INTRODUCTORY SOCIOLOGY
SOC 171
CONTENTS OF COURSE
We will look at the following themes, focusing on how they can help to understand contemporary India and the world.
- Introduction to Sociology
- Culture and society
- Social research
- Social interaction and everyday life
- Sociology of the family
- Social stratification
- Crime, deviance and social control
- Modern organizations
- Sociology of politics and the state
- Sociology of religion
- Sociology of work
- Contemporary social theory
SOME GOOD INTRODUCTORY BOOKS
We will primarily use Anthony Giddens, 1993, Sociology, 3rd edition, Cambridge: Polity Press. IITK 301 G36 s2 (also available in textbook section)
Actually, there are many good introductory books in the library. As a
general thumb rule I would suggest that you look at recent books,
rather than older ones. Of course, remember that these are all introductory books and are not the
last word on any topic. Here are some books that I think are pretty
decent:
David
M. Newman, 2000, Sociology: Exploring the Architecture of
Everyday Life, 3rd edition, Thousand Oaks: Pine Forge
Press. IITK 301 N463s3 Cop2. Here is its last chapter, which gives a very useful discussion of how social change can take place.
Judson
R. Landis, 1995, Sociology: Concepts and characteristics,
Belmont: Wadsworth. IITK 301 L235sg
Andy Barnard and Terry Burgess, Sociology Explained, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. IITK 301 B253s
James Fulcher and John Scott, 2003, Sociology, 2nd
edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press. IITK 301 F956 s2
M. Haralambos, 1980, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, New
Delhi: Oxford University Press. 301 H212S (also available in textbook
section)
Apart from the above, if what you want to understand is social stratification, then M.N. Srinivas' Social
Change in Modern India, New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1985, is a
delightful little book. We have 15-20 copies of it in the library.
Interesting to read, with simple English and full of Indian examples,
this is a classic on the processes of sanskritization and
westernization in Indian society.
The best little introduction to what sociology is all about is C.Wright Mill's The Sociological Imagination. The first few pages are well worth reading. You can get them here in a low-resolution pdf file. They are under copyright so I'm emailing the username / password separately to all of you. Enjoy!
MORE ON MARX, WEBER AND DURKHEIM
Many of the most interesting ideas in contemporary sociology are a development of Weber, Durkheim and Marx's work. The following books can tell you more about these classic thinkers:
Coser, Lewis. 2007 (1977). Masters of sociological thought: Ideas in historical and social context. 2nd ed. Jaipur and New Delhi: Rawat Publications. This is a good overview of the life, times and thought of the major early sociologists
Giddens, Anthony. 1971. Capitalism and modern social theory: an analysis of the writings of Marx, Durkheim and Max Weber. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. This is an excellent and accurate summary of the work of the classical sociologists.
M. Haralambos, 1980, Sociology: Themes and Perspectives, New
Delhi: Oxford University Press. 301 H212S (also available in textbook
section). The chapter on theoretical perspectives in sociology is a good introduction.
Karl Marx
The work of Karl
Marx is said to be the starting point of all contemporary studies
of social stratification. He has often been misinterpreted, too. What
did he actually say? For an introduction to his work, nothing better
than Marx's own writings. Read the first chapter of his
Communist Manifesto. Can you make out his perspective of analyzing social relationships?
Emile Durkheiim
Durkheim spelt out the basic characteristics of the sociological approach. You can read here
more about his life and work, including how he looked at religion and
suicide. More on the concepts of mechanical and organic solidarity can
be found here.
Here is a short article on Durkheim's views on suicide. A longer article is here, with a reasonably accurate summary of Durkheim's entire book Suicide.
Max Weber
Max
Weber was responsible for a major revision of Marx's views on
social stratification. Experience the rigour of his thought through his classic piece "Class, status and party".
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION
The study of social stratification gives us a deeper understanding of
many things which we otherwise never think about. Sahir Ludhianvi, for
example, with such a deeper understanding, wrote with an almost sociological poet's eye
about the Taj Mahal:
"Ik shahenshah ne daulat ka sahara le kar
Hum gharibon ki mohabbat ka udaya hai mazaak
Mere mahboob kahin aur mila kar mujh se ..."
Click here for the rest of his poem "Taj
Mahal" and here for the meaning of the words and an English translation of it.
RELIGION
If you would like to read more about how social scientists look at
religion, here are a couple of things from our library to start with:
John Beattie, 1964, Other Cultures,
Glencoe: Free Press, has perhaps the best written introduction which I
have ever seen.
Another decent overview is given in Carol Ember, Melvin Ember and Peter
Peregrine, 2002, Anthropology,
New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
The best way to understand the heterogeneity of religions is to compare
the actual sacred texts with popular notions of what is believed to be
in them. Here are the Quran,
the Gita , the Guru Granth Sahib
and the Bible.
Please note that many different translations / interpretations exist of
these texts. We also have long traditions of debates between scholars
as to what exactly certain passages mean. An interesting question for
sociologists is: in what kind of social conditions do certain
interpretations of these sacred texts become popular? And what are the
consequences of those particular interpretations?
The biggest collection of links to sociology on the net - the Virtual Library of
Sociology
This has all kinds of things - from the most advanced to the most
simple. Look around but don't worry if some things seem a little
difficult to understand.
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