COURSE MANUAL

Foundations of Social Science II

COURSE INSTRUCTORS

Amrita Gupta
Bhavneet Kaur
Deblina Dey
Haifa Peerzada
Jadumani Mahanand
Josey Tom
Kaushlya Bajpayee
Kalyani Unkule
Sagnik Dutta
Sharmin Khodaiji
Swapnil Dhanraj
Peerzada Rauf
Vanessa Chishti
Yogesh Mishra
Gunjan Singh
This course manual is meant to be used as a general guide. The readings and
assignments may be supplemented and/or modified during the semester, with prior
notice to students.

Part I:

Course Title: Foundations of Social Science- II

Course Code:

Course Duration: 14 weeks x 4 hours per week = 56 hours

Number of Credit Units: 4

Level: BALLB, BBALLB, BCom LLB

Medium of Instruction: English

Pre-requisites: Nil

Pre-cursors:Nil

Equivalent courses:Nil

Exclusive courses:Nil

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Part II:

A. Course Description

This course is a conceptual toolkit designed to help you understand your

lived reality, using concepts such as social structure, agency, ideology, oppression,
gender, class and caste. Though they seem abstract at first glance, we encounter
manifestations of each concept in multiple guises every single day. Some are invisible:
institutions have a clear hierarchy but what does it mean for an entire society to have
a structure? Aren’t we all just individuals? Others we take for granted: surely gender
is simply the manifestation of our biological sex, what social questions could there
possibly be about that? Still others appear to be present in so many forms that it is
hard to systematize their meanings; think, for instance, of all the different ways in
which you encounter ideology. Over the next 14 weeks, we will learn about each one
of these concepts by linking them to concrete, observable phenomena, including their
manifestations in your own lives.
Following an in-depth treatment of some of the foundation concepts in social
science, the course culminates in an extended study of the history, politics and ide-
ology of different ideas of nationalism in India. This is module will require you to use
the concepts you learn in the course in conjunction with each other.
This course build on the concepts you have encountered in FSS-I and offers a
chance to develop critical new ways of looking at the social world.

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 B. Course Aims and Objectives

➢ To understand a selection of concepts basic to a variety of social science

disciplines (history, sociology, anthropology, economics)
➢ To apply conceptual ideas from social theory to concrete settings
➢ To foster critical and informed discussion and debate
➢ To impart the skill of reasoning to a conclusion by selecting and molding de-
sired themes out of a set of competing and contradictory arguments and
evidence
➢ To develop a basic familiarity with the process of conducting small empirical
research projects, and linking them back to concepts studied in the course

C. Teaching Methodology

The course is divided into 6 modules spread over 14 teaching weeks. Each teaching
week will consist of 5 hours of lecture, tutorial discussion, and student presentations.
The end of semester examination will comprise 50% of the course grade, with
Internal Assessment comprising the rest.

Class attendance is mandatory. Students must register a minimum of 75% attendance

for classes failing which the student will not be allowed to take the end-semester
exam and will not be given a passing grade. No requests for extra attendance will be
entertained at any time during the semester. Students will be reported to the
Disciplinary Committee in the event of such requests. All clarifications regarding at-
tendance must be made within a week of the class in question. Students will be
expected to reach class before the course instructor arrives.

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 D. Intended Learning Outcomes

Intended Learning Teaching and Learning Assessmen

Outcomesand Weightage
By the end of the course,
stu-dents should be able to:
A.
B. (i) Grasp the 60%
basic concepts
of social theory
selected for the
course
(ii) Clearly and 20%
coherently
communicate in
wr itten form your
knowledge of these
key debates in the
social sciences.
(iii) Critically apply 20%
the concepts learned
to a variety of social
processes and the
Indian context in
particular.
Activi-ties t
Tasks/Activities
(i) Lectures: Your ability to
You will be introduced to a grasp and
number of concepts in social critically evaluate
theory and some of the ways in the
which sociologists, topi c s / i s s u e s
anthropologists and di s-cussed in the
economists have ap-plied them syllabus will be
through readings. Each week tested in the
your instructor will elucidate following ways:
the concepts through class
lectures. There will be (i) End-semester
numerous class discussions examination
through the semester. Your (50%).
engagement and participation
in these will further clarify Additional
ideas. assessment tasks
will be assigned
by your course
instructor

A note on Readings

Readings in this course have been carefully selected to provide an introduction to

social theory. Some of these are challenging – don’t worry if the vocabulary feels new
or you don’t understand each concept. Do bring these doubts into class and meet me
during office hours
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 For each module you will find at least two kinds of readings. ‘Required
Readings’ are those which will be the basis for examination. If you do just these
readings, it will be possible for you to get a grade anywhere from pass to A+. In order
to get anO, you will be expected to incorporate at least one of the ‘Suggested Readings’
into your examinations, assignments and class participation. Finally, the optional
readings, where present, are merely opportunities for you explore topics further on
yourown. Different instructors may have different policies on this, so do make sure to
check with yours!

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E. Grading and Grade scales

To pass this course, students must obtain a minimum of 50% in each of the
coursework and the examination elements of the assessment. Coursework for this
purpose means those ways in which students are assessed otherwise thanby
the end of session examination. End of semester exam will be in the form of a
traditional 3 hours written exam.

Letter Percentag Grade Definitions

Grade eOf marks
O 80% an Outstanding Outstanding work with strong evidence of
dabove knowledge of the subject matter, excellent
organizational capacity, ability to synthesize
and critically analyse and originality in
thinking and presentation.
A+ 75 - 79.75% Excellent Sound knowledge of the subject matter,
thorough understanding of issues; ability to
synthesize critically and analyse
A 70 - 74.75% Good Good understanding of the subject matter,
ability to identify issues and provide
balanced solutions to problems and good
critical and analytical skills.
A- 65 - 69.75% Adequate Adequate knowledge of the subject matter
togo to the next level of study and reasonable
critical and analytical skills.
B+ 60 - 64.75% Marginal Limited knowledge of the subject matter,
irrelevant use of materials and poor critical
and analytical skills.
B 55 - 59.75% Poor Poor comprehension of the subject matter;
poor critical and analytical skills and
marginal use of the relevant materials.
B- 50 - 54.75% Pass “Pass” in a pass-fail course. “P” indicative of
at least the basic understanding of the
subject matter.
F Below 50% Fail Fails in the subject

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 NEW COURSE LETTER GRADES AND THEIR INTERPRETATION
Letter Percentage Grade
Interpretation
Grade of Marks Points
Pass 1: Pass with Basic understanding of the
P1 45 - 49 2
subject matter.
Pass 2: Pass with Rudimentary
P2 40 - 44 1
understanding of the subject matter.
Fail: Poor comprehension of the subject
matter; poor critical and analytical skills and
F Below 40 0
marginal use of the relevant materials. Will
require repeating the course.
‘P’ represents the option of choosing between
Pass/Fail grading system over the CGPA
grading system in the COVID 19 semester in
P Pass Spring 2020. The option is provided when
students attain a minimum of 40 percentage
marks under the current grading structure in
a given subject.
Extenuating circumstances preventing the
student from completing coursework
assessment, or taking the examination; or
where the Assessment Panel at its discretion
I Incomplete
assigns this grade. If an "I" grade is assigned,
the Assessment Panel will suggest a schedule
for the completion of work, or a
supplementary examination.

F. Plagiarism

Students submitting plagiarized assignments or exams will be awarded a failing

grade. Re-submissions or re-sits will NOT be permitted.
Plagiarism is an ethical matter, not a procedural one. No percentage of plagiarism
is ‘allowed’.

Students are encouraged to approach the course instructor as often as needed for
help with understanding course materials, completing assignments and soon.
A perceived lack of time, or lack of understanding of readings or assignments will,
under no circumstances, excuse plagiarism or copying.

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G. Word of Caution on Online Readings

Online sources can be classified into reliable, unreliable and outright bogus. The
internet is an open domain in which all and sundry can create web pages and
indulge in propaganda, falsi6ication or misrepresentation of events. Students
should consult with the instructors about the veracity and authenticity of a
particular web site and its suitability for researching topics covered in this
syllabus.

H. Laptop Policy

No laptops are allowed during lectures in classroom. Students will be allowed to

use their laptops for class presentations and discussions with the prior permission
of the course instructors.

I. Cellphone policy

Students must keep their cellphones switched off or in silent mode during class.

J. Punctuality

You are expected to be on time: both at the beginning of each lecture and in re-
turning from the breaks.

K. Disability Support and Accommodation Requirements

JGU endeavors to make all its courses accessible to students. All students with a
known disability needing academic accommodations are required to register

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 with the Disability Support Committee dsc@jgu.edu.in. The Committee has so far
identified the following conditions that could possibly hinder student’s overall
well-being. These include: physical and mobility related difficulties; visual
impairment; hearing impairment; medical conditions; specific learning difficulties
e.g. dyslexia; mental health.

The Disability Support Committee maintains strict confidentiality in its discussions.

The students should preferably register with the Committee in the month of
June/January as disability accommodation requires early planning. DSC will
approve and coordinate all the disability related services such as appointment of
academic mentors, specialized interventions and course related requirements such
as accessible classrooms for lectures, tutorials and examinations.

All faculty members are required to refer students with any of the above-mentioned
conditions to the Disability Support Committee for addressing disability- related
accommodation requirements.

L. Internal Assessment

To pass this course, students are required to obtain at least of 50% of the
marks assigned under internal assessment. Details of internal assessment will be
provided in an additional information sheet.

Part III

Keywords:
Social Structure, Agency, resistance, ideology, interpellation, false-consciousness, elite,
privilege, capital, class, class struggle, class consciousness, working class, consumption,
body, gender, family, housework, caste, patriarchy, atrocity, oppression, Hindutva,
nationalism, minority, majority, modernity, capitalism, ecology, colonial- ism,
decolonisation.

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Lecture Schedule
No. Module Week

1 Social Science in India 1

2 Ideology 2

3 Capital and Political Economy 3-4

4 Gender and Intersectionality 5-6

5 Rights 7

Mid Term Exam 8

6 New Social Movements 9

7 Ecology and Climate 10

8 Technology 11-12

9 Applying the toolkit: Ideas of India 13-14

Readings:
Module 1: Social Science in India

Compulsory:

Gopal Guru. “How Egalitarian Are the Social Sciences in India?” Economic and Political
Weekly, vol. 37, no. 50, 2002, pp. 5003–09. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4412959.
Accessed 8 Jan. 2023.

Suggested:

Chaudhuri, Maitrayee. 2021. “Higher education and the social sciences in a ‘smart
India.’” In The Idea of a University: Possibilities and Contestations edited by D. V.
Kumar. London: Routledge

Module 2: Ideology
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Compulsory:
Shamus Rahman Khan, "Finding One's Place", Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent
Elite at St. Paul's School, (Princeton: Princeton University Press), 2011.
Terry Eagleton, ‘What is Ideology?’, in Ideology and Introduction, London and New
York: Verso, 1994).

OR

Michael Freeden, A Very Short Introduction. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).
pp. 1-11 & pp. 12-30.

Writing Friendship: The Fraternal Travelogue and China-India Cultural Diplomacy in

the 1950s by Jia Yan.

Suggested:

Satish Deshpande’s Contemporary India

Module 3: Capital and Political Economy

Compulsory:

Erik Olin Wright, (from) ‘Class Analysis’, Class Counts, (Cambridge University Press,
2000). pp 1-27.
Bullshit jobs

Baviskar, Amita. 2011. “Cows, Cars And Cycle Rickshaws: Bourgeois Environmentalists
and the Battle for Delhi’s Streets.” In Elite and Everyman: The Cultural Politics of the
Indian Middle Classes edited by Amita Baviskar and Raka Ray. India: Routledge.

Suggested:

Ritzer, G. 2010. Sociological Theory, NY: McGraw-Hill (pages 43–67, 73-75).

Robert Heilbroner’s book The Nature and Logic of Capitalism.

Module 4: Gender and Intersectionality

Compulsory:

Jessica Hinchey, Governing Gender and Sexuality in Colonial India: The Hijra c. 1850-
1900, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2019). pp. TBA.

Barbara Ehrenriech, ‘In the Ruins of Patriarchy’, from For Her Own Good (Princeton,
1990), Silvia Federici, ‘Wages Against Housework’ and ‘Why Sexuality is Work’

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Is Feminism about 'Women'? A Critical View on Intersectionality from India by Nivedita
Menon, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 50, No. 17 (APRIL 25, 2015), pp. 37-44 (8
pages)

Suggested:

Mary John’s essay on womens’ labour force participation in the economy.

"Dalit Feminist Theory: A Reader" by Sunaina Arya and Aakash Singh Rathore -
Introduction

Dolly Kikon (2022) Dirty food: racism and casteism in India, Ethnic and Racial
Studies, 45:2, 278-297, DOI: 10.1080/01419870.2021.1964558

Collins, Patricia Hill (2010), “Intersecting Inequalities,” In Giddens, Anthony and Philip
W. Sutton (ed.), Sociology: Introductory Readings (3rd edition), Polity Press (pages 147–
153).

Srivastava, Sanjay. “Masculinity studies and feminism: Othering the self, engaging

theory.” In Men and Feminism in India edited by Romit Chowdhury, Zaid Al Baset.
London: Routledge.

Gayatri Reddy (2001) Crossing ‘lines’ of subjectivity: The negotiation of sexual identity
in Hyderabad, India, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, 24:sup001, 91-
101, DOI: 10.1080/00856400108723438

Alter, Joseph S (2002), “Nervous Masculinity: Consumption and the Production of

Embodied Gender in Indian wrestling,” In Mines and Lamb (eds.), Everyday Life in South
Asia (1st edition), Indiana University Press (pages 132–145).

Dutta, Aniruddha. "Claiming citizenship, contesting civility: The institutional LGBT

movement and the regulation of gender/sexual dissidence in West Bengal, India." Jindal
Global Law Review 4, no. 1 (2012): 110-141.

Module 5: Rights

Compulsory:

Susan Okin, 'The Family Beyond Justice', Justice, Gender and The Family, (Basic Books,
New York 1989), pp. 25-40.

Suggested:

Young, Iris Marion. “Polity and Group Difference: A Critique of the Ideal of Universal
Citizenship.” Ethics, vol. 99, no. 2, 1989, pp. 250–74.

Fraser, Nancy, 1998. "Social justice in the age of identity politics: Redistribution,
recognition, participation," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Organization and
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Employment FS I 98-108, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
Iris Marion Young, ‘Affirmative Action and the Myth of Merit’, Justice and the Politics of
Difference, (Princeton University Press, 2011).

Module 6: New Social Movements:

Compulsory:

Giddens, A. (2009), Sociology (6th Edition), Cambridge: Polity Press (pages 1010–1025)
/ 994-1008 (7th edition).

Suggested:

Gill, Navyug, “The Kisan.” In The People of India, New Indian Politics in the 21st Century
edited by Ravinder Kaur & Nayanika Mathur. Penguin.

Mahajan, G. (1999). Civil Society and Its Avtars: What Happened to Freedom and
Democracy?. Economic and political weekly, 1188-1196.

Waghmore, S. (2012). Beyond Depoliticization? Caste, NGOs and Dalit Land Rights in
Maharashtra, India. Development and Change, 43(6), 1313-1336.

Tellis, Ashley. "Disrupting the dinner table: Re-thinking the ‘queer movement’ in
contemporary India." Jindal Global Law Review 4, no. 1 (2012): 142-156.

Jens Lerche (2021) The farm laws struggle 2020–2021: class-caste alliances and
bypassed agrarian transition in neoliberal India, The Journal of Peasant
Studies, 48:7, 1380-1396

Module 7: Technology and Society

Compulsory:

Foucault Giddens, A. (2009), Sociology (6th Edition), Cambridge: Polity Press (pages
794 & 795).

Zuboff, S. (2015). Big other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information
Civilization. Journal of Information Technology, 30(1), 75–89.
https://doi.org/10.1057/jit.2015.5

Ovetz, R. 2022. A Workers’ Inquiry into Canvas and Zoom: Disrupting the Algorithmic
University. In: Armano, E., Briziarelli, M., and Risi, E. (eds.), Digital Platforms and
Algorithmic Subjectivities. Pp. 183–200. London: University of Westminster
Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.16997/book54.n.

Raval, N., & Pal, J. (2019). Making a" Pro":'professionalism 'after platforms in beauty-
work. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction, 3(CSCW), 1-17.

Suggested: 14
Schroeder, Ralph. 2019. “Digital media and the rise of right-wing populism.” Social
Media + Society, 5(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305119885328

Kitchin, R. (2020). Using digital technologies to tackle the spread of the coronavirus:
Panacea or folly. The Programmable City Working Paper, 44(April), 1-24.

Module 8: Ecology and Climate

Compulsory:

Lisa Korteweg & Jan Oakley, ‘Ecoheroes out of place and relations: decolonizing the
narratives of ‘Into the Wild’ and ‘Grizzly Man’ through Land education’, Environmental
Education Research, 20:1, (2014), 131-143

Suleyman M. Demi, ‘Reclaiming Cultural Identity Through Decolonization of Food

Habits’, in Decolonising the Spirit in Education and Beyond: Resistance and Solidarity,
pp. 117-130.

Suggested:

Kikon, Dolly Kikon. 2020. “Toxic Ecologies: Assam, Oil, and a Crude Future.”
https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/toxic-ecologies-assam-oil-and-crude-future
(could be used as supplementary).

Mathur, Nayanika. 2021. “A Petition to Kill.” In Crooked Cats: Beastly Encounters in the
Anthropocene, pages: 79-95. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.

Module 9: Ideas of India

Compulsory:

Thomas Blom Hansen, The Law of Force: The Violent Heart of Indian Politics, (New
Delhi: Aleph, 2021).

Satish Deshpande, ‘Spatial Strategies of Hindutva’, in Contemporary India: A Socio-

logical View

Arjun Appadurai, ‘Fear of Small Numbers’, from Fear of Small Numbers (Durham and
London: Duke University Press, 2006), pp. 49-86.

Golwalkar, ‘Internal Threats’ from Bunch of Thoughts, pp. 148-164

Suggested:

M.S.S. Pandian, ‘Nation Impossible’, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 44, No. 10,
March 2009, pp. 65-69

Father, Son and Holy War (film) (dir.: Anand 15

Patwardhan)
Golwalkar, ‘Children of the Motherland’ and ‘Affirm Basic Truths’, from Bunch of
Thoughts, pp. 90-106, 138-148

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