Meghalaya Public Service Commission Syllabus for Mains 2021

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The Meghalaya Public Service Commission is the State Public Service Commission is provided under Article 315 read with Article 316 of the Constitution of India. Here is a Detailed Syllabus for MCS & MPS Main Exam Optional Paper - Sociology.

MCS & MPS Mains Syllabus

Optional Paper - Sociology

Paper‐I

General Sociology/Foundations of Sociology/Fundamentals of Sociology

  1. Sociology The Discipline :

Sociology as a science and as an interpretative discipline, impact of industrial and French Revolution on the emergence of sociology; sociology and its relationship with history, economics, political science, psychology and anthropology.

  1. Scientific Study of Social Phenomena : Problem of objectivity and value neutrality; issue of measurement in social science; elements of scientific method‐concepts, theory and fact, hypothesis, research designs‐descriptive, exploratory and experimental.

3.Techniques of data collection and analysis : Participant and quasi‐participant observation; interview, questionnaire and schedule case study, sampling‐size, reliability and validity, scaling techniques‐social distance and Likert scale.

  1. Pioneering contributions to Sociology :

a) Karl Marx : Historical metarialism, mode of production, alienation and class struggle.

b) Emile Durkhiem : Division of labour, social fact, religion and society.

c) Max Weber : Social action, ideal types, authority, bureaucracy, protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.

d) Talcott Parsons : Social systems, pattern variables.

e) Robert K. Merton : Latent and manifest functions, anomie, conformity and deviance, reference groups.

  1. Marriage and Family :

Types and forms of marriage, family‐structure and function; personality and socialisation; Social control; family, lineage, descent and property; changing structure of family marriage an sex roles in modern society; divorce and its implications; gender issues; role conflicts.

  1. Social Stratification :

Concepts‐hierarchy, inequality and stratification; theories of stratification‐Marx, Davis and Moore and

Melvin Tumin’s critique, forms and functions; class‐different conceptions of class; class in itself and class for itself; caste and class; caste as a class.

  1. Social Mobility:

Types of mobility‐open and closed models; intra and inter‐generational mobility; vertical and horizontal mobility; social mobility and social change.

  1. Economic System:

Sociological dimensions of economic life, the impact of economic processes on the larger society; social aspects of division of labour and types of exchange; features of pre‐industrial and industrial economic system; industrialisation and social change; social determinants of economic development.

  1. Political System :

The nature of power‐personal power, community power, power of the elite, class power, organizational power, power of the un‐organised masses; authority and legitimacy; pressure groups and political parties; voting behaviour; modes of political participation‐democratic and authoritarian forms.

  1. Educational System :

Education and Culture; equality of educational opportunity; social aspects of mass education; problems of universalisation of primary education; role of community and state intervention in education; education as an instrument of social control and social change; education and modernisation.

  1. Religion :

Origins of religious beliefs in pre‐modern societies; the sacred and the profane; social functions and dysfunctions of religion; monistic and pluralistic religion; organised and unorganised religions; Semitism and anti‐Semitism; religion sect and cults; magic; religion and science.

  1. Science and Technology ;

Ethos of science; social responsibility of science; social control of science; social consequences of science and technology; technology and social change.

  1. Social Movements :

Concepts of social movements; genesis of social movements; idealogy and social movement; social movement and social change; types of social movements.

  1. Social change and Development :

Continuity and change as fact and as value: theories of social change‐Marx, Parsons and Sorokin; directed social change; social policy and social development.

Paper‐II

Study of Indian Society

  1. Historical Moorings of the Indian Society :

Traditional Hindu social organisation; socio‐cultural dynamics through the ages; impact of Buddhism,

Islam, and the West, factors in continuity and change.

  1. Caste System :

Origin of the caste system; cultural and structural views about caste; mobility in caste; caste among

Muslims and Christians; change and persistence of caste in modern India; issues of equality and social justice; view of Gandhi and Ambedkar on caste; caste on and Indian polity; Backward Classes Movement; Mandal Commission Report and issues of social backwardness and social justice; emergence of Dalit consciousness.

  1. Class Structure :

Class Structure in India. Agrarian and industrial class structure; emergence of middle class; emergence of classes among tribes; elite formation in India.

  1. Marriage, Family and Kinship :

Marriage among different ethnic groups, its changing trends and its future; family‐its structural and functional aspects its changing forms; regional variations in kindship systems and its socio‐cultural correlates; impact of legislation and socio‐economic change on marriage and family; generation gap.

  1. Agrarian Social Structure :

Peasant Society and agrarian systems; land tenure systems historical perspectives, social consequences of land reforms and green revolution, feudalism semi feudalism debates; emerging agrarian class structure; agrarian unrest.

  1. Industry and Society :

Path of industrialisation, occupational diversification, trade unions and human relations; market economy and its social consequences; economic reforms liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation. 

  1. Political Processes :

Working of the democratic political system in a traditional society; political parties and their social base; social structural origins of political elites and their orientations; regionalism, pluralism and national unity; decentralisation of power; panchayati raj and nagarpalikas and 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments.

  1. Education :

Directive Principles of State Policy and primary education; education; educational inequality and change; education and social mobility; the role of community and state intervention in education; universalization of primary education; Total Literacy Campaigns; educational problems of disadvantages groups.

  1. Religion and Society :

Size, growth and regional distribution of different religious groups; educational levels of different groups; problems of religious minorities; communal tensions; secularism; conversions; religious fundamentalism.

  1. Tribal Societies :

Distinctive features of tribal communities and their geographical spread; problem of tribal communities‐ land alienation, poverty, indebtedness, health and nutrition, education; tribal development efforts after independence; tribal policy isolation, assimilation and integration; issues of tribal identity.

  1. Population Dynamics :

Population size, growth, composition and distribution; components of population growth; birth rate, death rate and migration; determinants and consequences of population growth; issues of age at marriage, sex ratio; infant mortality rate; population policy and family welfare programmes.

  1. Dimensions of Development :

Strategy and idealogy of planning; poverty, indebtedness and bonded labour; strategies of rural development‐poverty alleviation programmes; environment, housing, slums, and unemployment, programmes for urban development.

  1. Social Change :

Endogenous and exogenous sources of change and resistance to change; processes of change‐ sanskritisation and modernisation; agents of change‐mass media, education and communication; problems of change and modernisation; structural contradictions and breakdown.

  1. Social Movements :

Reform Movements : Arya Samaj, Satya Sadhak Samaj, Sri Narayanguru Dharma Paripalana Sabha, and

Ram Krishna Mission.

Peasant Movements : Kisan Sabha, Telengana, Naxalbari.

Backward Castes Movement : Self‐respect Movement, backward castes mobilisation in North India.

  1. Women and Society :

Demographic profile of women; special problems‐dowry, atrocities, discrimination, existing programmes for women and their impact. Situational analysis of children; child welfare programmes.

  1. Social Problems :

Prostitution, AIDS, alcoholism, drug addiction, corruption.

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