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UPSC Sociology Optional Syllabus PDF Download

If you are preparing for the UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) with Sociology Optional, it is essential to know the complete and official syllabus. Below is the latest UPSC Sociology Optional Syllabus for Paper I and Paper II, arranged topic-wise for easy understanding and preparation.

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UPSC Sociology Optional Syllabus – Paper I

FUNDAMENTALS OF SOCIOLOGY

1. Sociology – The Discipline

  • Modernity and social changes in Europe and emergence of Sociology.
  • Scope of the subject and comparison with other social sciences.
  • Sociology and common sense.

2. Sociology as Science

  • Science, scientific method, and critique.
  • Major theoretical strands of research methodology.
  • Positivism and its critique.
  • Fact value and objectivity.
  • Non-positivist methodologies.

3. Research Methods and Analysis

  • Qualitative and quantitative methods.
  • Techniques of data collection.
  • Variables, sampling, hypothesis, reliability, and validity.

4. Sociological Thinkers

Karl Marx

  • Historical materialism
  • Mode of production
  • Alienation
  • Class struggle

Emile Durkheim

  • Division of labour
  • Social fact
  • Suicide
  • Religion and society

Max Weber

  • Social action
  • Ideal types
  • Authority
  • Bureaucracy
  • Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism

Talcott Parsons

  • Social system
  • Pattern variables

Robert K. Merton

  • Latent and manifest functions
  • Conformity and deviance
  • Reference groups

Mead

  • Self and identity

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5. Stratification and Mobility

  • Concepts—equality, inequality, hierarchy, exclusion, poverty, and deprivation.
  • Theories of social stratification:
    • Structural Functionalist Theory
    • Marxist Theory
    • Weberian Theory
  • Dimensions:
    • Class
    • Status groups
    • Gender
    • Ethnicity
    • Race
  • Social mobility:
    • Open and closed systems
    • Types of mobility
    • Sources and causes of mobility

6. Work and Economic Life

  • Social organization of work in different types of society:
    • Slave society
    • Feudal society
    • Industrial capitalist society
  • Formal and informal organization of work.
  • Labour and society.

7. Politics and Society

  • Sociological theories of power.
  • Power elite.
  • Bureaucracy.
  • Pressure groups and political parties.
  • Nation.
  • State.
  • Citizenship.
  • Democracy.
  • Civil society.
  • Ideology.
  • Protest.
  • Agitation.
  • Social movements.
  • Collective action.
  • Revolution.

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8. Religion and Society

  • Sociological theories of religion.
  • Types of religious practices:
    • Animism
    • Monism
    • Pluralism
    • Sects
    • Cults
  • Religion in modern society:
    • Religion and science
    • Secularization
    • Religious revivalism
    • Fundamentalism

9. Systems of Kinship

  • Family.
  • Household.
  • Marriage.
  • Types and forms of family.
  • Lineage and descent.
  • Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.
  • Contemporary trends.

10. Social Change in Modern Society

  • Sociological theories of social change.
  • Development and dependency.
  • Agents of social change.
  • Education and social change.
  • Science, technology, and social change.

UPSC Sociology Optional Syllabus – Paper II

INDIAN SOCIETY: STRUCTURE AND CHANGE

A. Introducing Indian Society

1. Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society

  • Indology (G.S. Ghurye)
  • Structural Functionalism (M. N. Srinivas)
  • Marxist Sociology (A. R. Desai)

2. Impact of Colonial Rule on Indian Society

  • Social background of Indian nationalism.
  • Modernization of Indian tradition.
  • Protests and movements during the colonial period.
  • Social reforms.

B. Social Structure

3. Rural and Agrarian Social Structure

  • The idea of Indian village and village studies.
  • Agrarian social structure:
    • Evolution of land tenure system.
    • Land reforms.

4. Caste System

  • Perspectives on the study of caste:
    • G. S. Ghurye
    • M. N. Srinivas
    • Louis Dumont
    • Andre Beteille
  • Features of caste system.
  • Untouchability—forms and perspectives.

5. Tribal Communities in India

  • Definitional problems.
  • Geographical spread.
  • Colonial policies and tribes.
  • Issues of integration and autonomy.

6. Social Classes in India

  • Agrarian class structure.
  • Industrial class structure.
  • Middle classes in India.

7. Systems of Kinship in India

  • Lineage and descent in India.
  • Types of kinship systems.
  • Family and marriage in India.
  • Household dimensions of the family.
  • Patriarchy, entitlements, and sexual division of labour.

8. Religion and Society

  • Religious communities in India.
  • Problems of religious minorities.

C. Social Changes in India

9. Visions of Social Change in India

  • Idea of development planning and mixed economy.
  • Constitution, law, and social change.
  • Education and social change.

10. Rural and Agrarian Transformation in India

  • Programmes of rural development.
  • Community Development Programme.
  • Cooperatives.
  • Poverty alleviation schemes.
  • Green Revolution and social change.
  • Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
  • Problems of rural labour.
  • Bondage.
  • Migration.

11. Industrialization and Urbanisation in India

  • Evolution of modern industry in India.
  • Growth of urban settlements in India.
  • Working class:
    • Structure
    • Growth
    • Class mobilization
  • Informal sector.
  • Child labour.
  • Slums and deprivation in urban areas.

12. Politics and Society

  • Nation.
  • Democracy.
  • Citizenship.
  • Political parties.
  • Pressure groups.
  • Social and political elite.
  • Regionalism.
  • Decentralization of power.
  • Secularization.

13. Social Movements in Modern India

  • Peasants’ and farmers’ movements.
  • Women’s movement.
  • Backward Classes and Dalit movements.
  • Environmental movements.
  • Ethnicity and Identity movements.

14. Population Dynamics

  • Population size, growth, composition and distribution.
  • Components of population growth:
    • Birth
    • Death
    • Migration
  • Population Policy and family planning.
  • Emerging issues:
    • Ageing
    • Sex ratio
    • Child and infant mortality
    • Reproductive health

15. Challenges of Social Transformation

  • Crisis of development:
    • Displacement
    • Environmental problems
    • Sustainability
  • Poverty, deprivation and inequalities.
  • Violence against women.
  • Caste conflicts.
  • Ethnic conflicts.
  • Communalism.
  • Religious revivalism.
  • Illiteracy and disparities in education.

Conclusion

The UPSC Sociology Optional Syllabus is concise but highly analytical, making it one of the most popular optional subjects in the Civil Services Examination. Aspirants should thoroughly understand every topic mentioned above, as UPSC frames questions directly from these syllabus headings. Keeping the syllabus handy while studying helps in focused preparation, better revision, and effective answer writing.

Bookmark this page for quick reference to the complete UPSC Sociology Optional Syllabus (Paper I & Paper II).

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