Important Questions & Answers: Introducing Indian Society | Sociology Class 12 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Q.1. What is meant by Colonialism? 

The policy or practice of colonization started during the Industrial Revolution when the western countries extended control over the Asian and African countries to fetch cheaper raw materials for their industries. They tried to acquire full or partial control over their resources by exploiting them economically and politically.

Q.2. How did nationalism emerge in India?

The British established their rule in India and they started giving western education to Indians. It led to the emergence of nationalism in India in the latter part of the 19th century.

Q.3. What is meant by the term Ethnic group?

An ethnic group is that group of any country or race whose cultural ideals are the same. People of one ethnic group believe that all of them belong to the common ancestors and their physical traits are also the same. Members of a group are identified with each other through many other traits like linguistic, cultural, religious, etc.

Q.4. What is meant by Social class?

Social class is a group of people who have a specific social status at a particular time. That is why they have some special power, rights, and duties. The ability of an individual is important in the class system. The bases of the class are different from each other and many classes exist in Indian Society.

Q.5. Which countries established their colonies in Asia and Africa?

Colonialism took place between the 18th and 20th centuries. The major colonial powers that established their colonies in Asia and Africa were European Countries, including England, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium, etc. Later on, Russia, U.S.A., and Japan also joined the race.

Q.6. What is meant by communalism?

Communalism is an ideology that tries to propagate religious views of one religion among the masses. It is the animosity of one religious group towards another.

Q.7. What is meant by Community?

In simple words, when some people live jointly for a particular purpose then it is called community. It cannot be established with conscious efforts. It also does not take birth but develops automatically. When people live in an area and do social processes then automatically a community develops.

Q.8. What changed Indian society?

The British, for the first time, unified the whole of the country and brought in the forces of modernization and capitalist economic change. It changed Indian society. The colonial rule led to the emergence of nationalism in India.

Q.9. What is meant by Class System?

It is a social system in which the status of an individual is determined by the family in which he/she is born. The members of a class have some responsibilities, rights and powers. Class consciousness is the necessity of class. The person in class considers others as superior or inferior to him. People in this system keep close relations with members of their own class. They keep limited relations with members of other classes. The class system is an open system in which a person can change his class with his ability.

Q.10. Which types of classes exist in villages?

Three types of classes exist in villages:

• Landlord or Moneylender class: The upper class which exists in villages belongs to landlords and moneylenders. Landlords have great wealth and land with which they can buy every type of pleasure. A moneylender is a person who gives loan on interest. They both control the social system and politics of the village. It is small but is very powerful.
• Farmer Class: Second class of villages is farmer class. Members of this class have small holdings of land. Their standard of living is of medium level.
• Labour Class: It is that class which has no land at all in its hand. They have only their labour to sell. They either work on the fields of the landlord or on farmer’s land. They are more in number but their income and standard of living are very low.

Q.11. Why did the process of emergence of nationalism in colonies is related with the Anti-colonial movement?

The process of emergence of nationalism in colonies is- definitely related with the Anti-colonial movement. People came to identify their unity during their struggle against colonial rulers. All of them were equally exploited and suppressed by colonial rulers. This common experience of suppression tied them in a chain of unity. They came to know that foreign rulers could be thrown out of the country only with the unified strength. This sense of unified strength helped in the emergence of nationalism.

Q.12. How many types of classes can we see in urban areas?

• Upper Class: It is that class which is rich and most powerful. Political leaders, industrialists, IAS officers come in this category. They have more wealth and authority because of official power.
• Middle Class: Doctors, Engineers, Teachers, White collar people and small businessmen come in this category. The upper class uses this class to retain its domination over the lower class.
• Lower Class: Those people come in this class who sell their labour to earn their livelihood. For example, labourers. They have no means of production and they work for the other two classes.

Q.13. What is Class Struggle?

The concept of class struggle was given by Karl Marx. According to him, two classes exist in society related to the system of production. One is the owner of means of production and other is the one who produces things. Labour class sells its labour to earn money. First-class is rich and the second class is poor. According to Marx, first-class exploits the other class and becomes richer but labourer class becomes poorer. A time comes when labourer is even alienated with his tools. Then, the struggle starts between capitalist and labour class. This struggle increases with the passage of time and after some time capitalists will be thrown out of power. It is known as the class struggle.

Q.14. Explain the main features of the Urban Society.

• Large population: A most important feature of urban society is the large number of people living there and more density of population. Meaning of density of population is how many people are living in one square kilometre. Cities can be divided into different classes oh the basis of more or less population like small cities, medium cities and metropolitan cities. The population of the metropolitan cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, etc. is more than one crore but the population of about 13 states of India is less than one crore.
• Less living space: Another important feature of urban society is the lack of a place of living. It is so because of the large population in cities. It is a very serious problem in most of the urban societies. Many poor people are living on roadsides or under the trees or in slums. Middle-class families are living in small houses in cities where there is no place to play for children and no separate room for children to sleep and study.
• Different Occupations: Cities are developed on the basis of different occupations. Many industries, occupations and institutions can be found in cities because of which different people are engaged in different types of occupations. Doctors, Managers, Engineers, specialised labourers, non-specialised labourers etc. thousands of occupations are found in urban areas.
• Division in Economic Classes: Not much importance is given to caste, region and occupation of the person in urban areas. But the population in cities is divided into economic classes on an economic basis. Population, in cities, is not divided only in two classes of capitalists and labourers but many other small classes and sub-classes exist in cities on the basis of their economic status. The difference between higher and lower classes can also be seen in cities.
• Competition: Everyone in cities gets enough chances to progress in every sector. We can find literate and able persons in large number. That is why competition is there in cities to get admission in educational institutions, to get jobs and to get promotions in the job. Competition has increased to a great extent due to industrialisation.

Q.15. What is the Class? Give its definitions.

The base of social stratification is class. Status of a person in a class depends upon his role. Position of all the persons is not the same in all societies. Some type of inequality is always there in society and because of this inequality, classes come into being. Majorly because of westernisation, industrialisation, educational system, modernisation, etc. classes came into being in India. Stratification in western societies is also based upon the class system.

Meaning and Definitions of Class

Every society is divided into classes and every class is having different status in society. On the basis of class, a person’s status is high or low. In this way when different persons achieve special social status in society, then it is known as the class system. Every class is economically different from the other. Different sociologists have given different views about the class system which are given below:

• According to Maclver, “A social class is a portion of community marked off from the rest by social status.”
• According to Morris Ginsberg, “A class is a group of individuals who, through common descent, the similarity of occupation, wealth and education, have come to have a similar mode of life, a similar stock of ideas, feelings, attitudes and forms of behaviour and who on any or all of these grounds, meet the another on equal terms and regard themselves, although with varying degrees of explicitness as belonging to one group.”
• According to Gisbert, “A social class is a category or the group of persons having a definite status in a society which permanently determines their relationships to other groups.”
• According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, “The fundamental attribute of social class is thus its local position of relative superiority or inferiority to other social classes.”

On the basis of given definitions, we can say that social class is a class of many persons who have one specific status in a specific time. That is why they have some special power, rights and duties. The ability of an individual is important in the class system. That is the reason why every person wants to achieve a higher status in society with hard work. Every society is divided into many classes. Status of a person is not definite in the class system. That is why there is an open stratification. A person determines his class status. It is not based on birth.

Q.16. What is meant by Colonialism? How did nationalism emerge during the colonial rule?

The process of colonialism started during the Industrial Revolution when an excess of wealth and things produced were available with the western countries. The process of winning over the Asian and African countries by the western countries and establishing their rule in those countries is known as colonialism. The age of colonialism started in the 18th century and went over to the middle of the 20th century. Major imperialist countries were England, France, Portugal, Spain, Germany, Italy etc. Later on, countries like Russia, America and Japan also joined the race.
Reasons for the advent of Nationalism in India: Following were the reasons for the emergence of nationalism in India:

• Political Unification of the Country: The first and most important factor was British imperialism. The British imperialism brought all the Indian states together and united them into one. This gave political unity to India with one set of administration and law. The anti-imperialist feelings of the people throughout the country created a common national outlook.
• Economic Exploitation of the People: The East India Company and even under the Crown, the foreign government followed a policy of economic exploitation in India. Indian wealth was drained to England that led to economic exploitation. The result was unemployment, poverty and famines all around. The peasants were under the new land tenure system. Such a horrible state of affairs created economic discontentment and prompted the people to oppose the British.
• Western Education and Thought: The British conquest brought the Indians to very close contact with the Europeans. In the 19th century, national movements were going on in European countries. It had its impact upon the Indians too. The Indians got a Western education and studied Western literature. The Western ideas of equality, liberty and brotherhood had their influence in India too. It enabled the Indians to study the evil effects of imperialism and exploitation by an imperialist power. This went a long way to awaken the people of India.
• Press: Press is a powerful medium for the growth of consciousness and for mass awakening. Both the Indian and the English press did a lot to infuse nationalism among the people. Newspapers like Kesari, Bombay Samachar, Hindu and Amrita Bazar Patrika played an appreciable part in this direction.
• Contribution of Literature: The Indians came in contact with the Western literature. They studied the writings of great Western thinkers and revolutionaries like Burke, Mill, Milton, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Voltaire, etc. Many poets and writers in India too tried their best to infuse national feelings and awakening among the people. ‘Anand Math’ written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee brought a new awakening among the people.

Q.17. Describe in detail the main features of rural society.

• Agriculture, the main occupation: The main occupation of rural society is either agriculture or any of the related work. Because they are closely related to nature, that is why their views towards life are very much different. Yet, many other people, like carpenter, blacksmith, etc. are there in villages but they also make tools related to agriculture.
• Simple Life: Life in rural society is very simple. People here do a lot of hard work to fulfil their needs and they do not know about the luxuries of fife. People also like to engage their children in agricultural works because most of them cannot afford education. They are always ready to help each other.
• Scarcity of population and homogeneity: Population in villages is quite less as compared to urban areas. People live in small groups and away from each other and these groups are known as villages. There are very fewer occupations in rural areas except for agriculture because of which people like to go to cities to earn money and that’s why the population in villages is very less. People have close relations with each other and their views are also common.
• Importance of neighbourhood: The neighbourhood is of great importance in rural society. The main occupation of the people is agriculture and they get enough time at hand. They get time to meet, talk and co-operate with one another. People have very close relations with their neighbours. Neighbours generally are of the same caste because of which their status is also same. People, generally, like to give respect to their neighbour. Neighbours are the first person to ask for help. That is why the neighbourhood is of great importance in rural society.
• Male-dominated Society: Generally, villages have patriarchal families where the head of the family is the eldest male member of the house. All the males of the house take care of the earnings of the family while the females do all the household chores. Joint families are common in villages and the major occupation of every family is agriculture or any other related activity. They all live interdependently.
• Common culture: People in villages share a common background. Their culture, rituals, traditions, customs etc. are also common. That is why they five with each other in a peaceful atmosphere. They are united with common bonds.

Q.18. What are the different characteristics of the class system?

• Feeling of Superiority and Inferiority: Relations of inferior and superior exist in the class system. For example, people of the higher class think themselves as different and superior to the lower class. Rich people fall in a higher class and poor people comes under lower class.
• Social Mobility: Class system is not definite for any person. It keeps on changing. Man can achieve higher status with hard work and can go to a lower status by wrong deeds. Every person wants to uplift his prestige in society. So in this way social mobility is there in the class system. For example, if a person, who is working as a clerk in an office, do a lot of hard work and passes the I.A.S. exam then his status and position will be completely changed. It means that the class system has social mobility in which a person can move from one place to another with his hard work and ability.
• Openness: Openness exists in a class system because in this every person is free to do anything. He is free to adopt any occupation. Anyone can become a member of any class on the basis of his ability. A person from the lower class can go to a higher class with his hard work. In this, there is no value of birth of the person. Status of a person depends upon his ability. A boy from a rich family can become rich only if he has the property. If this property goes away then he would become poor. This class system gives the opportunity to everyone to move upward. In this way, openness exists in the class system.
• Limited Social Relations: Social relations of a person are the limited in-class system. Persons of every class establish relations with the people of their own class. Every class wants to establish contacts with persons of their own class. They socialize among themselves.
• Development of Sub-classes: We can divide the class system into three parts from an economic point of view and these are:
  (i) Upper Class
  (ii) Middle Class
  (iii) Lower Class.
  These classes are again divided into sub-classes. For example, we can see the difference between rich people. Someone is a billionaire and somebody else is a millionaire. In the same way, we can see sub-classes in the middle class and lower class.
• Different Bases: Classes are made on different bases. According to Karl Marx, the main base of the class system is economic. According to him, there are two classes in society. One is the capitalist class and another is the labour class. According to Ogburn and Nimkoff, Maclver and Gilberg social base is important for the class. Ginsberg and Lapierre have accepted cultural base as the main base of the class system.
  In this way, we can say that there is not a single base of the class system but there are many bases of the class system.