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Can human societies be flawless? What is considered as acceptable, desirable, valuable varies from time to time, place to place, and in different contexts. There is sometimes a tendency - Sociology

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प्रश्न

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

Can human societies be flawless? What is considered as acceptable, desirable, valuable varies from time to time, place to place, and in different contexts.

There is sometimes a tendency to encourage excessive ethnocentric attitudes about one’s culture or group to which one belongs. Ethnocentrism in its extreme form is an obstacle to social harmony. For the sake of social solidarity, respect of other cultures, selfcriticism, critical appraisal, reflection and introspection is necessary. This may help to develop a pluralist way of appreciating the diversities within which we live. The life stories of people are a useful means to understand underlying feelings, beliefs, threats and so on.

Civil society can play a part in this process to eliminate or minimise factors that hinder progress, or those which divides us.

  1. Does ethnocentrism affect social peace?
  2. How can social solidarity be developed?
  3. What is the role of civil society in ensuring unity?
संक्षेप में उत्तर

उत्तर

  1. Ethnocentrism makes one feel that one's own culture and way of life are superior to all others. Ethnocentrism can lead to biased understanding of other cultures. Ethnocentric group feels their culture is superior, this creates a negative outlook which can lead to arrogance and hatred for others. Ethnocentrism in its extreme form is an obstacle to social harmony as there is sometimes a tendency to encourage excessive ethnocentric attitudes about one's culture or group to which one belongs leading to antagonism and hatred among various religions and culture.
  2. In order to develop social solidarity, excessive ethnocentric attitudes must be discouraged. It is also essential to respect other cultures, critically evaluate one’s own culture and introspect oneself.
  3. India is secular, multilingual and multicultural country. These diversities become at time challenges that hinders progress of the society. Various divisive forces like regional disputes, language problem, discrimination on the basis of caste, communal conflicts, terrorism, unequal distribution of wealth, poverty, etc. This divisive force obstructs the progress and disturbs the peace and harmony in the society.
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Passages
  क्या इस प्रश्न या उत्तर में कोई त्रुटि है?
अध्याय 7: Passages - Exercises

संबंधित प्रश्न

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

Social movements arise generally from needs felt by one or more members of any given society. Through social interactions, these needs and concerns are communicated to many more persons. A network of people who share these concerns become the driving force for change in that particular society. Movements are usually guided by some underlying philosophies and goals. Indeed, several movements are associated with a founder or a core group. It can take several years, or even decades for a social movement to become very wide and expansive, across vast geographical territories.

Social movements such as the Social Reform Movement, Trade Union Movement, Tribal Movement, Dalit Movement, Women’s Movement, Chipko Movement, LGBT Movement, Civil Rights Movement, Rationalist Movement and so many more have emerged and grown.

As a social movement gains momentum, greater awareness is created in society. In fact, the study of several movements have found their way into the academic curriculum as well as research. For example, courses on Labour Studies, Gender Studies, Minorities’ Studies and Environmental Studies.

Social movements can stimulate critical thinking about social issues in the wider society of which we are a part. Some of these concerns lead to the passing of legislations. Every era or generation has its share of concerns from which may emerge new social movements.

  1. What are the various kinds of social movements in India?
  2. What is the importance of studying about social movements?
  3. How do social movements arise?
  4. How can mass media help social movements today?

Read the following passage and answer the question based on it.

    This is the real-life story of Rukmini Devi who lives in a small hut in Gaigotha Village in Wada Taluka of Palghar District in Maharashtra State. She belongs to the Warli tribe. Her husband is a marginal farmer who cultivates on two acres of land. They have two children, one daughter aged 10 years and a son aged 6 years. Both the children walk to school and back daily (located about 3 miles away).

    When cultivation season is over, (or if the rice crop is damaged due to heavy rains or pests) they face many hardships. A section of the crop is kept for their personal use, for the year. Tur Dal (lentil) is also grown in one small area, again for personal use. In a small backyard, they grow vegetables like chilies, cucumber, and bitter gourd (karela).

     During the off-season, both husband and wife go to the brick kilns (about 7 miles away) to do piece-rate work (That is, they get paid for each brick that they make). While the men earn Rs. 300 per day, the women earn Rs. 150-200. Rukmini Devi stated that they prefer to walk the 7 miles both ways because the bus fare is Rs. 35/- per head one way. They cannot afford it.

  1. Identify any three problems that the family of Rukmini Devi has to face.
  2. Point out and discuss briefly, gender discrimination in this setting.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

Indian films have a history of their emergence, growth and development. There were the days of silent films where viewers interpreted visuals on screen and constructed their own understanding of what the films may have tried to communicate. Then came the days of audiovisual films, black and white films and later, colour films.

People who can afford to watch films at theatres and those who can do so on their television screens at home are entertained by the stories that films tell us. There are all kinds of ideas, ideologies, tragedies, themes and values that films communicate. Today one can watch films on the internet on one’s mobile phones. Sometimes the explicit and implicit messages are received by viewers, but they can also be lost on them.

Besides actors’ abilities to ‘play varied roles or characters, there are a whole lot of persons involved with the production process as well as its marketing. This may include the film director, screenplay writers, designers, sound engineers, makeup artists and stylists, casting experts, musicians and so on.

Fields like Visual Sociology, Sociology of Mass Communication, and Marketing Sociology have a role to play in the study of these varied dimensions. Films as a source of knowledge play multiple roles even today. The story lines and types of films are ever increasing. Films are not limited to nor bound by standard themes, love stories or gender stereotyping. Films can cause much upheaval on the one hand and generate much interest on the other. Regional films and international films have added to the list of viewing possibilities and multiple interests.

  1. Explain how films can influence people. 
  2. Discuss the importance of regional and international films.
  3. Comment on the role of non-actors in films.
  4. How do you think Visual Sociology is related to films?

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

Indian society is a melting pot of cultures. The history of Indian society gives enough evidence of the process of accommodation. From early times migrants integrated into Indian society and influenced its culture. Our historical past is testimony to this fact of cultural diffusion.

Today, we describe our society as a composite whole that includes tribal, rural and urban communities. The way of life in these segments has their unique characteristics. However, it is also an observation that no one segment, or community can be seen in its “pure” state. On the one hand there is interdependence between communities and on the other this would imply a certain extent of loss of cultural elements such as language, beliefs, customary practices etc. Have we not seen how, for example, Warli or Madhubani Art has made it to T-shirts and wall hangings in many urban households? Also, how technology has reached the remotest corners of our country?

A question that may cross your mind may be, ‘Is there anything such as ‘pure’ culture? What constitutes “Indian culture”? ‘Can cultural extremism be valuable in the present world? These questions are valid as they set us thinking. Perhaps there is no single “answer”?

 

  1. State the different communities or people living in Indian society.
  2. Why is no community seen in its ‘pure’ state?
  3. Give two examples to show that no community is in pure state.

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

Read the make-believe speech made by a representative of the Governing Body to its Executive Committee meeting, in a well-known international firm located in Pune.

“Good morning. The Board of Directors has asked me to communicate with you all a policy decision that has been taken by the higher management. Two policies have been taken by our company. One, there shall be a confidential, two-way appraisal of all employees from the coming financial year. Every employee will be assessed by one’s immediate senior, one’s team members and by oneself through self– appraisal. Juniors will also assess the seniors to whom they report. There are specific criteria on which assessment will take place. A second policy decision is for the company to make every effort to ‘Go Green’ in keeping with the international commitment towards a cleaner and greener environment. You may please share this decision to members of your respective departments today, through our eportal systems. Feedback from all employees are welcome but they must be made within a week from today, to the Human Resource Department, via the e-portal.”

  1. What is meant by two-way appraisal?
  2. Suggest three ways that a company can adopt to ‘Go Green’
  3. What is the need to ‘Go Green’?

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is a Government of India programme that makes education for children between the ages 6-14 free and compulsory. This programme was pioneered by the former Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee in 1993-94. It became totally operational since 2000-2001. This programme made education a Fundamental Right.

Along with this, the Government of India also launched the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) on 15th August 1995. From here emerged the concept of free ‘Midday Meal’ for children going to schools which were managed by local bodies like Gram Panchayats and Municipal Corporations. The Midday Meal is mandatory. It is taken for granted that the children should be given good, nutritious food on a daily basis. A lot of organisation goes into the cooking and delivering of these meals to the schools on time. Universal Education goes hand in hand with Nutrition. Children of the village and municipal schools look forward to this meal. For several of them it is perhaps the main meal of the day.

  1. Identify the initiatives of the government to promote education.
  2. What is the purpose of Midday Meal?
  3. How effective are the children welfare programmes in India?

Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it.

Education, since the coming of the British to India has been secular in content. By this we mean, the content of education did not include the study of sacred texts. Schools were open for all - to learn and climb the ladder of vertical mobility. The study of English language, as well as the opportunity to study in the English medium, was available.

It is true that several Indians from certain social and economic strata were the first to access an English education. Many of them later constituted the intelligentsia of our society. We refer to many of them as social reformers, such as Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar, Pandita Ramabai, Maharshi Dhondo Keshav Karve. They worked for religious, social and educational reform in Indian society. Such visionaries of society continue even in the post-Independence era, to the present time.

Educational opportunities have grown by leaps and bounds in the last 73 years since Independence. One questions if the educated have merely acquired education or if the education has helped citizens become gainfully employed and more importantly, enlightened enough to transform society at the micro level.

It is necessary for the government to consider the interests of all sections of society. Each citizen can play a dynamic role in the development of all people in our society.

  1. Identify the changes in education system due to British.
  2. How does education contribute to social development?

Read the following passage and answer the question given below:

    Education, since the coming of the British to India, has been secular in content. By this we mean the content of education did not include the study of sacred texts. Schools were open for all to learn and climb the ladder of vertical mobility. The study of the English language as well as the opportunity to study in the English medium was available.

    It is true that several Indians from certain social and economic strata were the first to access an English education. Many of them later constituted the intelligentsia of our society. They worked for religious, social, and educational reform in Indian society.

    Educational opportunities have grown by leaps and bounds in the last 73 years since Independence. One questions if the educated have merely acquired education or if the education has helped citizens become gainfully employed and more importantly, enlightened enough to transform society at the micro level.

    It is necessary for the government to consider the interests of all sections of society. Each citizen can play a dynamic role in the development of all people in our society.

  1. Explain: English education is a must in day-to-day life.
  2. Each citizen can play a dynamic role in the development of all people in our society. Explain.

Read the following passage and answer the questions given below:

      How does one tackle social problems? How do societies deal with the social problems that they have to confront? Why do social problems arise? These are some questions that learners of sociology need to address.

       Societies have cultures; both of these are created by people, cumulatively, through the network of relationships over thousands of years. Every society has its normative system – customs, folkways, fashions, mores, taboos, fads, and laws. Social norms are guidelines for human behaviour. They tell us what is expected of us and at the same time, what to expect from others.

      Are these expectations permanent and unchanging? When can they change? Who changes them? Why must they change? Again, these are questions that one might ask. Social problems can arise when the expectations are not communicated effectively or when individuals or groups choose to disagree with the expectation. This can lead to situations of conflict not just ideological but also conflict that leads to hurting others' sentiments, abuse, violence, injustice, upheavals, normlessness, and even war.

  1. How do social norms guide your behaviours?
  2. ‘Conflict arises due to differences in culture’ - justify the statement.

Read the following passage and answer the questions given below:

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is a Government of India programme that makes education for children between ages 6-14 free and compulsory. This programme was pioneered by former Indian Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1993-94. It became totally operational since 2000-2001. This programme made education a Fundamental Right.

Along with this, the Government of India also launched the National Programme of Nutritional support to Primary Education (NP-NSPE) on 15th August 1995. From here emerged the concept of free 'Midday Meal' for children going to schools which were managed by local bodies like Gram Panchayats and Municipal Corporations. The 'Midday Meal' is mandatory. It is taken for granted that the children should be given good, nutritious food on a daily basis. A lot of organisation goes into the cooking and delivering these meals to the schools, on time.

Universal Education goes hand in hand with Nutrition. Children of the village and municipal schools look forward to this meal. For several of them it is perhaps the main meal of the day.

Questions:

  1. Do you think Primary Education should be made compulsory?
  2. What is the importance of 'Midday Meal' in Primary Education?

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