OPSC OAS Sociology Syllabus – Paper-II (Optional Subject)

Exam: Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) – OAS / OCS
Paper: Optional Subject – Sociology (Paper-II)
Focus: Indian Society – Structure, Change and Development

Digital Syllabus Tracker – Sociology Paper-II

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1. Historical Moorings of the Indian Society

• Traditional Hindu social organisation
• Socio-cultural dynamics through the ages
• Impact of Buddhism, Islam, and the West
• Factors in continuity and change

2. Caste System

• Origin of the caste system
• Cultural and structural views about caste
• Mobility in caste
• Caste among Muslims and Christians
• Change and persistence of caste in modern India
• Issues of equality and social justice
• Views of Gandhi and Ambedkar on caste
• Caste and Indian polity
• Backward Classes Movement
• Mandal Commission Report and issues of social backwardness and social justice
• Emergence of Dalit consciousness, backward caste movement

3. Class Structure

• Class structure in India, agrarian and industrial class structure
• Emergence of middle class
• Emergence of classes among tribes
• Elite formation in India

4. Marriage, Family and Kinship

• Marriage among different religious and tribal groups, its changing trends and its future
• Family – its structural and functional aspects, its changing forms
• Regional variations in kinship systems and its socio-cultural correlates
• Impact of legislation and socio-economic change on marriage and family
• Generation gap

5. Agrarian Social Structure

• Peasant society and agrarian systems
• Land tenure systems – historical perspectives, social consequences of land reforms and green revolution
• Feudalism–semi-feudalism debates
• Emerging agrarian class structure
• Peasant movements

6. Industry and Society

• Path of industrialisation, occupational diversification
• Trade unions and human relations
• Market economy and its social consequences
• Economic reforms – liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation

7. Political Processes

• Working of the democratic political system in a traditional society
• Political parties and their social base
• Social structural origins of political elites and their orientations
• Regionalism, pluralism and national unity
• Decentralisation of power
• Panchayati Raj and Nagarpalikas and 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments

8. Education

• Directive Principles of State Policy and primary education
• Educational inequality and change
• Education and social mobility
• The role of community and state intervention in education
• Universalisation of primary education
• Total Literacy Campaigns
• Educational problems of disadvantaged groups

9. Religion and Society

• Size, growth and regional distribution of different religious groups
• Educational levels of different groups
• Problems of religious minorities
• Communal tensions
• Secularism
• Conversions
• Religious fundamentalism, religious reform movements

10. Tribal Societies

• Distinctive features of tribal communities and their geographical spread
• Problems of tribal communities – land alienation, health and nutrition, education
• Tribal development efforts after independence
• Tribal policy – isolation, assimilation and integration
• Issues of tribal identity

11. Social Change and Development

• Endogenous and exogenous sources of change and resistance to change
• Processes of change – Sanskritisation and modernisation
• Agents of change – mass media, education and communication
• Problems of change and modernisation
• Structural contradictions and breakdowns
• Migration
• Determinants and consequences of population growth
• Population policy and family welfare programmes
• Child welfare programmes

12. Major Social Issues

• Poverty
• Indebtedness
• Bonded labour
• Unemployment
• Depletion of forests
• Development related displacement
• Corruption
• Alcoholism
• AIDS
• Drug addiction
• Violence against women
• Dowry
• Child labour
• Maternal and infant mortality rate in Odisha