. Inthis chapter we shall discuss two major aspects of social deviance, namely crimeand violence.

UNDERSTANDING CRIME

Crime has been defined both in socialand legal terms. Since all studies of

criminal behaviour have highlightedthe legal aspects of crime, the legaldefinition of crime is more popular.

According to a popular legal definition,crime is the “intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law committed without defence or

justifi cation.” Thus, cr ime is anintentional act and the person knowsthe result of her/his action. For example, if one shoots another even

without any specific intent to kill her

or him, she or he commits a crime because she or he knows that it willcause injury or death. A criminal act is a violation of the criminal law of theland. As a result of this, whenever suchan act is committed, the state (police)initiates action against the wrongdoer.

Another important element of thisdefinition is that the act should have

been committed without justification. Therefore, if the act is proved to be inself-defence, it will not be considered

a crime even if it causes injury or harm. Thus, the legal definition of crime emphasises the circumstancesin which a crime is committed.

The social explanation of crime, onthe other hand, emphasises the non-legal aspects of a crime. In this sense,

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crime is a behaviour or an activity that disregards the social code of a particular community. Such a deviationis considered to be ‘an anti-social act’.Since a crime threatens the social order and endangers person and property, it is regarded as dysfunctional to society as well as an individual. Accordingly,the sociologists consider as crimes not only theft, robbery and murder but also

vandalism, suicide, drug addiction etc.

It is important to bear in mind that the social definition of crime looks for the source of crime in the very natureof society rather than in the biologicalor psychological nature of theindividual (criminal). Thus, sociologistslike Robert K. Merton argue that deviance is the outcome of the cultureand structure of a society itself. It is not the result of ‘pathological personalities’.

As norms and values of different

societies are different, the nature of conformity to these norms is alsodifferent. Crime is also related todegrees of social cohesion and theextent of social control existing in a society. It reflects the breakdown of social cohesion because it appears that the individual is unrestrained from thepublic pressure.

Obviously, the legal and socialdefinitions of crime lay stress on thedifferent aspects of a crime. The legal

dimension is essentially based on thelegal code, while the social dimensionhighlights the societal norms. Theformer is codified and ordinarily written,

while the latter is more often than not abstract and subtle. In several casesthey do not coincide. For example,

dowry is now an offence in India under the Anti-Dowry Act. But it continues to

be widespread all over the country. Thus, dowry is a crime but its socialacceptance exists as the peopleunhesitatingly indulge in this practice.

Accordingly, it becomes difficult toresolve which type of violation of normis a crime and which is not a crime.However, the legal definition of crimeis more precise and explicit and it isused for all practical purposes. It isused in compiling crime data and for official actions.

Explanation of Criminal Behaviour

As in the case of several other socialphenomena, the criminal behaviour hasalso been explained differently by different scholars. We shall consider here the four major explanations of crime—biological, psychological,economic and sociological.

The biological explanation of crimeis also known as the theory of ‘borncriminal’. It is primarily based on thephysiological and hereditary aspects of criminal behaviour. According to thisexplanation, the primary cause of crimeis ‘biological inferiority’. It believesthat biological inferiority is inheritedand is reflected in characteristics suchas sloping forehead, thin lips, body hair,

small ears etc. Thus, a particular typeof biological inferiority causes a particular type of crime. In this sense,the criminals constitute a distinct typeand are born, not made by the society.

This understanding of crime has not only been sharply criticised but has

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101SOCIAL DEVIANCE

almost been rejected. The biologicalnotion of crime has no valid scientific

basis and is one-sided. Criminality isnot a biological but a social fact. It is, therefore, meaningless to give voiceto the biological factor without taking into account the learning andsocial experience and dimension of the problem.

The psycholog ical analysis of crime causation is largely concerned

with the relationship between mentaldeficiency and crime. Charles Goring,on the basis of his study of prisoners,claimed that there was more ‘weak-mindedness’ in the prison populationthan in the general population. He,thus, concluded that mentaldeficiency was an important cause of crime. Another study reported resultsof intelligence tests; and maintainedthat the greatest single cause of

delinquency and crime was low-gradementality or feeble-mindedness. In broader terms, psychological traitslike dominance or submission,optimism or pessimism cause ways of

behaviour which are established in the young child. They lead to emotionaldisturbances causing delinquency and crime. Hence the psychologicalexplanation of crime attempts tolocate causes of criminal behaviour inthe psychology of human beings.

As against the biolog ical andpsychological causes of criminal

behaviour, there are scholars whosituate crime in the economic structureof the society. They focus on theinfluence of economic conditions oncriminal behaviour. This approach

shows that a criminal is a product of the economic environment in which sheor he lives. By showing a relationship

between crime and poverty, it has beenconcluded that the rate of crime ishigher among the poor than the rich.In the course of his research, a Britishcriminologist, Cyril Burt found that 19per cent juvenile delinquents belongedto extremely poor families and 37 per cent to poor families at a particular

time. The idea of economic explanationof crime is also found in the Marxianapproach. Marx, of course, did not specifically talk about a theory of criminal behaviour but he argued that the economic system determines

various dimensions of socialrelationship. The environment for criminal behaviour is created by theeconomic disparity that exists in a society. The unequal distribution of property and power leads to sharp classdivision in which the underprivilegedand unemployed resort to crime.However, it is difficult to show a direct relationship between poverty andcrime. Criminals are not found only among the poor. A large number of criminals are also from the upper classes. We find more criminals in poor families because it is easier to locatethem. On the other hand, criminals fromthe rich and the upper class groups

escape arrests and convictions due totheir influence and power.

Finally, let us examine thesociological explanation of crime.Sociologists argue that criminal

behaviour is learnt and is conditioned by social environment. But this basic

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issue of the causation of crime has been approached differently by sociologists.

The social disorganisation approachexplains crime in terms of pathologicalliving conditions and breakdown of harmonious relations. This explanation

was not essentially concerned with thestudy of crime itself but emerged out of the studies concerning problems of urban living. According to thisapproach, criminals and deviants areseen as a small minority who occupy a marginal position in society. It isprimarily the result of faulty socialisation.

The structural approach shows therelationship between crime and socialstructure. Durkheim suggested that the causes of individual deviation wererelated to the degree of integrationand cohesiveness existing in a society.

In this sense, deviant behaviour is a normal adaptation to living within a society. Durng his study of suicide,Durkheim developed the concept of anomie and used it to explain thecondition of normlessness. He claimedthat anomie resulted from a socialfailure to control and regulateindividual behaviour. Subsequently,R.K. Merton used the concept of anomie beyond suicide and explainedall forms of deviance. Anomie is

dependent on the interaction betweencultural goals and institutionalmeans. In other words, wheninstitutional means are not adequateto achieve cultural goals, it leads to

weakening of people’s commitment tothe culturally prescribed goals. It

gives rise to a state of anomie. In this way, Merton explains that certainsocial structures put pressure onsome person to engage in non-conformist rather than conformist

behaviours.

VIOLENCE

The study of the nature and scale of violence has assumed a central place

in social sciences, today. Historians andpolitical scientists have written a lot onpolitical and military violence.Psychologists have conceptualised its

basic nature within the framework of individual psychology. Then, lately,sociologists have discussed the natureof violent behaviour in the context of social change. The intent of this sectionis to examine only three aspects of thephenomenon of violence, namely meaning of violence, violence as a

strategy of change and the nature of viol ent act iv it ies preva il ing incontemporary India.

Meaning of Violence

The starting point for an understandingof the meaning of violence is to show

whether ‘aggression’ as the cause of violent behaviour is ‘given’ in humansor it is acquired from the society. Somescholars suggest that aggression is

inherent in animal behaviour. By applying this observation, drawn fromanimals, they argue that aggression and

violence are also inherent in human beings . Nevertheless, we are not inclined to take such a position. Human

beings are not at the levels of animals.

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103SOCIAL DEVIANCE

Therefore, human violence cannot beunderstood from the standpoint of animal behaviour.

Human beings are not essentially violent. They acquire violent instinctsin the course of socialisation. Such

violent instincts once acquired arefurther intensified by social andenvironmental factors. This providesthe social context in which violent

behaviour can be explained adequately.

Violence is a direct or indirect actionapplied to restrain, injure or destroy persons or property. In this sense,

violence is not only inflicting damage or injury to persons through direct physical attack but it may also beindirectly causing damage to persons or property. Preventing workers to enter thefactory through picketing may not look

violent as no physical force is applied todamage the property of the factory, but

it may cause loss of production. This iscalled indirect damage.

Violence is, thus, different fromaggression. While aggression is theentire spectrum of assertive andattacking behaviours, violence is a sub-form of aggression and is accompanied

by emotional anger or hostility. Thephysical assault induced by anger occurs when people feel that they cannot achieve their goals due to interferencefrom external forces. For example, when

landless people realise that the existingagrarian structure itself is animpediment to change, they may resort to violence to transform the system.

What we attempt to clarify is that thecause of violence is located in socialsystem itself.

Lewis Coser in his famous book The Functions of Social Conflict arguesthat violence, in its occurrence and form,is socially structured. He highlightssome positive social functions of violence.

Violence serves social structures by furnishing mechanisms for conflict resolution when established authority fails to accommodate demands of

various groups. C. Wright Mills also saysthat all politics is a struggle for power,the ultimate kind of power is violence.

Ted Robert Gurr in his often quoted work Why Men Rebel maintains that political

violence is a part of the self- adjustingconflict situation which contributes tosocietal equilibrium.

It is obvious that sociologists donot use the term violence strictly inthe psychological sense of a violent personality. They have added socialmeaning to the uses of the term. This

aspect of the problem will be further clarified when we deal with the typesof violence.

Types of Violence

One broad distinction is made betweenpersonal violence and structural violence.Examples of personal violence aremurder, physical assault and abuse dueto personal rivalries, property disputesand so on. Structural violence, on the

other hand, is rooted in the exploitativeand inegalitarian social system. Castesystem in India and race relations in theUnited States of America are suitableexamples of exploitative social system.

Political violence broadly comprisesthree major types— turmoil, conspiracy

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and internal war. Turmoil is a relatively spontaneous and unorganised political

violence. It includes violent politicalstrikes, riots, political clashes etc.Conspiracy is a highly organisedpolitical violence with limitedparticipation. Some examples of conspiracy are political assassination,small-scale terrorism, guerrilla warsand coups d’ etat . Internal war is a highly organised political violence with

widespread popular participation. It may attempt to overthrow the existingregime. Extensive violence, civil war and large-scale terrorism are someother dimensions of internal war.

Of late, two types of violence, namely communal violence and terrorism, have

been discussed. Communal violencemay take place within a community among various groups like religiousgroups, caste groups, linguistic groups

etc. But, in most cases, communal violence refers to clashes between thefollowers of different religions. For example, in our own country, theunfortunate clashes between theHindus and the Muslims areconsidered to be communal riots. Suchriots create not only law and order problems but also strained relationsamong the people. It is a serious socialproblem, particularly, for a multi-religious country like ours.

Terrorism is a special form of violence which is fast spreading. Youmust have heard about the hijackingof planes, bombing of religious placesand hostage takings. The bombing of the World Trade Centre in the UnitedStates of America and the attack on our

Parliament building are some recent examples of terrorism. Terrorism may

be defined as a type of disguised violence based on the indiscriminateuse of violence for altering the state of mind of a nation or group whosemembers are attacked. The primary objective of terrorists is to create terror in the minds of people and groups whoare their targets. Indiscriminate violenceagainst innocent people is used for a

variety of reasons. One reason is to forcea nation to carry out the terrorists’ goal.For example, a group of terroristshijacked an Indian Airlines plane fromKathmandu (Nepal) in 1999 and heldhundreds of passengers hostage inKandhar (Afghanistan) for several days

while demanding that India releasethree terrorists serving jail terms in theIndian prisons. Another objective of a terrorist violence is to attract attentionto the terrorist cause. Terrorists

mobilise the mass media to spread a message for which dramatic violent actsare performed. It gives publicity to theterrorists. It helps them to instill fear inthe minds of the people. In several partsof the world, terrorist activities arehighly organised and even funded by the respective governments.

Problem of Violence

Social change may at times operate

through institutional means. They areconsidered institutional because they are legal, legitimate and socially sanctioned. These channels areaccepted by the society as changesinduced through these means aresmooth and in conformity with social

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105SOCIAL DEVIANCE

values. However, sociologists have alsoexamined the use of violence andconflicts as strategies to effect change.

There are two basic issues involvedin the linkages between social changeand violent strategy. In the first place,tension and violence may be naturaloutcomes of social change. Secondly,conflict and violence may be taken asinstruments to effect change andtransformation. Both these issues have

been consistently debated all over the world. However, the discussion in thissection will be limited to only thosechange efforts in which violent meansare deliberately used in bringing about social change.

Human beings have been alwaysinspired to establish a social order

which ensures freedom. The freedomfrom hunger, misery, exploitation andinjustice has, therefore, been a desired

goal of every human group. But, despitesignificant scientific and technologicaladvancements the institutionalstructure has not been able to achievethe goal. Inequality of wealth, status andpower continues to characterise the

world social order. Such a social systemperpetuates exploitation, increasesinequality and sustains discrimination.Under these circumstances, thedisadvantaged sections of society may

violently react against such inequalities

to alter the existing situation.Nonetheless, it is to be noted that

such violent reactions assume twoforms. While the reactions of somegroups and classes are sporadic andtemporary, some are involved insustained violent activities. The violent

reactions of the first group of people aretemporary in nature because, for them,

violence and conflict are not based onan ideology. They are merely anexpression of anger against theprevailing exploitative system. Thus,such groups normally combine violent struggles with non-violent activities.

The struggle of the factory workers, for example, may become violent in certaincases. But such violence may not

sustain for long.

On the other hand, certain groupsare under the influence of revolutionary ideology. Such groups repose faith inthe strategy of class struggle and accept

violence as the means for bringingabout social change. The most suitableexample in this regard is that of theMarxists. Marxian ideals recognisestruggle as an instrument of revolutionand highlight violent struggle as the

driving force in history. Consequently,most of the struggles that areinfluenced by this ideology assume a

violent form. Contemporary Marxist revolutionaries emphasise the role of guerrilla war as an appropriate meansof insurrection and revolt.

What we are trying to show is that violence is also a strategy of change.Spontaneous violence is a commonmeans through which the deprivedgroups attract attention to their

grievances. They go beyond theaccepted means to promote change. Theuse of violent strategies, thus, threatensthe existing political system and ignoresthe established procedures. Therefore,it is called extra-legal or extra-constitutional means. The Naxalite

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movement in India is a good examplein this respect. However, not all violent activities of this type achieve desiredgoals. Many individuals participate insuch activities to procure goods andarticles, money and materials throughlooting and vandalism. They use theoccasion to vent their anger against specific shopkeepers and merchants

who had not obliged them earlier.

Normally, the use of violent strategies is not considered a desirablemeans to bring about social change.

The use of violence disturbs peace inthe society and in reality inhibits theprocess of planned social change.Moreover, violence tends to restrict theemergence of a truly democratic andhumanistic society. It negatively affectsindividual personality. Thus, theappropriate strategy to change a society is a sustained non-violent struggle.

CRIME IN INDIA

It should be distinctly clear by now that crime is a serious social problemand it arises out of pathological socialconditions. Crimes are committed inall societies, but there may bedifference in their nature and degreeacross societies. Our own country isno exception to this pattern.

Although the official crime statistics

in India have some obviouslimitations, we can ascertain enoughfacts from them to identify trends inthis regard.

The crime statistics show that out of the total crime committed in India every year, approximately 16 lakh

crimes are cognisable crimes under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Thesecrimes include theft, burglary,robbery, murder, kidnapping,cheating etc. As against this, thenumber of offences under local andspecial laws is about 35 lakh. Thesecomprise crimes related to gambling,dowry, prohibition, drug abuse,immoral trafficking etc. It isinteresting to point out here that,

compared to several developedcountries, the crime rate in India isnot very high. The crime rate per lakhpopulation in our own country is614.79, in Canada it is 10,955, inBritain it is 10,404 and in the UnitedStates of America it is 5,898.

The pattern of cognisable crimessuggests that, of the total offences, 14.4per cent are violent crimes like murder,rape, kidnapping etc., 26 per cent are

property crimes, 3.1 per cent are white-collar crimes such as cheating, breachof trust, and the rest (56.5 per cent) areuncategorised crimes. According to theCrime in India statistics of 1994, crimerate is the highest in the age group of 18–30 years (51 per cent) , less than1 per cent (0.2 per cent) in the age groupof below 16 years, about 1per cent (1.2per cent) in the age group 16–18 years,41 per cent in the age group 30–50

years and 7 per cent in the age group

of 50 plus. We have described briefly these

facts to highlight the crime scenario inIndia. In presenting these facts our objective is to indicate how motives for conformity to social norms are decliningday-by-day in our country. This

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107SOCIAL DEVIANCE

dimension of the problem will be further evident when we examine some major types of crime committed in India.

Juvenile Delinquency

The sociological understandingregards a delinquent as a member of a group who deviates from group norms.In this context, crimes committed by children are considered differently from

those of the adults. In case of themisconduct of a juvenile, the focus ison two aspects—age and conduct. Ageis important from the point of view of maturity. A child below a certain ageis considered immature and, therefore,irresponsible. Conduct, on the other hand, is taken as an important aspect of delinquency because if not checkedin time the young offender may

become an adult criminal.

Ordinarily, in terms of age, a juvenile

delinquent is considered an under-agecriminal. A child who is between the ageof 7 and 16 or 18 years is includedunder this category. In India, themaximum age today for juveniledelinquents is 16 years for boys and18 years for girls. It has been estimatedthat of the total delinquenciescommitted by the juveniles, hardly 2 per cent cases come to the notice of the police and courts. The NationalCrime Records Bureau data show that

in India about 50 thousanddelinquencies were committed under the Indian Penal Code and about 85thousand under the local and speciallaws upto the last decade. The highest number of delinquencies committed by the children has had economic

motivation such as theft, burglary androbbery. Similarly, rates of delinquency are higher for boys than girls, that is,girls commit fewer crimes than boys.

A number of factors are responsiblefor increase in the cases of juveniledelinquencies. Broadly, they may bedivided under two categories:individual factors and situationalfactors. Individual factors consist of personality traits like hostility, feelingof insecurity, fear, emotional conflict,defiance etc. The situational factorsinclude family environment, peer groupinfluence, school environment,influence of movies and so on. Whileindividual factors are no doubt important, the changing socialenvironment has become moresignificant in inducing young people todelinquency. It hardly needselaboration that harmful and immoralacts like smoking, drinking, violenceand brutality depicted in a largenumber of movies and story booksleave a lasting impression on the fragileminds of the children. They learn new techniques of violence and crimethrough movies. The reported cases of involvement of young people innumerous crimes using methods learnt from these sources amply support our contention.

White-Collar Crime or OccupationalCrime

It was E.H. Sutherland, a criminologist, who identified and highlighted for thefirst time the nature of white-collar crime. Sutherland defined white-collar crime as “a violation of the criminal law

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by a person of the upper socio-economic class in the course of hisoccupational activities.” He further added that the upper socio-economicclass is defined not only by its wealth

but also by its respectability andprestige in society. However, the term‘white-collar’ is no longer popular andin its place the term ‘occupationalcrime’ is more frequently used inliterature. Thus, violations of

law committed by groups like businesspersons, professionals andgovernment officials in connection withtheir occupations are considered as

white-collar or occupational crimes. The scope of occupational crime hasnow been widened to include evenmisrepresentation in advertising,

violation of labour laws, financialmanipulation and violation of copyright laws.

There are di ff erent kinds of occupational crimes witnessed in India today. They are being committed not only by the upper section of the people

but also by the people from the middleand the lower classes. Such crimes havean economic content and involvefinancial transactions. Therefore,sometimes they are also called‘economic crimes’.

In India, some common economicoffences are concealment of income,

avoiding payment of taxes and seekingillegal personal gratification like falsesales. Hawala transactions, embezzle-ments of public fund, adulteration of food and drugs, banking and insurancefrauds, foreign exchange violation,hoarding and black-marketing are

some other examples of economicoffences.

It should be noted here that thenature and number of white-collar crimes have changed in India duringthe last few decades. Obviously, it is

with the result of the expansion andchange in economic activities in thecountry. People are motivated more by personal gains and profits and less by societal interests. The problem assumesa serious proportion when it is foundthat while ordinary criminals are afraidof enforcement agencies like police, the

white-collar offenders do not feel so.Consequently, despite the increasingincidences of economic offences, thenumber of persons prosecuted andpunished has not gone up.

Organised Crime

So far, we have discussed crimes

mainly committed by individuals. But there are crimes which are based ongroup efforts. Crime that involves a group of persons for its execution iscalled organised crime. It is like a teamwork that is executed in a well-organised fashion. Criminologists haveidentified three major types of organisedcrime. They are gang criminality,racketeering and syndicated crime.Gang criminality includes extortion,robbery and kidnapping. Such crimes

are committed through gangs of toughand hardened criminals. Racketeeringinvolves dishonest way of getting money

by cheating people, selling adulteratedcommodities, spurious drugs etc.Racketeers also act as protectors of illegitimate business. It is a common

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109SOCIAL DEVIANCE

crime in large cities. Syndicated crimeis carried out by an organised criminalgang and is often called mafia. Themajor influential mafias operate inmetros like Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi.

It is not very difficult to assess theprevalence of organised crimes in India.

The number of such cr imes hasincreased substantially and hascovered large geographical areas.Betting, drug trafficking, automobiletheft and supply of illegal arms toinsurgents are some commonplaceexamples.

GLOSSARY

A NOMIE. This term was given by Emile Durkheim. It means the situation of normlessness

JUVENILE DELINQUENCY . Offences done by either a girl (below 18 years) or a boy (below 16 years).

S TRUCTURAL VIOLENCE. Violence that breaks the harmony and existence of a social structure.

PERSONAL VIOLENCE. Violence against an individual.

EXERCISE

1. What do you understand by crime?2. What are the four major explanations of crime?

3. How does Emile Durkheim explain individual deviation?

4. Differentiate between violence and aggression.

5. Explain the different types of violence.

6. How does violence lead to social change?

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Ahuja, Ram, Criminology , Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 2000.

2. Chandra, Susil, Sociology of Deviance in India , Allied Publications,

New Delhi, 1967.3. Seth, H., Juvenile Delinquency in Indian Setting , Popular Prakashan,

Mumbai, 1960.

4. Clinard, Marshall B., Sociology of Deviant Behaviour , Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., New York, 1957.

5. Wickman, Peter, Whitten, Phillip and Levey, Robert, Criminology :Perspectives on Crime and Criminality , Lexington Mass, Heath, 1980.

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CHAPTER 2

Cultural Processes of Change

In the previous chapter we haveexamined the structural processes of change. You are familiar with theconcept that culture is an accumulatedstore of symbols, ideas and materialproducts which are transmitted fromone generation to the other. Culturalforms regulate social activities. Thus, inthe present context, cultural processesof change show the various waysthrough which Indian culture respondsto numerous changes earlier

introduced in India. The sourcesof change fall under two broader categories—endogenous and exogenous.

While endogenous sources of changeoriginate from within the society,exogenous sources flow from outside a particular society. Changes in thecultural structure of India haveemanated from both endogenous andexogenous sources. In the followingsections, the significance of thesecultural processes has been discussed

with the help of four concepts namely,Sanskritisation, Islamisation, Westernisation and Secularisation.

SANSKRITISATION

Sanskritisation has emerged as themost influential concept to explain

cultural and social changes in India. The term was first used by M. N. Srinivasin the course of his study of the Coorgsin erstwhile State of Mysore.Subsequently, further refinements have

been brought in the concept by sociologists to effectively describe theprocess of cultural mobility in thetraditional social structure in India.

Accord ing to Sr inivas,“Sanskritisation is a process by whicha ‘low’ Hindu caste, or tribal or other

group changes its customs, ritual,ideology, and way of life in the directionof a high, and frequently, ‘twice-born’caste.” Srinivas found that lower castes,in order to raise their position in castehierarchy, adopted some of the practicesof the Brahmans . At the same time,these castes gave up some of their owncustoms, which were consideredimpure such as meat-eating,consumption of alcohol and animalsacrifice to their deities. They also

emulated life-styles of the high casteBrahmans in terms of dress, food andrituals. By imitating these practices thelower castes claimed higher positionover a period of time in the localhierarchy of castes. This processof mobility was initially called

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15CULTURAL PROCESSES OF CHANGE

Brahmanisation. But it was realisedlater that the process described asBrahmanisation was not a generaltrend and the lower castes in severalcases adopted the practices of the non-Brahman higher castes. Therefore, theterm Brahmanisation was replaced by Sanskritisation which was consideredmore appropriate.

Sanskritisation is an endogenoussource of upward mobility for a caste.

The mobility caused by this process,however, leads to only positionalchanges in the system. It does not result in structural change. Changeoccurs within the caste hierarchy. Thecaste system itself does not change.

Sanskritisation is not limited toHindu castes. It also takes place amongthe tribal groups. By resorting toSanskritisation a particular tribe may claim even to be a caste. We notice thisprocess of cultural change among theBhils of western India, the Gonds , theHo and the Oraons of central India. Inthis sense, Sanskritisation is a generalprocess of acculturation. It provides a channel for vertical mobility of groupsand communities. It reveals motivationfor status enhancement throughimitation of the customs, rituals andideologies of the upper castes.

As mentioned earlier, only practicesof the Brahmans are not adopted by the

lower castes. There are other non-Brahman castes who act as models for adoption of ways of life. This aspect of Sanskritisation has been explained withthe help of the concept of the ‘dominant caste’. Srinivas describes it thus, “For a caste to be dominant, it should own a

sizeable amount of the arable landlocally available, have strength of numbers and occupy a high place inthe local hierarchy.” Besides landownership, numerical strength andhigh ritual status, other factors likeeducation, jobs in administration andurban sources of income have alsocontributed to the power and prestigeof certain castes in rural areas.Dominant castes have localised

existence and operate as referencemodels for Sanskritising castes.However, the process of culturaltransmission through the localdominant castes takes different formsin different regions. If the dominant caste in a particular region is theBrahman , it will transmit Brahmanicalfeatures of Sanskritisation. But in casethe locally dominant caste is a Jat, it

will transmit Jat features. In thissense, Sanskritisation is an expressionof a highly regional process of culturalchange.

Nonetheless, it is necessary to point out that the regional pattern of Sanskritisation with its own dominant caste is not completely independent from an all-India system. Sources of influence as Srinivas says may bederived from wider Indian traditionsuch as ‘pilgrimages, harikathas andreligious plays’. Srinivas gives the

example of the Sanskritisation of thePatidars of Gujarat, which owes muchto these sources and the influence of Vallabhachari and Swaminarayan

sects.

However, the process of Sanskritisation is not always steady

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and smooth. When lower castes beginto emulate life-styles of dominant castes it does not go unchallengedeverytime. Minor changes in rituals anddress codes are ignored. But when thelower castes adopt important high-castesymbols, then it is not only contested,even punishments follow. Severalexamples of such contests andpunishments have been reported fromdifferent regions of the country. When

the Noniyas , a low caste of salt-makersin eastern Uttar Pradesh put on thesacred thread en masse , the upper caste landlords ‘beat them, tore off thesacred thread and imposed a collectivefine on the caste’. Similarly, in northBihar, the high caste Bhumihars

prevented the Yadav ( Ahir ) fromassuming the symbols of upper castestatus. Instances of such violent conflicts were not confined to northIndia. In the extreme south of India, theKallar , a dominant caste announcedeight prohibitions in December 1930against the Adi-Dravidas , thedisregard of which led to violent incidents. Their huts were set on fire,granaries were destroyed and even live-stock was looted.

In view of such a response of thedominant caste in a particular area, thelower castes adopted a different strategy to achieve the goal. They

avoided imitating practices likely todisturb the dominant caste. They

would move rather slowly. In somecases certain Sanskritising castesopenly defied the commands.

Although Sanskritisation, moreoften than not, has a local character it

has occurred in every part of India. Inthis sense, it has been a major processof cultural change in Indian history.Historical evidence shows that variousaboriginal groups were assimilated inthe hierarchy of castes according to their social position. Such processes alsogave rise to new castes or sub-castes.

The formation of new caste or sub-caste,in reality, reflected social mobility

within the caste system.

Thus, in the historical sense,Sanskritisation speaks of a process

which brings about changes in thestatus of various castes. This processof cultural change allows not only imitation of life-styles but also bringsnew ideas and values. The Bhakti

movement of medieval period is animportant example in this respect. It

was an all-India movement, whichactively involved the low castes and the

poor. The Bhakti saints pronouncedthat the dignity of human beingsdepended on their actions and not ontheir birth. It was because of thismovement that several individualsfrom the lower castes includinguntouchables became religious leaders.Namdev was a tailor, Tukaram a shopkeeper, Rai a cobbler and Kabir a

weaver. The movement had given a jolt to excessive ritualism and casteatrocities. It spread values of equality and social justice.

ISLAMISATION

It is to be noted here that another process of cultural change has also

been operating in India, which is linked

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to the process of Sanskritisation.Sociologists have called it Islamisation.Indian contact with Islam dates back to the eighth century. Today almost 14per cent Indians follow Islam. It is, thus,an important religious tradition inour country.

The process of the spread of Islamcalled Islamisation is an integral part of our cultural heritage. Accordingly,there are two major aspects of Islamisation that attract our attention.First, the changes which have occurredin the life of the Muslims because of theendogenous change within the traditionof Islam in India. Second, the interaction

between Hinduism and Islam during itslong history which has produced a composite culture.

The significant development in thisrespect took place in the early phase of Islamic expansion and its

consolidation. It broadly happened between A .D.1206–1818. It was animportant period for several reasons as

Yogendra Singh says, “It was not only marked with periods of conflicts andtension but also led to many adaptations and cultural syncretism

between the Hindu and the Islamictraditions.” A more stable co-existenceof Islam with the Hindu and other traditions were the naturalconsequence of this interaction.

When Islam reached India its socialorganisation had started transforming.‘Equality and brotherhood’ continued to

be an ideal but social gradations withinMuslim society had already emerged.

The ruling groups, at the time of arrivalof Islam, consisted of upper groups.

They were called Ashrafs . It includedfour high status groups known asSayyid , Sheikh , Mughal and Pathan .

These groups later assumed caste-likefeatures. They were both political andcultural torch-bearers and carriedforward Islamic cultural tradition.

However, it is important to point out that during this phase numerouschanges occurred within the IndianMuslim society. Changes came not

through the external factors but because of the need of the new socio-cultural situation in which Islam wasnow placed.

The emergence and growth of various orders of the Sufi thought wasthe most significant development in thisregard. Sufis were persons of deepdevotion. Sufism was the teaching that identified God with the universe. Sufis laid great emphasis on love as the link

between God and the individual soul.

Abul Fazl mentions the existence of seventeen Sufi orders in India in thesixteenth century. Some of the practicesof the Sufis such as penance, fastingand holding the breath are traced to theBuddhist and Yogic influences. It isdifficult to say with certainty whether Buddhist and Vedantic ideasinfluenced Sufism or the Sufi ideasoriginated in other philosophicaltraditions. What is important to notehere is that there were many similarities

in the ideas of the Sufis and the HinduYogis about the nature and relationshipof God and the soul. This provided a

basis fo r mutual tol erance andunderstanding.

Though there were several Sufi

orders in India during the medieval

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period only two acquired considerableinfluence during the thirteenth andfourteenth centuries. These were theChishti and Suharwardi orders.Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti establishedthe Chishti order in India. The most famous of the Chishti saints wereNizamuddin Auliya and NasiruddinChirag-e-Delhi. They associated freely

with the people of the lower classesincluding the Hindus. They led a simple

life and talked with people in Hindawi or Hindi. Their popularity alsoincreased because of their musicalrecitations called sama in which oftenHindi verses were used to make a greater impact on their listeners. TheSuharwardi order entered India duringthe same period but its activities wereconfined mainly to Punjab and itssurrounding areas.

Besides the Sufi tradition of Islam,

there were other attempts to reconcilesome aspects of the Hindu tradition with Islam. Among the Muslim rulers, Akbar’s attempt to introduce a synthetic cult called Din-e-Ilahi is wellknown. A synthesis of Upanishadicideas with Islam was advocated by Dara Shikoh. In the field of literature,

Ameer Khusro contributed so muchthat his popularity continues tilltoday. Many other Muslim poets and

writers have also become part of our

literary history. For instance, Jayasi,Nalei, Abdul Rahim Khan-e-Khana,Mirza Asdullah Khan Ghalib have

been true representat ives of our composite culture.

However, it should be rememberedthat cultural co-existence was only one

side of the story. A larger section of thistradition continued to develop onorthodox lines. The orthodox traditionusually heightened distinctions

between what was deemed the correct version of Hinduism or Islam. Thesituation further changed during theBritish regime. The liberal tradition wasgradually taken over by conservativeideas and beliefs. At the local-regionallevel where the bulk of Muslims

consisted of the converts fromHinduism a similar trend was visible.

At this level Islamisation meant anupward social and cultural mobility among the converts to Islam. The desirefor improvement in social status andcorresponding increase in power andprofit motivated lower castes to Islam.Of course, Islamisation throughconversion did not always providegains but it was psychologically satisfying to the people. The large-scale

conversion did not bring an automaticacceptance of their higher status either

by the Hindus or by the Muslims. Inthis sense, Islamisation as a process of cultural change resemblesSanskritisation.

WESTERNISATION

In addition to Sanskritisation, Westernisation is the other major cultural process of change. Like

Sanskritisation, the term Westernisation has also been madepopular in Indian sociology by M. N.Srinivas. It has been used to analysethe exogenous source of social andcultural change in contemporary India.Srinivas, in his book Social Change in

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Modern India explains Westernisationin these words, “the changes brought about in Indian society and culture asa result of over 150 years of British rule,and the term subsumes changesoccurring at different levels— technology, institutions, ideology,

values.”

It is essential to keep in view that the concepts of Sanskritisation and

Westernisation, have been used toexplain social change in India incultural and not in structural terms.

They do not refer to changes takingplace in social structure. Secondly, theterm, Westernisation rather than‘modernisation’, has been favoured by sociologists because this term isneutral. It does not imply whether it isgood or bad. Thus, in spite of itsconceptual limitation, Westernisation isan appropriate term to describe the

British impact on Indian culture. We have already discussed in the

previous chapter that modernindustries were established in India after the Industrial Revolution inBritain. With the growth of science andtechnology in the West during thenineteenth century, factory productionstarted in India, too. The expansion of industries required fast transport andcommunication. This in turn led to the

beginning and extension of railways,

post and telegraph and a wide network of roads. The growth of towns and cities

was its natural consequence.

In the closing years of the eighteenthcentury new arrangements were madein the agrarian system. Modifiedsystems of land settlements were

introduced. Important among them were Zamindari , Raiyatwari andMahalwari settlements. A detailedsurvey was conducted to preparerecords of area and ownership of land.It was used to fix revenue and deriveassured income from land.

Similarly, modern army, police forceand administrative system reachedIndia after the consolidation of the

British rule. The introduction of modernlegal system with organised courtssubstantially changed the judicialpractices in the country.

The establishment of educationalinstitutions was a development of far reaching significance. Though we hada traditional system of schooling evenprior to the British regime, it was not open to all. Education was the privilegeof a handfull of people belonging mainly to the high caste groups. In this sense,

schools and colleges that were startedduring the first half of the nineteenthcentury introduced the system of modern education in India. The Britishalso brought about printing press that facilitated publication of newspapers,

books and magaz ines. Theestablishment of three universities at Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai in 1857paved the way for higher education.

Moreover, Westernisation has

brought new ideas and ideology. Among these ideas and values, the most

important is what Srinivas callshumanitarianism. It is concerned with

‘the welfare of all human beingsirrespective of caste, economic position,

religion, age and gender.’ To put it little

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differently, notions of equality, freedomand secularism are all involved in the

basic idea of humanitarianism. In fact, Wester nisation implies humani-tarianism which in turn facilitatedseveral reforms during the early nineteenth century. The abolition of inhuman practices such as Sati , femaleinfanticide and slavery was the result of reforms initiated by the enlightenedIndian leaders.

Another impact of Westernisationhas been the emergence of commercialmiddle class and traders. Initially, it

was confined to only those regions where British influence was potent. They were invo lved in jobs and vocations that required training andskills different from traditional modesof business and work. Though thepeople comprising this group were not culturally Westernised in the true sense

of the term, their contact with the Western culture was visible. It was fromthis class that a new generation of professionals and educated groupsemerged in subsequent phases of

Westernisation.

It is fascinating to note here that Westernisation has also influencedpolitical ideas and thinking.Nationalism and democracy emerged astwo great ideas in the West. Both theseideas made a journey to different parts

of the world. They came to India through Westernisation. Nationalismstands for the consciousness that givesrise to a nation. The nationalist urge inIndia started in the latter half of thenineteenth century. But before this urgecould crystalise into a struggle for

freedom from British colonial rule, a desire to reform traditional Indiansociety emerged. The establishment of the Brahmo Samaj by Raja Ram MohanRoy in Bengal in 1828 and the Arya

Samaj by Swami Dayanand Saraswatiin Gujarat in 1875 aimed at thereformation of Hinduism. The primary objective of these reform movements

was to remove social evils of Indiansociety, namely rigidity of caste system

and the low status of women.Nationalism in India, as mentioned,

was the result of the contact with the West. The newly educated groups wereexposed to the ideals of liberty anddemocracy through the study of European history and Englishliterature. The question of Indianpolitical identity was relentlessly debated and gradually it led to thedemand for freedom. It is not intendedhere to trace the growth of Indiannationalism through its long history.Our purpose is only to point out that the ideals of nationalism, democraticpolity and secularism have come toIndia under specific historical context.

These systems have been harbinger of cultural modernisation in India.

SECULARISATION

Secularisation is a process of socialchange through which the influence of

religion declines in public affairs.Religion is replaced by other ways of explaining facts and events. Theimportance of religion in regulatingsocial life decreases and it is taken over

by ut il itarian considerat ion. Theinterpretation of reality is in terms of

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reason and rationality. Whensecularisation advances, sciencereplaces religion as the primary approach to understand the naturaland social worlds. Thus, the termsecularisation implies that issues

which were previously regarded asreligious are no longer the same.

It has rightly been suggested that secularisation in India is the result of almost a century of Westernisation inthe country. The process started withthe consolidation of British rule andgradually picked-up momentum withthe development of transport andcommunication. We have seen earlier that industrialisation and urbanisationincreased spatial mobility. The peoplemigrated from rural areas to urbanareas and from towns to cities in largenumber. The spread of educationchanged value preferences which in

turn furthered the cause of secularisation.

Before discussing the domains of secularisation, it would be proper toindicate how both Sanskritisation andsecularisation are simultaneously operating in the contemporary India.Explaining the reason M. N. Srinivas

writes, “Of the two, secularisation is themore general process, affecting allIndians, while Sanskritisation affectsonly Hindus and tribal groups.

Broadly, it would be true to say that secularisation is more marked amongthe urban and educated groups, andSanskritisation among the lower Hinducastes and tribes.”

Historically, secularisation of Indiansocial and cultural life became intense

with the new developments in social andcultural arena. The struggle for freedomespecially in its Gandhian phaseunleashed several forces that increasedsecularisation. The civil disobediencecampaign launched by Mahatma Gandhi mobilised the masses. Likewise,mobilisation of people against socialevils in Hindu society such asuntouchability also contributed toincreased secularisation.

This process was fur ther strengthened with the attaining of independence in 1947, and with theadoption of a Republican Constitutionin 1950, India emerged as a secular state. The Constitution adopted in freeIndia guarantees freedom of religion. It declares that there will be nodiscrimination on the basis of religionin employment and education. Theintroduction of universal adult

franchise and the equality of citizens before law were some other stepsundertaken to ensure the secular character of the Indian State.

We shall now discuss the process of secularisation of Indian social andcultural life. The secularisation processhas affected every aspect of personaland social life. Some changes are,however, apparent whereas some othersmay be disguised. Its effects are not uniformly felt. For example, urban

dwellers are generally much moreinfluenced by it than the rural folk.Educated sections are deeply movedcompared to the illiterates. Similarly,some regions of the country are moreexposed to the secularisation processthan others.

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The secularisation process hasmade its most effective impact on theideas of pollution and purity. You arealready aware that ideas of pollutionand purity are central to the lives of people in general and among theHindus in particular. The notion of pollution and purity determines thehierarchy of castes. It defines the socialdistance between various castes. Somecastes are considered superior and

others inferior because some areconsidered pure and others are takenas relatively impure. This idea is not only visible in the structure of castehierarchy but also in food, occupation,styles of life and daily routine. Meat eating and consumption of liquor areconsidered polluting but vegetarianismand teetotalism are pure practices. A similar distinction is made inoccupations. Occupations that involvemanual labour are regarded lower thanthose, which do not require such work.

The most conspicuous expression of theprevailing notions of pollution andpurity has been the inhuman practiceof untouchability in the caste system.

The process of secularisation hasconsiderably reduced and weakenedthe ideas of pollution and purity. Peopleno longer try to know the caste

background of fellow passengers in a bus or a train. They hardly bother

about it while visiting restaurants andhotels. The rules of pollution are not observed at the place of work particularly in the urban settings. Thestyles of life are influenced more by therequirements of jobs and occupationsthan by caste and religion. The fact

being emphasised here is that theorthodox elements of caste and religionare gradually losing significance in theface of growing secularisation of life andculture. As a result of increasedsecularisation and mobility castesystem has ceased to sustain those

values that were hither consideredessential.

Nonetheless, it is important to point out that while religious values attachedto the caste system are disappearing,its role in secular domains like politicsis increasing. Now, people are beingmobilised on caste lines for politicalpurposes. It is a fascinating sociologicalquestion, which needs to be probed,

but is currently beyond our scope.

There are two other areas, whichhave been affected by the process of secularisation. They are family systemand village community. While the

gradual structural transformation infamily produces change ininterpersonal relationships, other elements of family life are equally affected. Ceremonies and ritualsperformed in family such as marriagerituals, funeral rites, worship of family deities all are assuming a different character. They are either curtailed or shortened to suit the convenience of theconcerned family. Now, some of theseceremonies are used as occasions to

display and advertise affluence. Theostentation associated with weddingreceptions has nothing to do withreligious practices, which were earlier observed at the time of marriage.Likewise several community festivalshave acquired new meaning and

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observances. Baisakhi in Punjab iscelebrated more as a cultural festivalthan a religious one. People fromdifferent religious groups join andenjoy its festivity. Durgapuja andDushahara have assumed new character and their religious ritualshave receded into the background.Hundreds of pandals are tastefully decorated displaying variouscontemporary social and political

issues. The latest trend in organisingIftar party during the holy monthof Ramzan is also a pointer inthis respect.

The village community is alsoinfluenced by changes taking place ineconomic, political and cultural fields.

The internal differentiation created by economic forces has altered theharmonious community feelingsamong villagers. Levels of aspirationshave heightened in the wake of numerous developmental measuresundertaken by the government. Theattitude of surrender before fate and

divine will, commonly found among thepoor and deprived, has been replaced

by the attitude of defiance. They are theproducts of the process of secularisation.

GLOSSARY

T WICE-BORN CASTE. The upper caste who undergoes the initiation or the ‘threadceremony’ to become dwij , known as twice born.

A CCULTURATION. The process by which a dominant group imposes its cultureso effectively on subordinate groups that they become virtually indistinguishable from the dominant culture is called acculturation.

DIN-E-ILAHI. A new religion started by the Mughal emperor Akbar which was a synthesis of many religions.

R AIYATWARI AND MAHALWARI. A system of payment of land revenue imposed by theBritish government on the peasants, where the peasants had to pay a certain amount of revenue for their land to the Zamindars .

EXERCISE

1. Explain the meaning of term ‘Sanskritisation’.2. Define dominant caste. Illustrate your answer with some examples of

dominant caste.

3. Distinguish Sanskritisation from Islamisation.

4. Discuss the relationship between Sanskritisation and Westernisation.

5. What is the relationship between Westernisation and Secularisation.

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SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Srinivas, M.N., Social Change in Modern India , Orient Longman,New Delhi, 1972.

2. Srinivas, M.N., The Dominant Caste and Other Essays , Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1987.

3. Desai, A.R., India’s Path of Development , Popular Prakashan, Mumbai,1984.

4. Beteille, Andre, Caste : Old and New, Asia Publishing House, Mumbai,1969.

5. Singh, Yogendra, Modernisation of Indian Tradition , Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1988.

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25STATE AND SOCIAL CHANGE

CHAPTER 3

State and Social Change

Before analysing the role of state insocial change, we must clarify thenotion of state itself for a better understanding of the subject. A conventional definition says that a stateis a community of persons occupyinga definite territory, independent of external control and having anorganised government. All the major elements of state—population, territory,sovereignty and government—areincluded in this statement. State is also

regarded as a social institution whichhas monopoly over the use of force. It has the authority to exercise controlover its citizens. Like all other socialinstitutions, the state is organisedaround a set of social functions. It maintains law and order and resolves

various kinds of disputes through thelegal system. The welfare of the peopleis another domain of its activities.

However, it has to be kept in view

that the state is not the same asgovernment. State as a socialinstitution consists of a form andprocedure for performing variousfunctions. The parliamentary system of

government, for example, is one way of achieving various tasks of governance.

Thus, a government is a collection of people who at any given time occupy the positions of authority within a state.In this sense, governments regularly come and go but the state remains.

The notion of welfare state isimportant in the context of the role of a state in social and economic reforms. A

welfare state is a system in which thegovernment assumes basicresponsibility for the welfare of itscitizens. The state ensures that peoplehave access to essential resources likefood, housing, health care, education ,employment and so on. Thus, thequestion of state’s action to accomplishits welfare role assumes significance. A state has to develop policies andprogrammes for the promotion of thecommon good of its citizens.

Ours is the largest democracy in the world. We have adopted a republicanConstitution and a parliamentary

system of government after theIndependence. We also resolved tosecure justice, liberty, equality andfraternity for all our citizens.

In the sections that follow weexamine the role of the state in India in

br inging about change through

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numerous measures undertaken sincethe Independence.

CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS

India is a Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic with a parlia-mentary system of government. TheRepublic is governed in terms of theConstitution, which was adopted by theConstituent Assembly on 26

November

1949 and came into force on 26 January 1950. The Constitution of India has thedistinction of being the lengthiest writtenconstitution in the world. It containsprovisions not only for the smoothdemocratic functioning of thegovernments of the Union and the states

but also for ensuring equality and liberty to the citizens. There are provisions

which provide channels for all-rounddevelopment of the people . In this sense,the Constitution is the prime mover of

social change. Some of theseconstitutional provisions have beendiscussed here to illustrate the point.

Fundamental Rights

The Constitution of India has providedsome basic rights to all citizens. Theseare known as Fundamental Rights.

These are fundamental because theseare essential for civilised humanexistence. In the context of our

Constitution these are calledfundamental because these areprotected by the written Constitutionand cannot be altered without amending the Constitution.

There are six categor ies of Fundamental Rights. Articles 12 to 35

contained in Part III of the Constitutiondeal with these rights. These are:

(i) Right to Equality: According tothis provision, the State shall not deny to any person equality before law. It also prohibits the State fromdiscriminating against any individualon the grounds of religion, race, caste,gender or place of birth. It further provides equality of opportunity in

matters of public employment. Abolition of untouchability in any formhas been specified by Article 17.

(ii) Right to Freedom: This right consists of Freedom of (a) speech andexpression; (b) peaceful assembly

without arms; (c) forming associationsand Unions; (d) free-movement throughout the territory of India;(e) residence and settlement in any part of the country; and (f) practice of any profession, occupation, trade

or business.(iii) Right against Exploitation: It

prohibits all forms of forced labour, childlabour and traffic in human beings.

(iv) Right to Freedom of Religion:

Every person has the right to profess,practice and propagate any religion. Noperson is compelled to pay taxes for themanagement of any particular religion.

According to it, no person is allowed toimpart religious instructions in state-

owned educational institutions.(v) Cultural and Educational

Rights: Every section of citizen has theright to conserve its distinct culture,language and script. Further, allminorities whether based on religionor language have the right to establish

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and administer educational institutionsof their choice.

(vi) Right to Constitutional

Remedies: Under this, every person hasthe right to seek justice for theenforcement of Fundamental Rights.

Directive Principles of State Policy

The Constitution lays down certainDirective Principles of State Policy.

Like the Fundamental Rights, theideals behind the Principles wererooted in our freedom struggle.Leaders of the freedom strugglestrived not only for political freedom

but also for social and economicupliftment of the toiling millions.

These Principles were inserted in theConstitution to provide guidelines for the determination of policies andactions to be undertaken by the Stateafter Independence. Articles 36 to 51of Part IV of our Constitution deal

with these Principles.

The sign if icant aspect of theDirective Principles is that “the Stateshall strive to promote the welfare of thepeople by securing and protecting aseffectively as it may, a social order in

which justice—social, economic andpolitical—shall inform all theinstitutions of the national life.” Keepingthis objective in view the State shall

secure (a) adequate means of livelihoodfor all citizens; (b) control anddistribution of wealth so as to subservethe common good; (c) equal pay for equal work; (d) health and strength for all from economic avocations, and(e) protection from child labour.

The state is expected to take stepsand secure other social, economic andpolitical programmes. Some other programmes include (a) organisationof village panchayats , (b) right to work and to education, (c) uniform civil codefor the citizens, (d) provision for free and compulsory education,(e) promotion of educational andeconomic interests of ScheduledCastes, Scheduled Tribes and other

weaker sections, and (f) separation of the judiciary from the executive.

It is, however, important to note that there is one basic difference between theFundamental Rights and the DirectivePrinciples of the State policy. While the

violat ion of the former can bechallenged in the court of law, the latter is not enforceable by any court. In other

words, if a citizen’s fundamental rightsare curtailed she/he can seek justice

from the court. But if the State does not undertake any programme provided for in the Directive Principles, she/hecannot move the court for itsenforcement. It does not, however, meanthat these Directive Principles have no

value. The Constitution clearly statesthat Directive Principles “are,nevertheless, fundamental in thegovernance of the country and it shall

be the duty of the State to apply theseprinciples in making laws.”

Fundamental Duties

The Constitution of India has alsoenumerated fundamental duties for thecitizens. By the 42nd amendment of theConstitution, adopted in 1976, Article

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51A was inserted in Chapter IVA of theConstitution. Accordingly, it shall be theduty of every citizen of India:

(a) to abide by the Constitution;

(b) to cherish and follow the nobleideas which inspired our national struggle for freedom;

(c) to uphold and protect thesovereignty and integrity of thecountry;

(d) to defend the country andrender national services;

(e) to promote harmony and thespirit of common brotherhoodamongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguisticand regional or sectionaldiversities; to renouncepractices derogatory to thedignity of women;

(f) to preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture;

(g) to protect the naturalenvironment;

(h) to develop the scientific temper;

(i) to safeguard public property and to abjure violence; and

(j) to strive towards excellence in allspheres of individual andcollective activity.

We have discussed, so far, some of the general provisions in theConstitution of India having

implications for social change. TheConstitution also makes some specialprovisions for the deprived anddisadvantaged groups of populationsuch as women, children, ScheduledCastes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and Minorities.

These special provisions essentially emanate from the basic features of our Constitution mentioned above. Let usnow examine these specialconstitutional provisions.

Women

While Article 14 of the Constitution of India confers equal rights andopportunities for women and men in

political, economic and social spheres, Article 15 prohibits discriminationagainst any citizen on the grounds of gender. Article 15 (3) empowers the Stateto make affirmative discrimination infavour of women. Similarly, Article 39enjoins upon the State to provide equalmeans of livelihood and equal pay for equal work. Article 42 directs the Stateto make provisions for ensuring just andhumane conditions of work andmaternity relief. Finally, Article 51 A

imposes a Fundamental Duty on every citizen to renounce the practicesderogatory to the dignity of women.

Children

Realising that children have neither a vo ice nor po lit ica l power, theConstitution of India lays down certainspecial safeguards for them. As in thecase of women, Article 15 (3) empowersthe State to make special provisions in

favour of children. Article 24 prohibitsemployment of children below 14 yearsof age in any factory or mines or in other hazardous occupations. Furthermore,

Arti cl e 45 prov ides fo r free andcompulsory education for all childrenup to the age of 14 years.

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Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribesand Other Backward Classes

We have already seen how the foundingfathers of our Constitution wished tosecure social, economic and politicalequality for all the citizens of thecountry. However, it was realised that this objective could not be achievedunless persons belonging to specialdisadvantaged groups were provided

special protection to emancipate themfrom centuries-old prejudices andexploitation. Provisions were, therefore,incorporated in the Constitution topromote their economic, educationaland social development.

It is against this background that the two types of reservations areavailable to the members of the

backward classes under theConstitution. They are: (a) reservationsof seats in the Lok Sabha, the VidhanSabha and the various Panchayati

Raj bodies and (b) reservation ingovernment services. While thereservations of seats in the Lok Sabha,the Vidhan Sabha and the Panchayati

Raj bodies are available to themembers of the SCs and STs, theprovision of reservation for the OBCsis available only in the Panchayati

Raj bodies. The second type of reservation is available to all the three

categories of people.Moreover, under Article 244(2)

special provisions have been madefor the tribal areas in the states of

Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.

Constitutional Safeguards for theMinorities

Under the Constitution of India, certainsafeguards have been granted to thereligious and linguistic minorities.

Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitutionseek to protect the interests of minorities. They recognise the rights of the minorities to conserve their language, script or culture. They may

establish and administer educationalinstitutions of their choice.

Article 350A provides for instruc-tions in the mother tongue at theprimary stage of education to children

belonging to linguistic minorities. Article 350B provides for a SpecialOfficer to investigate all matters relatingto the safeguards for linguisticminorities.

It is evident from above that

provisions of the Indian Constitutionare exhaustive and they have helpedto design a strong democratic polity under which equality and justice for all the citizens can be achieved. TheConstitution has, thus, created anenvironment for ushering in an era of effective social change. It has acted not only as a facilitator of change but hasalso encouraged and promotedeconomic and social development.Moreover, it has defined and guided the

strategy of planning which wasadopted and fostered subsequently inthe country. The constitution is thedriving force effecting socio-economicreforms in the country through theprocess of amendment. A largenumber of constitutional amendments

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have directed, controlled andregulated almost all activities of thesociety. The process of social changeleading to socio-economictransformation of the Indian society

was accelerated by these enactments.Some of these have influenced the life-style of the Indian people.

PLANNING AND SOCIAL CHANGE

Planning is an important factor of socialchange in contemporary society. It implies deliberate interventions insocial policy and involves a sequentialsystem that reveals continuity in itschain. It mirrors social objectives andhelps to develop the society accordingto its blueprint. Planning, thus,conceives of a social order based onrationality and balanced reasoning.Such planning is possible only indemocratic welfare states.

Planning in India

Planning in India was launched after Independence. The Government of India first appointed a Planning Commission

with the Prime Minister of India as itsChairman in 1950 to prepare a

blueprint for development taking anoverall view of the needs and resourcesof the country. The PlanningCommission evolved a system of Five-

Year Plans which continues till date. The declared goals of development

policy have been to bring about rapidimprovement in living standards of the people. It envisages fullemployment at an adequate wage andreduction of inequality arising from

the uneven distribution of income and wealth. Successive Five-Year Planshave emphasised the necessity topursue all these objectivessimultaneously. However, variousFive-Year Plans have adopteddifferent priorities keeping in view thereality of the prevailing situation.

The attainment of a high rate of growth has been a major goal of planning. It has been thought that this goal can be achieved by thecoordinated efforts of both the publicand private sectors of the economy. TheIndian economy is characterised as a mixed economy because of thesimultaneous existence of both thepublic and private sectors.

The public sector is a State sector, which operates in those areas whichrequire heavy investments. Theseinvestments are mainly in basic and

heavy industries. The private sector, onthe other hand, covers not only organised industries but also small-scale industries, agriculture, trade andactivities in housing and construction.Major banks, insurance companies,steel plants and heavy engineeringcorporations, railways, postal service allare public sector enterprises. The Tatas,

Ambanis, Birlas, Singhanias are someof the major industrial houses in theprivate sector.

Though economic planning initially envisaged a growing public sector, of late, this process has slowed downconsiderably. The disinvestment of public shareholding in various publicsector undertakings has already takenplace. A privatisation drive in the

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economy has gathered momentum anda debate on the issue is in the wings.

The Five-Year Plans

We have mentioned earlier that theplanning strategy in India has beenoperating within the framework of Five-Year Plans. By now nine Five-Year Plans have been completed and thetenth Five-Year Plan (2002–2007) has

just started. The first Five-Year Plan (1951–1956)

was launched when the country wasrecovering from trauma of the partitionin 1947 and the crisis created by theSecond World War. The country had toimport a large amount of food grains in1951 because of an acute shortage of food grains. In view of this, the planaccorded the highest priority toagriculture including irrigation and

power projects. Almost 44.6 per cent of the total plan budget were spent onagriculture. At the end of the Plan, thecountry’s national income increased by 18 per cent and the per capita income

by 11 per cent.

In the second Five-Year Plan (1956– 1961) the priority shifted fromagriculture to industry. It was duringthis plan period that a new objective

was added to the economic policy. It was popularly called ‘the socialistic

pattern of society’. This policy stressedthat the benefits of planneddevelopment should go more to therelatively under privileged sections of society. It, further, focussed on a progressive reduction in concentrationof wealth and income. Jawaharlal Nehru,

the then Prime Minister of India andChairman of the Planning Commissionsaid in the Lok Sabha on 23 May 1956,“… broadly speaking, what do we mean

when we say, socialist pattern of life? We mean a society in which thereis equality of opportunity and thepossibility for everyone to live a good life.”

The third Five-Year Plan (1961– 1966) aimed at securing progresstowards self-sustaining growth.Consequently, both agriculture andindustry received equal priority in thisPlan. Its objectives were to achieve self-sufficiency in foodgrains and toincrease agricultural production tomeet the requirements of industry andexport. It also aimed at expansion of

basic industries like steel, chemicals,fuel and power.

The performance of the third Plan

was, however, discouraging. Thenational income grew just by 2.6 per cent as against the target of 5 per cent.In the agricultural sector also,production suffered a setback. Thesituation took a serious turn andlaunching of the fourth Plan in March1966 was delayed and the period

between 1966–69 was often describedas a period of ‘Plan holiday’. This period

was, however, devoted to repair the illsthat had crippled the planning process.

The planning process resumed its journey in the fourth Five-Year Plan(1969–1974) with focus on economicstability. It aimed at achieving social

justice with equity. The growth of bo th agr icu ltural and industrialsectors was fully recognised under the

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Plan but again it could not achieve itstargets. Neither could it achieve self-sufficiency in food grains nor could it generate adequate employment opportunities. The rate of inflation

became unmanageable.

Thus, the fifth Five-Year Plan (1974– 1979) was formulated when theeconomy was under heavy inflationary pressure. People became restive

because of the burden of rising prices. Accordingly, removal of poverty andattainment of self-reliance wereaccepted as the core objectives of thePlan. It aimed at bringing larger sections of the poor above the poverty line. The Plan also gave top priority to

bring inflation under control.

Political developments, however,ended this plan in 1978 instead of 1979and the sixth Plan was started as the‘rolling plan’. Thus, the sixth Five -Year

Plan (1980–1985) was finalised after taking into account the achievementsand shortcomings of the past threedecades of planning. While removal of poverty remained the core objective of the Plan, emphasis was also laid oneconomic growth and elimination of unemployment. This Plan achievedconsiderable success. Official statisticsshow that the proportion of peopleliving below the poverty line declinedfrom 48.3 per cent in 1977–1978 to

36.9 per cent in 1984–1985. The seventh Plan (1985-1990)

emphasised programmes for rapidgrowth in food grain production,increased employment opportunitiesand productivity. In order to reduceunemployment, special programmes

like Jawahar Rozgar Yojana werelaunched. During this Plan period, theGross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at an average rate of 5.8 per cent exceedingthe targeted growth rate by 0.8 per cent.

The eighth Five-Year Plan (1990–95)could not take off due to the changingpolitical scenario at the level of CentralGovernment. Therefore, it was decidedthat the eighth Five-Year Plan wouldcommence on 1 April 1992 and 1990–91and 1991–1992 should be treated asseparate Annul Plans. Thus, the eighthFive-Year Plan (1992–1997) waslaunched in the context of new economicreforms which were introduced in thecountry. The Plan was oriented towardsemployment generation. Moreinvestments were made in smallindustries, as they were job-intensive.

The Plan aimed at an average annualgrowth rate of 5.6 per cent and an

average industrial growth rate of about 7.5 per cent. The economic performanceof this Plan was encouraging and thecountry achieved rapid economicgrowth.

We have just completed the ninth

Five-Year Plan (1997–2002). It waslaunched in the fiftieth year of India’sIndependence. Some of the major objectives of the ninth Plan were:(i) priority to agriculture and ruraldevelopment with a view to generating

adequate productive employment anderadication of poverty, (ii) acceleratingthe growth rate of the economy withstable prices, (iii) ensuring food andnutritional security for all, (iv) providing

basic minimum services of safe drinking water, primary health care facilities,

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universal primary education, shelter,and connectivity to all in a time-bound

manner, (v) containing the growth rateof population; and (vi) empowerment of

women and socially disadvantaged

groups such as Scheduled Castes,Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and Minorities as

agents of socio-economic changeand development.

The ninth Plan envisaged anaverage growth rate of 6.5 per cent per

annum in GDP as against the growth

rate of 7 per cent approved initially inthe draft proposal. The reduction in the

target was necessitated by the changesin the national as well as global

economic situation in the first two years

of the ninth Plan.

In the last fifty years (1950 –1951

to 2000 – 2001) since India became a Republic, the national income has

increased 7.6 times implying a compound growth rate of 4.2 per cent per annum. The per capita income has

increased 2.75 times from Rs. 3,718 toRs.10,654 (at1993–94 prices)registering a compound growth rate of

2.1 per cent.

It is clear from the precedingdiscussion that planning in India hascovered a long journey of five decadesand is still going strong. Nonetheless, it

has had mixed results. While it achievedsubstantial gains in agricultural sector,the success has not been so remarkablein generating employment opportu-nities. The rate of industrial growthhas been moderate in core sector but small-scale industries have suffered

serious setbacks. The unevenachievements in social sector like

education and health are visible evento a casual observer. While we havemade considerable progress in literacy,

we cannot say so about health. Female

literacy, for example, has been steadily improving over the years, from 39 per

cent in 1991 to 54 per cent in 2001.However, even today 193 million women

are illiterate in India. The national policy for women has evolved from ‘welfare’ to‘development’ to ‘empowerment’.

Another area of notable performancehas been in providing social justice to

and empowerment of the marginalisedsections of the society. You know that the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled

Tribes, Other Backward Classes andMinorities are the major disadvantagedgroups in India. These groups have beenidentified as target groups. Specialprogrammes have been implemented for their overall development. The SpecialComponent Plan for Scheduled Castes,

for instance, is designed to channelisethe flow of benefits from the general

sectors in Five-Year Plans for the

development of SCs. Similarly, the TribalSub-Plan is a plan within a State Planmeant for welfare and development of

tribals. Measures for the educational

and economic development of minorities

have also been initiated. Muslims,Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains andZoroastrians (Parsis) have been notifiedas minorities as per the provision under

the National Commission of Minorities Act, 1992. The National MinoritiesDevelopment and Finance Corporation

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has been set up for providingconcessional finance to eligible

beneficiaries belonging to minority communities for setting up self-employment ventures.

It is apparent that state interventionthrough several measures has brought far-reaching changes in the life of the

people. Changes are visible not only intheir economic condition but also intheir social and cultural life. Thedemocratic political system has createda new social order that is committed toeliminate inequality of status anddiscriminatory treatment. State, thus,acts as a strong agent of social change.

GLOSSARY

W OMEN EMPOWERMENT. When women become conscious of their rights and beginto assert themselves.

PRIVATE SECTORS. That part of the economy in which production activities arecarried on by private enterprises. A private enterprise is that whichis owned and operated by an individual or group of individuals.

PUBLIC SECTORS. This includes central, state and local governments and allthe enterprises owned and operated by them.

MIXED ECONOMY . A market economy in which both private and public enterprisesparticipate in production.

PRIVATISATION. In general, it is the sale of government-owned enterprises toindividuals or group of individuals with or without loss of government control in these enterprises.

L IBERALISATION. This contains two things viz. (a) allowing the private enterprisesto engage in production activities which were earlier restricted togovernment enterprises and (b) relaxing the rules and regulationmeant for private enterprises. This also includes permitting theenterprises run by foreign nationals.

EXERCISE

1. What is a welfare State?

2. What do you mean by fundamental rights. List them.

3. Highlight some of our Directive Principles of the State Policy?

4. List any five fundamental duties.

5. Explain the important goals of the planning in India.

6. What are the Constitutional safeguards for women and children?

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7. List the objectives of the ninth Five-Year Plan in India.8. Critically examine the achievements of Five-Year Plans in India.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Dubey, S.C.(ed.), India Since Independence : Social Report on India 1947– 1972 , Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, 1977.

2. Desai , A.R., State and Society in India : Essays in Dissent ,Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, 1975.

3. Kothari, Rajni, Politics in India , Orient Longman, New Delhi, 1970.4. Oommen, T.K, (ed.), Citizenship and National Identity: From Colonisation

to Globalisation, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 1997.

5. Mahajan, Gurpreet, (ed.), Democracy, Difference and Social Justice ,Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1998.

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CHAPTER 4

Legislation and Democratic Decentralisation

UNDERSTANDING LAW ANDLEGISLATION

There is a reciprocal relationship between law and social change. Law is both an effect and cause of socialchange. In this chapter we shallconsider law as a strategy for socialchange.

In its broadest sense, law includesall patterns of socially expected ruleenforcement. In this sense, it covers all

customs or rules whose observance isrequired and enforced by a recognisedauthority. However, for sociologicalpurposes it is better to limit the termlaw to formally enacted and recordednorms. Though there is no exact demarcation between law and normsthat are found in a society, a distinctionhas to be made between laws on the onehand and norms on the other. In thepresent discussion, we shall use law inthe sense of rules of action established

by a legitimate authority.Laws are enacted by legislatures.

They are always written and recordedin some manner. They are interpreted

by courts and enforced by administrative agencies like police. For example, the nature of punishment and

the procedures for giving suchpunishments for theft or robbery are allmentioned in law books.

Broadly speaking, there are twocategories of law—Criminal law andCivil law. Criminal laws prohibit actionsdisruptive to society such as theft,murder or fraud. Civil laws, on the other hand, regulate the rights of individualssuch as resolving property disputes.Civil law takes many forms dependingupon the nature of social life involved.

They may be commercial, constitutionaland family laws.

The law-making system in every society produces legislationsconcerning various aspects of life.Legislation may be of different types.Some of them are framed to maintainlaw and order in society. Suchlegislations act as a mechanism of social control to maintain socialstability. In contrast, some legislation

are applied to remove social evils andchange the conservative faiths and

beliefs. The term social legislation isused to depict these legislations. Sociallegislations play a dynamic role insociety. They are effective instrumentsof social change.

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Law and Social Change

History is full of examples where lawshave been used to bring about changesin society. Laws have been created toachieve desired goals. It not only articulates but also sets the course for major social changes. In fact, theattempt to change society through law is an important feature of the modern

world. This is visible in almost all

developed and developing societies. Thechanges that have occurred with thetransformation of Western capitalist societies and the emergence of Soviet-type societies have essentially beenthrough laws. The Soviet Union andseveral east European countries, for example, have successfully made large-scale social changes through laws.Income redistribution, nationalisationof industries, land reforms andprovision of free education are

examples of the effectiveness of law toinitiate change.

Nonetheless, a distinction is made between direct and indirect aspects of law in social change. In many cases law interacts directly with social institutionsand brings about obvious changes. For instance, a law prohibiting polygamy has a direct influence on society. It alters the behaviour of individuals. Onthe other hand, laws play an indirect

role also by shaping various socialinstitutions which in turn have a direct impact on society. The most appropriate example is the system of

compulsory education which enablesthe functioning of educationalinstitutions, which in turn leads to

social change. However, such a distinction is not absolute but a relativeone. Sometimes, emphasis is on thedirect aspect and less on the indirect impact of social change, while in other cases the opposite may be true.

There is another way of examiningthe role of law in social change. Law redefines the normative order andcreates the possibility of new forms of

social institutions. It provides formalfacilities and extends rights toindividuals. In India, for example, law against untouchability has not only prohibited the inhuman practice but has also given formal rights to those whosuffered from such disabilities to protest against it. In this sense, law not only codifies certain customs and morals,

but also modifies the behaviour and values existing in a particular society. Thus, law entails two interrelated

processes: the institutionalisation andthe internalisation of patterns of

behaviour. Institutionalisation of a pattern of behaviour means the creationof norms with provisions for itsenforcement. Internalisation of patternof behaviour, on the other hand, meansthe incorporation and acceptance of

values implicit in a law. When theinstitutionalisation process issuccessful, it in turn facilitates theinternalisation of attitudes and beliefs.

Legal System in India

Historically, no universalistic legalsystem based on the principle of equality existed in ancient India. Inancient India there was a close

37LEGISLATION AND DEMOCRATIC DECENTRALISATION

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connection between law and religion. A rule of law was not different from a ruleof religion. It was maintained that alllaws were contained in theDharmshastras . The legal system wasprimarily based on the social positionof castes and classes. No uniformstandards were applied in providing

justice to people. There was no uniformlegal norm at an all-India level. Localcustoms and regional practices defined

and determined these norms. Another important feature of the ancient legalsystem was its orientation towards thegroup. Legal norms applied more to thegroup as a unit rather than to theindividual. This characteristic of legalsystem continued even during themedieval period.

It was only during the British rulethat radical transformation took placein the legal and judicial systems of the

country. The British introducednumerous changes in the traditionallegal system. The new legal system was

based on the principle of universalism. The notion of equality before law wasrecognised and received legal sanction.Law courts were established at different levels. The enactment of the IndianPenal Code and the Codes of Civil andCriminal Procedure produced a strongsystem of judicial administration. Thislegal system was, however, not confined

to criminal justice alone. It even brought domestic and personal life of the people under its purview. Severalsocial legislations came into operation

which covered areas like collective bargain ing, social secur ity andemployment contract. A continuous

rationalisation of law was introduced by codification of customary law. It increased the separation of law fromreligion.

Moreover, some legislation inrelation to prevailing conservative andorthodox social practices were alsopassed during the colonial period whichacted towards social reform. Indiansociety in the nineteenth century wasunder the grip of inhuman customsand practices. Untouchability waspractised throughout the country. Theposition of women was most degrading.Child marriage, widowhood and thecruel practice of sati put women to life-long misery and humiliation. These in-human practices were, however,challenged by social reformers and theBritish Indian Government responded

by enacting several social legislations.

The practice of sati (widow burning)

was declared illegal in 1829. The Hindu Widow Remarriage Act of 1856 legalisedthe remarriage of the Hindu widows.

When the members of the Brahmo Samaj

in Bengal started facing problem inmarriage, a Native Marriage Act waspassed in 1872. The Brahmos claimedthat they did not belong to any religiousgroups in India. This Act worked like a civil marriage law under which peopleoutside any religious fold could marry.

Another important legislation linked

with marriage was the Age of Consent Act of 1891. The Act prohibited theperformance of marriage for girls below the age of twelve. During the closing

years of the nineteenth century, besidespersonal laws, several other laws relatingto land and industry were also enacted.

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The Factory Act of 1881 addressedthe issue of the welfare of factory

workers. The Bengal Tenancy Act of 1885 introduced reforms in landtenure system. Similarly, the Press Act of 1878 was a landmark in the field of mass communication. Theselegislations not only advanced thecause of cultural change but alsocontributed towards transformation of the agrarian structure.

Social Legislation in IndependentIndia

The nature and extent of social changein India have been influenced largely

by radical social legislation introducedafter Independence. They pertain tosubjects ranging from economy, polity,trade and commerce to marriage,family and inheritance. Legislationsimpact upon every aspect of people’slives. The number of legislationsenacted after Independence is,however, so large that all of themcannot be discussed here. Therefore,

we have selected only some important legislations to highlight their role insocial change.

Laws have been passed to eradicatesocial evils. Under Article 17 of theIndian Constitution, untouchability isprohibited and its practice in any form

is made punishable. A comprehensivelegislation called the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955 was passed later.

This Act was further amended as theProtection of Civil Rights Act in 1976.

According to this Act, an untouchable(Scheduled Caste) has access to all

public places including places of worship. Though this legislation hasnot been fully able to eradicate thepractice of untouchability, it hasdefinitely attacked caste prejudice.

Similarly, a number of laws have been enacted for the upliftment of women and children. These Acts have brought about a percept ib leimprovement in their position insociety. The Special Marriage Act of 1954, the Hindu Marriage Act of 1955,the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 andthe Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 haveinitiated changes in the very structureof Hindu society. Most of theselegislations have further been amendedto accommodate more radical andrelevant issues. For example, the HinduMarriage Act of 1955 was amended in1976 to provide the right to a girl todeny marriage before attaining puberty.

In fact, the original Act itself was radical because it enforced monogamy andpermitted divorce among the Hindus.

The Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961 wasalso amended in 1984 that madecruelty towards women a cognisableoffence. The socio-economic changesthat have been brought about through legislations have created a favourable situation regarding thestatus of women.

A number of legislations have also

been passed to safeguard and protect the rights of children. Some of them arethe Hindu Adoption and Maintenance

Act , 1956, the Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986,the Persons with Disabilities (EqualOpportunities, Protection of Rights and

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Full Participation) Act, 1996, the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000 and so on.

The role of legislation intransforming the socio-economiccondition of tribals is even more explicit.

We may throw light on this issue by citing the example of north-easternIndia, which is home to a large number of tribals. The tribal communities of this region have experiencedremarkable changes in their traditionaleconomy, cultural life and politicalsystems. The safeguards provided totribals in the states of Assam,Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoramunder the Sixth Schedule of theConstitution of India have facilitatednumerous programmes for administration and development.Special provisions under Article 371A of the Constitution have been made for the State of Nagaland to safeguard the

cultural identity of the Nagas. The stategovernments have passed severallegislations which have usheredchanges along with preserving their identity. The Autonomous District Councils established under theprovisions of the Sixth Schedule have

been given wide power to maintaincontrol over the tribal land. The Land

Transfer Act of 1971 passed by theMeghalaya State Legislature has almost stopped the process of land alienation.

Likewise, the Lushai Hills District (Acquisition of Chief’s Rights) Act, 1954abolished the age-old system of chieftainship among the Mizos as thepeople themselves demanded it. What

we have attempted to illustrate here isthat, in a democratic state like ours,

legislation can be effectively used as aninstrument of social change.

DEMOCRATICDECENTRALISATION

The question of division of power amonginstitutions and individuals has beena matter of considerable debate amongthe people involved in governance. Thisneed has been specially emphasised as

democracy as a form of government hasgained acceptance in the modern world.Decentralisation means sharing of decision making authority with thelower levels in institutions andorganisations. It is called democratic asthis sharing is based on the basicprinciple of democracy anddemocratisation. There are different forms of decentralisation — political,administrative and financial.

It is argued that decentralisationis essential for the functioning of a democratic system at different levels.It helps to empower social groups

which traditionally have been weak and deprived. Decentralisation isparticularly necessary for a country like ours which is large in size andcomplex in socio-cultural settings.Diversity exists in India in terms of religion, language, culture andeconomy. Thus, the geographical and

social complexities requiredecentralisation for the purposes of planning and administration.

The need for decentralisation inIndia has long been realised andattempts have been made to achieve it.Decentralisation became, particularly,

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important after the Independence toachieve goals of democracy anddevelopment.

In the section that follows we willdiscuss the Panchayati Raj

institutions as forms and institutionalschemes for achieving democraticdecentralisation.

PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS

Background

The history of panchayat in India goes back to hundreds of years. The term panch is ordinarily used for a group of persons ( panch = five) who takedecisions on collective affairs of the

village. The people repose so muchconfidence in panch that they are called

panch parmeshwar (God speaksthrough the five). The system of takingcollective decision through panch is

known as panchayat . It is, largely, a self-governing institution.

The growth of panchayat in India as a self-governing institution has not

been steady in the course of its longhistory. However, the ideals of

panchayat were revived when Mahatma Gandhi arrived on the national politicalscene. Gandhiji asserted that the villagepanchayats would now be a living forcein a special way, and India wouldalmost be enjoying self-government

suited to its requirements. Accordingly,the idea of panchayat as a system of local government remained animportant issue in India’s freedomstruggle. But when the country becameindependent the panchayat of Gandhi’s

vision did not acquire a central place in

the Indian Constitution. It was merely included in Article 40 under theDirective Principles of the State Policy.

Article 40 says, “the State shall takesteps to organise village panchayatsand endow them with such powers andauthority as may be necessary toenable them to function as units of localself-government.”

Nonetheless, it is interesting to point out that, although the DirectivePrinciples of the Constitution are only suggestive in nature, the significance of Panchayati Raj institutions wasrecognised by all states. Immediately after the Independence, an ambitiousdevelopment programme for rural areas

was launched. The programme, knownas the Community Development Programme (CDP), covered almost allactivities of rural development. But it could not fully achieve its goals. In

order to review the causes of its limitedsuccess, the Government of India appointed a study team. It was headed

by Balwant Rai Mehta, the thenMember of Parliament. The study teamcame to the conclusion that the CDPhad failed to achieve its targets becauseof the absence of people’s participationin the programme. In view of this, it recommended the creation of certaininstitutions based on the principle of democratic decentralisation for

facilitating people’s participation indevelopment programmes. Theformation of three-tier Panchayati Raj

institutions in the country wasthe result of the above recommen-dations. All the states in India passed Panchayat Acts by 1959.

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Accordingly, panchayats wereestablished at vil lage (Vil lagePanchayat ) , block (Panchayat

Samiti) and District (Zila Parishad )levels. Another committee, popularly called the Ashok Mehta Committee,also reviewed the functioning of thePanchayati Raj structure. ThisCommittee proposed a two-tier systemfor grass-root governance. But theGovernment did not accept this

recommendation and we continuedto follow the three-tier systemproposed by the Balwantrai Mehta Committee report.

This set up of panchayats continuedfor almost more than two decades.

Though the basic objectives of theseinstitutions were uniform in variousstates but their powers, functionsand modes of elections differedconsiderably. Under these circum-

stances, the performance of theseinstitutions widely varied from state tostate. In some states, they effectively contributed to development activities

but in other states panchayats, they merely generated conflicts and rivalriesamong various caste groups for controlling power in these institutions.Panchayati Raj institutions failed in

benefiting the weaker sections of rural society.

Moreover, the organisational

structure of these institutionsremained very weak. In the absence of any legal binding, no regular electionsto panchayats were held. No financialpower was given to these panchayat

bodies. Government officials continuedto maintain wide-ranging command

over panchayat representatives. Such bureaucratic control killed theinitiative and interests of people in thePanchayati Raj structure. Thestagnation and decline of Panchayati

Raj institutions continued till the early nineties when steps were undertakento revitalise them.

Recent Efforts

As stated earlier, except a marginalreference in the Directive Principles of the State Policy, panchayat had noconstitutional status. But the positionradically changed in 1993, when the73rd Amendment to the Constitution

was passed in the Parliament andreceived the assent of the President of India. The Amendment is based on theprinciple of ‘power to the people’ andprovides constitutional guarantee topanchayats. The salient features of the

Act are given below:(a) It recognises panchayats as

‘institutions of self-government’.

(b) It entrusts panchayats thepowers and responsibilitiesto prepare a plan for economic development andsocial justice.

(c) It provides for the establishment of uniform three-tier systemof strong panchayats at village,

intermediate (block/taluka )and district levels for all stateshaving a population of over twenty lakh.

(d) It gives guidelines for thestructure, powers and functions,finance and elections, and

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reservations of seats for the weaker sections at various levelsof panchayats.

The Constitution (73rd Amendment) Act has been hailed as a revolutionary step towards establishing grass-root democracy. The blueprint provided by the Amendment has now become a reality. All the states have passedlegislation in conformity with theprovisions of the Amendment. Thus, for the first time in the history of Panchayati Raj system, a high degreeof uniformity has been achievedon panchayats.

Another Act has been passed for thetribal areas of some states. Theprovisions of the Panchayats

(Extension to the Scheduled Areas) Act,1996 extends panchayats to the tribalareas of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,

Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Rajasthan. Thishas come into effect on 24 December 1996. All states have passed laws to giveeffect to the provisions contained in the

Act 40 of 1996.

Against the above background wenow move on to discuss various aspectsof Panchayati Raj Institutions interms of structure, composition, power and function.

Structure and Composition

Panchayats are constituted at the village, intermediate and district levels. The term intermediate has been usedfor Community Development Block or taluka because it exists between a

vi ll age and a dist ric t. However,panchayats at the intermediate levelmay not be constituted if thepopulation of a state does not exceedtwenty lakh.

Gram Sabha is a body consistingof all persons registered in the electoralrolls to a village comprised within thearea of Gram Panchayat . Gram Sabha

is regarded as the soul of Panchayati

Raj . Since all the registered voters of a village Panchayat are included in a Gram Sabha , it acts as a general body of the village panchayat . It provides a forum for the people to ensuretransparency and accountability in thesystem. All-State Panchayat Acts haveprovision for the constitution of Gram

Sabha . The Sabha has to meet at least once in six months.

All the seats in a panchayat are filled by persons chosen by direct election

from territorial constituencies in the panchayat area. Each panchayat area is divided into territorial constituenciesfor this purpose.

The Chairperson of a panchayat at the village level is elected ordinarily by the voters of the concerned panchayat .But the chairperson of panchayat at theintermediate level or a district level iselected by and from amongst theelected members.

Reservation of Seats

In every panchayat seats arereserved for the Scheduled Castesand the Scheduled Tribes inproportion to their population in the

panchayat area. Depending upon the

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decision of a state, provision for reservation of seats may be providedin favour of the Other BackwardClasses of citizens.

Not less than one-third of the totalnumber of seats are to be filled by direct election is reserved for women. Thisincludes seats reserved for women

belonging to the Scheduled Castes andthe Scheduled Tribes.

The posts of the Chairperson inPanchayats at the different levels arealso reserved for the Scheduled Castes,Scheduled Tribes and women. Thenumber of such reserved posts for thefirst two categories depends on their population. But in the case of women,the number of reserved posts of chairpersons has to be not less thanone-third of the total number of postsat each level.

Finally, the state has also beengiven power to make any provisionfor reservation of seats and posts at any level for the Other BackwardClasses.

Duration of Panchayats

Every Panchayat shall have theduration of five years from the date of its first meeting. An election to constitutea Panchayat has to be held before theexpiry of its duration.

However, the state government has

been given power to dissolve a Panchayat even before its duration of five years. But in such a case anelection to constitute a Panchayat hasto be completed before a period of six months from the date of itsdissolution.

Powers and Responsibilities of Panchayats

Panchayats have been given power andauthority to enable them to function asinstitutions of self-government. Thereare two major areas which have beenidentified for this purpose. They are:

(a) the preparation of plans for economic development andsocial justice; and

(b) the implementation of schemesfor economic development andsocial justice.

The Eleventh Schedule of theConstitution has listed some subjectsconcerning the above schemes that may

be undertaken by panchayats at different levels. Some major subjects are:

1. Agriculture

2. Land improvement, implemen-tation of land reforms, landconsolidation

3. Minor irrigation, watersheddevelopment

4. Animal husbandry

5. Fisheries

6. Social forestry

7. Small scale industries

8. Khadi, vi llage and cottageindustries

9. Drinking water

10. Rural housing

11. Roads, culverts, bridges etc

12. Rural electrification

13. Poverty alleviation programmes

14. Education including primary and secondary schools

15. Cultural activities

16. Health and sanitation.

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Other Major ConstitutionalProvisions

In addition to the above provisions, theConstitution has made some other provisions to strengthen Panchayati Raj institutions.

(a) Panchayats have beenauthorised to levy, collect andappropriate taxes and fees.

(b) A Finance Commission has to

be constituted by every state toreview the financial position of the panchayats .

(c) A State Election Commissionconsisting of a State ElectionCommissioner has to beappointed in every state. It

will conduct all elections tothe panchayats .

Panchayats in Urban Areas

A provision has also been made toconstitute panchayat in some urbanareas. In order to provide a commonframework for urban local bodies aseffective democratic unit of self-government, Parliament enacted theConstitution (74th Amendment) Act, in1992 relating to municipalities. The Act received the assent of the President on20 April 1993. The Act providesconstitution of three types of Municipalities:

(a) Nagar Panchayats for areas intransition from a rural area tourban area,

(b) Municipal Councils for smaller urban areas, and

(c) Municipal Corporation for large

urban areas.

Like rural panchayats, the Act hasmade provisions for making these

bodies effective and strong. Theseprovisions include fixed duration of municipalities, appointment of StateElection Commission, appointment of State Finance Commission andconstitution of metropolitan anddistrict planning committees. All thestates have implemented theseprovisions.

Our discussion so far clearly suggests that the Panchayati Raj

Institutions (PRIs) have assumed animportant place in our democraticpolitical structure. They are playing a significant role in achieving democraticdecentralisation. The pace of socio-economic development in the ruralareas and the level of people’sparticipation in these affairs haveincreased. All these have made us

realise the process of self-governance at the grass-root level through this system.

The access of weaker sections torural decision making has been legally

ensured. It has enlarged the social baseof the Panchayati Raj . The reservationhas sought to empower women tohighlight their grievances. In fact,reservation has made panchayats more

representative of the village community.

Reservation, of course, does not

automatically create equality but it gives these sections a share of

participation.

Social change occurs only whenall sections of society actively

participate in the decision making

process of it.

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GLOSSARY

CIVIL LAW . Laws that regulate relation between two individuals.

CRIMINAL LAW . Laws that prohibit actions disruptive to the society.

INDIAN PENAL CODE. A statute book which defines offences and their punishments. It is in operation since 1860in India and has beenamended from time to time.

JUVENILE OR CHILD. A person who has not completed eighteen years of age.

EXERCISE

1. Discuss the features of law.

2. How is law an instrument of social control and social change?

3. Give the concept of Panchayat.

4. What is Panchayati Raj? How has it initiated change?

5. What are the characteristics of urban panchayats? How are they different from rural panchayats?

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Galanter, Marc, Law and Society in Modern India , Oxford University Press,New Delhi,1997.

2. Jha, S.N. & Mathur, P.C., Decentralisation and Local Politics ,Sage Publications, New Delhi,1999.

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47ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CHANGE

CHAPTER 5

Economic Development and Social Change

We know that the social world is madeup of many aspects—economic,political, religious, educational and soon. All these aspects can be analysedindependently of each other but they also influence one another. In thissense, the economic aspect of social lifecannot be ignored while discussingsocial change.

All human beings have economicproblems. As individuals how we earnour living is the most important fact of

life. Similarly, the most significant fact of any society is how its membersproduce and distribute their food.

Accordingly, economic production isthe basic activity of a society, and it plays a determining role in shaping itssocial structure.

India is a land of villages. There aremore than six lakh villages in our country. Agriculture continues to be theprimary economic activity of the people.Land is, therefore, the basic means of

production in the countryside. Inthis way, we can say that economicdevelopment in India depends essentially on its agricultural development. Against this background, we shall now examinesome crucial aspects of agrarianstructure and social change.

LAND REFORMS Agrarian structure forms a criticalaspect of any discussion on socio-economic development in India. Theissues of economic backwardness andrural tension are all involved in the basicnature of an agrarian society. Landcontinues to be the mainstay of thepeople. It constitutes not only thestructural feature of rural areas but changes in land relations act assignificant indicator of social and

economic change.

Concept of Land Reform

The term land reform has been used both in a narrow and broad sense. Inthe narrow and generally acceptedsense, land reform meansredistribution of rights on land for the

benefit of small farmers and landlesspeople. This concept of land reformrefers to its simplest element commonly

found in all land reform policies. Onthe other hand, in a broad sense landreform is understood to mean any improvement in the institutions of landsystem and agricultural organisation.

This understanding of land reformsuggests that land reform measures

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should go not only for redistributionof land but also undertake other measures to improve conditions of agriculture. The United Nations hasaccepted this notion of land reform. TheUN definition says that the ideal landreform programme is an integratedprogramme of measures designed toeliminate obstacles to economic andsocial development arising out of defects in the agrarian structure.

In the present context also, by land reforms we mean all thosemeasures which have beenundertaken in India by thegovernment to remove structuralobstacles in the agrarian system.

Objectives of Land Reforms

There are no universal motives behind land reforms but somecommon objectives may be found

everywhere.

Social justice and economicequality are the major objectives behindland reforms. The ideal of equality has

become part of people’s consciousnessin the modern world. Particularly in a traditional hierarchical society, the idea of equality has emerged as a revolutionary force. It also subsumesthe elimination of the worst forms of discrimination and poverty. The

ideology of equality and social justicehas been expressed in terms of programmes like land reforms andpoverty alleviation.

Secondly, nationalism has beenanother motivation behind landreforms. Most of the developing

countries in the world gainedindependence mainly after the Second

World War. Thus, the achievement of national independence has beenassociated with the removal of institutional structures created duringthe colonial rule. Such structures may include the ownership of large estates

by persons of alien nationality or various forms of land tenures imposedunder the colonial rule. The abolition

of Zamindari in India is an outstandingexample. Zamindari , a form of landsettlement established during theBritish rule was a symbol of colonialexploitation. Naturally, it was always a target for the leaders of India’s freedomstruggle. Accordingly, its abolition

became the goal of the first phase of land reform measures after theIndependence. We shall talk about it indetail a little later.

Thirdly, the urge for democracy incontemporary world is another factor behind land reform programmes. Theidea of democracy has become a moving force in political power. Thegoal of liberty and justice can beachieved only in a democratic society.In this manner, even the poor and thedeprived express their grievances andarticulate their demands in a democratic way. Thus an environment for reforms is created.

Finally, land reform is taken as a means to increase productivity of land. It is thus considered one of thekey issues in economic development in agricultural societies. It has

been adopted as a central programmefor agricultural development.

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The basic issues of agrarianreorganisation are resolved througheffective implementation of landreform measures.

Land Reforms in India

Land reforms in India got underway both in political factors as well as inorganisational mobilisation of peasantry. The political factors were

associated first with British rule andlater with the growth of nationalism. It created a situation in whichundertaking land reform measures

became a compulsion for thegovernment. Thus, some agrarianlegislations which attempt to protect the rights of tenants date back to themiddle of the nineteenth century.

The poverty of the people andextreme exploitation of the peasantry

by zamindars and moneylendersattracted the attention of politicalleaders during the freedom struggle.It became an important plank of theprogramme of the Indian NationalCongress. A major programme of agrarian reform was presented in 1936at Jawaharlal Nehru’s initiative andMahatma Gandhi’s approval. In hispresidential address at Faizpur Session of the Congress, Nehru askedfor “the removal of intermediaries

between the cultivator and state” after which “cooperative or collectivefarming must follow.”

Almost around the same time,pressure was being created by theincreasing number of peasant struggles in different parts of the

country. The All India Kisan Sabha inits meeting at Lucknow in 1936demanded the abolition of Zamindari ,occupancy rights for tenants,redistribution of cultivable waste landto landless labourers and others. Infact, between 1920 and 1946 severalpeasant organisations emerged whichexpressed the grievances of the middleand poor peasants. The Kisan Sabha Movement led by Swami SahajanandSaraswati, the Kheda Agitation of 1918, the Bardoli Satyagrah of 1928,and the Tebhaga Movement of 1946–47in Bengal were some of the major peasant struggles of the pre-Independence days. Agrariandiscontent and injustice had spreadthroughout the country. Thesegrievances were expressed in

widespread conflicts between peasantsand landlords. But if seen in the context of their goals, these peasant strugglesproduced positive results. Thepressure created by the long drawnstruggles compelled the Government to

work out plans for the redressal of thecomplaints of peasants. In this sense,peasant movements beforeIndependence assumed historicalimportance for the land reformprogrammes that began just after Independence.

Land Reforms after theIndependence

Shortly after independence ampleemphasis was put on land reforms aspart of the national policy to transforminiquitous agrarian structure. Thestrategy adopted was to introduce land

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reforms through land legislation. It was broadly indicated by the Government of India and enacted by the statelegislatures:

The primary objectives of landreforms were:

(a) to remove motivational andother impediments which arisefrom the agrarian structureinherited from the past, and

(b) to eliminate all elements of exploitation and social injustice within the agrarian system so asto ensure equality of status andopportunity to all sections of thepopulation.

It is obvious from these objectivesthat land reforms were introduced witha view to modernise agriculture andreduce inequalities in the agrarianeconomy. These objectives wereconverted into the following

programmes of action:(a) the abolition of all forms of

intermediaries between the stateand the tiller of the soil,

(b) conferment of ownership rightson the cultivating tenants inthe land held under their possession,

(c) imposition of ceil ing onagricultural land holdings,

(d) consolidation of holdings

with a view to making easier theapplication of moderntechniques of agriculture, and;

(e) rationalisation of the record of rights in land.

Let us now turn to theseprogrammes in some detail:

(a) Abolition of Intermediaries

The British rulers introduced threemajor forms of land settlements— Zamindari , Raiyatwari andMahalwari— to gain maximum revenuefrom land. Under the Zamindari systemthe rights of property in land were givento the local rent gatherers. Thesepersons were called Zamindars and

belonged generally to the upper castes

of the community. This new settlement turned the actual cultivators intotenants. This structural change in theland system created a class of intermediary between the State and theactual tillers of the soil. Under theRaiyatwari system, no intermediary owners were recognised. The actualtillers of the soil were given transferablerights in their lands. But under thissystem also influential Raiyats emergedas powerful landholders. In the

Mahalwari settlement, too, a class of intermediaries had emerged.

These intermediaries had nointerest in land management andimprovement. Moreover, while theZamindars were required to pay a fixedamount of revenue to the Government,there was no limit on collections fromthe actual cultivators. Numerous illegalcesses were imposed from time to time.

The Zamindari system allowed a highlevel of absenteeism. Thus, the system

was not only unjust but it was alsocharacterised by acute economicexploitation and social oppression.

It was against this background that abolition of intermediary interests

became the first target of land reformsduring the early years of Independence.

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This measure, undertaken all over thecountry, essentially sought removal of all intermediaries Like Zamindari ,

Jagirdari , Mirasdari and others. It brought cu lt ivators into di rect relationship with the State. It conferredpermanent rights in land on theseactual cultivators. Accordingly, by 1954–55 almost all states abolishedintermediary tenures through severalland reform legislations. The abolitionof intermediary tenures represents a remarkable transition to a modernagrarian structure.

(b) Tenancy Reforms

Use and occupancy of land of another person on a rental basis is known astenancy. Tenancy in land has been a

widespread practice in different partsof the country. Different forms of tenancy such as the share croppingsystem, the fixed-kind producesystem, the fixed-cash practice haveexisted both in the Zamindari andRaiyatwari settled areas. Under thesystem, the small farmers and landlesspeople lease-in land for cultivationfrom rich landowners. These landlesscultivators pay rent in kind (produce)or cash to the landowners in return for land. They are known as tenants (localnames are: Adhiars in Assam,

Bargadars in West Bengal, Bataidars in Bihar, Warmadars in Tamil Nadu,

Kamins in Punjab etc.). These tenantshave weak socio-economic positionand lack security and protection. They may be evicted any time by thelandowners. Thus, they have been

tenants-at-will for all practicalpurposes.

In view of large scale prevalence of tenancy, reforms were introduced torationalise the rights and obligations of

various classes of tenants. Tenancy reforms laid emphasis on three major aspects of the problem:

1. regulation of rent,

2. security of tenure; and

3. right of purchase for the tenants. These steps have been taken to

improve the condition of cultivatingtenants. They have been protectedagainst rack-renting through theregulation of rent. Security of tenurefor tenants has regulated eviction fromland by the landowners. The tenantshave also been conferred ownershiprights over the lands cultivated by them as tenants. Over 124.22 lakhtenants have got their rights protected

over an area of 156.30 lakh acres tillSeptember 2000.

(c) Ceiling on Landholdings

The basic objective of fixation of ceilingon landholdings is to acquire landabove a certain level from the present landholders for its distribution amongthe landless. It is primarily a redistributive measure based on theprinciple of socio-economic justice. The

disparity in landownership in India isa well-known fact. While nearly onefourth of rural households have no landat all, there were a large number of landholders owning thousands of acreseach on the eve of Independence. Thus,fixation of ceiling on agricultural

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holdings has been used as a means tocorrect this imbalance.

Legislations imposing ceiling onlandholdings formed the second phaseof land reform package in theindependent India. This process beganduring the Second Five Year Plan inmost states. Almost all the states havelegislations restricting the size of holdings which a person or family canown. However, the permissible size

varies according to the quality of land. Acquisition of land in excess of theceiling is prohibited. Land renderedsurplus to the ceiling is taken over by the state and distributed among the

weaker sections of the community.

Though land ceiling laws have beenpassed within the broader framework suggested by the Central Government,there are differences among variousstate laws. In all the Acts there are a

variety of exemptions from the ceiling. The ceilings fixed are also different. While in most states, the ceilings fixedare very high, in others ample scope isleft for manipulation by thelandowners. The process of takingpossession of surplus land and itsdistribution among the landless israther slow.

The total quantum of landdeclared surplus in the entire country since inception till September 2000 is

73.49 lakh acres. Out of this, only about 64.84 lakh acres have beentaken possession of and 52.99 lakhacres have been distributed. Thetotal number of beneficiaries of thisscheme in the country is 55.10 lakh,of whom 36 per cent belong to the

Scheduled Castes and 15 per cent tothe Scheduled Tribes.

(d) Consolidation of Holdings

The fragmentation of landholdings has been an important impediment inagricultural development. Most holdings are not only small but also

widely scattered. Thus, legislativemeasures for consolidation of holdings

have been undertaken in most of thestates. Major focus has been on theconsolidation of the land of a holder at one or two places for enabling them tomake better use of resources. Attemptshave also been made to take measuresfor consolidation in the command areasof major irrigation projects.

(e) Land Records

The record of rights in land has been

faulty and unsatisfactory. Theavailability of correct and up-to-daterecords has always been a problem. It is in view of this that updating of landrecords has now been made a part of land reform measures.

However, progress in this respect has been poor. The Five Year Plandocuments say that “in several States,record of right do not provideinformation regarding tenants, sub-tenants and crop-sharers….” It has

further been highlighted that largeareas of the country still do not haveup-to-date land records. The mainreason behind this has been the strongopposition from big landowners.

Nonetheless, several states haveinitiated the process of updating the

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land records through revisional surveysand settlements. Steps have also beentaken to computerise these records. A centrally sponsored scheme oncomputerisation of land records has

been launched with a view to removethe problems inherent in the manualsystem of maintenance and updatingof land records.

GREEN REVOLUTION The fundamental change andphenomenal increase in food grainproduction in late sixties in India hasearned the name of ‘Green Revolution’.

The word ‘green’ here refers to greenfields of the countryside and ‘revolution’indicates a substantial change.

The availability of adequate food-grains has been a serious problem inthe country till recently. Food grain

had to be imported from the developedcountries to feed the vast population.Shortage of food was mainly caused

by low productivity of land, over-dependence on monsoon and theoutmoded agrarian structure. Under these conditions, achieving self-sufficiency in food grain became thetop priority of our national efforts. Wehave already seen how variousschemes under the five year plans,land reforms and community

development programmes have all been directed towards achieving thisgoal. However, these efforts could not initially succeed in increasingagricultural production. Consequently,a new agricultural strategy wasadopted in the early sixties to

accelerate the process of agriculturaldevelopment.

The new agricultural strategy was based on the thinking that intensiveapplication of science and technology in agriculture would bear fruits in theform of massive increase in food grainproduction. Under this strategy,adopted in early sixties, agriculturaldevelopment programmes were revisedto meet the needs of the farmers. Major programmes undertaken in this regardare discussed briefly in the paragraphsthat follow.

The Intensive Agricultural District Programme (IADP), popularly knownas the Package Programme, wasstarted in 1961 on a pilot basis inseven districts of the country.

The programme was subsequently extended to cover some other districts.It aimed at combining improved

technology, credit, high yielding seedsand assured irrigation for stepping upagricultural production. Thisexperiment of intensive agriculture

yielded significant results. Productionof foodgrains increased and theprogramme was extended to cover larger areas. It resulted in giving riseto a new programme called theIntensive Agricultural AreasProgramme (IAAP).

Encouraged by the unprecedented

success of this programme some other schemes were introduced in the latesixties. They included the High-Yielding

Varieties Programme (HYVP), SmallFarmers’ Development Agency (SFDA)and the Marginal Farmers and

Agricultural Labourers Development

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Scheme (MFALDS). All these schemes were supplemented by the assuredsupply of inputs like fertilisers,pesticides, institutional credit andincreased irrigational facility. Amongall these programmes, the HYVP madespectacular impact. The progressiveincrease in areas under high yielding

vari et ies resulted in substantia lincrease in food grain production.

Wheat production more than doubled

by 1977–78 and rice production alsostarted increasing. The progressunder maize, jowar and bajra was,however, rather slow, but did not remain too far.

Green Revolution, which saw thelight of the day in the late sixties, haspersisted till date. It began with

Wheat Revolution but subsequently rice surpassed it. Other crops likepulses, jowar , maize and bajra also

did not remain too far. It was widespread as it continued its journey from Punjab to other regionsof the country. Now we are not only self-sufficient in food grain but alsohave started exporting it. Our view inthis regard is amply supported by thelatest foodgrains statistics availableto us.

The overall production of food grainsfor 1999–2000 was 208.87 million tonnes

which is 5.26 million tonnes more than

the previous year. The production of riceduring this period was 89.48 milliontonnes as against the production of 86.00 million tonnes during 1998–99.

The production of wheat was 75.57million tonnes during 1999–2000 asagainst the production of 70.78

million tonnes during 1998-99.However, during this period theproduction of coarse cereals ( jowar,

bajra , maize etc.) is estimated at 30.47million tonnes as against theproduction of 31.35 million tonnesduring 1998-1999. Being dependent entirely on rainfall, the output of coarsecereals shows considerable variationover the years.

Socio-economic Consequences of Green Revolution

Green Revolution has certainly improved the food situation in thecountry. It has solved the problem of hunger and has given a strong base tothe Indian economy for further growth.It has transformed the mindset of farmers. In this respect Andre Beteillehas aptly remarked, “The GreenRevolution has indeed created a new

faith in the dynamism of the Indianfarmer who has shown himself to becapable not only of quickly absorbingtechnological innovations but also of handling social arrangements withconsiderable dexterity.”

However, the impact of thisprogramme has not been equally favourable for all sections of agrarianpopulation. What we wish to point out here is that the Green Revolution has

brought destabilising impact on thesocio-economic condition of small andpoor peasants, share-croppers andlandless agricultural labourers.

The new technology and the other inputs such as improved seeds,fertilisers, pesticides, water etc. are

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beyond the reach of small and marginalfarmers. Naturally, some regions withlarge landholdings like Punjab haveperformed better than others like Bihar and Orissa where marginal and poor farmers are in plenty and institutionalcredit is not easily available. This has

widened the gap between the small andthe rich farmers.

Secondly, the affluent farmers areenjoying the fruits of increasedprofits from land but the real wagerate for agricultural labourers has

been declining in most places. Most of the share-croppers are now joiningthe rank of landless labourers

because small holdings are not available for leasing out to theseshare-croppers.

Thirdly, economic inequality inagrarian sector has widened resultingin increased agrarian unrest in rural

areas. During the late sixties and theearly seventies numerous cases of conflicts were reported particularly from the Green Revolution belts. Thesituation became serious and theMinistry of Home Affairs of theGovernment of India studied thecauses and nature of agrarian tensionsand admitted the socio-politicalimplications of the new agriculturalstrategy. The Report concluded that new agricultural strategy has created

“widening gap between the relatively affluent farmers and the large body of small holders and landless agricultural

workers.” Analysing this problem,P.C. Joshi argues that conflict anddiscontent are inherent in the‘outmoded agrarian structure’. While

such an agrarian structure providesthe basic cause of tension, the‘proximate’ causes which have led tothe eruption of ‘latent’ discontent into‘manifest’ tension are located in thenew agricultural strategy and theGreen Revolution.

The poor peasants, share-croppersand landless agricultural labourershave not been able to share profitably in the general prosperity, which camein the wake of the green revolution. Inthis context, T. K. Oommen shows that “the green revolution as such does not lead to the welfare of the agrarian poor unless substantial alterations in theprevalent socio-economic and politicalstructures are effected at thegrass roots.”

Finally, increased agriculturalproduction has been visible mainly inareas like Punjab, Haryana, western

Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu andMaharashtra. In this fashion,substantial areas in the country havenot been benefited by this agriculturalchange. Likewise, a new class of capitalist farmers has emerged in thegreen revolution belts. Another important trend suggests that theagricultural production has increased

but the social index has not changedin the same proportion. For example,the gender-ratio in those areas where

agricultural prosperity has beenachieved is still unfavourable.However, despite these limitations theGreen Revolution has undoubtedly paved the way for faster economicgrowth and corresponding socialchange.

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GLOSSARY

EQUITY . Equity is the idea of treating people with equality and in the absenceof discrimination.

KHEDA AGITATION. Movement lead by the poor peasants against the exploitativemethods of the landowners during pre-Independence time.

INTERMEDIARIES. They were middlemen between the Zamindars and the actualtillers of the soil who usually exploited the poor peasant for their selfish ends.

L AND CEILING. To fix a specific area of land to be acquired by landowners. This

scheme was started as a measure to ensure equality and distributeexcess land among the landless.

EXERCISE

1. What do you understand by land reforms?

2. What were the main objectives behind land reforms in India?

3. What were the objectives of land reforms after Independence?

4. Why was the abolition of intermediaries a major objective of the landreform in India?

5. What was the objective behind fixing ceiling on land holdings?

6. Discuss the socio-economic consequences of Green Revolution in India.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Joshi, P.C., Land Reforms in India , Allied Publishers, New Delhi, 1975.

2. Beteille, Andre, Studies in Agrarian Social Structure , Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1974.

3. Dubey, S.C., Traditions and Development , Vikas Publishing House,New Delhi, 1990.

4. Sharma, K.L., Rural Society in India , Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1997.

5. Smelser, Neil J., The Sociology of Economic Life , Prentice Hall,New Delhi, 1975.

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57NEW GROUPS, CLASSES AND GLOBALISATION

CHAPTER 6

New Groups, Classes and Globalisation

While studying social structure andstratification, you must have noticedthat caste and class are two major forms of social stratification. These twosystems are also expressed in terms of ‘closed’ and ‘open’ class systems.Structures of stratification vary intheir rigidity from one society toanother, and from one period toanother in the same society. Thus,patterns of stratification are not always static. Changes do occur in

their nature and structure. Thus, it,is not only the class position of anindividual which may change but thecaste position may also change in a generation or two. We have alsopointed out this aspect of mobility incaste while discussing the process of Sanskritisation in an earlier section.

What we intend to highlight here isthat new groups and classes emergein every society in the wake of socialchange. In most of what follows, we

shall confine our illustrations to theIndian society and discuss the natureof new groups and classes which areemerging due to social change.

Trends of change in Indian society show the emergence and consolidationof new groups and classes. This is

visible not only in rural areas but alsoin the urban and industrial settings.However, in the absence of systematicsociological studies on the nature andsize of these groups and classes, it is a difficult task to give conclusivestatements about them. We have,therefore, selected only a few groups toillustrate this trend.

Land Reforms, Green Revolutionand the Emergence of the

Gentleman Farmer

The land reforms after independanceand the Green Revolution led to major restructuring of the agrarian system.

The composition of the traditionallandowning class is changing in thecountry. Earlier, most of thelandowners inherited land from their ancestors. Land could not bepurchased in the market because theland market was not fully developed.

But this situation has changed now. The introduction of new technology inagriculture has transformed the modeof agricultural production. Resourcesother than land have assumedimportance. Resources such astractors, mechanised ploughs, pump-

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sets, power threshers and others areacquired through the market. Today even if one has not inherited land throughthe traditional channel, it is possible for one to join the class of landowners.

In this fashion, a new class of farmers consisting of persons withdifferent skills and experiences isemerging. They no longer belong to thetraditional landowning upper castes.

There are the people who have retired

from the civil and military services andhave invested their savings inagricultural farms. This is the story

behind the emergence of GentlemanFarmers.

This group now attracts the people who are educated and wish to makeagriculture their vocation. Theincreased profitability of agriculture isthe primary reason behind it. Theseagricultural farms are run like businessfirms with all features of modern

organisations. In this respect, there isa substantial difference between thetraditional agricultural system and theemerging system.

Capitalist Farmers

The emergence of capitalist farmers isanother important development inindependent India. The question

whether and to what extent capitalismhas penetrated Indian agriculture is still

being debated, but the trend in

agriculture as in industry is clearly towards infusion of capital. A capitalist form of wage-labour agrarian systemhas replaced the traditional customary land relation. There is a clear transitionfrom the peasant family farms to thecommercial-capitalist farms.

A powerful class of rich peasants,undoubtedly, existed even earlier but they could not be characterised ascapitalist farmers because there was nocapitalist penetration in agriculture assuch. However, in the recent past, apart from the land reforms, other forces areat work in agricultural sector.Introduction of new technology along

with several other schemes of agricultural development have

facilitated a small section of richpeasantry to emerge as powerfulcommercial and capitalist farmers.Extensive facilities and resources suchas supply of high yielding variety of seeds, fertilisers, improved implements,irrigation as well as facilities of credit and improved transport andcommunication—all have been fully utilised by these farmers. The capitalist farmer hires labourers for accomplishing her/his requirements.

The actual tillers of the soil are the wage-labourers employed by the capitalist farmer. The latter is involved inagriculture only to appropriate profitsfrom it. A surplus is, thus, generatedin agricultural production that isreaching the market.

The size of the class of capitalist farmers is still small in the country today. But its emergence and growthreveal a significant aspect of change in

the agrarian social structure. Theemergence of this class has not only increased the efficiency and productivity of agriculture but also has helpedindustrial growth and development.However, this trend has widened the gap

between the rich and the poor farmers.

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Inequalities between the top and the bottom layers of the agrarian classeshave manifested leading to unrest inrural areas.

Dominant Middle-Caste Peasantry

The impact of the land reforms and theGreen Revolution has not been uniformthroughout the country. In certainregions, some sections have benefited

more than the others. While the ownersof large landholdings have pocketed themaximum profits in every region, theshare of benefits to the small peasantshas been limited almost everywhere.However, it is the middle peasant whohave been the real beneficiary all over the country. A natural question is why has this been so.

The answer to this question lies inthe very nature and composition of the

middle peasantry in the Indiancountryside. Middle peasants ordinarily belong to the middle caste groups. Though there is no all-India hierarchy of castes, it is yet possible to locatecertain layers that may be characterisedas middle. All those castes, which are

below the upper castes but above thelower and Scheduled Castes, constitutethe category of middle castes. It is not a homogenous category but as thesecastes possess some common features,

they may be included under a singlecategory. Some of the major features of the middle castes are mentioned below.

In the first place, they occupy a higher position in local caste hierarchy.No social disabilities such asuntouchability and discrimination are

imposed on them. Secondly, most of thecastes included in this category aretraditionally peasant castes. They have

been self-cultivating owners of mediumsize landholdings. Thirdly, unlike theupper castes, they have been directly involved in agricultural operations.Finally, populationwise they arepredominant at the local level. In fact,the middle castes are like the dominant castes according to the formulation of

M.N. Srinivas. Most of the features of these two categories are similar but they are different in terms of their location in the caste hierarchy. While a dominant caste may belong either to theupper or the middle caste group, it isnot so in the case of a middle caste.

It is the middle castes, which haveemerged as the dominant middlepeasantry. They have derivedmaximum advantages from the land

reforms and the Green Revolution. At the time of abolition of intermediarieslike Zamindari , the Jagirdari etc. largescale land transfer took place. Themembers of these castes purchasedmost of these lands. Secondly, when theupper caste village dwellers startedmigrating to the urban areas in largenumbers, the members of the middlecastes bought their land. Finally, new programmes of agricultural develop-ment further helped the middle castes

to improve their economic condition. Their peasant background providedthem with an added advantage. Middlecastes in some regions have, thus,achieved economic affluence.

The growing economic prosperity of middle castes was also instrumental in

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extending their influence to the politicaldomain. Here, again, their numericalstrength contributed towards gainingpolitical dominance. The phenomenalrise of castes such as the Yadav ( Ahir )and the Kurmi in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, Vokkaliga in Karnataka,Kamma and Reddy in Andhra Pradeshis a pointer to this trend. Thus, theemergence of the dominant middlecaste peasants reflects the changing

reality of the Indian countryside.Our discussion of some of the new

groupings has, thus, been concernedprimarily with those which haveemerged in rural areas. Now, let us turnto the urban industrial setting wherealso several groups and classes have

become visible. An important fact should be noted before we proceed todiscuss the urban groupings. Groupsand classes in rural areas, which wehave considered above, are apparently new in the sense that they haveappeared on the scene quite recently.But the situation in urban areas isquite different because groups andclasses here are not new in the strict sense of the term. They emerged inindustrial-urban setting fairly earlier

but their posi tion has now beenconsolidated both from the points of

view of size and role. We shall examinesome of these groups to throw light on

the nature of change taking place inthis domain.

Business Elite

An entrepreneurial class or businesselite started emerging in India by themiddle of the nineteenth century.

Although prior to the British rule a group of enterprising business personsand traders existed in the country, but the new business elite came intoprominence only during this period.

Traditionally, most of the businesspersons belonged to the trading castesand communities. But when a new link

was established between the Indianeconomy and British economy membersof some other castes also joined

mercantile enterprises. As most of the business firms were under the controlof the English persons, the Indian

business persons mainly worked asmiddle persons and brokers to Britishfirms. Thus, the emergence of the new

business elite was initially linked withthese activities. These groups of

business persons were pr imarily commercial agents and not industrialentrepreneurs. Moreover, they werelocated mainly in Kolkata, Mumbai andChennai regions because commercialand industrial activities wereconcentrated in these regions. Themembers of this group mainly belongedto the upper castes. For example, Jains,Baniyas and Kayasthas had the upper hand over others in Kolkata region,Parsis and Jains in Mumbai, and inChennai region Chettiars controlledsuch businesses.

During the early part of the

twentieth century the Indian industrialentrepreneurs started competing withthe British. Gujaratis , Parsis andMarwaris emerged as the dominant groups among the business elite.Sociological studies have shown twomajor characteristics of business elite

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in India. In the first place, most of themare the members of the traditionaltrading castes and in this sense thereis continuity with the past tradition.Secondly, there has been a close link of this group with the nationalist movement in India. These features, as

Yogendra Singh suggests, ‘’influence therole that the business elite play in themodernisation of Indian society.’’

The size and role of business elitehave phenomenally increased after Independence. It has been primarily

because of the expansion of industrialactivities during the last few decades.

The industrial business groups now organise their activities on modernscientific lines and are comparable totheir counterparts outside the country.

Trained managers manage the ir organisations. Thus, a kind of

bureaucratic structure has emerged

giving rise to a new class of industrial bureaucrats.

The accelerated growth of businesselite suggests a significant change in theentrepreneurial motivation of thepeople. The group is gradually

becoming broad-based as members of diverse social groups and castes areentering into this fold. The industrialdevelopment of the backward regionsin the country is a pointer to this trend.

The New Middle Class

The emergence of the new middle classis an interesting development in the era of economic liberalisation in India.

Academic studies had, no doubt,focussed earlier on the character of the

Indian middle class in general, but it isonly recently that the rise of the new middle class has attracted the attentionof social scientists.

In a celebrated study of the Indianmiddle classes, B.B. Misra hassuggested that the members of theeducated professions, such asgovernment servants, lawyers, collegeteachers and doctors, primarily constituted the bulk of the Indian middleclasses. He also included the body of merchants, agents of modern tradingfirms, salaried executives in bankingand trading, and the middle grades of peasant proprietors and rentiers under this category. This notion of the middleclass has continued for years for thepurpose of examining the role of themiddle class in contemporary India.

It has been argued that in the early years of the Independence, material

pursuits of the middle class weresubsumed in a broader ethical andmoral responsibility to the nation as a

whole. A restraint on materialisticexhibitionism in a poor country was theideal reflector in the character of themiddle class. Changes have, however,occurred in the basic character of thisclass. Pavan Varma, for example, in his

book The Great Indian Middle Class

has initiated a significant debate on thedeclining social responsibility of the

Indian middle class. It is in this context that the idea of new middle class has

been made popular in India.

The current culture of consumerismhas given rise to the new middle class.

The economic liberalisation initiated inIndia in the 1990s portrays the middle

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class as a sizeable market which hasattracted the MultinationalCorporations (MNCs). Images of theurban middle class in the print media and television contribute to theprevalence of images of an affluent consumer. The spread of the consumer items such as cellphones, cars, washingmachines and colour televisions hasalso consolidated the image of a new middle class culture. Advertisingimages has further contributedto perception.

The new middle class has left behind its dependence on austerity andstate protection. The newness of themiddle class rests on its embrace of social practices of taste andconsumption and a new culturalstandard. Thus, the “newness” of middle class involves adoption of a new ideology rather than a shift in the social

basis of India’s middle class.Critics of this new middle class

have pointed out the negative effectsthat middle class consumerism holdsin the terms of environmentaldegradation and a growing indifferencetowards socio-economic problems of the country. However, proponents of liberalisation have projected this new middle class as an idealised standardfor a globalising India.

GLOBALISATION ANDLIBERALISATION

The phenomenon of globalisation hasaroused much interest since theeighties. We will discuss it in the context of social change.

Globalisation is one of thedistinctive features of thecontemporary world. The term is usedmostly in an economic sense.Globalisation is the process of integration of world economies inconditions of free markets. Free market envisages free flow of trade and capitaland movement of persons acrossnational borders. Globalisation is,thus, identified with the new world

trade order and opening up of commercial markets. Science andtechnology have greatly helped in thegrowth of globalisation. The wholeprocess is facilitated by newly developed technology for immediatetransmission of information.

Historically, the world hadexperienced periods of economicintegration even in the later half of thenineteenth century and early part of the

twentieth century. But the process wasinterrupted by the world wars,economic depression and restrictions onthe movement of people till almost the1970’s. However, the process of globalisation received new impetusduring the last two decades.

Internationalisation of productionhas been taking place in a big way through the MNCs. Large companies

based in one country but operating inseveral countries are called

Multinational or TransnationalCorporations. The MNCs havethousands of affiliated companies allover the world. According to oneestimate, their sales in 1998 were of theorder of almost one-third of the worldtrade. These corporations treat the

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globe as a single market rather than a set of national markets.

Moreover, trade beyond the national boundaries is substantially expandingas duties and tariffs are getting sharpely lowered and other barriers are removedto increase the volume of foreign trade.

Transport and communication costshave gone down considerably.Consequently, technologically advancedcompanies and enterprises move todifferent locations in different countries.Globalisation has opened up new avenues for the MNCs. The era of globalisation has unfolded new opportunities for both developed anddeveloping countries. Globalisation isturning the whole world into a ‘global

village’.

Potential of Globalisation

Globalisation is supported on many grounds by its protagonists, some of

which are discussed below.

The process of globalisation is basedon the basic premise of free market. It is presumed that free markets beget competition and increase efficiency

which is lacking in controlled markets.Increased efficiency improves quality of goods and services. Free market isparticularly helpful to the backwardeconomies.

Under the condition of globalisation, foreign investment flowsinto the domestic economy whichmakes it strong and boisterous. Theseinvestments specially assist thecountries that face the shortage of internal resources. In this manner, free

trade facilitates inflow of foreign capitaland goods which is expected to provide

buoyancy to the stagnating economiesof the Third World.

Globalisation guarantees increasedemployment opportunities. Moreemployment and more economicgrowth would create better quality of life for the people. As unemployment continues to be a serious problem for most of the developing countries,globalisation is projected as thepanacea.

It is assumed that economicdevelopment would be achievedthrough the integration of economies,

which would also take care of the issuesof social justice. The innovative andrationalising mechanisms of the globaleconomic order will make provision for safety nets for the disadvantagedgroups. It is, thus, believed that

liberalisation of economy, instead of causing havoc, provides new hope tothe disadvantaged groups.

Furthermore, globalisation increasesco-operation and solidarity among

business partners at the internationallevel. It also enhances co-operation at the governmental level. It gives rise to a new world order based on consensusand partnership. Values of reciprocity and solidarity among nations aresupposed to usher in an era of worldpeace and amity.

Consequences of Globalisation

According to the United Nations’ study in 1999, ‘the era of globalisation isopening many opportunities for

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millions of people around the world’. The study suggests that it offersenormous potential to eradicate poverty in the twenty-first century.

But the experiences of globali-sation so far, particularly in thedeveloping countries, do not follow this trend. It has given rise to seriousrisks for countries that are unable to

become internationally competitive. The negative consequences of

globalisation are more dominant compared to its positive potential.Increased trade, new technologies,foreign investment and expandinginternational connections have, nodoubt, led to substantial economicgrowth in the world today but thegains of economic growth are not evenly distributed among different countries. There are several problemsthat emanate from this basic

weakness.

The economic process under globalisation is connected with market expansion. The development of nationalmarket economies is integrated globally on market principles. The market system is always driven by the searchfor profits. Open competitive marketsmay guarantee efficiency, but not necessarily ensure equity. Therefore,great reliance on the ‘invisible hand’ of the market is pushing the worldtowards unsustainable levels of

inequality. It has rightly been said that ‘markets are neither the first nor the last

word in human development’. There areseveral activities and goods, which areimportant for human development, but today they are overlooked in the rushto integrate with the global market. It

is evident in areas where the market frontier has moved in recent decades,such as in Africa and Asia. It hasincreased migration to cities, greater anomie in urban life, the collapse of theextended family and the replacement of sentiments by money as the basis of human motivation.

Global capitalism is relatively freefrom regulations. But it enjoys thesupport of powerful capitalist states. A number of international economicinstitutions such as the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank and the World Trade Organisation(WTO) reinforce the ideology of globalcapitalism. These countries andinstitutions create the political and legalconditions for the global market. Theseconditions have been created by stepslike (a) removal of barriers tointernational trade and services,

(b) movement of capital, (c) globalprotection of property rights(d) privatisation of state companies,(e) deregulation of business activities,and (f) phasing out of welfare services.

Al l these steps have reduced thecapacity of the nation states to provideessential social services to the people.

The effects of structural adjustment policies in Africa, Asia and the southPacific imposed by the IMF and the

World Bank have been no less than

disastrous. They have decreased theaccess to education, health andnutrition to the underprivilegedsections of the population. Of course, it has extended these facilities mainly tothe most privileged groups. Even inEurope, where the welfare state was

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born, there has been severe reductionin these facilities.

At present, for developing countries,the risks are more than the advantagesand opportunities. The most direct impact has been on jobs. For example,unemployment rates doubled in Asiancountries where the depression of 1997– 98 was worst. Wages in the current labour market are generally low. Intensecompetition for employment means that

workers have low capacity to bargain inmost countries. The real wagesthroughout Latin America and Africa have yet to return to levels considerednormal twenty years ago.

Failure to create sufficient employment has undermined theprospects for poverty reduction. Thenumber of people living in poverty fellin mid-1990s but then started to riseagain in almost all countries. This is not

because the world as a whole has beengetting poorer but because the benefitsof growth are unevenly spread. In fact,there has been a remarkable increasein inequality over the past decades. Inthe developing countries, the rich caneasily adjust to the new environment,

but the poor are becoming poorer.

Moreover, the economic globali-sation is problematic not only becauseit complicates economic relationships

between nations but also because it

concentrates economic power in thehands of MNCs. Such a concentration of economic power leadsto convergence of political and socialpower. In this fashion, social andeconomic rights of common citizens arerestricted under globalisation. It affects

social policy and reduces the role of state activities.

It is against this background that some resistance against the impositionof external conditionalities on thecountry’s economy has emerged at thepeople’s level. The people in thedeveloping countries are concernedabout numerous internationalnegotiations which are taking place on

agriculture, services and patent protection. The concern is whether thedeveloping countries would get fair dealin these agreements. These negotiationsand agreements are held under the aegisof WTO which is the legal andinstitutional body of the global tradingsystem. Member countries are supposedto follow rules and disciplines of WTO.

LIBERALISATION

The process of liberalisation is closely related to globalisation. Liberalisation isthe economic content of globalisation. It is a process under which a highly regulated economy is transformed intoan outward-looking economy. Domesticeconomy is liberalised throughderegulation and decontrolling. Thedominance of the state in most spheresof activity declines and gives way toprivate enterprises and companies. Theprivatisation of commerce and industry

takes place by dismantling public sector units. The idea of liberalisation isessentially based on the thinking that the economy and society will be much

better by reducing the state intervention.It is popularised by the slogan, less

state, better state .

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The process of globalisation, as wehave seen, is integrating economies of the world. This process of integrationis facilitated by liberalisation andprivatisation of individual economies.In other words, various countries haveto liberalise their economies by resorting to deregulation where there

will be less and less control of the State.Liberalisation policy emphasises theefficiency aspect of economy. Privateenterprises are considered moreefficient than the public sector

undertakings.

Challenges of Globalisation andLiberalisation in India

The processes of globalisation and

liberalisation are more predominant inthe modern world. Under such a condition, India too is facing challengesof these processes. A significant transformation has taken place in thecountry since 1991 as we moved froma highly regulated and inward-looking

to an outward-looking economy. Thedominance of the State in most spheresof activity is giving way to privateenterprises.

You will understand this situationclearly if an example is provided to you.Indian economy has adopted themixed-economy model. It is called

mixed because it consists of two sectors —the private sector and the publicsector. While the public sector is fully controlled by the state, the private sector includes enterprises owned by individuals. The public sector hasplayed a dominant role in the Indian

economy. The State, thus, has beenpresent in most spheres of activity. Itscontrol and regulation have been wideranging and even covered the privatesector industries. The latter werecontrolled through numerous licensesand permits. In fact, this practice has

been so widespread that the peopleoften called it the quota permit raj .

It was this system of regulation andcontrol that received a blow in the era of liberalisation. The process of liberalisation started in India around1991 with numerous structuralchanges in the economy. Policy reformsopened up the economy. The first phaseof reforms (1991–1994) focussed on thedismantling of controls and regulationsin trade and industry. Taxes and tariffs

were lowered. All these steps created a conducive climate for privateinvestments—both domestic and

foreign. Thus, the era of liberalisation witnessed a clear transition from aninsular to an outward-looking andexport-oriented economy.

The process of liberalisation andprivatisation has further beenaccelerated in the second phase of reforms. Two major developments inthis phase are encouraging moreforeign direct investment anddownsizing the public sector. India is a large market. From 1 April 2001, all

quantitative restrictions have beenremoved and the market is now openfor imported products. Disinvestment in public sector undertakings has not only been initiated, but severalcorporations have already been sold toprivate enterprises.

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India has now completed the first post-liberalisation decade withsatisfactory growth rates. Inflation has

been contained. Industry is no longer protected from external forces. Morerecently, the breakthroughs inInformation Technology (IT) sector hasproved skills of Indian professionals

who are in great demand in developedcountries of the world. It is expected that IT-related services would give a boost

to the economy in the years to come.

Notwithstanding these achieve-ments during the era of liberalisation,there are still critical challenges ahead.Poverty continues to be one of the most important challenges. Around 26.10per cent of the population is still below the poverty line. The situation withregard to employment continues to begrim. During the last decade, moreretrenchment from jobs has taken

place because companies have reducedtheir size or merged to face the rigour of competition. This is happening whenthe Indian economy is not able togenerate sufficient jobs. Fullemployment, universal literacy,primary education, health care andraising the quality of life for all citizens

are equally challenging tasks toaccomplish.

Privatisation is affecting women inmany ways. It has already startedreducing employment opportunitiesdue to the introduction of sophisticatedtechnology both in agriculture andindustry. In India, women are moregainfully employed in handicrafts andhousehold industries. They are mainly in unorganised sector. Economicliberalisation has affected this sector,

which is threatened because of theentry of mechanised products andmass producers of these items in thelocal markets.

Under such circumstances, thechallenge of globalisation today is toadjust rules and institutions for stronger governance to preserve theadvantages of global market. Whilemodifying these institutions the

country has to provide enough spacefor human and community resources.It is imperative to ensure that globalisation works for the people

because despite the attendant risks and challenges not a singlecountry would be able to stop theapproach of globalisation.

GLOSSARY

TENURE. The legal conferment of the right to own land and other properties. It

helps the State to administer and collect revenue. Many land tenuresystems including Raiyatwari, Mahalwari and Zamindari existingpriorto Independence were abolished.

INTERNATIONALISATION OF PRODUCTION. The distribution of product in different partsof the world through the long chain of companies, i.e. MultinationalCorporations (MNCs).

GLOBAL VILLAGE. Establishment of technologically advanced companies and

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enterprises at different countries for enhancing business andrelationship, which turn the whole world into a global village.

SOCIAL POWER. It is related with the concept of the globalisation and it restrictedsocial and economic rights of common citizens.

W ORLD TRADE ORGANISATION. An international organisation set up by the member countries of the United Nations. It was started in 1995 with itsheadquarters at Geneva. Through various laws and policies, WTOregulates and facilitates the international trade of goods and services.

EXPORT-ORIENTED ECONOMY . An economy in which a majority of its productiveforces directed towards production of export goods and services. Many countries follow this strategy to get more foreign currencies which

will be helpful to meet the import needs and domestic shortageof capital.

EXERCISE

1. Enumerate the changes that have taken place in the sector of agriculture, which have led to the emergence of ‘farmers’ as different from peasants.

2. Define the concept of middle class.

3. What are business elite? Give examples.

4. Give the concepts of globalisation and liberalisation. Showing thedifference between them.

5. Delineate the changes that have surfaced in society with the coming of globalisation.

6. What is privatisation? What are its impact on society?

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Sethi, Raj Mohini, (ed.), Globalisation, Culture and Women’s Development ,Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1999.

2. Mishra, B.B., The Indian Middle Classes , Oxford University Press,New Delhi, 1978.

3. Hurrell, Andrew and Ngaire Woods, (eds.), Inequality, Globalisation and

World Politics , Oxford University Press, New York, 1999.4. Varma, Pawan, The Great Indian Middle Class, Viking, New Delhi, 1998.

5. Ram, Nandu, The Mobile Scheduled Castes: Rise of a New Middle Class ,Hindustan Publishing Corporation, Delhi, 1988.

6. Fernandes, Leela, Restructuring the New Middle Class in Liberalising India ,Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, Vol. XX,Nos.1 and 2, 2000.

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69EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE

CHAPTER 7

Education and Social Change

Culture is a learned aspect of thesociety. It is a social asset and allmembers of society share its elements.

These cultural elements are preservedand disseminated through educationfrom one individual to another and alsofrom one generation to another. In thismanner, there is a direct relationship

between culture and education. Whileculture gives identity to a society,education sustains it. Education alsoplays a dynamic role in society. It

performs the function of an initiator of social change. It not only generates new ideas and values but also transmitsthem to the younger generation. In thischapter, our attempt will be to examinethe relationship between education andsocial change.

SOCIETY AND EDUCATION

Education emerges out of the needs of society. An individual member passes

away in course of time, but society continues to exist and new membersare added to it by birth. Every society,thus, tries to stay together as a unit anddevelops a way of life. The groupmembers have to train children to carry on the customs, knowledge and skills

of the group to preserve and perpetuatetheir way of life. This function isperformed by education. Educationalso trains people to develop new ideasand adjust to a changing environment.

Parents and family play an informalrole in education. A more formal part comes from education provided by social groups and community agencies.School, which is especially establishedfor the purpose, conducts the most formal education. School has, thus,

become a social necessity for providingspecial learning. It makes possible theaccumulation and transmission of knowledge on a large scale which wereimpossible before.

Education, thus, performs severalsocial functions. Starting from thesocialising role in a family, its taskscover areas like economic organisation,social stratification and political ideas.

In every society, the process of

socialisation of a child occurs withinthe family. But, as the skills andknowledge in a simple society are plainand uncomplicated, the occupationalrole is also learnt by a child at home.On the other hand, in the moderncomplex societies, the situation

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substantially changes because of thechange in occupational patterns. Thecomplex skills and specialised taskscannot be provided to a child at home.

Therefore, the role of family getsrestricted to only primary socialisation.

The formal educational institutionstake up the functions of secondary socialisation. Education performs thefunction of socialisation by transmitting norms, values, beliefs,

attitudes and social skills to the new generation. Whatever a student learnsin school is a part of the culturalheritage of the society. This process of learning moulds and develops thepersonality of the young members of the society.

Coming to the domain of socialstratification, it can be shown that theeducational system influences it inseveral ways. You know that caste is an

example of closed system of stratification whereas class symbolisesan open system. In a closed system,status is ascribed by birth, but in anopen system a person ordinarily achieves a position. The closed systemof stratification creates institutionalisedinequality. However, this type of inequality is challenged in modernsociety. It is here that education playsan important role. Modern educationfosters liberal values such as equality,

freedom and scientific temper. It cultivates awareness against inequality,social deprivation and all sorts of discrimination. Education thusempowers people to demolish theclosed system of stratification andopens it up for social transformation.

Moreover, modern education facilitatesoccupational mobility by creating new occupational opportunities.

The political system is another important dimension in whicheducation plays an important role.

While a po li tical system direct ly influences the educational system, it isin turn affected by the latter. In other

words, ideology, values and goals work upon the politics of the time. The idealsof democracy, socialism, secularismand social justice have essentially grownin the modern times because of educational development. In India, theeducated and enlightened people, for example, provided the leadership in thestruggle for freedom.

The educa tional system alsodiversifies the economic system. Theeconomic value of education was not recognised by economists till recently.

Economists now accept education asa factor that promotes economicgrowth. This is the idea behind the useand popularity of terms like humanresource development. Theeducational system provides skills andtraining for different occupations. It prepares younger people for occupyingdifferent positions according toeducation and skills. It is because of the specific economic needs of different countries that they have different

educational priorities. In order toachieve this goal, investment ineducation is regarded as a means toimprove human resources that promotes economic growth.

It is obvious from the foregoingdiscussion that education not only

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influences social change but also actsas an agent of modernisation in various

ways.

Education and Social Change

We have examined how educationinfluences different domains of sociallife. In this sense, it not only influencessocial change, but also acts as an agent of social change. Education engages

itself in a much more positive actionand can perform the function of aninitiator of change. It inculcates in the

younger generation whatever changesare desirable for rebuilding a society.Moreover, it cultivates necessary intellectual and emotional readiness todeal with challenges of change.

Education is an important instru-ment of modernisation. Modern valuesin social, economic and political sphereshave to be instilled in the minds of

people to achieve the goal of modernisation. Values such as equality,liberty, scientific temper, humanismand ideas against blind faith pave the

way for modernisation. This task can be effectively performed by education.

EDUCATION ANDMODERNISATION IN INDIA

Early Phase

In ancient India education wasprovided by the family, kin group andsociety as a whole through partici-pation in daily life. But, as the needsand activities increased in course of time, a more systematic means of instruction was introduced and a

specialised occupational group of teachers was formed. Thus, the systemof formal instruction began which theBrahmans provided. The Brahmansacted as formal teachers and wererepositories of knowledge and learning.

Teaching centres functioned aroundindividual scholars and the learningprocess also emphasised the role of each individual student. This system of education emphasised more on life than

on instruction. Thus, curricula variedfrom centre to centre. The transmissionof religious ideas and the interpretationof sacred texts were the major functionsof gurukuls and vidyalayas . However,this educational system was availableonly to a small section of the populationthat constituted the upper layers of thevarna hierarchy. Subsequently, thissystem collapsed under the pressure of social and economic change.

Historically speaking, moderneducation appeared in India with theestablishment of the British rule.Initially, the British rulers supportedtraditional schools and encouragedtheir expansion and growth. But, by themiddle of the nineteenth century, thecolonial policy changed and a decision

was taken to introduce Europeanliterature and science in India. English

was made the medium of instructionin the higher branches of learning. This

policy concentrated on the educationof the upper and middle classes. Littleprogress was made in establishing a suitable system of primary education.

According to one estimate in 1881-82,1 in 10 boys and 1 in 250 girls betweenthe ages of 5 to 12 years attended

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schools. About 90 per cent of thepopulation were illiterate even in theearly part of the twentieth century. Theeducational system, thus, not only maintained the gulf between the upper classes and the mass of the population

but also increased it further.

There were significant limitations of the educational policy of the colonialperiod. Higher education was givenpriority over primary education. The

enrolment in colleges and universitiesincreased at a higher rate than inschools. Consequently, modernisationthrough education remained confinedto the educated and elite groups that maximum belonged to the upper castes. It hardly affected the mass of thepopulation.

However, the system of educationintroduced during the colonial rulehad several good points. It gave a fundamentally different orientation tothe educational system and laid thefoundation of modern education inIndia. Its content was liberal andmodern. The teaching of several new

branches of learning such as science,technology and medicine created anenvironment congenial for modernisation. The structure of educational institutions was developedalong professional lines. Thisstructure, which classified institutionsunder categories like primary school,high school, college and university,continued even after Independence.

Independence and After

Education in India has achievedamazing success during the last

fifty- five years. Its achievements, bothin absolute and relative terms, have

been remarkable. The fact becomesmore visible when we compare thepresent situation with the one existingat the time of Independence. Weinherited an educational system which

was largely unrelated to national needsand aspirations. It was quantitatively small and qualitatively poor. Only about 14 per cent of the country’s population

was literate. Only one child out of threehad been enrolled in primary schools.In addition to low levels of enrolment and literacy, regional and gender disparities were also very apparent. Theeducational system faced problems of expansion, stagnation and wastage. It lacked vocationalisation and had norelationship with the social andcultural needs of the Indian society.

After Independence , it was

recognised that education formed a vital aspect of the modernisationprocesses. Therefore, educationalreform was accepted as an important agenda of national development. A comprehensive constitutional andpolicy framework was developed.

The successive Five-Year Plansaugmented the goal by launchingseveral programmes of educationaldevelopment.

We may assess the educational

profile of India by first touching uponthe literacy scene. In 1951, we had a literacy rate of 18.3 per cent which went up to 52.2 per cent in the 1991 census.

The rate of literacy, according to the2001 census, was 65.38 per cent.

While the literacy rate in the case of the

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male was 75.85 per cent, it was 54.16per cent in the case of the female. It isapparent from these figures that therehas been unprecedented growth in thefield of literacy in India. It is fascinatingto note that for the first time the totalnumber of illiterates has declined by over 31.9 million in the last decade. Thefemale literacy rate has increased by 14.87 per cent as against 11.72 per cent in the case of males. Such a

remarkable progress in the rate of literacy has primarily been due to twomajor factors. First, the government-sponsored national campaign for literacy has made tremendous impact.

As the scheme has been decentralised,its accountability has also increased.Second, the considerable involvement of Non-governmental Organisations(NGOs) have made the literacy campaign more flexible.

The expansion and theconsolidation of elementary educationhave been equally remarkable.Universalisation of Elementary Education (U.E.E.) has been acceptedas a national goal. This programmeenvisages universal access, universalretention and universal achievement.Now, almost 94 per cent of the country’srural population has primary schools

within 1 km. At the upper primary stage84 per cent of the rural population has

schools within a distance of 3 km. Theenrolment at the primary stage hasgone up from 42.60 per cent in 1950– 51 to 94.90 per cent in 1999–2000.Similarly, the number of primary andupper primary schools has gone upfrom 2.23 lakh in 1950–51 to 8.39

lakh in 1999–2000 and the number of teachers in these schools from 6.24 lakhin 1950–51 to 32.17 lakh in 1999–2000.

A new scheme called Sarva Shiksha

Abhiyan (SSA) has been launched topursue universal elementary educationin mission mode. The goals of SSA areto send all children in the age group of 6–14 to school by 2003 so that they complete five year of primary education

by 2007 and complete eight years of schooling by 2010.

Secondary education acts as a bridge between elementary and higher education. It prepares young personsof the age group of 14–18 for entry intohigher education. There were 1.10 lakhsecondary and senior secondary institutions in 1999 in the country. 272lakh students were enrolled in theseinstitutions, of which 101 lakh weregirls. In 1999, there were 15.42 lakh

teachers in these schools. The vocational isat ion of secondary education has been implementedsince 1998.

The expansion of institutions of higher education has also beenexceptional. On the eve of Independencethe country had only 18 universities

but at present the number of universities is 259 . There are 11,089colleges and 119 autonomous colleges.

The growth of technical and professional

institutions has been equally phenomenal. At present, there are 7000teacher education colleges, 110polytechnics, 600 management institutes, 550 engineering andtechnology colleges and 170 medicalcolleges.

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Apart from expansion and spreadof educational opportunities at different levels, special emphasis has been givento improve the status of women througheducation. It is believed that empowerment of women is a criticalprecondition for their participation inthe developmental processes. Girl childhas now become a target group.Similarly, educational development of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled

Tribes has received added attention.

The educational scenario presentedabove quite evidently looks impressive,

but actual efforts have fallen far short of the goal. The National Policy onEducation envisages that free andcompulsory education should beprovided to all children up to the age of 14 years. This target of universalisingelementary education is yet to

be achieved.

The expansion and spread of education has brought about meaningfulchanges in the Indian society. Thetransition from ‘class education’(education for a few) to ‘mass education’(education for all) has widened the scopeof unlimited entry into the educationalsystem. The groups and communities

who were deprived of access to educationhave now joined the national mainstreamof development. It has not only disseminated universal values such as

equality and humanism but it has alsotransmitted scientific world-view.Education has been one of the most important factors in transforming theoutlook and attitude of the people.

The quantitative expansion of education has spread it to every nook

and corner of the country. It has shakenthe age-old inertia and indifferencetowards education. The phenomenalgrowth of literacy and education among

women is unprecedented. It hasradically transformed their attitude andimproved their status within andoutside the families. Their economiccontribution has also becomeconspicuous. The difference in attitudetowards boys and girls is no longer

prevalent as before. Such a change insociety’s attitude towards women’s rolehas enabled them to enter spheres of occupational activities that were

virtually closed to them.

As a result of the expansion of education, the degree of mobility among the members of the ScheduledCastes and the Scheduled Tribes hasconsiderably increased. The overallstate of affairs, however, is not so

encouraging in this respect. Theproblems associated with thesedisadvantaged groups have been sodeep-rooted that their solutionrequires overhauling of the socialsystem itself. The national policy of providing equal opportunities as wellas special opportunities to theunderprivileged classes has begungiving positive results. Members of these communities have achievedconsiderable success in education. The

rate of literacy has increased and theenrolment in primary and secondary schools has improved a great deal. Of course, their presence in higher education is still very low. The upper castes continue to dominate almost allareas of higher education.

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It should be apparent by now that education has acted as a strongmodernising force in Indian society. It is changing the world-view of thepeople. The growth of educationalinstitutions based on the rationalprinciple of science is itself anexpression of modernisation. Increasingurge for education among the deprivedand the downtrodden reveals change in

their levels of aspirations. It has givenan additional responsibility to theeducational system. The educationalsystem till Independence catered to theneeds of the upper and the middleclasses. A momentous change hasoccurred in this situation after Independence. A large number of lower caste children have enterededucational institutions at all levels.

Their aspirations and abilities beingdifferent, a new orientation is

necessary to find out their talents andcapacity so that their educationalneeds can be fulfilled.

Levels and the degree of mobility have also been influenced by education. Studies in India suggest that mobility at the level of castegenerally operates in the socio-cultural domains and in respect of pollution and purity. Such changesare, however, reflected through

changes in customs, practices,occupations, education and income of particular groups. Although thesechanges do not bring large scalechange in the structure of stratification, some families or groupsof families may raise their status

within their own castes and in relationto some other castes. What we aretrying to emphasise is that educationhas played an important role ineffecting mobility at the individuallevel which is gradually spreading out to the group level. Increase in thenumber of caste-free occupations isthoroughly the result of educationalprogress in the country. Education is

a major element in the honour assigned to occupations. It plays a major role in determining what occupation one will achieve and, inturn, the level of one’s income.

However, as we move away fromthe spectacular gains of education inIndia since Independence, we areconfronted with the problems whichthe Indian system of education isfacing today. The problems of standard, content and the social

purpose of education are basic to our system of education. These issueshave to be seriously debated andremedies evolved to make the systemmore effective and persuasive. As thenation has accepted the significanceof education for the social andeconomic development of the country,its educational planning has to movein this direction. The report of theIndian Education Commission,

appropriately entitled Education and National Development 1966,

forcefully stated, “Education cannot be considered in isolation or plannedin a vacuum. It has to be used as a powerful instrument of social,economic and political change ….”

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GLOSSARY

EDUCATION. It is an agent of social change. It trains the people to develop new ideas and to adjust to a changing environment.

EXERCISE

1. What is education?

2. What is the basic function of education?

3. What is the relationship between culture and education?

4. How is education an agent of social change?

5. Distinguish between the close and the open systems of socialstratification.

6. Analyse the role of education in bringing about social change in India.

SUGGESTED READINGS

1. Sachchidanand, Harijan Elite , The Thomson Press Ltd., New Delhi, 1977.

2. Shah, B.V. and Shah K.B., Sociology of Education , Rawat Publications, Jaipur, 1998.

3. Perelius, Ann P. and Perelius, Robert J.,The Sociology of Education , N.J.:Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, 1978.

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CHAPTER 9

Dissent and Social Change

An element of dissatisfaction with theexisting system can be found in every society. Dissatisfaction may be caused

by poverty, social discrimination or lack of privilege. People may developa strong desire to change the situation

by raising their voices against theexisting order. They may start questioning established practices of society. This difference of opinionactually reflects a desire for change.Social movements emerge under this

situation. However, a movement doesnot occur suddenly. It begins withdissent, moves towards protests andfinally takes the form of a socialmovement. This sequence—dissent,protest and social movements— represents different phases of socialchange. But in some cases all thesemay be in operation at the same time.

The theme of dissent and socialchange has to be analysed against this

background. We shal l star t this

discussion by clarifying theseconcepts and then analyse the typesof social movements.

DISSENT

The term ‘dissent’ refers to ideas andactivities which are different from those

prevailing in a society at a given point of time. Differences of opinion anddisagreement on certain issues are

bases of dissent. Dissent is thus the beginning of a movement for change.For example, the struggle against theinhuman practice of untouchability inIndia was initiated only when the people

who were suffering from this cruelpractice raised their voices against it.

PROTEST

Protest is generally specific in nature. When dissent is expressed openly it assumes the form of protest. When a dissenting opinion crystallises further the situation of protest is created. Thusprotest, in order to be meaningful, hasto be supported by dissent in respect of the institutional arrangementsprevailing in society at a given point of time. In fact, a consciousness of injusticeand deprivation takes place at this

stage. Accordingly, we may say that thesocial sharing of discrimination anddeprivation is the starting point of protest.

Thus, we may say that dissent expresses dissatisfaction with theexisting situation and registers

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87DISSENT AND SOCIAL CHANGE

disagreement. Protest, on the other hand, is a formal declaration of dissent and represents a more crystallised stateof opposition and conflict.

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Social movements are of great sociological interest because they area major source of social change. A social movement is a sustained

collective effort that focuses on someaspects of social change.

M.S.A. Rao says that a socialmovement essentially involvessustained collective mobilisationthrough either informal or formalorganisation and is generally orientedtowards bringing about change in theexisting system of relationships. Raoconsiders ideology as an important component of a social movement. Thisdefinition highlights the followingfeatures of social movement.

First, social movement is a collectivemobilisation as against occasionalindividual efforts. Groups andcollectivism launch movement, but it isdifferent from a crowd. A crowd has nogroup identity but no movement ispossible without a group identity. A crowd is neither organised nor does it possess permanency. In contrast,social movements are organised

collective endeavours. Thus the first important feature of a social movement is its collective nature.

Second, the organisational structureand leadership is another important aspect of a social movement.Distribution of tasks is required in every

movement. These tasks are assigned todifferent persons and units of the groupdepending upon personal qualities andcommitments of individuals. In thismanner, some kind of organisationalstructure emerges to fulfil the goals of a movement. When a persuasive leader,called charismatic in sociologicalliterature, leads a movement, support of the masses tends to be spontaneous.Mahatma Gandhi’s following in India’sfreedom movement is a well-knownexample in this respect. Decentraliseddemocratic leadership may also be a popular strategy. In such anorganisational structure an elaboratesystem of local and regional level unitsand branches are established tostrengthen the organisation. Theseunits are required to be formed for mobilising the people, communicatingmessages and implementing action

programmes. While such organisationsare devised on the basis of movements’aims and objectives, they also expressthe collective will of the people.

Third, a movement cannot keepitself alive unless it develops itsideological frame and identity. Anideology of a social movement relies onsets of ideas that explain and justify itspurpose and methods. Thus,ideological framework articulatesaspirations and defines levels of

expectations of the people. Moreover,ideology gives legitimacy to the actionprogrammes of a movement. Theideological underpinnings provide themovement acceptability and recognitionamong the people at large. It also helpsto generate involvement to the cause

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and becomes a rallying point to assemblepeople to consolidate the gains of collective mobilisation. However, weshould not lose sight of one important fact here. Although every movement evolves its own body of ideas and goals,it is frequently under the powerfulinfluence of already establishedideology. Gandhism and Marxism, for instance, have influenced several socialand political movements in India.

Finally, change orientation isanother significant aspect of socialmovement. Every movement is directedtowards some change according to itsaims and objectives. Therefore, therelationship between social movementsand social change is well-established.However, the nature and extent of change intended may not be identicalin all movements. While somemovements strive for partial change,

others may attempt to bring about largescale transformation of the socialstructure. Likewise, while somemovements are change-promoting,others are change-resisting. You canlearn more about this later.

Emergence of Social Movements

How does a social movement emerge? What are the factors that give rise tosocial movements? Under what

conditions can a movement sustainitself? Answers to these questions willthrow light on the origin and sourcesof social movements.

There are three popular explanations about the genesis of a movement. They are the relative

deprivation theory, structural straintheory, and the revitalisation theory.

Relative Deprivation Theory

Deprivation refers to a condition in which people lack what they need. A condition of relative deprivation,however, is based on a perceiveddifference between what people have incomparison with others. In this sense,

relative deprivation exists whenindividuals or groups feel that they havereceived less than what they should havein view of their capabilities. In other

words, relative depr ivation is a discrepancy between legitimateexpectations and actual achievements.

The discrepancy may be in terms of economic conditions, social status or political power. For example, aneducated unemployed youth may feeldeprived compared to a similarly

educated but employed person. Thus,a feeling of relative deprivationgenerates dissatisfaction against theprevailing conditions and gives rise toa movement. Most social movementshave been studied by sociologists

wi th in the framework of relat ivedeprivation theory.

Structural Strain Theory

Neil Smelser’s structural strain theory

argues that contradiction, conflict andstrain in a society produce anxiety anduncertainty. Structural strain occurs at the levels of norms, values and facilities.

This strain provides a motivation for collective behaviour akin to a movement. Although Smelser was one

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of the first to theorise that socialmovements incorporate sociologicalfactors, he has been criticised for placing too much emphasis onpsychological motivation.

Revitalisation Theory

The revitalisation theory was initially put forward by A. F. C. Wallace. Wallacepostulated that social movements

develop out of a deliberate, organisedand conscious effort on the part of members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture for themselves.

This explanation of genesis of socialmovement substantially departs fromthe above two explanations. Both therelative deprivation and the straintheories are based on negativeconditions. They argue that movementsemerge because people experiencedeprivation and discrimination. The

revitalisation approach, however,suggests that social movements offer a positive programme of action torevitalise the system. Thus, accordingto this theory, social movements not only express dissatisfaction and dissent against the existing condition but alsoprovide alternatives for resurgence of the system.

Types of Social Movements

Social movements have been classifiedon the basis of numerous criteria.Nature of change intended,organisational mode and strategy,nature of demands, groups andcollectivities involved are some of themajor criteria used for the purpose.

Among the Indian sociologistsM.S.A. Rao’s classification of movements is widely accepted. Raoclassifies movements into three types — Reformist, Transformatory andRevolutionary. Reform movements may

be identified with partial changes in the va lue system and consequentialchanges in the quality of relationship.

Transformatory movements, on theother hand, aim at middle level

structural changes in the traditionaldistribution of power. Finally,revolutionary movements lead to radicalchanges in the totality of social andcultural systems.

Parth N. Mukherji has advanced a classification based on the nature andextent of changes that movementsintend to bring about in social systems.Based on the criterion of change,he suggests three types—social

movement, revolutionary movement and quasi-movement. ‘‘Any collectivemobilisation for action directedexplicitly towards an alteration or transformation of the structure of a system can be properly understood asa social movement.’’ When the collectivemobilisation aims at effecting wide-range of and far-reaching changes inthe major institutional systemscomprising the whole society, we canrightly term it a revolutionary

movement. Collective mobilisation,aimed at changes within a system, is a quasi-movement.

The typology of T.K. Oommen is based on the process of movement crystallisation, the life cycle and thephases of social movements. For him

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movements are charismatic, ideologicaland organisational. Oommen also refersto classification of movements on the

basis of locality, language, issues, socialcategories and sects.

These classifications of socialmovements are useful to understandthe nature of issues involved in variousmovements. However, a close look at these typologies makes it evident that they are not in a position to include a large number of new social movementsthat have recently emerged in India. Thedifficulty is caused not becausesociologists are not aware of thesemovements but mainly due tocomplexities of the situation. In somecases issues and participants are somuch mixed up that it becomesanalytically hazardous to separatethem. For example, when tribalcommunities in different parts of the

country are fighting for politicalautonomy, their movements are not merely political as these movementsalso contain cultural and social issues.

The question of cultural identity ismerged with political demand for autonomy. Thus, it becomes a difficult choice whether such movements beincluded under tribal movements or political movements. Similar difficulty is noticed in respect of other movementsin which participants and issues go

together. At this juncture it is necessary to

point out that the term socialmovements is used in a very broadsense to include a variety of movements.Some of these movements appear aspolitical or economic movements at first

sight, still they are included under thecategory of social movements. They areconsidered social movements becausethey are a major source of social change.

We shall now discuss some major typesof social movements in order to identify their role in social change in India.

Reform Movements

A reform movement attempts to

improve conditions within an existingsocial system without changing thefundamental structure of the society itself. Reforms are often linked with

belief systems, rituals and life styles of the concerned people. There are severalexamples of reform movements in India.

The most well-known reform movement was the Bhakti (devotional) movement of medieval India. It was an all-India movement which involved the lower caste people and the poor. It insistedon love of God as the most significant thing in religion. It protested against ritualism and caste barriers. Thus, theprimary objective of the movement wasto reform world view and social practicesof the people. It never tried to transformthe social system radically, but advocatedpartial changes in the value system.

Several reform movements alsoengendered the socio-culturalregeneration, which occurred in the

nineteenth century in India. It started with the formation of the Brahmo Samajin Bengal in 1828 which had branchesin several parts of the country. Apart from the Brahmo Samaj in Bengal, thePrarthana Samaj in Maharashtra andthe Arya Samaj in Punjab and north

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India were some of the other reformmovements among the Hindus. The

work of reformation was alsoundertaken by other organisations

which were led by the backward castesand the members of other religiousgroups. For example, the Satya Sodhak Samaj of Jotiba Phule in Maharashtra and the Sri Narayan Dharm ParipalanSabha in Kerala were started by the

backward castes . Similar ly, the

Ahmadiya and Aligarh movementsrepresented the spirit of reform amongthe Muslims. The Sikhs had their SinghSabha and the Parsees, the RehnumaiMazdeyasan Sabha. The major concerns of these movements andorganisations were no doubt religiousreform, but the social content was not missing from them. These movements

brought about remarkable changes inthe life of the people.

Tribal Movements

We use the term tribe for the people whoare referred to as the Scheduled Tribesin the country. They are also popularly known as Adivasi or aboriginal. Tribalcommunities are scattered throughout the country but their population issubstantial in the north-eastern region.In fact, in Arunachal Pradesh,Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagalandtribals are in a majority. Similarly, the

states of Chattisgarh and Jharkhandhave sizeable tribal population.

Altogether tribes constitute 8.08 per cent of the total population of thecountry. Different tribal communitieshave their distinct culture, language,social structure, values etc. These

communities have maintained their cultural and social identities.

Movements occurring among thesecommunities are included under tribalmovements. These movements have

been directed towards numerousissues. While some of them have hadagrarian content, others addressedcultural and political questions.Historically speaking, tribal movementshave a rich tradition. The nature of struggles and issues involved in thesemovements differed considerably andtherefore they have been sometimesreferred to as ‘tribal uprising’, ‘tribalinsurrection’ or ‘tribal revolts’.

V. Raghvaiah in his book Tribal

Revolts lists seventy tribal revolts between 1778 and 1971. A survey of tribal movements undertaken by the

Anthropological Survey of India reported thirty-six ongoing tribal

movements in India in 1976.During the nineteenth century

several uprisings occurred in the tribalregions of central and eastern India.

The Kol and Bhumij revolts of 1831–33,the Santhal uprising of 1855–56, andthe Birsa Munda movement during1874–1901 are some of the major tribalinsurrections reported by historians.Ethnic identity and economy of tribalsfaced serious challenges due to theimposition of new revenue law by the

British rulers. Imposition of enhancedrents, heavy interests charged by moneylenders and the atrocities of government officials forced the tribalsto become tenants on their own lands.

All these factors produced a series of tribal revolts.

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It is important to mention herethat tension and unrest among thetribals did not subside even after theIndependence. In fact, several new tribal movements have emergedduring the last few decades. Most of these movements are directed against issues of land alienation, forcedlabour, minimum wages andexploitation by non-tribal landlords.However, later, the tenor of tribal

movements changed considerably and acquired political character.

These movements have beendifferently described. Tribal politicalmovements, ethnic movements, sub-national movements, and solidarity movements are some such expressionsfound in sociological literature.

The Jharkhand Movement of Chhotanagpur was spearheaded by thetribals demanding a separate state to

protect them from diku (outsiders). Thedemand has finally been met and a separate state called Jharkhand wasformed in the year 2000. The Naga Movement for a separate State outsidethe Indian Union is the oldest of all tribalmovements in the country. It assumeda militant character from the very

beginning and continues till date.

It is, thus, evident that tribalmovements before and after Independence have not only been

widespread but also they have beendiversified in terms of issues,organisation and leadership. Thereis a strong tendency towardsconsolidating tribal the ethnic identities.

This trend reflects the dynamism of these tribal communities.

Peasant Movements

The study of peasant movements hasemerged as an important area in thestudy of social movements in India.Since India is essentially an agrariancountry, it is natural that the study of agrarian problems has assumed a central place in sociological issues.

While talking about land reforms inearlier chapter we have observed the

complexity of our agrarian system.Patterns of land ownership, tenancy,use and control of land, all reflect thecomplex nature of agrarian structure.

The complexity of agrarian structure isalso manifested in the agrarian classstructure which has existed since longin rural areas. The diversity of landsystems and agrarian relations hasproduced an elaborate structure of agrarian classes. The latter vary fromone region to another. However, basedon the nature of rights in land and thetype of income derived from it, Daniel

Thorner has identified three major agrarian classes in India. They are(a) Maliks , (b) Kisans , and (c) Mazdoors .Big landlords and rich landowners areincluded under the category of Maliks .Kisans are inferior to Maliks

comprising self-cultivating owners of land. They are small landowners andtenants. Mazdoors earn their livelihood

from working on others’ lands. Thiscategory includes poor tenants,sharecroppers and landless labourers.

This classification of agrarian classes broadly reflects the Indian reality.

But it needs to be recognised that the agrarian hierarchy, as indicated just

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now, corresponds with the castehierarchy which we find in different parts of the country. The richlandowners and moneylenders mainly

belong to the upper castes. The middleand small peasants come from thetraditional peasants castes. Thelandless labourers belong primarily tothe lower castes. Such a position merely shows a pattern and does not refer tothe exact situation in the rural areas.

We have mentioned the nature of agrarian class structure here tounderstand the structural backgroundin which movements have beenlaunched by different classes of peasantry. D.N. Dhanagare’s study of peasant movements in India helps usto know the nature of these movements.

According to Dhanagare, the term‘peasant movement’ refers to all kindsof collective attempts of different strata

of the peasantry either to change thesystem which they felt was exploitative,or to seek redress for particular grievances without necessarily aimingat overthrowing the system. Peasant movements thus include all kinds of movements, violent and non-violent as

well as organised and sporadic.

India has a long history of peasant movements. The nineteenth century India is considered a treasure house of materials on peasant heroism. The most

militant peasant movement of thisperiod was the Indigo Revolt of 1859–60in Bengal. Only a decade later, similar

violent disturbance took place in Pabna and Bogra in Bengal in 1872–73.

These struggles were directed against Zamindars who were the symbols of

exploitation and atrocities. Thelandowning and money-lending classeshad consolidated their position not only in zamindari areas but also inRaiyatwari and Mahalwari areas. Thesmall landholders, tenants and sharecroppers were the victims of themoneylender’s tyranny. Accordingly,the peasants revolted against theoppression of the powerful agrarianclasses. One of such revolts in

Raiyatwari area is known as theDeccan Riots of 1875 that occurred in

western Maharashtra. A series of Maplah uprisings in Malabar region of southern India also took placethroughout the nineteenth century.

They were expressions of long-standingagrarian discontent among the poor Maplah peasantry.

It is fascinating to note that peasants’ grievances also became a

component of the India’s freedomstruggle during the early twentiethcentury. The Champaran Movement in1917, the Kheda Satyagrah of 1918 andthe Bardoli Satyagrah of 1928 werethe major non-violent anti-Britishstruggles. Since Mahatma Gandhi wasinvolved in these satyagrahas, they arepopularly known as Gandhian agrarianmovements. Most of these movementstook up relatively minor agrarian issues

but they succeeded in arousing political

awareness among the masses. Thus,the most significant aspect of thesemovements was their simultaneousinvolvement in the nation-wide strugglefor freedom.

However, peasants in other parts of the country were not inactive. They were

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equally restive and raised their grievances. Between 1920 and 1946several peasant organisations andmovements emerged in Bihar andBengal which protested against thedeplorable condition of the middle andpoor peasants.

But just before Independence, it wasthe Tebhaga struggle of 1946–47 inBengal, which was the most effectiveand widespread of all peasant movements. It was a struggle of sharecroppers (bargadars ) to retain two-third share of the produce for themselves. The movement was theoutcome of the politicisation of thepeasantry which was made possible

because of the efforts of the Communist Party of India and the Kisan Sabha. The

Telengana peasant struggle, whichoccurred on the eve of India’sindependence, was another important

struggle of the poor peasants. It developed in the Nizam-ruledHyderabad State in 1946 and lastedfor five years till it was called off inOctober 1951.

We have briefly discussed above thenature and features of peasant movements to familiarise ourselves withthe role of social movements in socialchange. True, these movements havenot always been successful in achievingtheir immediate goals but they createdthe climate which produced post-Independence agrarian reforms.

Dalit Movements

Broadly speaking, ‘the untouchables’of the Hindu caste system are officially

known as the Scheduled Castes. Thesame category of castes is also calledHarijan , the children of God, a termcoined by Mahatma Gandhi in 1933.However, the word harijan has now acquired a negative meaning. Themembers of these castes prefer to becalled dalit, the oppressed. We use theterm dalit movements for all kinds of movements which are primarily basedon issues concerning dalits. Theseinclude anti-caste movements, non-Brahman movements and socialmovements against untouchability led

by Mahatma Gandhi . Like other nationalist movements such as peasant and reform movements, dalit movements also emerged during thepre-Independence period. Thesemovements have been examined keepingthem under two broader categories— non-Brahman movements and dalit

movements. While the anti-caste non-Brahman movements were strong inMaharashtra and Tamil Nadu, dalit movements were spread all over thecountry. The Adi-Dharm movements inPunjab, the Satnami movement in Uttar Pradesh, Narayana Guru’s movement inKerala and Adi-Dravidas movements in

Tamil Nadu have been some of the major Dalit movements. The larger anti-castemovements were led by prominent figures like Jotiba Phule, Babasaheb

Ambedkar and E.V. Ramasami Periyar. They al l attacked the system of exploitation at all levels. Nevertheless,the dalit movement is necessarily linked

with the name of Dr. Ambedkar. He wasits historical leader and the founder of its ideology. Initially, the movement was

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confined to Maharashtra, but during1930s and 1940s it spread to different parts of the country. Although theorganisations, such as the ScheduledCaste Federation and its successor, theRepublican Party, formed by Dr.

Ambedkar, never attained all-India status, but their ideas had an impact on various local level dalit movementsin different parts of the country. Thegrowth of these movements reflects the

increasing self-consciousness of thegroup. Thus, dalits have emerged as a distinct political group. They are nolonger politically dependent upon theupper castes. Eventually, they havemade an impact on the structure of power in India.

Another important trend in the dalit movement is manifested in the emergenceof the Dalit Panther Movement which

was launched by dalits of Maharashtra

in the early 1970s. It was initially confined to the urban areas of Maharashtra but has subsequently spread to several other states. The Dalit Panthers denounce the dominant culture and attempt to articulate analternative cultural identity of theoppressed classes. To propagate their ideas they have been publishing poems,stories and plays, which are now popularly known as dalit literature andare used to challenge the intellectual

tradition of the upper caste Hindus. The most vital consequence of these

movements has been the consolidationof dalit identity. The pressure created

by the mobilisation of the dalits has ledto amelioration of their socialconditions. Compared to their

conditions a decade ago, their socialand economic position has relatively improved. The emancipation of dalitsis essentially linked with their freedomfrom the bondage to the existingeconomic systems. As the economicsystem is still monopolised by theupper castes, their position in the casteas well as class system continues to beat the lower end.

Women’s Movements

It is difficult to trace the origin of Women’s movement in India. Most accounts of the movement start from thenineteenth century. But recently, socialhistorians have discussed its history from the pre-colonial times. They suggest that the evidence of women’smovement first appeared in the bhakti

and sufi movements of the sixteenthand seventeenth centuries. It is not

necessary for us to study this debateabout the timing of the genesis of

women’s movement. The important issue for us is to realise that theauthority of men necessarily determined the status of women. Theoppressive condition of women wasreflected in the social practices such aschild marriage, polygamy, prohibitionof widow remarriage, sati and the purda

system. These practices continued tillthey were challenged by the social

reformers of the nineteenth century. Therefore, most scholars maintain that women’s movement in India began asa part of social reform movements. Wemay say that the process of highlighting

women’s issues began in the nineteenthcentury. In the early phase of the

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twentieth century, Mahatma Gandhi voiced his concern about the degradingstatus of women in the country. It was

because of his efforts that a large number of women came out of their homes and

joined the freedom struggle. He adopteda revolutionary approach to raise thestatus of women. Gandhiji argued that

women should be freed from social andlegal disabilities. He emphasisedparticularly on the issues of women’s

inferior position in matters of guardianship, inheritance and marriage.

Women who joined the nationalmovement recognised the importanceof self-reliance, swadeshi and women’seducation. Such a politicalconsciousness among womenexpanded the space available to womenin public sphere.

During the same period several women’s organisations emerged which

paved the way for increasing role of women in socio-political activities.Prominent among these organisations

were All India Women’s Association andthe Indian Women’s Association. Theseorganisations had branches in different parts of the country. Their activities

were centered mainly on issues like women’s education, improvements inhealth and sanitation, right to suffragefor women and the maternity benefitsfor women workers. In this manner,

these organisations were successful ininitiating a discourse on gender equality and women’s rights.

The nationalist phase of women’smovement ended after the Independence

with an assurance to remove all formsof gender inequalities. The task of social

reconstruction undertaken subse-quently further confirmed the goal.Consequentially, the women’smovements were subdued for almost two decades till 1970s. However, duringthis period women in large numbersparticipated in several local levelstruggles in different parts of thecountry. The role and participation of

women in the Shahada movement in Maharashtra, the anti-price

rise movements in Gujarat andMaharashtra, and the Bihar movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan are stillfresh in our memory. The twin objectivesof struggle and development wereadopted by organisations like SEWA (Self-Employed Women’s Association)

who fought against all forms of injustice.

Sociologists of women’s movementsin India show that the phase of autonomous women’s movement

began after 1970s. It coincided withthe publication of the Status of WomenReport. The Report highlighted thegender disparities in the sex ratios, lifeexpectancy, literacy and opportunities.

The government initiated steps toimplement special programmes for

women. Simultaneously, severalautonomous women’s groups wereformed at the local and regional levelsto fight against the prevalent patriarchal culture and against

division of labour based on gender. Apart from these basic issues, theautonomous women’s organisationstook up several immediate issues suchas violence against women, dowry death, rape and domestic violence.

They organised protest marches and

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developed support services likefighting legal battles on behalf of theoppressed women.

It is important to note here that incourse of the autonomous women’smovements in India, a serious debatecropped up about the idea of feminism.Feminism is a complex set of politicalideologies used by the women’smovement to advance the cause of

women’s equality. Feminism is also

defined as a variety of interrelatedframeworks used to observe andanalyse the ways in which the socialreality of gender inequality isconstructed and enforced. Given thisperspective of feminism, some activistsquestioned the applicability of the

western notion of feminism to theIndian reality. They argued that thenature of male dominance in India isdifferent from that in western society.

Therefore, the demands and resistance

of women against males are alsodifferent. Madhu Kishwar, activist andthe editor of Manushi , has emphasisedthe need to look into our traditions inthis respect. She argues that we shouldtry to separate the devastating aspectsfrom the points of strength within thecultural traditions, and start using thestrengths to transform the traditions.“Our cultural traditions havetremendous potential within them to

combat reactionary and anti-womenideas, if we can identify their points of strength and use them creatively.”

Thus, feminism in the Indian context is not merely taken as an issue of theoretical debate for analysis but anapproach to bring about social change.

We may af firm that women’smovements in India have played animportant role in bringing anddriving the women’s issues to thenational agenda.

GLOSSARY

DISSENT. It refers to the ideas and activities which are different from thoseprevailing in society at a given point of time.

PROTEST. It is a formal declaration of dissent and represents a more conformedstate of opposition and conflict.

SOCIAL MOVEMENT. It is a situational collective effort that focuses on some aspect of social change.

RELATIVE DEPRIVATION. It exists when individual or groups feel themselves lacking

what they should have according to their capabilities.

EXERCISE

1. What is the meaning of dissent?

2. What do you understand by the term protest?

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Documents

Sociology NCERT XII.pdf