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Important Note for Students:

In this series of cheat sheets, we will be sharing lists of important articles

authored by famous Columnists/Contemporary Sociologist in the past few
months.

The intention behind this is to deliver to UPSC aspirants some important and
retainable points from Sociologically relevant articles.

These summarized articles will be immensely helpful for students who are
appearing for UPSC Mains.

Just run through them a couple of times and we shall be good to go.
Wishing you all the best

ALL CREDIT GOES TO THIS PERSON

TELEGRAM HANDLE
@Arvind_Chaudhary2 @ArvindChaudharyx

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Articles by Jean Drèze

Report Card
https://frontline.thehindu.com/the-nation/education/article30186175.ece
• According to Pierre Bourdieu, Education is a sort of Cultural capital i.e. one of the four
social resources which can lead to equality/inequality.
• It has been seen that equal access to education can lead to reduced stratification (caste,
gender, religion etc.) in society.
• However, scenario in India is not always the same.
• Here, Marx’s theory of Historical materialism seems relevant. Bourgeoisie class impose
their influence on superstructure like education system and laws to ensure their relatives
get jobs (mass appointments of local contract teachers) and that too with zero
accountability.
• Also, People with better economic conditions get better education in private schools, thus
enhancing social inequalities even more.
• Thus, Cultural reproduction in schools in unequal societies also leads to unequal
educational attainment.

Still short of schooling at 74

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/still-short-of-schooling-at-74/article35915435.ece
• Universal elementary education can achieve both economic progress and redistribution
thus fulfilling capitalist as well as socialist aims. As Pierre Bourdieu explains that
acquisition of Cultural capital influences acquisition of other capitals as well.
• According to Dr Radhakrishnan, education is an agent of social change. What in simple
societies was done by family, religion or socio-political institutions has been done by
educational institutions today.
• However, some historical inequalities (class, caste, gender etc.) hinder thought of equality
of opportunity. In India, education policy has been influenced by the traditional upper-
caste view that education is not important or even appropriate for the lower orders.
• Here, Althusser’s view is quite relevant that education is an important ideological state
apparatus used by ruling class to pursue their own interests and reinforce dominant
ideology.

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Jean Drèze proposes three steps for transparent governance in TN

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/jean-drze-proposes-three-steps-for-
transparent-governance-in-tn/article38185771.ece
• Corruption is a complex social phenomenon arising out of increasing materialism,
egoism and race of social mobility. Creation of a citizen information portal and increasing
public participation in governance (by social audits and making RTI facility user friendly)
would ensure strengthening of democracy. It shall also empower citizens. Functions of
citizen information portal- strengthening of public trust and rule of law.

India might see 'serious livelihood crisis', says economist Jean Dreze
https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/india-might-see-serious-livelihood-crisis-says-
economist-jean-dreze-121051100876_1.html
• After Covid, India can face serious livelihood crisis because of continuous lockdowns, it’s
historical neglect of Human capital etc.
• Still, India aims to become a USD 5 trillion economy by 2024-25. It represents superpower
ambitions of the power elite and not the ground realities.
• The tussle between power of elite on international arena versus development of vulnerable
is won by the former. According to Pakulski and Waters, status dimension is becoming
more important in post-industrial societies.
• However, development does not mean just economic development but also social cultural
and inclusive development. Development is a social concept of progressive change from
one lower state to a higher state of well-being.

Where is the strategy for dealing with learning loss during Covid?
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/where-is-the-strategy-for-dealing-with-
learning-loss-during-covid-7511344/
Francis J Brown remarks that education is a process which brings about changes in the behaviour
of society by enabling every individual to participate and make positive contribution to society.
Though online education has a lot of functions like inclusivity (across geography, religion etc.),
flexibility, adaptation of technology and social change. But it also has some dysfunctions like-
• More stratification based on digital divide
• Creation of a new class known as knowledge elites
• Lack of socialization leading to social isolation
• Marginalisation and exclusion of students lacking access to mobile phones and internet.
• Alienation from the curriculum

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Pauses and Reversals of Infant Mortality Decline in 2017 and 2018

https://www.epw.in/journal/2021/19/commentary/pauses-and-reversals-infant-mortality-
decline-2017.html
Reasons of reversal in infant mortality decline-
• Poverty
• Effect of demonetisation on employment (Historical materialism)
• Lockdown disrupting healthcare services- antenatal care, poor immunisation etc.
• Social strain on women
• Illiteracy
• Improper hygiene and medical care
• Backwardness

Weighty evidence? Poverty estimation with missing data

The article discusses the sociological dimension of poverty estimation in India, focusing on the
limitations of adjusting biased survey data to estimate poverty levels. Key points include:
• Traditional poverty estimation in India relied on consumption expenditure surveys (CES),
but the most recent data available is from 2011-12, creating a lack of information on poverty
levels and trends.
• The Consumer Pyramid Household Surveys (CPHS) conducted by the Centre for
Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) could be used for poverty estimation, but they fail
basic tests of national representativeness and exhibit biases, particularly underrepresenting
poor households.
• World Bank economists proposed a correction method using maximum entropy re-
weighting to adjust the CPHS data and estimate poverty. However, simulation exercises
using artificially contaminated samples indicate that this method falls short of providing
accurate poverty estimates.
• The approximation of the correction method relies on observable control variables and the
means of these variables, but it may miss important unobserved predictors of poverty and
does not account for the joint distribution of control variables.
• Simulation exercises using the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and CPHS data reveal
that the correction method has limited effectiveness in bridging the gap between biased and
unbiased poverty estimates, especially for poverty estimation purposes.
• The article suggests that while re-weighting techniques may work well for some purposes,
such as correcting underrepresentation in opinion polls, it may not be suitable for poverty
estimation using CPHS data.

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Important data:
• According to CPHS, in 2019, 100% of households in Bihar had water within the premises,
98% had a toilet within the house, and 95% had a television. In contrast, reliable sources like
the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) reported much lower figures: 89%, 62%, and
35%, respectively.
• The share of adults with no formal education was reported as 2% according to CPHS but
17% according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
• Simulation results using PLFS 2017-18 data show that the max-entropy re-weighting
method has limited impact on correcting the bias in poverty estimates. The reduction in
bias for mean monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) ranged from 21.7% to
67.7%, and for the poverty headcount ratio, it ranged from 16.6% to 30.0%.
• The simulation exercises using CPHS data indicate that the correction method does not
work well for poverty estimation, except in cases where contamination is based on
dropping households at random among groups defined by control variables.
• The article emphasizes the need for more reliable and representative data sources for
poverty estimation in India.

Launch urban employment guarantee scheme: Jean Dreze to govt

• Development economist Dr Jean Dreze has proposed a Decentralized Urban Employment
and Training (DUET) scheme to address poverty and gender inequality during emergencies
such as COVID-19.
• DUET could provide jobs to jobless urban residents in public places such as hospitals and
railway stations and at least one third of the jobs could be offered to women.
• Job stamps instead of cash could be provided to eliminate corruption in the form of ghost
employees.
• The scheme requires workers to be enrolled with workers' cooperatives to be launched
under the scheme.

Understanding PDS
• Public Distribution System (PDS): The article discusses how many state governments in
India have revived and expanded their PDS, which is a social welfare system that provides
food and other essential commodities to households below the poverty line.
• Poverty: The PDS aims to provide essential commodities to households below the poverty
line, highlighting the issue of poverty in India.
• Inclusive targeting: The article highlights how inclusive targeting is crucial for the success
of the PDS. Inclusive targeting refers to targeting a broad range of beneficiaries, not just the
poorest, which helps in reducing division and public pressure for a functional PDS.

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• De-privatisation: Many state governments have launched PDS reforms such as de-
privatisation of fair price shops, which involves ending private control of shops where the
PDS food is distributed, and providing doorstep delivery of grain to fair price shops.
• Cash transfers: The article discusses the danger of cash transfers replacing the PDS, which
are direct transfers of cash to households. Cash transfers are seen as an easy alternative to
PDS but are not well-received by the majority of sample households.
• National Food Security Act: The article highlights how the National Food Security Act
could undermine the revival of PDS. The act aims to provide food and nutritional security
to people, but the article warns that the continued obsession with targeting and the illusion
of cash transfers may lead to a decline in the effectiveness of PDS.

Making Aadhaar-Based Payments Compulsory for NREGA Wages Is a Recipe for

Disaster
The article may be summarised as follows:
• Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) has mandated Aadhaar Based Payment System
(ABPS) for Mahatma Gandhi NREGS beneficiaries from February 1, 2023.
• This has created issues as only 43% of NREGA workers are eligible for ABPS.
• Seeding and mapping a bank account can be complicated and difficult for many workers.
(Alienation)
• ABPS payment glitches have also emerged and corruption concerns should not override
workers' rights to be paid.

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Articles by Bina Agarwal

Long road ahead: From I-day speech to women’s work
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/long-road-ahead-from-i-day-speech-to-
womens-work-8098444/

Social Stratification-of Gender:

• Both in Eastern and Western societies, the long-held view was that men are breadwinners
and women are expected to take household chores. It is termed natural by functionalists
like Murdock and Parsons.
• Biological theories of sexual division of labour also support this form of stratification.
However, this natural role thesis has come under an attack, as women enter labour force.

Feminist perspective of labour:

• According to Ann Oakley, Workforce participation was limited as women were forced to
take the role of a housewife.
• Blood and Hamblin said that despite women taking more participation in employment
today, important family decisions are still made by men.
• Even if a woman is working outside, she is expected to do the household chores and look
after children as well- known as Care work burden or Motherhood penalty leading to
suppress career choices and upward mobility. Now there is dual burden on these middle-
class women at work place also, there is glass ceiling beyond which a woman can’t rise.
A woman is still not free to spend money according to her choice
• Thus, there are changes in roles of middle-class women but such changes tend to adapt
themselves to patriarchal setup of Indian society.
• Science and technology (via infrastructure development) acts as an agent or means of
social change. Development of technology has also made the life of women easier.

India must push for women’s rights in land ownership

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-must-push-for-womens-rights-in-
land-ownership-7456996/
• Marxist idea is that female subordination is due to lack of ownership over private
property.
They believe that gender stratification can end only in communism, where everyone and
the women too will also communally own the forces of production.
• Women face stratification at two fronts- in relation to men and in relation to other
women. Unequal access to resources and opportunities between men and women are
legitimised by Patriarchy across societies.
• Stratification between men and women (inter-gender) and among women – widow and
daughter (intra-gender)

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• Owning land would enhance a women’s well-being, improve children’s health and
education, reduce domestic violence, raise farm productivity, increase family food
security, and empower women socially and politically. Gender-equal land rights is also a
key target in SDG 5 on gender equality. Yet policy is far behind.
• Kinship relations being the reason behind women’s lack of ownership - Fathers fear losing
control over land if given to married daughters. Daughters fear damaging family relations
if they claim their shares.
• Policymakers say they fear land fragmentation due to women’s ownership of land.

She is the answer

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/she-is-the-answer-sustainable-
development-agricultural-census-farmers-5485645/

Social causes of feminization of agriculture

1. Feminization of poverty: Women lack viable livelihood alternatives, and are forced to
undertake farm activities that have been left by men due to agrarian distress. According to
scholars, feminization of agriculture in India is actually “feminization of agrarian distress”
or can also be termed as “feminization of poverty”.
2. Rural distress and agrarian crisis: - shift of men from farm to non-farm activities, women
have got absorbed in agriculture and allied activities.
3. Male migration to urban areas: - according to the economic survey, with growing rural to
urban migration by men, there has been increase in participation of women as cultivators,
labourers and entrepreneurs.
4. “De-peasantisation” - a disruption of peasant activities accompanied by a migration of
males from agriculture towards casual work.
5. Poverty: - women are forced to work as agricultural labourers to supplement the family
income.
6. Lack of mobility: - upward mobility of women for employment is restricted and is further
constrained by gender wage gap.
7. Mechanisation of agriculture: - has led to the confinement of women to traditional, low
paying jobs like winnowing, harvesting and sowing seeds.

What are the Challenges?

1. Increased work burden: - on-farm and off-farm productive activities with lower
compensation.
2. Gender disparity in land ownership: - It leads to get hurdles in institutional credit.
Patriarchy and inheritance laws largely exclude women from accessing land rights.
3. Exclusion of women agricultural labourers from the narrative of agricultural reforms in
India. In the absence of land security, this phenomenon of “defeminization” (i.e. excluding
women from their entitlements in agriculture) coexists with feminization of agriculture.

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4. Marginalisation of landless women farm labourers - According to the (SECC 2011) 70% of
rural women are engaged in agriculture work as labourers and 13.9% of women have their
own land.
5. Gender division of labour - Some jobs like weeding, threshing and paddy transplants,
requiring limited physical strength, are often associated with women. The concept of a
“breadwinner” is strongly associated with men.

Functional aspects of feminization of agriculture

1. It provides the opportunity for women to organise and enhance their bargaining power.
2. It brings women into the public sphere, makes their labour visible and accountable- it
provides opportunity for female economic empowerment.

What needs to be done

1. Civil societies can play an important role in organising agrarian women into collectives,
educating them of their rights, enabling access to the state and giving them sustainable
livelihood training.
2. Gender-specific interventions to provide equal access to land, credit, water, seeds and
market.
3. Providing better working conditions, child support, maternity entitlements etc.
4. Science and technology can act as an agent or means of social change. E.g: To curb climate
change etc.

Agriculture and rural sector can jump-start economy if we fix its ills
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/agriculture-gdp-growth-economy-
7055240/
• Agriculture sector is seeing crisis due to a perception of it being a feudalistic occupation.
• Even today, it is highly stratified (86 per cent of our farmers cultivate two ha or less, often
in fragments)
• Farmers depend on high caste moneylenders for credit. (75-80 per cent borrow credit
informally)
• Impoverishment of Agriculture- Farm incomes are low and erratic.
• Millions have fallen into extreme poverty with COVID-19.
• This is leading to agrarian distress and suicides (Durkheim’s Work on Suicide)
• Agriculture can do hugely better if we change the way we farm; focus more on 'allied
sectors' and build strong growth links with the non-farm rural economy.

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Articles by Faizan Mustafa

Explained: After CJI’s remarks on Uniform Civil Code, a look at its
status, debate around it
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-after-cji-bobdes-remarks-on-uniform-
civil-code-a-look-at-its-status-debate-around-it-7249410/

• Supreme Court had described Goa as a “shining example” with a Uniform Civil Code, and
observed that the founders of the Constitution had “hoped and expected” a Uniform Civil
Code for India but there has been no attempt at framing one.
• Article 44 in Part IV dealing with the Directive Principles of State Policy had hoped and
expected that the State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a Uniform Civil Code
throughout the territories of India
• Uniform Civil Code is one that would provide for one law for the entire country, applicable
to all religious communities in their personal matters such as marriage, divorce,
inheritance, adoption etc.
• Some members sought to immunize Muslim Personal Law from state regulation.
• Mohammed Ismail, who thrice tried unsuccessfully to get Muslim Personal Law exempted
from Article 44, said a secular state should not interfere with the personal law of people.
• Hussain Imam questioned whether there could ever be uniformity of personal laws in a
diverse country like India.
• B R Ambedkar said “no government can use its provisions in a way that would force the
Muslims to revolt”.
• Gender justice was never discussed in these debates.

Explained: Why Goa’s Civil Code is not as uniform as it is made out to

be
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-goas-civil-code-is-not-as-uniform-as-it-is-
made-out-to-be-7279365/

Chief Justice of India S A Bobde recently appreciated the uniform civil code (UCC) in Goa, the
only state to have one.

Issues with Goa UCC

• Goa’s Portuguese Civil Code, 1867 is basically an alien code given by the Portuguese. Its
continuance — and non-enforcement of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 and Hindu Succession
Act, 1956 or Indian Succession Act, 1925 or Shariat (Application) Act, 1937 and Dissolution
of the Muslim Marriage Act,1939 etc. in Goa — is an example of legal pluralism, and
negation of the very idea of one nation, one law.

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• Plurality of laws has not weakened that country. The UCC has no role in maintaining the
integrity of the country.
• Having all laws in one code does not necessarily guarantee justice and equality.
• Gender biased laws- husband to get a divorce if adultery is committed by the wife, but the
wife can get a separation only if the husband commits adultery with public scandal, and a
divorce if he keeps a mistress in the conjugal home or abandons her.
• Hindu husband can take a second wife in the absence of an issue, if the wife has attained
the age of 25, and also if she has attained age 30 without having a son. The provision is
contrary to both the Indian Penal Code and the Hindu Marriage Act.
• Terms marriage a perpetual contract between persons of different sex (same sex marriage is
not recognised) rather than sacrament.

Why Pakistan’s blasphemy legislation has no basis in law or religion

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/why-pakistans-blasphemy-legislation-has-
no-basis-in-law-or-religion-7659792/

• Sri Lankan manager was brutally beaten and burnt alive by a mob of religious fanatics in
Sialkot recently. After the Enlightenment, due to the recognition of individual rights, the
state started retreating from blasphemy. Yet, today, 71 countries, including India, have
blasphemy laws even though these have a chilling effect on free speech and, ideally, should
be replaced with hate speech laws. The blasphemy laws are not a creation of Pakistan’s
legislature instead Legacies of British rule. General principle of religious freedom
consistent with modern human rights law is mentioned there is no compulsion in religion.
There is an urgent need to reform the law. It does not require any proof of intent, thus
making an unintentional mistake punishable with a mandatory death sentence.
o Sacrilege- violation of sacred
o Blasphemy- Deals with matters involving lack of respect towards God

Causes-
• Communalisation of political process
• Rapid change/anomie- religion guiding individuals
• Cultural lag of Ogburn
• Identity breakdown - technological modernity without cognitive modernity

Consequences
• Danger to society's stability
• Against an individual's right of freedom of expression
• Communal violence - mob lynching
• Legal lag

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• Hindrance to socio economic development
• Marx - Religion being the opium of the masses

An Expert Explains: The issues in uniform civil code

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/expert-explains-issues-in-uniform-civil-code-
7771828/

Functions of UCC-
• Eliminating gender discrimination - over the years the rights of women have been limited
because of religious laws. Liberal and gender sensitive civil code is need of the hour
• A uniform law increases inter-caste and inter-religious marriage.
• Religious harmony - because it separates social relationships and personal laws from
Religion.
• Uniform civil code controls the population explosion
• Jawaharlal Nehru and D Br Ambedkar continued endorsing the uniform civil code as an
instrument of modernization, secularisation and national integration.
• Support national integration - supreme court judge YV Chandrachuda says -a common civil
code will also help in strengthening the cause of national integration by removing
conflicting interests. because humanism is our creed and a common law for all Indian is our
ideal.
• All religions as oppressive products of a less developed society, the introduction of a
uniform civil code seen as the only solution to get Rid of the continued exploitation based
on religion.

Criticism
• Threat to communal harmony - it creates fear among various religions especially minorities.
• Government interference into personal matters - question the legitimacy and secularism of
the state.
• Law Commission of India stated that the Uniform Civil Code is “neither necessary nor
desirable at this stage” in the country. The Commission said secularism cannot contradict
the plurality prevalent in the country.
• Constitutional contradiction - The conflict of freedom of religion with equality before law
and right to equality.
• Generalization of oppression of women - Blind drive for social reform without addressing
the district subject position and living reality of the women have been the bane of the rights
of women and change in their status
• Threat of Majoritarian dominance over minorities - misconception about Hindutva model
of uniform civil code.

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• Just formal equality instead of substantive equality.

The problem with the Karnataka HC’s hijab ruling

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/the-problem-with-the-hijab-ruling-
karnataka-high-court-muslim-women-religious-practice-7821512/

Hijab Controversy
• Hijabophobia - is a type of religious and cultural discrimination against Muslim women
who wear the hijab.
• Politicization of hijab and Vote bank politics - political leaders and parties manipulating
public sentiments.
• Contradiction between the Indian state and the Indian model of secularism.
• Violation of India’s model of accommodating diversity i.e. Mosaic model.
• Religious fanaticism whether by the majority or the minority has only damaged the secular
mosaic.
• A tussle between universalism and multiculturalism
• Tussle between Achievement based identity (Uniform dress code) and Ascription based
identity (Hijab)
• Tussle between Individual right (Article 25) and Group rights (Article 26)
• Communal disharmony and competitive communalism
• Religion has been at the centre of human societal existence since time immemorial.
• It had been playing both integrating and divisive roles.
• Karnataka High Court’s judgment on hijab’s essentiality and how hijab is not an essential
religious practice of Islam.
• Giving much importance to discipline and control over liberty and diversity: The high court
has upheld the dress code because it would promote harmony. (Dress code leading to
Social cohesion)
• Religious freedom is premised on the belief that every human being has the inherent
dignity to explore his or her conscience and pursue the truth. Religious practice promotes
the well-being of individuals, families, and the community and its denial may unnecessarily
lead to alienation, depression and exclusion.

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An Expert Explains | Hindus as minority: Govt’s affidavit is consistent

with the Constitution
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/expert-explains-hindus-minority-govt-affidavit-
consistent-with-constitution-7842894/

• “Minorities” appears at four places in the Constitution — in the headnotes of Articles 29

and 30, and clauses (1) and (2) of Article 30. The Constitution does not define “minority”.
• The most obvious definition of minorities is in terms of numbers — a minority is a group
that is numerically smaller than the majority in a society. But the preponderance or the lack
of numbers alone is not a guide to any authoritative definition. In apartheid South Africa,
minorities exercised power and domination over the rest of the society.
• A second component of the definition of minority is that the group must be non-dominant
in society and the polity. But this may not lead to despondency or a feeling of exclusion
always. Parsis are a good example.
• The Constitution talks of only religious and linguistic minorities. It does not recognise
sexual minorities such as LGBTQ+.
The court recently said that no new religious group is to be recognised as a minority, and that the
National Commission of Minority must work towards reducing the list of religious minorities and
finally do away with it altogether. This was a call for assimilation — but our Constitution wants
integration, not assimilation.
Article 25 does not give freedom of religion only in respect of existing religions. It does not bar the
birth of new religions. New religions can come into existence, and such groups may be recognised
by the government as religious minorities.

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Article by Manish Sabharwal

Why India needs ‘good’ urbanisation
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/why-india-needs-good-urbanisation-
7520094/

(Written by Manish Sabharwal , Rajiv Mehrishi)

• Covid reinforces that good urbanisation is our most powerful technology for poverty
reduction. Covid is an opportunity to catalyse good urbanisation by empowering our cities
with more power and funds. Good urbanisation — getting power and funds to cities —
needs chief ministers to sacrifice self-interest.

Dysfunctions of Poor Urbanization

• Hostility to migrants
• Infection hotspot tendency,
• Diminished centrality to the future of work due to digitisation
• Considered unpleasant places to live for people who are not rich or powerful.
• Emergence of slums- poor living conditions
• Men-only migration, leaving the women with all the hard labour of farm work, raising the
children, and looking after in-laws
• Women having virtually no recourse to health services, or to even emotional support of the
spouse.

Good Urbanisation Functions

• Shift from farm to non-farm, informal to formal, and school to work — that are raising per
capita incomes
• Giving a boost to economic growth
• Economic justice for women, children and Dalits

Modernisation Theorists argued that urbanization had an overall positive impact on

developing countries. They argued that cities are better environments to promote positive
economic and social change compared to the correspondingly ‘backward’ traditional rural
(countryside) communities.

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Articles by Abhijit Banerjee

‘Huge numbers may be pushed into dire poverty or starvation…we
need to secure them’
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/coronavirus-india-lockdown-economy-amartya-sen-
raghuram-rajan-abhijit-banerjee-6364521/

(Written by Amartya Sen , Raghuram Rajan , Abhijit Banerjee)

Impact of covid-19 and lockdown-

• Lockdown or illness of a family breadwinner may result in his or her absence from work.
The absenteeism may result in the loss of income. When the person dies, the temporary loss
of income becomes a permanent loss.
• Poorer households may be more severely affected than better-off households either in case
of lockdown or in case of infection. The relationship between poverty and the costs of
covid-19 treatment to households can be visualized at two levels. First, covid-19 can push
households into poverty. Second, a household that was already poor may be-come further
impoverished.
• The impact of covid-19 on households is also gender dependent. Deaths of adult men tend
to have a larger impact on household income, while a woman’s death has especially severe
consequences for children because women are the main caregivers in families.
• A rise of abusive behaviours in families (due to pressure of working from home + school
closures+ social isolation)

Covid 19 impact on work:

Organization of work
• Decentralization of work - due to work from home.
• Decrease in work place socialization
• Rise of technological elites.
• Increases contractual employment and informalization of workforce.
• Jobless growth due to increased importance automation instead of employment.
• Lack of unionization in industries due to decreased social interaction.

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The Learning State: How information becomes insight

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/the-learning-state-how-information-becomes-
insight-5631093/

(Written by Abhijit Banerjee , Shrayana Bhattacharya)

• Knowledge is not gathering mounds of information. It is processing that information and

translating it into useable propositions that makes people and organisations learners.
• It is a social process which helps in broadening of personal horizons.
• Appropriate use of information can initiate social change by bringing transparency.
• This can enable citizens, government officials, and politicians to gain access to all the
information that they need to play their individual roles in a democratic society and
enable the necessary exchange of knowledge for effective program implementation.

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Articles by Ajay Vir Jakhar

Rebuild trust to resolve farm crisis
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/rebuild-trust-resolve-farm-crisis-7634502/
• One of the reasons why farm laws failed was- lack of participatory decision making. While
democracy calls for popular sovereignty.
• All this is representative of the rampant undermining of institutions at the highest levels-
Althusser’s theory of ideological state apparatus
• Law and order was used as a superstructure by political elites without consulting the
farmers (Marx’s mode of production theory).
• This led to alienation among farmers.
• Farm Unions- Farmers emerged as a class for itself rather being just a class in itself.
• Here, farmer unions formed a kind of new social movement due to following reasons-
o Leaderless: - the movement is neither organized by a political party nor by a central
leader (absence of pan India leadership)
o Classless movement: - all farmers cutting across divisions of rich-poor regions,
gender, caste, class whether landowners on landless labourer converged for the
movements. Gail Omvedt- says all the farmers movement today are non-class
movements.
o Against Government’s farm laws
o Prevented political parties from joining the protest to prevent Politicisation of their
agenda.
o They were driven by interest ideology and they wanted to extract maximum benefit
out of the state policies. They were instrumental in government for a rethinking on
its development strategy.

Awareness campaigns are needed to deal with climate change

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-new-approach-climate-change-6025611/
• The environment was primarily seen by Marx as a medium of human labour. He felt that
nature was to be used by humans for their production purposes. Marx saw that the rapid
growth of capitalist economy was achieved by exploitation; the exploitation of one social
class i.e. proletariat by another i.e. bourgeoisie. Under this circumstance all values and
relations including environmental one, becomes sub-ordinate to monitory or commercial
one i.e. market orientation.
• Modern writers have developed these ideas further, including the late James O’Connor, the
sociologist John Bellamy Foster, who identified an endemic tendency of capitalism to
generate an “ecological rift” with nature.

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• Marx and Engels both argued that an environmentally sustainable society would require
the "abolition of the antithesis between town and country." Engels spelled out that this
meant "as uniform a distribution as possible of the population over the whole country" and
"an integral connection between industrial and agricultural production."
• In Marx and Engels' day, the environmental damage caused by capitalism was localized to
particular regions or countries. Today, the threat of climate change is global in scope, with
the production of greenhouse gases by the most developed capitalist economies threatening
ecosystems across the planet.
• Even we are facing a shift from being adapted to environment to a tendency of changing
the environment, leading to serious consequences like climate change.

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Article by Ela R. Bhatt

Gandhiji never left us, we left him. He is with us, but are we with him?
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/gandhi-jayanti-2019-150-
birth-anniversary-mahatma-gandhi-6045987/

• We have entered a stage in India where Gandhiji and his ideas are valued for what they can
give us rather than what he or his ideas can make out of us. The balance between ‘to have’
and ‘to become’ has changed in favour of ‘to have’. Have more. And fast. And for oneself.
• His ideas became valuable to me in terms of women’s leadership, where the means of
struggle are truth and non-violence. How well he understood the potential of women’s
leadership and how well he mobilised women in satyagraha.
• Gandhi gave an altogether different perspective to the understanding of the social
problems. His views on social problems are contained in his ideas of sarvodaya and swaraj.
Gandhi’s views are based on the values of truth and non-violence. Gandhi regarded society
to be a unified organisation. Thus, he was not in agreement with the Marxists. According to
Gandhi, though the interests of different classes may clash, the fact of conflict of interest
does not assume primacy over the unity of the community.
o Gandhi considered women not only equal to men but in many ways superior to
men.
o He declared that to call women weaker sex was libel and a gross injustice to women.
He believed that strength means moral power hence women are immeasurably
superior to men.
o Women as Shakti: Gandhi believed that women have been gifted by God but their
marvelous power has been lying dormant. If they realize their power, they can
dazzle the world.
o Women in constructive programme.
Understanding the ideas of Gandhiji is a continual process of recreating our own ignorance

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Articles by Pratap Bhanu Mehta

‘Is this how justice ends?’: Bilkis Bano’s question should haunt the
Indian republic
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/justice-bilkis-bano-question-should-haunt-
indian-republic-8097740/

Remission of 11 convicts in Bilkis Bano Case

• This case of Bilkis Bano is an example of communal violence which involves people
belonging to two different religious communities mobilised against each other and carrying
the feelings of hostility, emotional fury, exploitation, social discrimination and social
neglect.

Social causes of Communal Clashes

• Religious animosity - Conflicting and incompatible religious ideologies- decline in religious
norms of tolerance and secular values.
• Identity crisis - there is a general feeling that orthodox Hindus and Muslims have a
problem with the secular character of the India state.
• Political factors - intermixing of religion and politics e.g.: religion-based vote bank, political
interference in religious Affairs.
• Majoritarian Hegemony and minority insecurities
• Poverty and unemployment - Relative deprivation.

Social consequences of communal clashes

1. Erosion of constitutional values - it dampens constitutional values like secularism band
fraternity.
2. Social dissonance - it strengthens vote banks of ideologically aligned political parties and
further disrupts the cohesiveness in society.
3. Mob lynching and damage social fabric - rise in intolerance and Communal disharmony
lead to majoritarianism.
4. Legal lag - feeling of lawlessness and thereby generates fear among minorities.
5. Result of state machinery failure - to frame comprehensive law against communal violence.
6. Legitimacy crisis - question nature of government and affect the reputation of nation.
The Bilkis Bano case was so horrific that even hearing about it produces a deep cognitive and
imaginative loss, and an emotional disorientation. We live in an age of not just greater
communalisation, but also totalisation of communal identity where even small markers of
culture — music, language — are burdened with the weight of identity. In such a totalising
environment, crime and justice, innocence and guilt have no autonomous meaning of their own,
other than as part of a communal project.
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Udaipur murder: The executioner’s strategy

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/udaipur-murder-the-executioners-strategy-
7998873/

Kanhaiya Lal’s Brutal execution

• The perpetrators were claiming the right to brutally punish Kanhaiya for speech that he
was well within his legal rights to utter. By doing it publicly they were trying to claim the
terrifying power of global precedent.
• The public nature of the act was to also signal that they do not consider this a crime but the
enforcement of higher law. Its purpose is to create fear and terror- “Kill one, frighten a
thousand.”

Social Causes of Radicalization

• Disparity in the distribution of resources
• Ethno-nationalism
• Religion- Maximum number of terrorist incidents in due to religious terrorism. Religion has
been mainly attributed to Islamic fundamentalism as part of terrorism.
• socio-economic status: - (relative deprivation)
• alienation or discrimination: -sentiments of discrimination and isolation
• Communal majoritarianism suffocating liberty and toleration
• Political grievances: Ex: left- and right-wing terrorist.

Social Consequences
• Increasing negative stereotyping (ex: rise of Islamophobia)
• Rise of ethnocentrism and xenophobia (group of citizens of affected nations increase its
solidarity in the face of violence)
• Causes suspicion and tension among different ethnic and religious groups.
Terrorism is a global problem that transcends national boundaries, but does not emerge from a
social vacuum. It is influenced, encouraged, and caused by interaction between the individual,
society, and the state. Social disintegration can alienate individuals and groups to such an
extent that terrorism is seen as an available and expedient recourse to address their grievances. For
this reason, terrorism cannot be addressed exclusively as a military or political problem, but rather
must be confronted on a societal level as well.

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Articles by Christophe Jaffrelot

Christophe Jaffrelot, Maulik Saini write: A workforce less diverse
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/a-workforce-less-diverse-
muslims-in-public-and-private-sector-8094176/
India houses a diverse religious society with Hindus around 80% and Muslims – 14%.
Jaganath Pathy defines some issues that minorities face- exclusion from full participation in life of
society, collectively considered as different and inferior.

Reasons of Minority exclusion

• Minorities are seen with suspicion
• Neglect of minority development and exclusionary policies
• Alienated from mainstream which might later leads to riots and violence.
• Elite Recruitment Theory proves that elites gobble up all the rewards and perpetuate the
elite rule and inequality.

Other forms of exclusion-

• Clearly defined colonies of Muslims/Dalits where other communities avoid to visit
• Difficulty to get rental houses in majority communities by other minorities
• Ghettoization- In our society, communities often reside in areas where they feel
commonalities exist both in terms of caste and religion.
Dipankar Gupta notes that Muslim community move from ‘Poverty to Poverty’. They consider it
waste of time and money to send their children to schools.

How Twitter became the new medium for diplomacy

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/how-twitter-became-the-
new-medium-for-diplomacy-8039843/
Indian Government Popularity- based on Weber’s Charismatic Authority.

Functions of Information Technology (Twitter) -

• Empowering citizens by making them informed about governance.
• Conveying policies to common people via regional language.
• Making politics less elitist.
• Information Technology being used as an agent of social change (foreign policy).
• Manifestation of Parsons’s idea of Power being exercised collectively and not individually,
where there are no winning elites and no loosing masses.

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• Creates community of sentiments (via participatory governance), thus strengthening the
concept of Nation.

Upsurge affects poor the most, govt must retool policy to ensure that
inequalities do not deepen
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/inflation-income-inequality-
economic-policies-7972236/
Due to inflation, inequalities which were already on the rise are increasing further.
• Marxists attribute inequalities in society to the unequal access to the forces of production.
According to them, policy decisions and resources are monopolised by a few at the
expense of others, which leads to inequality in society.
• Goran Therborn – Inequalities are produced and sustained socially by systematic
arrangements, processes and distributive actions, individual as well as collective.

What NFHS-5 data reveals about gender in India

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/nfhs-data-reveals-gender-
india-7693694/
National Family Health Survey-5 report
• Decline in the total fertility rate (TFR).
• Proportion of 15- to 24-year-old women using menstrual care products has increased.
• Good news is that India has now 1,020 women for every 1,000 men.
• Increase in gender-related violence.
• Women lag behind men in the literacy rate.

Sociological interpretation-
• Marxist school sees female subordination as a result of private property.
• Sylvia Walby recognises it in form of private patriarchy.
• Hochschild’s ‘The Second Shift’- Employed women are doubly harassed by men – one in
housework, second in workplace.
• Method used- Questionnaire- There exist some skepticism over data collection, absence of
meta-data and the systematic errors arising thereof – regarding sex ratio.

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Across India, minorities are overrepresented in jails

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/ncrb-data-on-religious-
minorities-in-jail-7664868/
Over representation of Muslims in jails-
• Communalization of Police as an institution.
• Althusser’s argument that Ideological state apparatus are used by majority to strengthen
its dominance.
• Marx- Superstructure (Law and order) being used by the Haves (owners of modes of
production) to suppress Have-nots.
• Some sociologists have argued that in many industrialized societies, there are strong links
between crime and social exclusion.

In politics and bureaucracy, women are severely under-represented

• India's economy is one of the fastest-growing, but women's participation in the economy,
politics, and society lags behind.
• Despite an increase in female voter turnout, there is a lack of women contesting elections.
• Women represent a low percentage of Members of Parliament and state assemblies, with
India's ranking falling behind countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.
• Women's representation in the bureaucracy, including the Indian Administrative Services
(IAS), is low.
• Few women hold top positions in government departments, and there is a perception that
they should be assigned to "soft" ministries.
• Female participation in sectors such as MSME ownership, start-ups, and the labor force
remains low.
• Female labor statistics often do not include unpaid work, and female literacy is an
important factor in addressing these issues.

Social media narratives on Article 370 show how opinion is

manufactured and manipulated
The article highlights the sociological dimension of controlled narratives on social media, focusing
on the example of the discourse surrounding the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
The key points discussed include:
• Evidence suggests that narratives on social media can be artificially controlled by interest
groups.
• The study analyzed tweets related to Article 370, examining engagement, hashtags, and
user behavior.

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• Hashtags can be manipulated to trend through coordinated efforts by machine-controlled
bots or determined users.
• Genuine users cannot differentiate between artificially-propelled narratives and majority
opinions.
• During the study period, a significant number of hashtags had a pro-abrogation tone, while
few had a neutral tone.
• A critical mass of users initiated and dominated the discourse, saturating the digital space
with their messaging.
• A limited number of users generated a large volume of tweets, retweets, likes, and replies.
• The manipulation of social media discourse can undermine debates and create a sense of
shared reality distortion.
• The article emphasizes the importance of establishing factual truths through reason and
empirical evidence rather than relying solely on the volume of content.
Overall, the article highlights the impact of controlled narratives on social media platforms and
their implications for public discourse and the right to be heard.

Muslims in higher education: A sobering tale

The article highlights the contrasting trends in higher education enrollment among different social
groups in India, with a focus on the marginalized Muslim community. The key points are as
follows:
• The All India Survey on Higher Education 2020-21 reveals that while enrollment of Dalits,
Adivasis, and OBCs (Other Backward Classes) has increased, there has been a significant
drop of 8% in the enrollment of Muslim students compared to the previous year.
• Uttar Pradesh (UP) accounts for 36% of the decline in Muslim student enrollment, followed
by Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Bihar, and Karnataka.
• Despite Muslims representing about 15% of the population, their enrollment in higher
education is only at 4.6%, while OBCs constitute 36%, Dalits 14.2%, and Adivasis 5.8% of
the total enrollment.
• Historically, Muslims have faced marginalization in education, and this marginalization
has deepened over time. Muslims now lag behind Dalits and Adivasis in terms of
educational attainment.
• Job opportunities have been shrinking for Muslims, leading to a high unemployment rate
among them. Discrimination in the job market further exacerbates their difficulties.
• Financial constraints and the need to work for a living contribute to a high dropout rate
among Muslim youth, who often engage in low-paying self-employment.
• Increased violence against Muslims has limited their mobility and contributed to their
withdrawal into segregated communities or ghettos.

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• The article suggests that positive discrimination policies, similar to those implemented in
some southern states, are necessary to address the marginalization of Muslims in higher
education. However, government support for Muslims has decreased, and discriminatory
policies have been implemented in some regions.
• The article concludes by drawing attention to the parallel between the discriminatory
policies targeting Muslims in India and the creation of second-class citizens in other
countries, emphasizing the negative impact on harmonious development.

Ambedkar, Buddhism and Democracy

The article explores the sociological dimension of Dr. Ambedkar's views on democracy, religion,
and Buddhism. Here are the key points:
• Ambedkar drew inspiration from European and American political philosophers while
drafting the Indian Constitution, viewing democracy as a Western creation.
• He sought support from Europeans and Americans to uplift the deprived classes in India,
emphasizing the idea of "humanness" (manuski) in his writings.
• Ambedkar rejected Hinduism due to its caste system and believed that Buddhism
embodied equality and offered prosperity for all.
• He saw Buddhism as a democratic religion, with deep affinities between Buddhism and the
French Revolution.
• Ambedkar's social philosophy revolved around liberty, equality, and fraternity, which he
derived from the teachings of Buddha.
• He attempted to promote fraternal human relations through political arrangements, but
conversion to Buddhism became his last resort for societal change.
• Ambedkar's rediscovery of Buddhism implied that democracy is not solely a Western
invention but a product of Indian history.
• He highlighted the parliamentary procedures and rules practiced in ancient Buddhist
Sanghas, demonstrating the historical presence of democratic practices in India.
• Even in his interpretation of Buddhism's impact, Ambedkar remained interested in political
ideas, evident from his formation of the Republican Party of India, upholding the
parliamentary system and the secular character of the state.
• His ideology of Republicanism reflected his liberal values and a deep attachment to the rule
of law.

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Articles by Ashutosh Varshney

India’s democratic exceptionalism is now withering away. The impact
is also external
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/elected-government-death-of-democracy-
india-7200030/
• A democracy is not a proper democracy unless it safeguards minorities. And if the
minorities are also poor, the protection becomes even more necessary.
• America’s Blacks and India’s Muslims are the minorities in their respective countries. Both
are alleged to be considered as secondary citizens and inferiors. Religion or race becomes
the basis of this difference.
• Jagnath Pathy: listed out the defining properties of minorities group in his opinion.
o The minorities are  subordinate in society to the majority
o Distinguishable from the majority on the basis of physical or Cultural features
o Excluded from the full participation in the life of the society.
o Collectively being regarded and treated as different and inferior on the basis of these
features
• Dipankar Gupta notes that they move from “poverty to poverty”. Muslims are below the
national average in literacy and education. Most Muslims in urban areas are artisans. They
consider it beyond their means and a waste to time to send their children to schools.
• According to relative deprivation theory, both feel resentment, dissatisfaction and
marginalization believing society treat them unfairly in comparison to another group.
• Democracy is measured by a composite index. The overall judgment depends partly on
elections, and partly on what the elected governments do between elections.
• Decades of research showed that democracies could indeed be established at low levels of
income, but they tended to survive generally at high levels of income. Robert Dahl,
called India the greatest contemporary exception to democratic theory.
• According to Levitsky and Ziblatt, “democratic backsliding”, a new concept to depict
democratic erosion led by elected politicians, often quite legally. What is legal, they
emphasise, is not necessarily democratic.
• For democratic theory, elections are necessary, but not sufficient.
• Thus, A democracy which speaks with one voice, which elevates citizen duties over citizen
rights, which privileges obedience over freedom, which uses fear to instil ideological
uniformity, which weakens checks on executive power, is a contradiction in terms.
• Pareto in his theory of circulation of elites argued that power keeps shifting between lions
and foxes based on force or cunningness. Now a days, trend is shifting towards circulation
of power between foxes only (based on cunningness). He saw modern democracy to as a
form of elite domination.

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• Max Weber called rational legal authority as the hallmark of modern democracy because
of transfer of power in a modern democracy is without any sort of violence. (Bloodless
revolution)
• Democratic Backsliding leads to disruption of the constitutional ethos (deterioration of
democratic values), breeds more crime and corruption
Reason for democratic backsliding: -
1. Political culture of India
2. Lack of ethics or values in Indian politics
3. Week civil society

What does it mean to be Indian?

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/hindu-nationalism-indian-nationhood-
diversity-7421980/

Religious identity v/s civic identity

• Since our freedom struggle, despite the centrality of religion and caste in India’s social and
political life, there is a larger “superordinate” civic identity that exists. It is layered on top
of the building blocks of caste and religion.
• However, India has hyphenated identities (Hindu-Indians, Muslim-Indians etc.) like
America and unlike France. According to nationalism theory, France is the ultimate melting
pot, not the US, which is a political melting pot, but a cultural salad bowl.
• The starting point of the Indian paradox is the high incidence of bonding as opposed to
bridging — bonding within one’s religious and caste communities, not bridging across
such boundaries.
• Most Indians prefer to live in neighborhoods of their caste or religion; they make friends
within their religion and caste; they marry overwhelmingly inside their communities
(endogamy), and they want strict prohibition against inter-religious or inter-caste marriages
(exogamy).
• Gail Omvedt says citizenship in India has been paradoxical as it theoretically grants equal
rights but religious and caste dynamics change the overall political scenario.

Electoral democracy vs constitutional democracy: Post-poll lessons

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/electoral-democracy-vs-constitutional-
democracy-post-poll-lessons-7815935/
• In much of the world, the electoral aspects of democracy are now being used to
undermine the non-electoral dimensions of democracy. This process can be called the
battle between electoral democracy and constitutional democracy. In this day and age,
democracies don’t normally die as a result of military or executive coups. Processes
internal to the democratic system can severely weaken democracy itself, even causing its
collapse.
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• People in power tend to show more inclination towards their religion/ caste etc. than the
constitutional values. Andre Beteille comments that people of India are bound more by
culture than by constitution. Ashish Nandy says, Modernisation (democracy) can lead to
revival of traditional forces in India (religious revivalism) as opposed to constitutional
values (secularism.)

Gyanvapi: Court must follow law not faith

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/gyanvapi-mosque-shivling-constitution-
religious-equality-7932213/
• Two of the key foundations of modern democracy are popular will and the constitutional
settlement.
• In a democracy, popular will is expressed in elections. Being the supreme law of the land,
the Constitution provides the framework within which politics must function, legislatures
must enact laws, and executives must make decisions. In effect, the Constitution lays out
what politics cannot do, what laws legislatures cannot pass, and what decrees the executive
cannot issue.
• If legislatures are the institutional embodiment of popular will, the courts play the same
role for safeguarding the Constitution. If elections, giving way to majoritarian passions,
can’t protect the minorities, the courts, following the Constitution, will.
• Foucault might have called “popular illegality”, in which a lot of citizens have participated
in an illegal activity, not simply one caste or religion. While state seems to consider selective
punitiveness legitimate (communally penal state). Balance between religious equality and
minority protections is required.

Communal violence is not new to India. But something is different

now
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/communal-violence-is-not-new-to-india-
but-something-is-different-now-7882808/

Difference between religious revivalism and communalism

Religious Revivalism
• These are movements based on perception that religion is corrupted or has lost its earlier
spiritual importance.
• Function- Revivalism in India has resulted in increasing membership in sects, cults,
denominations. E.g.: Isha Foundation, Art of living
• Dysfunction- led to coercion and rise fundamentalism

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Communalism
• It develops due to psychological fears of a community being harassed and exploited by the
members of other community. Which might turn violent also Functions- helped minority
communities to help their members in social and economic up-liftment.
• E.g.: Provision for establishment of social institutions
• Dysfunction- usually seen as violent, associated with lack of secularisation or lack of
internalization of constitutional values.
• Communalism is largely associated with structural factors of the society. E.g.- Politics.
Ramlal Ghosh says in India we do not have class struggles; we have communal riots.
Louis Dumont says, more Indians believe in Manu Smrithi than Indian Constitution.

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Articles by Upendra Baxi

The hijab case and the struggle for the right to be and remain different
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/karnataka-hc-hijab-case-freedom-religion-
constitution-7856869/
Hijab Controversy (Hijabophobia)-
• “Faith vs Constitution” controversy.
• According to Tönnies’ concept of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, Identities are both
ascribed and achieved. In present times, citizens hold both identities together- traditional
(religious) as well as modern (according to rule of law)
• Freedom of conscience precedes the right to religion. The Constitution recognises that each
citizen has a right to a moral faculty called conscience, which helps to choose or change a
religion, or renounce all religion.
• Identity only makes social sense when difference is recognised and respected.
• Article 51-A enjoins as a fundamental duty of all citizens to “value and preserve the rich
heritage of our composite culture”. A composite culture is a “culture of many cultures”, not
a “culture of no cultures”.
• Contradiction between Two western paradigms of secularism (universalism and
multiculturalism)
• The choice of appearance and apparel are also aspects of the rights of privacy.

SC ruling in favour of women officers in Army is pathbreaking,

extends arc of equality
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/supreme-court-verdict-women-indian-army-
6274740/
Women in Indian Army:
• Biological theories by Tiger & Fox, Murdock, and Parsons suggest men to be the
breadwinners and women to take up household chores.
• Ann Oakley rejects biological theories and terms them to be just cultural constructs and not
reality.
• India’s constitutional culture of non-discrimination can demolish obstinate structures of
gender-based discrimination in state and civil society.
• “Sexism” has no place in law and society
• UN Secretary General Kofi Annan: “There is no tool more effective than the empowerment
of women for development of a country.
• Reliance on the “inherent physiological differences between men and women” rests on a
deeply entrenched stereotypical and constitutionally flawed notion that women are the
“weaker” sex and may not undertake tasks that are “too arduous” for them.
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• This change has to be based on “the right of women officers to equality of opportunity”,
which has two “facets”: Non-discrimination on the grounds of sex and equality of
opportunity for all citizens in employment.

MEA’s response to celebrity activism shows that India is new to Twitter

diplomacy
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/farmers-protest-republic-day-violence-
twitter-hashtag-rihanna-greta-thunberg-mea-7193101/
New farmer's movements in contemporary India were mainly against the state's laissez faire
approach which had exploited farmers and led to distress.
• Unlike the earlier struggles, which were about land. Market and prices became the most
important issues.
• The struggle was directed against external agencies such as the state, and industrial
capital/international capital.
• Unlike the earlier farmers’ movements, the ‘new’ movements ‘bring together entire rural
populations, past and present, irrespective of the economic, ethnic, caste, religious, and
political differences (Wider social base)
• They believed in discoursing on a large number of issues.
• Social Change- Reduced cultural lag helped them adapt to technological methods
• Political Major part of election campaigning and Mobilisation
• Economic Co-operative - Reduce social risk

Use of Social media and hastags

• Agent of socialization
• Mobilizing tool for political parties for political movements
• can be used as a force for resistance and social change
• Celebrity activism
• Functionalist perspective: - Social media creates a sacred space by allowing people to
connect to what sparks their interest.
• Conflict perspective: - argued that members of the elite produced the dominant societal
ideas to conceal exploitation of the working class while the social media manipulated
information to normalise inequlity.

Choose people, not profits

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https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/india-covid-situation-oxygen-vaccine-
shortage-relief-measeres-mirgration-crisis-7311385/
• Marx’s perspective explains the global inequity that existed due to unequal distribution of
Covid -19 drugs- Capitalists own resources and use them to create a superstructure
strengthening their hold over resources and marginalizing the proletariats.
• Disasters demonstrate “how unjustly unequal our world has become”. The elite prospers,
but the plight of the impoverished and the vulnerable steadily worsens.

How to protect human rights in the digital era

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/human-rights-supreme-court-of-india-free-
speech-unhrc-7350022/
• Information can act as an agent of social change. Information asymmetry can lead to
Societal crisis and breakdown of public trust in Institutions.
• Internet shut down – violation of Fundamental Rights.
• “Information disorder” that arises from disinformation which is “politically polarising,
hinders people from meaningfully exercising their human rights, and destroys their trust in
governments and institutions”.
• “Disinformation” is “false information disseminated intentionally to cause serious social
harm”. E.g.- Use by terrorists.
• In contrast, misinformation consists in “the dissemination of false information
unknowingly”.

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Articles by Dipankar Gupta

Falling sick together: Covid-19 pandemic has immensely boosted the case
for Universal Healthcare
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/falling-sick-together-covid-19-
pandemic-has-immensely-boosted-the-case-for-universal-healthcare/

Covid 19 Latent Functions/ Dysfunctions:

• Facts emphasize on importance of social reality (Emile Durkheim) –Regions which
aggressively privatised its erstwhile public health system ended up with maximum of Covid-
19 deaths.
• Disturbance in system leads to new equilibrium (Parsons Functional analysis of social
system) = Privatised health system (Old equilibrium) -> Focus on individualised sickness -
> Covid 19 (Disturbance) -> Mass infections and deaths (Feedback) -> Need of Public health
system (New Equilibrium)
• Covid pandemic became an integrating force – When we fall sick together, we realise the
true value of staying connected
• Stratification increased- Poor people (In lack of Economic and social capital) – faced
maximum death rates (Dysfunctional aspect of Inequality)- leading to global inequity and
exclusion.

The urban migrant and the ‘ritual’ tug of home

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-urban-migrant-and-the-ritual-tug-of-
home/article62107650.ece
• Religion and Kinship institutions are more important than economic interests for migrant
labour. Unemployment is frequent in India, thus has become a part of life. When faced
with an imminent threat to life, family is much stronger for migrant labour than an
urban occupation. Family again established itself as a functional unit in an individual’s life.
• Religion pays much attention to post death rituals for afterlife. It leads to social control and
idea of heaven and hell dominates here. Thus, fear of dying alone pulls migrants back to
villages/ family. (Religion acting as an integrating force- Durkheim). Thus, Marx’s
Historical materialism fails here.

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Covid crisis offers room to erase thresholds of Industrial Disputes Act

that affect workers, employers
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/coronavirus-economic-relief-package-
india-lockdown-6433660/
• Main reason for labours to migrate back to villages - Industrial dispute Act. It discourages
an entrepreneur to hire more than 99 workers for over 240 days leading to proliferation of
informal enterprises, low-skill workers, short-term employment and zero security. It has
led to commodification of labour class, alienation among workers, loss of trust over
employers and antagonism between classes.

Why Ukraine war hit home harder than Syria, Iraq or Yemen
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-ukraine-war-hit-
home/articleshow/90057412.cms
• People tend to understand the situation of crisis/war more when we identify the victim or
when the victim is from our own kin group. This proves that family is such an important
social group which integrates an individual to social events at large (irrespective of the
geographical proximity).
• Ukraine war proved Young and Willmott’s argument that- With changing times,
households might get isolated but families do not.

Sacrilege and societies

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/sacrilege-and-societies/articleshow/88478431.cms
• As Emile Durkheim says- Religion is a set of beliefs and practises related to sacred that are
set apart and forbidden. These religious symbols are the representation of society and their
meanings may vary from society to society. The Sacred is decided by the emotions vested
in the symbol and not by its intrinsic value.
• These sacred symbols play a normative role on behalf of religion. However, they might also
promote communal behaviour (eg: sacrilege) as a dysfunction.
• But on another aspect, Durkheim’s view about the future of religion, fails. As our societies
are advancing, with urbanisation people feel rootless and become more conscious about
their religion and sacred marks, leading to incidents like sacrilege.

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Why we must value friends, not just family

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/why-we-must-value-friends-not-just-
family/articleshow/87371775.cms
• Crisis leads to hope as well as despair. Pandemic taught the society about the functions of
friendship (Hope) when the former was facing loss of family members and economic
hardships.
• Family has some functions like providing security and certainty to an individual; however,
it also has some dysfunctions like ‘Tyranny of cousins’- terrorising new wife,
discriminating against girl child, wars of succession etc.
• While friendship is the gift of modernity that comes with choice, unlike in case of kin
group. Thus, it is an example of Tonnies’s Gesellschaft based society.
• It leads to social cohesion (across religion, caste and class).

From elegance to spectacle: What the fashion industry tells us about

contemporary society and politics
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/from-elegance-to-spectacle-what-the-
fashion-industry-tells-us-about-contemporary-society-and-politics/
• Marx explained about how the bourgeoisie class owned all forces of production and thus
controlled the superstructure. But now with modernity emerging, bourgeoisie-based
superstructures no longer govern the proletariats. Be it sports, science, politics or fashion;
human (irrespective of his class) is at the center of modern superstructure.

Colourism and racism: The Indian variant of colourism doesn’t

automatically gatecrash into “Black Lives Matter”
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/colourism-and-racism-the-indian-
variant-of-colourism-doesnt-automatically-gatecrash-into-black-lives-matter/
• India has different parameters of social stratification than Europe. Colour becomes the
basis of exclusion in West but not in India.
• In Public Life- The markers of status in India are far more subtle and varied with skin
colour playing only a peripheral role. Racism goes in reverse direction in India (Eg: When
hiring people for low end jobs, like that of shop assistants and hospitality staff). In high
profile jobs, there’s no preference given to colour but to Pierre Bourdieu’s Social Resources
(caste, class etc.)
• In Private life- Colour can be a significant factor of interpersonal relationships.

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Articles by Sonalde Desai

1. Different faces of the Indian women’s movement
• The Indian women's movement has undergone three phases: nationalist movement, rights-
based civil society movement, and state-led movement for economic empowerment.
• The movement has evolved from protests and political alignment to grassroots organizing
for legal and policy reforms, and currently, state-sponsored Self-Help Groups (SHGs) for
economic empowerment.
• The government has invested in SHGs, with about 1.2 crore (12 million) groups in India,
mainly consisting of women.
• Evaluations show mixed results for state-led programs, with a decline in reliance on high-
interest loans but limited evidence of increased incomes or entrepreneurship.
• The challenge lies in balancing state-led programs with civil society-led initiatives and
addressing both practical and strategic needs of women.
• The potential of SHGs remains underutilized, but some positive outcomes include income-
earning assets and cooperatives supplying goods and services.
• However, the expansion of SHGs has affected grassroots civil society movements and has
been politically manipulated at times.
• The growth of SHGs has brought a large number of women into the public arena, and a
strong civil society-led movement can empower them socially, politically, and economically
for India's development.

2. Measuring women’s work participation: why it is important to get it

right
The Economic Survey 2022-23 acknowledges the inadequacy of official statistics in capturing
women's work.
• Measurement errors in current surveys include broad categories, single-shot questions, and
the exclusion of expenditure-saving work.
• The survey recommends revising labor force surveys to align with International Labour
Organization methodologies.
• An experiment under the Delhi Metropolitan Area Study (DMAS) highlighted
underestimation of women's work in rural areas.
• Challenges exist in measuring women's work, particularly in family-based enterprises.
• Policy focus should shift to moderately educated women rather than those with low
education.
• Measurement issues impact the design of skilling programs and social protection measures.
• The Economic Survey proposes expanding the definition of work to include expenditure-
saving activities.
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• However, this approach may conflate activities within and outside the production
boundary and fail to address infrastructure shortages.
• Recognizing women's diverse activities may overlook their lack of access to income-
generating opportunities.
• Accurate measurement of women's economic activities is crucial for achieving inclusive
economic growth and decent work conditions in India.

3. India's hidden transformation

The article highlights a significant sociological transformation in India, where a large proportion
of the population in peri-urban areas is transitioning towards an urban lifestyle.

Key points:
• The number of urban agglomerations and towns in India has increased significantly in the
past decade, indicating an ongoing rural transformation.
• The decline in agricultural employment and the presence of basic urban amenities in peri-
urban areas challenge the traditional classification of these areas as villages.
• Larger villages, with populations of 5,000 or more, exhibit better infrastructure, access to
services, and job opportunities compared to smaller villages.
• Despite some negative consequences such as sex-selective abortions and caste disparities,
larger villages generally have better human development outcomes, including education
and healthcare.
• The article emphasizes the need for public policies to recognize and address the
infrastructure and social development requirements of these peri-urban and large rural
agglomerations.
• Transportation needs are significant in non-metropolitan areas, with a considerable
percentage of rural males commuting to urban areas for work.
• The political structures and governance mechanisms in larger villages differ from smaller
villages, necessitating the adaptation of institutions to better suit these peri-urban settings.
• The diversity of rural markets has been recognized by consumer marketers, and the author
suggests that political institutions should also acknowledge this diversity.

4. Learning to live together, all eight billion of us

• The global population is projected to reach 8 billion by November 15, 2022, and is expected
to stabilize at around 10.5 billion.
• Asia and Africa will play a significant role in shaping the future due to their increasing
population shares, while Europe and North America's population shares have declined.
• Africa's share in the global population is predicted to rise from nearly 6% in 1900 to over
21% in 2050.

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• The changing population dynamics will impact the global power balance, potentially
challenging the dominance of the West.
• Aging populations in the West require immigration to reduce the dependency ratio, leading
to ethnic tensions but also increasing the power of minorities.
• India also experiences differential population growth and aging, leading to labor shortages
and increased migration within the country.
• The parallels between global and internal transformations raise questions about power-
sharing arrangements and representation.
• Assimilating migrants and capitalizing on diasporic communities pose challenges for host
cultures and origin countries.
• Reflecting on the implications of a world population of 8 billion is crucial to navigate the
changing demographic landscape successfully.

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