INDIAN SOCIETY
Features
of Indian Rural
The
village social life has its own peculiar characteristics. The village social
life norms strengthen
the authoritarian and hierarchical norms in administration.
The village social
life, which is
based on the hierarchical exchange relations greatly influence the behavior of
civil servants in
public
organizations.
Usually,
a village has less than five thousand individuals.
It
is rightly said ‘India is a country of villages’. Agriculture is the main
occupation of the
Indians
and majority of people in India live in the villages.
Our villages help in
strengthening our
social
bonds and bringing stability to our society in many ways.
Our villages also
help our society
in preserving our culture.
The
Indian rural society has undergone considerable change particularly since
the Independence as a result of a series of the land reform legislations that
have accelerated
the
pace of this change.
These rural societies have their own
structure. The structure formed out of the following units:- 1) Family 2) Caste
System 3) Internal Organisation 4) Religion 5) Economic System.
Major Features of Rural Society
According
to A.W. Green, “A rural community is a cluster of people living within a narrow territorial
radius who share a common way of life”.
The
major features of rural society are given below:
1. Small
size of village community, 2. Intimate
relations,3. Isolation, 4. Social
homogeneity,5. Informal
Social Control, 6. Dominance
of Joint Family, 7. Status
of Rural Women,8. Occupation,9. Role
of neighborhood,10.
Faith in religion,
11.
Self Sufficiency,12.
Widespread caste system,13.
Simplicity, Conservatism,14.
Observance of moral norms,15.
Poverty,
16.
Illiteracy,17.
Legal Self Government
In
our social set-up an Indian village plays not only a prominent but also a
predominant role
because about 87% of our total population resides in villages.
Meaning of Urban Society
An
urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human feature
in comparison to
area surrounding it. Urban areas are created and further developed by the
process of urbanization.
Urban
areas are places which satisfied the following criteria:
1.
A minimum population of 5,000.
2.
At least 75% of the male main working population engaged in non agricultural
pursuits
3.
A density of population of a least 400 persons per sq.km.
The
growth of large cities that contain the bulk of a society’s population is very
recent
development.
Urbanization is a part of development process.
Major
Features of Urban Society:
The
major features of urban society are given below:
1.
Social Heterogeneity, 2. Secondary Relations, 3. Anonymity, 4. Secondary
Control, 5. Largescale Division of Labour and Specialization, 6. Large-scale
social mobility, 7. Individuation, 8.Voluntary Association, 9. Social
Reference, 10. Unstable Family, 11. Special Segregation, 12.Lack of community
feeling, 13. Lack of unity in family, 14. Moral Laxity, 15. Unbalanced personality,
16. High incidence of crime, 17. Social disorganization, 18. Peculiarities of
marital life,
19. Dynamic life, 20. Voluntary associations are formed quickly, 21. Artificial
life.
Urban
contrasts with the rural. It refers to a process which envisages land
settlement,
FORMS OF DIVERSITY IN INDIA
1. LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY
The
high degree of large diversity found in India is due to the existence of
diverse population
groups.
The greatest variety in languages can be found in the one of the biggest
democracies in the
world.
Most of these languages are distinct and have their own distinct form of
writing and speech.Languages are defined as a system of arbitrary
vocal symbols used for human communication.
In
India, the tribal communities are smallest in geographical spread and in
population
strength.
They cover only 8.8% (1991census) of the Indian population.
India
still faces the problems due to the diversity in languages. One of the foremost
problems
is the lack of a unified language system. Though a national language was chosen
among the
114 officially recognized languages and 216 (Census of 1991) mother tongues in
India, only 28%
of the populations speak this language. People in India have a sense of
belonging to a
particular
language speaking community rather that the nation as a whole.
2. RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
Religion
is a major concern of man. Religion is universal, permanent, pervasive and
perennial
interests of man. The institution of religion is universal. It is found in all
the societies,past and present. Religious beliefs and practices are, however,
far from being uniform. Religious dogmas have influenced and conditioned economic
endeavors, political movements, properly dealings, and educational tasks. The
major religions in India are following: Hinduism, Buddhism,Sikhism, Jainism,
Christianity, Islam, Parsi, The basic ideas and faith of the each religion
differs.But they co existently stood in Indian society.
DEFINITIONS
OF RELIGIONS
Though
religion is a universal phenomenon it is understood differently by different
people. The
preamble of the Constitution of India proclaims India to be a secular republic
where citizens
may
freely worship and propagate any religion of their choice. The right to freedom
of religion is
also
declared as a fundamental right by the Constitution of India. Indian religions
have exerted significant
influence all over the world.
The
major Negative impact of religions is follows:
1)
Groupism—religion divides people such divisions may came in the way of
development of
the
country
2)
Frequent conflicts—people belonging to different religions feel that their
religion is superior. They even try to impose their religious practices on
others which would be lead to conflict situations. In India communal conflict
has become a common feature.
3)
Dogmatism—every religion has a set of beliefs which may be superstitious quite
often .such ideas
block the development of society and the progress of individuals.e.g in some communities
there is no improvement of status of women on account of religious attitude.
Unity
and diversity of India is unique. It presents endless varieties of physical,
social and cultural
patterns
.it is probably in India that one can find confessing all the major religions
of the world.These are strong unifying which bind the nation as homogeneous
socio cultural entity.
3. RACIAL DIVERSITY
Race
is a concept. The term race is used in various senses, even by human
biologists, not to
speak
of politicians, historians and other who have little interest in biological
races. The racial
classifications
are made on the basis of certain genetic traits. Such types of traits used in classification
of races are referred to as racial criteria. The racial criteria should fulfill
certain requirements.
Body suggested a few conditions which should be satisfied by criteria chosen
for racial
classification.
Most
contemporary anthropologists classify Indians as belonging to one of
four
major ethno-racial groups, which often overlap with each other because of a
continuous process
of racial admixture: Caucasoid,
Mongoloids and Negritos. Mongoloids are largely confined to the Northeastern region of
the country and for the most part, speak Tibeto-Burman languages; and Negritos are found on the
Andaman Islands located on the southeastern side of the country.
Horton has defined race as a “great division of mankind, the members of which,
through individually
varying are characterized as a group by certain combinations of morphological
andmetrical features, principally, non-adaptive, which have been derived from
their common descent.”
Racial Diversity in India
As
per the 1901 census the following eight different ethnic groups are found
here.
1.
Pre-Dravidian 2. Dravidian 3. Indo-Aryan 4. Turko-lranian 5. Scytho-Dravidian
6. Arya-Dravidian 7. Mongoloid 8. Mongoloid-Dravidian. India has been described
as an ethnological
museaum.
Race formation is a dynamic process and environmental stimuli have caused many changes
in the ethic types. There is a wide variety of differences in physical
features, complexion and even in language. Often linguistic terms like
Aryan and Dravidian have been applied to ethnic units.
According to some scholars, the Indian race
had been classified
in seven different categories in earlier age among which the Turko-Iranian,
Indo-Aryan,
Scytho-Dravidian
type, Aryo-Dravidian type, Mongolo-Dravidian type, Mongoloid type and Dravidian
type were in the list.
4. ETHNIC
DIVERSITY
Ethnic
group is a social category of people who shared common culture, common language or
dialect, a common religion, a common norm, practices, customs and history.
Ethnic group have
a
consciousness of their own culture bound. India is an ethnological museum. The
waves of immigration
have drawn the ancestors of the majority of present population into India from
the
surrounding
territories across the Himalayas. 1. The Negrito, 2. Proto – Austroloid, 3.
Mongoloids,4. Mediterranean or Dravidian, 5. Western Brachycephals, 6. Nordic
Aryans.
Family in Indian Society.
The Family
The word ‘family’ is
derived from Latin Word “Famulus” which means a servant. Thus originally, family
consisted of a man and woman with a child or children and servants.
While defining the
term family some social scientists have seen the family as a universal institution.
Functionalist perspective defined family in terms of activity and their effect
on society. Marxist perspective explains the family as the basic unit of
oppression and to envisage its eventual abolition.
The family is the
basic unit of society. It is the first and the most immediate social
environment to which a child is exposed. It is in the family a child learns
language, the behavioral Patterns and social norms in his childhood. In some
way or the other the family is a universal group.
In tribal societies
people of several generations live together. These societies have large and
‘joint families’. In the industrial society the family is
limited to husband,
wife and their children. Sociologist calls it a ‘nuclear family’. The family is
formed with number of members. These members live together. They have a home.
They have definite purposes in living together. In this sense the family in a
group. There is certain rules and procedures at the roots of the family. In
this sense the family in an institution.
Characteristics of the
Family
Living together of man
and women, reproducing and brining up children alone does not form family. Marriage
plays an important role in changing the man - women relationship in to the permanent
relationship of husband and wife. Along with sexual relationship and
procreation Psychological attachment is also necessary. No other organization
of society can be companied with the family where sociological understanding is
concerned.
1. Universality
2. Social environment
which Influence the Individual’s early life.
3. Affective basis,
emotionality
4. Limited size
5. Central position in
social structure
6. Sense of
responsibility among the members.
7. Social regulation
of behavior
8. Permanent or
temporary in nature
The definitions and
Characteristics of family shows that on one hand it has a biological aspect in
which man and women became husband and wife by certain institutional modes.
Sexual and affective relationship exists between them. They procreate and bring
up children. On the other hand, it has a social aspect in which the family
members have responsibilties towards each other. In a social-cultural sphere
the family influences its members by the process of socialization. It also
regulates the behavior of its members Elements of Family
Elements
of Family
The
above given definitions reveal certain elements of family which are as follows:
1)
The family is a basic, definite and enduring group.
2)
Family is formed by the relatively durable companionship of husband, wife.
3)
Family procreates and bringing up children.
4)
The Family can also be large in size in which persons belonging to several
generations may
live together.
5)
The family may be limited to husband, wife or only the father and his children
or only
the
mother and her children.
Characteristics of the Family
Living
together of man and women, reproducing and brining up children alone does not
form
family. Marriage plays an important role in changing the man - women
relationship in to the permanent relationship of husband and wife. Along
with sexual relationship and procreation
Psychological
attachment is also necessary. No other organization of society can be companied with
the family where sociological understanding is concerned.
According
to Mack Iver and Page
the
Family has the following features:
1.
Universality
2.
Social environment which Influence the Individual’s early life.
3.
Affective basis, emotionality
4.
Limited size
5.
Central position in social structure
6.
Sense of responsibility among the members.
7.
Social regulation of behavior
8.
Permanent or temporary in nature
The
family is generally smaller in size companied to other social groups,
organizations and
associations.
Hence it must be remembered that the size of the family is agrarian and tribal communities
sometimes can be large. The nature of the family is universal because it exists
in all societies.
As an institution the family’s existence is enduring. The nature of a
particular family
may
be permanent or temporary.
The
family has passed through many stages to reach its modern form. The family,
marriage,
economic system and succession are inter related. The structure behavioural
patterns and
functions of the family have been changing with the changes is socio economic
order.
Structure of the Family
The
structure of the family can be understood on the basis of these
characteristics. The
structure
of the family is mainly based on the husband-wife relationship. Another basis
of the familial
structure is procreation. The third basis of this structure is common
residence. The
structure of the Family is also related to economic system. The present urban industrial
system and the occupations have encouraged the structure of nuclear and individualistic family.
In the tribal, agrarian and rural system of
economy where family is still a unit of
production,
we generally find large and joint families, apart from husband, wife and their
procreations.
These families generally include father, mother, brothers, their wives,
unmarried sisters
and others. The Indian joint family is the best example of this type.
The
family cannot be understood through clusters of members such as husband, wife,
their children
and relatives. These members develop affective relationship and perform their
roles through
social values, customs and traditions.
Functions of the family
The
family as a social institution performs several functions. Different thinkers
of the
world
expressed different opinion regarding the functions of the family.
Kingsley
Davis speaks of four main functions of the family:
(i)
Reproduction (ii) Maintenance, (iii) Placement, and (iv) Socialization
You have such an interesting blog. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed reading your posts. All the best for your future blogging journey.
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot Sridhar Chandrasekaran. Your words motivation me.
ReplyDelete