NALSAR

University of Law, Hyderabad

I Year II Semester
SOCIOLOGY-I
Sociology: A Critical Introduction
The Broad Aim of the Course: is to introduce the
discipline of sociology to the students of law. This is done
by encouraging students to develop a critical engagement
with the various basic sociological concepts, theories,
issues and, methods. In addition to this, the course also
exposes the students to the fundamentals of sociology of
Indian society.

Course Content: The discipline of sociology is offered

with an understanding that the sociological categories and
approaches can influence to a greater extent the legal
reasoning in our context. It is essential for law students to
have a basic and critical understanding of social issues,
processes and, relations, as law is inextricably related to
socio-political institutions and language of power and
governance. The course is structured around a number of
basic concepts, social issues, social processes and
theories.

Methods of Teaching and Learning: It is a

combination of lecture and discussion of course readings.
The lectures will not simply summarize the course
readings. The lectures will utilize material from the course
readings, but they will also go beyond the readings in a
variety of ways. They will often address theories,
concepts, issues, etc. that are not discussed in the
readings. The lectures and the readings are intended to
complement each other, not copy each other. In order to
develop their own perspectives on the issues that are
discussed in the readings, the students will be asked to

raise certain questions and discuss them in the classroom

after the lectures everyday. Therefore students are
expected to read all the required readings before class
and be prepared to discuss the major issues raised in the
material, as well as ask questions about the readings and
the lectures. You are also encouraged to read
recommended readings, mentioned in the lectures and
identified on the course outline below.

Course Outline:
I

What is Sociology? (4 Hours)

a) Developing a sociological outlook

b) The difference between sociology and common
sense
c) Sociology: Issues and Problems

II

Primary Concepts (4 Hours)

a) Society and Community
b) Norms and Customs

III

Social Institutions (5 Hours)

a) The Family and Marriage
b) Religion

IV

Social Stratification (5 Hours)

a) Class
b) Caste
c) Gender
d) Race

Social Processes (4 Hours)

a) Socialization
b) Social Mobility
c) Religious Conversion
d) Social Exclusion and Inclusion

VI

Social Problems: (5 Hours)

a) Deviance and Compulsive Deviance
b) Crime, Organized Crime and White Collar Crime

VII Theories of Society: Basics (9 Hours)

a) Functionalism
b) Marxism
c) Webers contribution to sociological theory

VIII Social Structure and Change in India (12

Hours)
a) Village Community
b) Caste: Theories of caste, Sanskritization, and
Dominant Caste
c) Class: Class and Caste relations in India,
Understanding Indian Middle and Working Classes
d)
Religion: Great
and Little
Traditions,
Universalization and Parochialization, and Religion
as Faith and Religion as Politics
e) Social Movements in India: Old and New

Recommended Readings:
Abraham, M.F. (1988). Modern Sociological Theory: An
Introduction Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Berreman, G. D. (1971). The Brahminical View of Caste.
Contribution to Indian Sociology (N S) 5.
Beteille, Andre. 2002. Sociology: Essays on Approach and
Method. New Delhi: Oxford University Press
Bottomore, T.B. (1972). Sociology: A Guide to Problems
and Literature. Bombay: Blackie & Sons (India) Ltd
Das, Veena. (1992). Mirrors of Violence. Delhi: Oxford
University Press
Das, Veena. (1996). Critical Events: An Anthropological
Perspective on Contemporary India. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press

Deshpande, Sathish. (2003). Contemporary

Sociological View. New Delhi: Viking

India:

Dumont, Louis (1980) Homo Hierarchicus: The caste

system and its implications. Chicago: University of Chicago
Press.
Dumont, Louis and D.F. Pocock (1959). Village Studies.
Contributions to Indian Sociology 1, 23-172.
Dumont, Louis. (1965). The functional equivalents of the
individual in caste society. Contributions to Indian
Sociology. VIII.Oct.
Fuller, C.J. (1999). The Brahmins and Brahminical Values in
Modern Tamil Nadu. In Ramachandra Guha and Jonathan
Parry. (eds) Institutions and inequalities. New Delhi: Oxford
University Press.
Geetha, V. (2002). Gender. Calcutta: Stree
Giddens, Anthony. (1986). Sociology: A Brief but Critical
Introduction. London: The Macmillan Press Ltd
Giddens, Anthony. (2001). Sociology. Cambridge: Polity
Goode, W. J. and Paul K. Hatt. (1981). Methods in Social
Research. Singapore: Mc Graw-Hill Book Company
Guru, Gopal (1993). Dalit Movement in mainstream
Sociology. Economic and Political Weekly XXVIII.14.
Guru, Gopal (2001). Dalit cultural movement in Maharstra.
In Ghanshayam, Shah (ed). Dalit Identity and politics. New
Delhi: Sage Publications.
Guru, Gopal (2001). The language of DalitBahujan
Political discourse. In Ganshayam, Shah (ed). Dalit Identity
and Politics. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
4

Haralambos, M and R. M. Heald. (1980). Sociology: Themes

and Perspective. Delhi: Oxford University Press
Hobson, Barbara. (2003). Recognition Struggles and Social
Movements. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press
Inkeles, Alex. (1997). What is Sociology? New Delhi:
Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited
Silver, Hilary 2007 The process of social exclusion: the
dynamics of an evolving concept CPRC Working Paper 95
Providence: Brown University
Srinivas, M.N. (1952). Religion and Society among the
Coorgs of South India. London: Oxford University Press.
Srinivas, M.N. (1969). India- Social Structure. Hindustan
Publishing Co.
Srinivas, M.N. (1987). The Dominant Caste and Other
Essays. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Thompson, K and Jeremy Tunstall (eds). (1983).
Sociological Perspectives. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books
Ltd.
Tilly, Charles. (2003). The Politics of Collective Violence.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Young, P.V. (1996). Scientific Social Surveys and Research.
New Delhi: Prentice-Hall of India Private Limited