Basic concepts in Sociology

Meaning and Definition in sociology

Society
Society
The term society is most fundamental to sociology. It is derived from the Latin word socius
which means companionship or friendship. Companionship means sociability. According to
George Simmel it is this element of sociability which defines the true essence of society. It
indicates that man always lives in the company of other people. Man is a social animal said
Aristotle centuries ago. Man needs society for his living, working and enjoying life.

Society has become an essential condition for human life to continue. We can define society
as a group of people who share a common culture, occupy a particular territorial area and
feel themselves to constitute a unified and distinct entity. It is the mutual interactions and
interrelations of individuals and groups.

Some of the important characteristics of society are as follows:

A comprehensive understanding of society requires a thorough analysis of its characteristics. But the
term society could be understood both from a narrower and broader sense. In a narrower sense society
refers to a group of people but in a broader sense it refers to the whole human society. However,
society has the following characteristics:

A society must have population. Without a group of people no society could be formed. Of course
society refers not to a group of people but to a system of social relationships. But for the establishment
of social relationships a group of people is necessary.

This population is a self perpetuating individual who reproduces itself through some sort of mating
relationship. Hence it is the first requirement of society.

(1) Likeness:

Likeness is the most important characteristic of society. Famous sociologist Maclver opines that society
means likeness. Without a sense of likeness, there could be no mutual recognition of' belonging
together' and therefore no society. This sense of likeness was found in early society on kinship and in
modern societies the conditions of social likeness have broadened out into the principles of nationality.

Society consists of like bodied and likeminded individuals. Friendship intimacy and association of any
kind would be impossible without likeness. It also helps in the understanding of one by the other. That is
why F.H. Giddings opines that society rests on the 'Consciousness of Kind'.

(2) Differences :

Along with likeness, differences are another important characteristic of society. Because society involves
differences and it depends on it as much as on likeness. That is why Maclver opines that "primary
likeness and secondary differences create the greatest of all institutions-the division of labour". Because
differences is complementary to social relationship. If people will be alike in all respect society could not
be formed and there would be little reciprocity and relationship became limited. Family as the first
society based on biological differences and differences in aptitude, interest and capacity. Though
differences is necessary for society but differences by itself does not create society. Hence differences is
sub-ordinate to likeness.

(3) Inter-dependence :

Interdependence is another important characteristic of society. This fact of interdependence is visible in

every aspect of present day society. Famous Greek Philosopher, Aristotle remarked that 'Man is a social
animal'. As a social animal he is dependent on others. The survival and well being of each member is
very much depended on this interdependence. No individual is self sufficient.

He has to depend on others for food, shelter and security and for the fulfillment of many of his needs
and necessities. With the advancement of society this degree of interdependence increases manifold.
Family being the first society is based on the biological interdependence of the sexes. Not only
individuals are interdependent but also the groups, communities and societies.

(4) Co-operation and Conflict:

Both co-operation and conflict are two another important characteristics of society. Because famous
sociologist Maclver once remarked that "Society is Cooperation crossed by conflict". Co-operation is
essentially essential for the formation of society. Without co-operation there can be no society. People
can't maintain a happy life without co-operation. Family being the first society rests on co-operation. Co-
operation avoids mutual destructiveness and results in economy in expenditure.

Like co-operation conflict is also necessary for society. Conflict act as a cementing factor for
strengthening social relations. In a healthy and well developed society both co-operation and conflict co-
exist. Because with the help of these two universal process society is formed. Conflict makes co-
operation meaningful. Conflict may be direct and indirect. However both are necessary for society.

(5) Society is a network or web of social relationship:

Social relationships are the foundation of society. That is why famous sociologist Maclver remarked that
society is a network of social relationship. Hence it is difficult to classify social relationships. But this
social relationship is based on mutual awareness or recognition to which Cooley call we-feeling,
Giddings call consciousness of kind and Thomas as common propensity. Without these social
relationships no society could be formed.

As social relationships are abstract in nature so also the society is abstract in nature. Different kinds of
social processes like co-operation, conflict constantly takes place in society. And the relationships
established around these create society. Hence a network of social relationships which created among
individuals constitutes society.

(6) Permanent Nature:

Permanency is another important characteristic of society. It is not a temporary organisation of
individuals. Society continues to exist even after the death of individual members. Society is a co-herent
organisation.

(7) Society is Abstract:

Society is an abstract concept. As Maclver opines society is a web of social relationships. We can't see
this relationship but we can feel it. Hence it is an abstract concept. Wright has rightly remarked that
"society in essence means a state or condition, a relationship and is, therefore, necessarily an
abstraction". Besides society consists of customs, traditions, folkways, mores and culture which are also
abstract. Hence society is abstract in nature.

(8) Society is Dynamic :

The very nature of society is dynamic and changeable. No society is static. Every society changes and
changes continuously. Old customs, traditions, folkways, mores, values and institutions got changed and
new customs and values takes place. Society changes from its traditional nature to modern nature.
Hence it is one of the most important characteristic of society.

(10) Comprehensive Culture:

Culture is another important characteristic of society. Each and every society has it's own culture which
distinguishes it from others. Culture is the way of life of the members of a society and includes their
values, beliefs, art, morals etc. Hence culture is comprehensive because it fulfills the necessities of social
life and is culturally self-sufficient. Besides each and every society transmits its cultural pattern to the
succeeding generations.

(11) Something more than mere collection of individuals:

No doubt society consists of individuals. But mere collection of individuals is not society. It is something
more than that and something beyond the individual. Durkheim is right when he remarked that society
is more than the sum of its parts i.e. individuals.

(12) Accommodation and Assimilation:

This two associative social process is also important for the smooth functioning and continuity of
society. Hence it is also another characteristic of society.

What is community?
The community is as old as humanity or even before the origin of human being; the community
existed among our sub-human ancestors too, argued anthropologist. Wherever the members of
any group, small or large, live together in such a way that they share not only some aspects of
particular group interest but the basic conditions of common life, we call that group a
community. In this regard, one can not live wholly within a business organization or church; one
can live wholly within tribe or city. It may be argued here that the basic criterion of community
is that all of one’s social relationship may be found within it.
A community is a local grouping within which people carry out a full round of life
activities.Horton and Hunt, American sociologists and author of the book, ‘Sociology’,
give the consistent points as prerequisites for the formation of community:

1. a grouping of people,
2. within a geographic area,
3. with a division of labor into specialized and interdependent functions,
4. with a common culture and a social system which organizes their activities,
5. whose members are conscious of their unity and of belonging to the community
6. whose members can act collectively in an organized manner.
For a true community to be formed and qualified, its members should experience all or nearly all
of the culture within the community’s boundaries. Regarding the interdependency of the
different communities, some are inclusive and independent of others. Among primitive people
communities of no more than hundred persons are almost altogether isolated. Raute, for example,
are isolated communities and can be regarded as self sufficient even in the social situation of
21st century. But modern communities, even very large ones, are less sufficient. Economic and
increasingly political interdependence is a major characteristic of the modern communities. To
sum up the matter, Horton and Hunt, again defines community as, “a community is a local
grouping within which people carry out a full round of life activities.”Ferdinand Tonnies, one
of the founding fathers of sociology of community, has translated the term gemeinschaft, a term
that signifies the very memory of a bygone age of harmony and stability, as community.
The Bases of community: The above discussion concludes here that the community is an area
of social living marked by some degree of social coherence. The bases of community
arelocality and community sentiment.
1. Locality: This fact makes a view that a community is always possible within a territorial
area. Even a nomad community, a band of gypsies, for example, has a locality, although it has
changing habitation. Most communities are settled and featured with conditions of locality
which is a strong bond of solidarity. This local bond has been weakened in the modern world by
the extending facilities of communication and transportation. This undermining of community is
very much apparent among many communities, Thakali, Gurung, for example, in Nepal which
have migrated from their native place to many modern urban areas where they have no any
formal bond in their life. More significantly, the community underscores the relation between
social coherence and the geographical area.
2. Community sentiment: Locality, though a necessary condition, is not enough to create a
community. There must be the common living with its awareness of sharing a way of life along
with common sentiment. However, this common sentiment is being undermined due to the
extensive division of labor and professionalization of work.

Society
1. Society is a web of social relationship.
2. Society is more abstract term.
3. Society is wider. There can be more than one
community in a society.
4. Society involves both likeness and
differences.
5. The interests of society are more varied and
extensive.
Community
1. For community, particular area and some
degree of ‘we feeling’ are the prerequisites.
2. Community is concrete.
3. Community is smaller than society.
4. Likeness is more important than difference in
community.
5. The interests of society are relatively less
extensive and varied.

What is Culture?
Newborn human baby is helpless and it is physically dependent on older members of the species.
Instinctively, it also lacks the behavior patterns necessary for living in human society. It depends
primarily on certain biological drives such as hunger and its help on elders to satisfy those
drives. In this regard, an infant must learn the skills, knowledge and accepted ways of
behaving of society into which it is born. It must learn a way of life which is necessary for him
to survive in the society. In Sociological terminology, it must learn the culture of its society.
Due to the higher period of dependency over the senior ones, the human baby has the greater
chances to learn the ways of life, so learns the culture. Like most sociological concepts, culture
is a word with both a popular and a sociological meaning.
Ralf Linton, explaining the content of culture, contends, “The culture of a society is the way of
life of its members; the collection of ideas and habits which they learn, share and transmitfrom
generation to generation”. As Horton and Hunt states so clearly, “culture is everything which
is socially learned and shared by the members of society.” Similarly, B.Malinowski, an English
Anthropologist, defines culture as, “cumulative creation of man”. Clyde Kluckhohn has used an
exclusive phrase for culture as “design for living”.
The classic definition of culture framed by E.B. Tylor, an English Anthropologist, in his
workAncient culture, states, “culture in its wider ethnographic sense is that complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities”.
To sum up the matter, culture determines how members of a society think and feel it directs their
actions and defines their outlook on life. Members of society usually take their culture for
granted. Starting differently, culture defines accepted ways of behaving for members of
particular society. Such definitions vary from society to society.
Cultural traits and Complexes:
The smallest unit of culture is called a trait. It is irreducible to further smallest part. For
example, dance is a collection of traits, including dance steps, some formula for selecting the
performers and musical accompaniment. More significantly, the dance has a meaning- religious
ceremonial, a magical rite, a courtship activity, etc. All these elements combine to form aculture
complex, a cluster of related traits. The culture complex is intermediate between the trait and
institution.
Subcultures and countercultures:
Every modern society includes some groups of people who share some complexes which are not
shared by the rest of that society is called subculture.
For example, ‘youth subculture’ has special styles of behavior, thought, dress and vocabulary.
Subcultures which are in active opposition to the dominant culture called counterculture. The
delinquent gang, for example, with no standards or moral values. Youths trained in this culture
are influenced against the dominant cultural norms.
Material Culture and Non-culture:
Nonmaterial culture consists of the words people use, the ideas, customs, and beliefs they hold,
and habit they follow. Material culture consists of manufactured objects such as tools, furniture,
automobiles, buildings, roads, and any physical objects which has been changed and used by
man.

Language and Culture:

Language is exclusively a human achievement. It enables man to share the experiences and
thoughts of his fellows and to re-create his personal experiences for their benefit. A society that
lacks language can not make the continuity of the behavior and learning and learning necessary
for the creation of the culture. Language is not something that is genetically inherited; rather it is
an art that has to be learnt. All living animals including living primates use more or less three
means to communicate with each other. These are- sound, body movement, and odor. They make
various types of call for various purposes, but possess no linguistic capacity. In fact, animal
sounds are fixed and instinctive that varies within a limited range. Therefore, language is the
characteristic feature of human being which distinguishes him from other animal being.
Men possess language as long as he possesses culture. The tool making property of man has been
correlated with language. A language comes into existence when two or more individuals agree
to attach same meaning to the same sound. The meanings denote the symbols, which may have
certain kinds of physical form. A symbol may be a material object or a color or a typical sound
or an odor or a motion code. There is a simple difference between speech and language.
Language is the conceptual code, the system of knowledge that enables a person to produce and
understand speech. Speech is the actual behavior, the utterance of words or sounds by a person.
The language is, in this sense, more than the speech and it is a particular means of expression
that can not stand alone. It depends on culture and explains a culture. The symbolic values of a
language help in understanding of the tangible elements of culture.

Characteristics of Culture:

From various definition, we can deduce the following characteristics:

1. Learned Behaviour:

Not all behaviour is learned, but most of it is learned; combing one’s hair, standing in line, telling jokes,
criticising the President and going to the movie, all constitute behaviours which had to be learned.

Sometimes the terms conscious learning and unconscious learning are used to distinguish the learning.
For example, the ways in which a small child learns to handle a tyrannical father or a rejecting mother
often affect the ways in which that child, ten or fifteen years later, handles his relationships with other
people.

Some behaviour is obvious. People can be seen going to football games, eating with forks, or driving
automobiles. Such behaviour is called “overt” behaviour. Other behaviour is less visible. Such activities
as planning tomorrow’s work (or) feeling hatred for an enemy, are behaviours too. This sort of
behaviour, which is not openly visible to other people, is called Covert behaviour. Both may be, of
course, learned.

2. Culture is Abstract:

Culture exists in the minds or habits of the members of society. Culture is the shared ways of doing and
thinking. There are degrees of visibility of cultural behaviour, ranging from the regularised activities of
persons to their internal reasons for so doing. In other words, we cannot see culture as such we can only
see human behaviour. This behaviour occurs in regular, patterned fashion and it is called culture.

3. Culture is a Pattern of Learned Behaviour:

The definition of culture indicated that the learned behaviour of people is patterned. Each person’s
behaviour often depends upon some particular behaviour of someone else. The point is that, as a
general rule, behaviours are somewhat integrated or organized with related behaviours of other
persons.

4. Culture is the Products of Behaviour:

Culture learnings are the products of behaviour. As the person behaves, there occur changes in him. He
acquires the ability to swim, to feel hatred toward someone, or to sympathize with someone. They have
grown out of his previous behaviours.
In both ways, then, human behaviour is the result of behaviour. The experience of other people are
impressed on one as he grows up, and also many of his traits and abilities have grown out of his own
past behaviours.

5. Culture includes Attitudes, Values Knowledge:

There is widespread error in the thinking of many people who tend to regard the ideas, attitudes, and
notions which they have as “their own”. It is easy to overestimate the uniqueness of one’s own attitudes
and ideas. When there is agreement with other people it is largely unnoticed, but when there is a
disagreement or difference one is usually conscious of it. Your differences however, may also be
cultural. For example, suppose you are a Catholic and the other person a Protestant.

6. Culture also includes Material Objects:

Man’s behaviour results in creating objects. Men were behaving when they made these things. To make
these objects required numerous and various skills which human beings gradually built up through the
ages. Man has invented something else and so on. Occasionally one encounters the view that man does
not really “make” steel or a battleship. All these things first existed in a “state nature”.

Man merely modified their form, changed them from a state in which they were to the state in which he
now uses them. The chair was first a tree which man surely did not make. But the chair is more than
trees and the jet airplane is more than iron ore and so forth.

7. Culture is shared by the Members of Society:

The patterns of learned behaviour and the results of behaviour are possessed not by one or a few
person, but usually by a large proportion. Thus, many millions of persons share such behaviour patterns
as Christianity, the use of automobiles, or the English language.

Persons may share some part of a culture unequally. For example, as Americans do the Christian
religion. To some persons Christianity is the all important, predominating idea in life. To others it is less
preoccupying/important, and to still others it is of marginal significance only.

Sometimes the people share different aspects of culture. For example, among the Christians, there are –
Catholic and Protestant, liberal or conservation, as clergymen or as laymen. The point to our discussion
is not that culture or any part of it is shred identically, but that it is shared by the members of society to
a sufficient extent.

8. Culture is Super-organic:

Culture is sometimes called super organic. It implies that “culture” is somehow superior to “nature”. The
word super-organic is useful when it implies that what may be quite a different phenomenon from a
cultural point of view.

For example, a tree means different things to the botanist who studies it, the old woman who uses it for
shade in the late summer afternoon, the farmer who picks its fruit, the motorist who collides with it and
the young lovers who carve their initials in its trunk. The same physical objects and physical
characteristics, in other words, may constitute a variety of quite different cultural objects and cultural
characteristics.
9. Culture is Pervasive:

Culture is pervasive it touches every aspect of life. The pervasiveness of culture is manifest in two ways.
First, culture provides an unquestioned context within which individual action and response take place.
Not only emotional action but relational actions are governed by cultural norms. Second, culture
pervades social activities and institutions.

According to Ruth Benedict, “A culture, like an individual is a more or less consistent pattern of thought
and action. With each culture there come into being characteristic purposes not necessarily shared by
other types of society. In obedience to these purposes, each person further consolidates its experience
and in proportion to the urgency of these drives the heterogeneous items of behaviour; take more and
more congruous shape”.

10. Culture is a way of Life:

Culture means simply the “way of life” of a people or their “design for living.” Kluckhohn and Kelly
define it in his sense, ” A culture is a historically derived system of explicit and implicit designs for living,
which tends to be shared by all or specially designed members of a group.”

Explicit culture refers to similarities in word and action which can be directly observed. For example, the
adolescent cultural behaviour can be generalized from regularities in dress, mannerism and
conversation. Implicit culture exists in abstract forms which are not quite obvious.

11. Culture is a human Product:

Culture is not a force, operating by itself and independent of the human actors. There is an unconscious
tendency to defy culture, to endow it with life and treat it as a thing. Culture is a creation of society in
interaction and depends for its existence upon the continuance of society.

In a strict sense, therefore, culture does not ‘do’ anything on its own. It does not cause the individual to
act in a particular way, nor does it ‘make’ the normal individual into a maladjusted one. Culture, in short,
is a human product; it is not independently endowed with life.

12. Culture is Idealistic:

Culture embodies the ideas and norms of a group. It is sum-total of the ideal patterns and norms of
behaviour of a group. Culture consists of the intellectual, artistic and social ideals and institutions which
the members of the society profess and to which they strive to confirm.

13. Culture is transmitted among members of Society:

The cultural ways are learned by persons from persons. Many of them are “handed down” by one’s
elders, by parents, teachers, and others [of a somewhat older generation]. Other cultural behaviours are
“handed up” to elders. Some of the transmission of culture is among contemporaries.

For example, the styles of dress, political views, and the use of recent labour saving devices. One does
not acquire a behaviour pattern spontaneously. He learns it. That means that someone teaches him and
he learns. Much of the learning process both for the teacher and the learner is quite unconscious,
unintentional, or accidental.

14. Culture is Continually Changing:

There is one fundamental and inescapable attribute (special quality) of culture, the fact of unending
change. Some societies at sometimes change slowly, and hence in comparison to other societies seem
not to be changing at all. But they are changing, even though not obviously so.

15. Culture is Variable:

Culture varies from society to society, group to group. Hence, we say culture of India or England. Further
culture varies from group to group within the same society. There are subcultures within a culture.
Cluster of patterns which are both related to general culture of the society and yet distinguishable from
it are called subcultures.

16. Culture is an integrated system:

Culture possesses an order and system. Its various parts are integrated with each other and any new
element which is introduced is also integrated.

17. Language is the Chief Vehicle of Culture:

Man lives not only in the present but also in the past and future. He is able to do this because he
possesses language which transmits to him what was learned in the past and enables him to transmit
the accumulated wisdom to the next generation. A specialised language pattern serves as a common
bond to the members of a particular group or subculture. Although culture is transmitted in a variety of
ways, language is one of the most important vehicles for perpetuating cultural patterns.

To conclude culture is everything which is socially learned and shared by the members of a society. It is
culture that, in the wide focus of the world, distinguishes individual from individual, group from group
and society.

Group

Group is one of the important concepts in Sociology. There are several meanings of ‘Group’ in
Sociological literature. One definition denotes group as any physical collection of people.
Another definition of ‘Group’ is expressed as, a number of people who share some common
characteristic. For example, college graduates, physicians, etc. Still another usage defines group
as, any number of people who share consciousness of membership together and of interaction.
For example, two persons waiting for a bus would not be a group until they started a
conversation, a fight, or any other interaction.
From above explanation, we can draw a conclusion that men everywhere live in groups and a
completely separated or isolated individual life is hypothetical and such that man can not live in
ivory tower.

Some Definitions:
Maciver and Page defines Group as, “any collection of human beings who are brought into
human relationships with one another”.

Harry M. Johnson Defines Group as, “A System of social interaction”

Characteristics:
1. Collection of individuals: As described in definition the basic criterion of group is the
collection of people.

2. Interaction among members: Mere the collection of people does not form the group. Unless
the interaction occurs the formation of group is impossible.

3. We feeling: The group is attributed with having ‘we feeling’ on the part of group members.

4. Group unity: Group members are bound by unity, though temporary in nature.

5. Common Interest: The interest of the group remains intact unless the Group’s common goal
is completed.

6. Group norms: Each and every member is subject to follow the group norms.

7. Size of the group: Social groups vary in size. A group may be as small as that of dyad-
husband and wife or as big as that of a political party.

8. Stability: Groups are stable or unstable; permanent or temporary in character.

The Types of Groups

Groups have been classified on the basis of factors such as- degree of organization, nature of
social interaction, range of group interests, permanent or temporary nature.

1. In Groups and Out groups: Simply the In-Group, the ‘We group’, an ‘out- group’, the ‘they
group’
2. Horizontal and Vertical Groups: P.A. Sorokin has divided the groups into two major types-
the horizontal and the vertical. The former are large, inclusive groups, such as nations, religious
organizations and political parties. The latter are smaller divisions, such as economic classes
which give the individual his status in society.
3. Primary Groups and Secondary Groups: On the basis of nature and quality of social
interaction groups have classified into primary and secondary. The name of C.H. Cooley is
very much associated with the use of ‘primary group’.
4. Territorial and Non Territorial Group: On the basis of territory occupied or not, the group
is divided into two types. For example, communities and states lie in the former group whereas
crowds lie in the latter group.

Social Norms

Social norms grow out of social value and both serve to differentiate human social behavior from that of
other species. The significance of learning in behavior varies from species to species and is closely linked
to processes of communication. Only human beings are capable of elaborate symbolic communication
and of structuring their behavior in terms of abstract preferences that we have called values. Norms are
the means through which values are expressed in behavior.

Norms generally are the rules and regulations that groups live by. Or perhaps because the words, rules
and regulations, call to mind some kind of formal listing, we might refer to norms as the standards of
behavior of a group. For while some of the appropriate standards of behavior in most societies are
written down, many of them are not that formal. Many are learned, informally, in interaction with other
people and are passed "that way from generation to generation.

The term "norms" covers an exceedingly wide range of behaviour. So that the whole range of
that behaviour may be included. Sociologists have offered the following definition. Social norms are
rules developed by a group of people that specify how people must, should, may, should not, and must
not behave in various situations.

Some norms are defined by individual and societies as crucial to the society. For example, all members
of the group are required to wear clothing and to bury their dead. Such "musts" are often labeled
"mores", a term coined by the American sociologist William Graham Sumner.

Many social norms are concerned with "should "; that is, there is some pressure on the individual to
conform but there is some leeway permitted also. The 'should behaviors' are what Sumner called "folk-
ways"; that is, conventional ways of doing things that are not defined as crucial to the survival of either
the individual or the society. The 'should behaviors' in our own society include the prescriptions that
people's clothes should be clean, and that death should be recognized with public funerals. A complete
list of the should behaviors in a complex society would be virtually without end.

The word "May" in the definition of norms indicates that, in most groups, there is a wide range of
behaviors in which the individual is given considerable choice. To continue the illustration, in Western
countries girls may select to wear dresses or halters and jeans. Diets may be done through trainers at
the gym or through the benefit of Medifast coupons, some people may even prefer diets advertised
on tv. Funerals may be held with or without flowers, with the casket open or closed, with or without
religious participation, and so on. We have confined our examples to just three areas, but students
should be able to construct their own examples from all areas of life.

The remainder of the definition, including the 'should-not' and the 'must-not' behaviours, probably does
not require lengthy illustration because such examples are implicit in what has already been said. One
should not belch in public, dump garbage in the street, run stop signs, or tell lies. One must not kill
another person or have sexual intercourse with one's sister or brother.

Social norms cover almost every conceivable situation, and they vary from standards where almost
complete conformity is demanded to those where there is great freedom of choice. Norms also vary in
the kinds of sanctions that are attached to violation of the norms. Since norms derive from values, and
since complex societies have multiple and conflicting value systems, it follows that norms frequently are
in conflict also.

Taking the illustration of American sex norms, two proscriptive norms prohibit premarital intercourse
and extramarital intercourse. But many boys also have been taught that sex is good and that they should
seek to "score" with girls whenever possible. Somewhat similarly, girls have been taught that
promiscuous intercourse before marriage is bad; but they have also been taught that sex is acceptable
within true love relationships. Members of both sexes, then, find themselves faced with conflicting
demands for participation in sex and for abstinence from it. They also discover that there are sanctions
associated with either course of action.

Normative conflict is also deeply involved in social change. As statistical norms come to differ too
blatantly from existing prescriptive norms, new prescriptive norms give sanction to formerly
prohibited behaviour and even extend it. Recent changes in the sex norms of teenage and young adult
groups provide examples. The change is more apparent in communal living groups where sometimes
there is an explicit ideology of sexual freedom and the assumption that sexual activities will be shared
with all members of the group. In less dramatic fashion, the change is evident among couples who
simply begin to live together without the formality of a marriage ceremony.

Norms:

Meaning of Norms:

Social norm refers to group group-shared standards of behaviour. The norms are based on social values.
Norms are social rules which define correct and acceptable behaviour in a society or a group to which
people are expected to confirm. They prescribe the way the people should behave in particular
situations.

They determine, guide, control and also predict human behaviour. Norms, in short, are a bundle of do’s
and dont’s; they are rules of behaviour in particular situations. For example, in all societies, there are
norms which define acceptable male and female dress. There are norms about driving. Norms exist in all
areas of social life.
Social are “general precepts, which being internallied or, accepted by individuals, induce conformity in
simple actions or in complex ethical judgements, thus increasing group unity.” It is used to describe the
common standards or ideas which guide members’ response in all established groups. When it is said
that a particular action is in accordance with norms, the intention is to say that it conforms to
community expectations of behaviour.

Broom and Selznick describe norms as, “blueprint for behaviour, setting limit within which individual
may seek alternate ways to achieve their goals”.

According to Young and Mack, ‘norms’ refer to the “group-shared expectations”.

H.M. Johnson writes, “A norm is an abstract pattern held in the mind that sets certain limits
for behaviour”.

Donald Light Jr. and Suzanne say, Norms refer to “the rules that guide behviour in everyday situations
and are derived from the value”.

As Robert Bierstedt has pointed out, “A norm is a rule or standard that governs our conduct in the social
situations in which we participate.” He further writes that a norm can be treated as “a cultural
specification that guides our conduct in society”.

Norms are rooted in institutions. They provide the standard of behaviour and are regulatory in
character. The choice of individual for striving towards the cultural goal is regulated and guided by
norms. These provide the guideline for action. Norms give cohesion to society. They influence attitude of
individuals to understanding and unity.

Conformity to norm is qualified by socially defined situation. Degree of conformity may vary, but the
norms, unlike the ideal, are never far from actual behaviour. Violator of norm may invite loss of prestige,
social ridicule or even a more severe punishment. Norms are mainly informally enforced. Certain norms
are, however, formalized by translation into laws. A social norm operative in one social system is not
equally operative in the other.

The characteristics of social norms:

The characteristics of social norms are discussed as under:

1. Social norms are universal:

These are found in all societies. Social norms are the basis of social order. No society can function
smoothly without norms.

2. Norms incorporate value-judgement:

A norm is a standard shared by the group members. These represent “standardized generalization”
concerning expected modes of behaviour. As standardized generalizations, they are concepts which
have been evaluated by the group and they incorporate value-judgement. In terms of value we judge
whether some action is right or wrong, good or bad, expected or unexpected.

3. Norms are relative:

Norms vary from society to society. Sometimes, norms vary from group to group within same society.
Some norms do not govern the behaviour of all the people. Norms applicable to older people are not
applicable to children. Similarly, norms applicable to policemen are different from those of teachers.

4. All norms are not equally important:

Norms are enforced by sanctions, i.e. reward and punishment. But all norms are not equally strict and
they do not carry the same kind of punishment because they differ in importance. The most important
norms in society are called ‘mores’ and those who violate them are severely punished. Other norms,
called ‘folkways’ and punishments for violating them are much less severe.

5. Norms are internalized by the individuals:

Norms become part of personality through the process of socialization. Individuals internalize the norms
of the society. Individuals generally behave in accordance with the social norms.

Institutionalization of Norms:

A social norm operative in one social system may not be operative in another. “A social norm is said to
be institutionalized” remarks Johnson,” in a particular social system when three conditions are met.

These three conditions are as follows:

1. A large number of members of the social system accept the norm.

2. Many of those who accept the norm take it seriously. In psychological terms, they have internalized
it.

3. The norm is sanctioned. This means that certain members of the system are expected to be guided by
the norm in appropriate circumstances.

Besides these three conditions, the other aspects of institutionalization of norms are mentioned as
under:

(a) The institutionalized norms apply to members of a social system according to their social positions
within the system. Thus doctors, nurses, ward boys in a hospital are not expected to do exactly the same
things although some norms do apply to all regardless of their social position.

(b) The “internalization of a norm by the “average” members of a social system is a matter of degree.
The obligation of parents to protect their child is deeply internalized taken very seriously indeed. So is
the responsibility of a Government official to keep official secrets especially to keep them out of the
hands of foreign agents. “Similarly in a marriage where both husband and wife are working, the
expectation of mutual sexual fidelity is more binding than the expectation that the wife will get the
husband’s breakfast.

(c) The “wide spread” acceptance of a norm in a social system is also a matter of degree. In a large scale
social system, it is not necessary for everyone to know about, let alone accept, all the norms operative in
the system. For example, the functioning of the stock-market requires institutionalization but many
people have only a vague conception of the norms that govern participation in it.
What is necessary is that most of those who participate in the stock market in any way know and accept
that part of the total pattern of rights and obligations that affects, or is relevant to, their actual
interaction with one another.

Beyond that a more generalized acceptance of the rule of law and the authority of the court ensures
that a wider public support the norms at a distance, so to speak. Thus, a stock market scandal
will reduces the prestige of a broker even among people who do not understand precisely what his
offence has been (Johnson).

Norms may be institutionalized in a group of any size and complexity.

Relational and Regulative Norms:

The norms of a social system are divided into two classes. “Some norms specify positive obligations.
These norms usually differentiate among roles and among subgroups. Thus the positive obligations of a
family are not the same as those of a business concern; the positive obligations of a father are not the
same as those of a son. Norms of the other class specify the limits of permissible rather than obligatory
action. A role occupant or subgroup “must” do certain things, “may” do certain others, and “must not”
do still others.

“Norms of the first class (obligatory) may be called “relational” since they specify the positive content of
relations between role occupants and between subgroups. Norms of the second class (permissive) may
be called “regulative”. Regulative norms do not differentiate between roles and between sub groups to
the same extent as do the relational norms.

Functions / Importance of Norms:

Functions or importance of social norms are discussed below:

1. Norm less Society is Impossibility:

Norms are important part of society. Norms and Society go together. Man depends upon society for his
existence. Norms make living together in society possible. Without normative order society is not
possible.

2. Norms Regulate and Guide Behaviour:

Norms are controls. It is through them that society regulates behaviour of its members in such ways that
they perform activities fulfilling societal needs.

3. Norms maintain Social Order:

Norms are part of social order. They are controls. The social order is maintained by norms. That is why it
is said that human social order is a normative order.

4. Norms Gives Cohesion to Society:

Society achieves coherent structure through the norms. The collective and cooperative life of people is
made possible because of norms. The normative system gives to society an internal cohesion.

5. Norms Helps to have Self-control:

Norms helps individuals to have self-control. Because of the constraints imposed by norms individuals
conform to the norms and exercise discipline by themselves over their behaviour.

Meaning of Values:

In sociology, the meaning of value is different from meaning of value in economics or philosophy. For
example, in economics values means price.

Social values form an important part of the culture of the society. Values account for the stability of
social order. They provide the general guidelines for social conduct. Values such as fundamental rights,
patriotism, respect for human dignity, rationality, sacrifice, individuality, equality, democracy etc. guide
our behaviour in many ways. Values are the criteria people use in assessing their daily lives; arrange
their priorities and choosing between alternative course of action.

G.R. Leslie, R.F. Larson, H.L. Gorman say, “Values are group conceptions of the relative desirability of
things”.

According to H.M. Johnson, “Values are general standards and may be regarded as higher order norms”.

Young and Mack write, “Values are assumption, largely unconscious, of what is right and important”.

Michael Haralambos says “A value is a belief that something is good and worthwhile. It defines what is
worth having and worth striving”.

According to Peter Worsley, “Values are general conceptions of “the good”, ideas about the kind of ends
that people should pursue throughout their lives and throughout the many different activities in which
they engage”.

In simple words, values may be defined as measure of goodness or desirability.

Values are standards of social behaviour derived from social interaction and accepted as constituent
facts of social structure. They are objects that social conditions desire. These are culturally defined goals
and involve “sentiments and significance.” These consist of “aspirational reference.”

Values are expected to be followed for judging and evaluating social interaction, goals, means, ideas,
feelings and the expected conduct. Without such evaluating standard, it would be difficult to judge
individual behaviour or social action. Values aim to integrate expected individual behaviour and
social action. It tends to forestall tension and as such have tension management role.

Relation between Norms and Values:

Norms and values have salient relation. Norms are specific, values are not. There may be, in a particular
situation, delusion of norms, but values are commanding. Norms are rules for behaving: they say more
or less specifically what should or should not be done by particular types of actors in given
circumstances. Values are standard of desirability that are more nearly independent of specific
situations.

The same value may be a point of reference for a great many specific norms; a particular norm may
represent the simultaneous application of several separable values. Thus, the value premise “equality”
may enter into norms for relationships between husband and wife, brother and brother, teacher and
student and so on.

On the other hand, the norm “a teacher must not show favouritism in grading” may in particular
instance involve the value of equality, honesty, humanitarianism and several others. Values, as
standards (criteria) for establishing what should be regarded as desirable, provide the grounds for
accepting or rejecting particular norm.

Functions of Values:

1. Values provide goals or ends for the members to aim for.

2. Values provide for stabilities and uniformities in group interaction. They hold the society together
because they are shared in common. Some sociologists argue that shared values form the basis for
social unity. Since they share the same values with others, the members of society are likely to see
others as “people like themselves”. They will therefore, have a sense of belonging to a social group.
They will feel a part of the wider society.

3. Values bring legitimacy to the rules that govern specific activities. The rule are accepted as rules and
followed mainly because they embody the values that most people accept. The Americans for example,
believe that the capitalist organization is the best one because it allows people to seek success in life.

4. Values help to bring about some kind of adjustment between different sets of rules. The people seek
the same kinds of ends or goals in different field of their life. Hence, it is possible for them to modify the
rules to help the pursuit of this end.

For example, if the Indian people cherish the value of “the principle of equality”, then they will have to
modify the rules governing the interpersonal relationship of husband and wife; and man and woman. As
and when new activities emerge, people create rules in the light of their beliefs about what is ‘good’ and
‘right’.

alues: it’s Meaning, Characteristics, Types, Importance!

Meaning:

Generally, value has been taken to mean moral ideas, general conceptions or orientations towards the
world or sometimes simply interests, attitudes, preferences, needs, sentiments and dispositions. But
sociologists use this term in a more precise sense to mean “the generalised end which has the
connotations of rightness, goodness or inherent desirability”.

These ends are regarded legitimate and binding by society. They define what is important worthwhile
and worth striving for. Sometimes, values have been interpreted to mean “such standards by means of
which the ends of action are selected”. Thus, values are collective conceptions of what is considered
good, desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture.

According to M. Haralambos (2000), “a value is a belief that something is good and desirable”. For
R.K. Mukerjee (1949) (a pioneer Indian sociologist who initiated the study of social values), “values are
socially approved desires and goals that are internalised through the process of conditioning, learning
or socialisation and that become subjective preferences, standards and aspirations”. A value is a shared
idea about how something is ranked in terms of desirability, worth or goodness.

Familiar examples of values are wealth, loyalty, independence, equality, justice, fraternity and
friendliness. These are generalised ends consciously pursued by or held up to individuals as being
worthwhile in themselves. It is not easy to clarify the fundamental values of a given society because of
their sheer breadth.

Characteristics:

Values may be specific, such as honouring one’s parents or owning a home or they may be more
general, such as health, love and democracy. “Truth prevails”, “love thy neighbour as yourself, “learning
is good as ends itself are a few examples of general values. Individual achievement, individual happiness
and materialism are major values of modern industrial society.

Value systems can be different from culture to culture. One may value aggressiveness and deplores
passivity, another the reverse, and a third gives little attention to this dimension
altogether, emphasising instead the virtue of sobriety over emotionality, which may be quite
unimportant in either of the other cultures. This point has very aptly been explored and explained by
Florence Kluchkhon (1949) in her studies of five small communities (tribes) of the American south-west.
One society may value individual achievement (as in USA), another may emphasise family unity and kin
support (as in India). The values of hard work and individual achievement are often associated with
industrial capitalist societies.

The values of a culture may change, but most remain stable during one person’s lifetime. Socially
shared, intensely felt values are a fundamental part of our lives. Values are often emotionally charged
because they stand for things we believe to be worth defending. Often, this characteristic of values
brings conflict between different communities or societies or sometimes between different persons.

Most of our basic values are learnt early in life from family, friends, neighbourhood, school, the mass
print and visual media and other sources within society. These values become part of our personalities.
They are generally shared and reinforced by those with whom we interact.

Types:

Values can be classified into two broad categories:

(1) Individual values:

These are the values which are related with the development of human personality or individual norms
of recognition and protection of the human personality such as honesty, loyalty, veracity and honour.

(2) Collective values:

Values connected with the solidarity of the community or collective norms of equality, justice, solidarity
and sociableness are known as collective values.

Values can also be’ categorised from the point of view their hierarchical arrangement:

(1) Intrinsic values:

These are the values which are related with goals of life. They are sometimes known as ultimate and
transcendent values. They determine the schemata of human rights and duties and of human virtues. In
the hierarchy of values, they occupy the highest place and superior to all other values of life.

(2) Instrumental values:

These values come after the intrinsic values in the scheme of gradation of values. These values are
means to achieve goals (intrinsic values) of life. They are also known as incidental or proximate values.

Importance and functions of values:

Values are general principles to regulate our day-to-day behaviour. They not only give direction to
our behaviour but are also ideals and objectives in themselves. Values deal not so much with what is,
but with what ought to be; in other words, they express moral imperatives. They are the expression of
the ultimate ends, goals or purposes of social action. Our values are the basis of our judgments about
what is desirable, beautiful, proper, correct, important, worthwhile and good as well as what is
undesirable, ugly, incorrect, improper and bad. Pioneer sociologist Durkheim emphasised the
importance of values (though he used the term ‘morals’) in controlling disruptive individual passions.

He also stressed that values enable individuals to feel that they are part of something bigger than
themselves. Modem sociologist E. Shils (1972) also makes the same point and calls ‘the central value
system’ (the main values of society) are seen as essential in creating conformity and order. Indian
sociologist R.K. Mukerjee (1949) writes: “By their nature, all human relations
and behaviour are imbedded in values.”

The main functions of values are as follows:

1. Values play an important role in the integration and fulfillment of man’s basic impulses and desires in
a stable and consistent manner appropriate for his living.

2. They are generic experiences in social action made up of both individual and social responses and
attitudes.

3. They build up societies, integrate social relations.

4. They mould the ideal dimensions of personality and range and depth of culture.

5. They influence people’s behaviour and serve as criteria for evaluating the actions of others.

6. They have a great role to play in the conduct of social life.

7. They help in creating norms to guide day-to-day behaviour.

Status and Role

Status:
All members of society occupy a number of social positions known as social statuses. In any
society, an individual may have occupational statuses like driver, teacher, doctor, etc; family
statuses like son, daughter, father, etc. Generally, statuses are culturally and socially defined, but
they are sometimes defined biologically, like sex and race. Some statuses are relatively fixed and
there is little an individual can change his assignments to particular positions. For examples:
gender and aristocrat title.

Definitions:
Ralf Linton Defines status as, “the place is the place in a particular system, which a certain
individual occupies at a particular time.”

Morris Ginsberg says, “A status is a position in asocial group or grouping, a relation to other
positions held by other other individuals in the group or grouping.”

Nature of status:

1. Each status in society is accompanied by a number of norms which define how an

individual occupying a particular status is expected to act. This group of norms is known asrole.
2. One individual may have several statuses.

3. Statuses of persons leave the impression on the career of individuals.

4. Statuses differ with their degree of importance- It can be illustrated with the importance of
occupational status in industrial countries and relative importance of caste based occupational
status in Nepal.

5. Social status has a hierarchical distribution too- It can be explained that a few persons in
society occupy highest positions while the majority assume the ordinary statuses in society.

Types of statuses:
There are two ways in which an individual can get his status in society. Some statuses are
acquired by birth whereas some others are achieved later in one’s life. The concept of this
distinction of statuses was given by Ralf Linton as ‘ascribed’ and ‘achieved’.

a. Ascribed status: These are the statuses which the individual has no choice. Example of
ascribed statuses is sex group, age group, racial group, caste group, etc.
b. Achieved status: Statuses about which a person has choices are achieved status. For
example, a son of a farmer when completes a degree of engineering has acquired the achieved
status.

Social Roles
Each status has a set of expected behaviors called roles. In another way it can be
explained that each status in society is accompanied by a number of norms which define how an
individual occupying a particular status is expected to act. This group of norms is called role.
Thus a status of husband is accompanied by role of husband, status of a doctor by the role of
doctor, etc. Social roles regulate and organize behavior. More importantly, they provide means
for accomplishing certain task. For an argument, it can be explained that teaching can be
accomplished more effectively if teacher and student adopt their appropriate roles. Roles provide
social life with order and predictability. As an aspect of culture, roles provide an important part
of guidelines and directives necessary for an ordered society.
Definition:
Young and Mack defines role as “A role is a function of a status”

Kingsley Davis, “the manner in which a person actually carries out the requirements of his
position”.

Nature of role:
1. Role playing is obligatory for all members.

2. Some social roles are shared by many people. For example, voters, authors, ministers,
teachers, etc.

3. Some social roles are voluntary and some roles are involuntary.

4. In some circumstances, role is preceded by status whereas in many cases the role is
followed by status.

Interrelationship between role and status: The interrelationship between role and status can
be explained with the help of above description of status and roles. (You have to take it as an
assignment)
Ethnicity

As explained and defined by Uwe Kievelitz (has presented a paper at a seminar on Ethnicity and
Nation-Building), ethnicity is a collective identity formation. It is such group identity formation
which refers to relationships between groups- above the family level- which consider themselves,
or are considered, as culturally distinctive from other groups with whom they have minimum of
interaction. He, again, argues that such ethnic groups can be defined as endogamous
collectivities which follow a distinctive identity through selected traditions.

Origin of the word ‘Ethnicity’ and emergence of its Application

The term ‘ethnicity’ first appeared in the 1950s in the English language and it is first recorded in
a dictionary in the Oxford English Dictionary of 1953. However, the term is a derivative of the
much older term and more commonly used adjective ‘ethnic’, which in the English language
goes back to the Middle Ages. The English adjective ‘ethnic’ in turn derives from the ancient
Greek term ethnos and it was used as a synonym of gentile, that is, non-Christian and non-Jewish
pagan in New Testament Greek. As the English language has no concrete noun for ethnos or
ethnie, the French term is used here to denote an ‘ethnic community’ or ‘ethnic group’.
Erikson has pointed out the characteristics of ethnicity which are common to the Nationalismare
given below:
1. Ethnicity is social process and social relations rather than static cultural phenomena.
2. It is based on the idea of fictive kinship between the members of the respective group
(ethnic group).
3. It is the creation of such relations through everyday interactions.
4. Ethnicity is significantly based on the postulate of unity and homogeneity and common
belief in shared culture and origins as the basis for the collectivity.
5. Ethnicity is the relational concept, including the drawing of clear boundaries, i.e., a
cognitive division between a homogenous ‘us’ and a differentiated ‘them’.
6. The concept relates to forms of social organization and active social construction
which means that the phenomenon is not ‘natural’, but created by social groups.
7. The form of social organization has effects on people’s consciousness in as much as they
produce a sense of ‘difference’ with regard to certain others.

Ethnicity in Nepal:
Nepal exhibits a complex case of ethnicity. The following attributes are more considerable to
mention for the Nepalese ethnic phenomenon.

1. It is a multiethnic state which can be differentiated on linguistic and ethnic grounds.

2. The country exhibits, like Britain and other European countries, a combination of dynastic
principles of social organization with emerging ethnic and nationalist ideologies.
3. Its limited natural and political resources are quite unequally divided between different
collectivities of people.
4. Ethnicity has been based upon the practice of under representation and severe social
discrimination.
5. Ethnicity has greatly been the concern of seeking of social and political right in Nepal.
And it has taken the shape of political conflict and political identity.
6. The social reality is that the ethnic groups as developed due to ethnicity, a process of
forming collective identity, has been greatly dominated by main stream groups- Brahman,
chhetry and thakuri- in various aspects of socio-political life.
7. Ethnicity and state restructuring have been the hot concern or agenda in the socio-political
aspects in the aftermath of second Jana Andolan in Nepal. More importantly, the issue is
closely connected with federalism,

Gender based stratification

The word gender is being used sociologically and has been one of the major agendas of
discourse, including the socio-political, intellectual and disciplinary discussion and debates. In
Nepal, it has been the hot issue before and after the 2nd Jana Andolan. Gender issues likewoman’s
violence, the concern of property right, the question of proportionate representative in NGOs
and GOs, attitudes and belief system towards woman, religious and cultural based
discrimination, etc. are making the hot debate among the various group of people, including
political parties, feminists, social worker, etc.
Meaning:
According to Kamala Bhasin, an Indian scholar and feminist, defined gender as- in its new
incarnation gender refers to the socio-cultural definition of man and woman, the way societies
distinguish man and woman and assign them social roles.
Whereas sex is the biological predisposition of man and woman, gender is the socio- cultural and
political manifestation of man and woman. As elsewhere, gender is the key locus of the cultural
structure in Nepal. The construction of gender and gender relations may very from society to
society in terms of age, life related positions within family, caste, ethnicity, class, region, etc.
Gender based discrimination is highly experienced with the patrilineality and patrilocality which
contribute to an extremely unequal level of life opportunities between man and woman.

How the gender based discrimination is expressed?

1. The high rituals and other values (especially, Hindu based rituals in Nepal) attached to son
as against daughters make emphasis on gender specific socialization.

2. Highly gender based access to household productive resources, income and household
decision making and schooling are the issues greatly discussed and these are the specific concern
of gender based discrimination in Nepal.

Unpaid economic participation, unequal access to public decision making structures and low
public facilities, a

Barriers and mal practices to gender equity and gender based Relation in Nepal
 Patriarchal society- That means the authority of family and society lie on male head of the
family.
 Patrilineal Society- That means descent and property transforms from male head of family
to offspring
 Belief, Values and norms are as against to woman’s welfare and justice-Chaupadi and
Dewaki in far western region of Nepal, for instance, provide evidence of how woman’s
dignity , justice and their basic right are threatened and violated
 Non sense practices prevailing in society- The popular non-sense practices like witchcrafts
and dowry system in many parts of Nepal, especially in the middle Terai, are as against the
practices of woman’s justice and welfare.
 Category of work and burden- Women in developing countries like ours have to shoulder 3
burdens at a time- reproduction, house hold chores and outside work (in underdeveloped
societies reproduction is taken as burden, since many of the women can not get proper care
and health facilities during the gestation period and in the post delivery period).
 Lack of implementation of woman related law- Due to the deeply rooted social values,
woman’s law like property right bill and abortion bill are not being effectively
implemented.
 Domestic violence and sexual abuses- Domestic violence is on increasing and sexual
abuses are rampant. But the law related to these problems are either not effective or are
ambiguous in meaning and interpretation, giving the defendant or culprit more chances to
get free.
  Religion and social beliefs- Some religions like Hindu and Islam, in its extreme form, are
barriers for the uplift and equity of women (many aspects mentioned in their religious
books are against the welfare of woman)
 Maternal mortality rate- As compared to other SAARC countries and developed countries,
the maternal and neo-natal mortality rate in Nepal is high. It is due to the lack of proper
health care and health facilities provided to the many of rural women in Nepal.
Some Efforts on the Part of Government and Non-Government Body
 Resolution of Property right and abortion bill by the parliament
 Ensuring the proportionate reprehensive of women in governmental body by
mentioning it in the interim constitution of Nepal
 Proportionate representative of women in constitution assembly.
 Various awareness and advocacy program launched by number of woman related
NGos/INGos like WOREC.
 Woman’s organization under different political parties for the cause of woman’s right
and gender equity (though very few political parties’ sister organization are active and
strong in this regard)
 Beijing conference (an International conference for right of woman) held in Beijing in
1995.(See website for some detail).
 March 8, being celebrated world wide to commemorate for the liberation of labor
women and ensuring of their right (for the commemoration o woman’s movement
launched years back, please see website to know some detail)
 Received voting right in America and UK due to their movement years back among
others, are the manifestation of this disparity.

Social Stratification
Meaning:
Men have long dreamed of an egalitarian society, a society in which all members are equal.
Obviously the egalitarian society remains as dream. The term social inequality, here, refers to the
existence of socially created inequalities. Social stratification is a particular form of social
inequality. It refers to the presence of a social groups which are ranked one above the other,
usually in terms of the amount of power, prestige and wealth their members possess. Those who
belong to a particular group or stratum have some awareness of common interest and common
identity. They share a similar life style and on the basis of which they are distinguished from
members of other social strata. The Nepalese caste system is the example of social stratification
system.
Definition:
Ogburn and Nimkoff defines social stratification as, “The process by which individuals and
groups are ranked in a more or less enduring hierarchy of status.”

Social Class
Social class has been a principal type of stratification since the emergence of class

based society, especially with the end of primitive communism in the evolutionary

Process of society which was explained and analyzed by Karl Marx and Engles in the later part
of the 19th century. The term, therefore, has taken an important place in sociological literature.
Scholarly Analysis
1. Aristotle, an ancient philosopher, explained about two millennia ago that population tented
to be divided into three groups: the very rich, the very poor, and those in between.
2. Adam Smith, an economist and social scientist, divided society into those who live on the
rent of the land, wages of labor, and the profits of trade.
3. Thorstein Veblen divided society into the workers, who struggle for subsistence, and
leisure class so wealthy that its main concern is “conspicuous consumption” to show how rich
they are.
4. Karl Marx, a champion in class based society and class conflict analysis divided society
into wage worker (he termed it as proletariat), capitalists (the bourgeoisie), and middle group
(the petty bourgeoisie).
5. Similarly, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1937 gave a vivid picture of lower- class life.

Definition
Horton and Hunt, the authors of the work, ‘Sociology’, defines social class as, “a stratum of
people of similar position in the social status continuum.”
Marx attempted to reduce all forms of inequality to economic class and argued that classes
formed the only significant social groups in society.
Max Weber’s analysis, a deviation from Marx’s analysis, is on the importance of status groups.
The fact is that in certain situations status rather than class provides the basis for the formation
of social groups whose members perceive common interest and group identity.
Moreover, like Marx and Weber, many modern sociologists use economic factors as the basic
criteria for differentiating social classes. In this regard, the British sociologist Anthony Giddens
identifies three major classes in advanced capitalist society. They are: an upper class based on
the ‘ownership of property in the means of production’, a middle class based on the ‘ possession
of educational or technical qualifications’ and a lower or working class based on the ‘
possession of manual labor power’.
Nature and Characteristics of Social Class

C.N. Shankar Rao in his book ‘Sociology’ has described the characteristics of social class, the
important of which are given below:

1. Class is a status group: Class is related to status. Different statuses arise in a society as
people do different things, engage in different activities and pursue different goals.
2. Mode of feeling: Class system exhibits three modes of feeling. They are: a feeling of
equality in relation to the members of one’s own class; a feeling of inferiority in relation
to those who occupy the higher status in the socio-economic continuum; a feeling of
superiority in relation to those who occupy the lower status in the hierarchy.
3. Element of Prestige: Each social class has its own status in society. Status is associated
with prestige.
4. Mode of living: A social class is distinguished from other classes by its customary modes
of behavior. This is mostly referred to as ‘life styles’ which include such matters as the
mode of dress, the kind of houses and neighbor on lives in, the cultural products one
enjoys, the kind of books, magazines and TV shows to which one is exposed, one’s way of
spending money and so on.
5. Social Class is an open group: An open class is one in which vertical mobility is possible
6. Social class is an Economic Group: The basis of social class is mostly economic.
7. Class consciousness: It is the consciousness which makes the members of the same class
aware on the socio-economic status of their own class. In Marx’s analysis, class consciousness
creates an atmosphere for the working class people to seek their right go against the capitalist
class in order to seize the power for their own sake.
8. Class consciousness and Class struggle: Karl Marx laid great emphasis on class
consciousness among the working class and it leads to their class identification, class solidarity
and finally to class struggle.

Class Structure in Nepal: Class Discussion

What is Caste?
Caste and class are the two main forms of social stratification. However, the caste system is
greatly confined within Indian sub-continent, especially in Nepal and India. Broadly speaking,
the caste system, the joint family system and village life are still the three basic pillars of Indian
and Nepalese life, even after the Jana Andolan II in Nepal. Caste is closely connected with Hindu
philosophy and religion. The philosophy of Hinduism has a greater influence over the various
aspects of the life of the people: customs and tradition, marriage and family, morals and
manners, food and dress habits, occupations and hobbies. Caste system is immensely supported
by rituals and ceremonies and it is believed to have had a divine origin and sanction. More
significantly, caste system is a barrier for social mobility in caste ridden society. Social mobility,
here, is the act of moving from one social position to another, especially the class based position.
An open class society is one in which mobility high whereas a closed classsociety is one in
which there is little mobility. Caste system, in this regard, is closed society in which people are
confined to the occupations and statuses of their statuses of their ancestors and it is the most
extreme example of closed class society.
The origin of the Word Caste and System
The term ‘Caste’ is derived from Spanish word ‘casta’ meaning breed or ‘lineage’. The
Portuguese used the term caste first to denote the divisions in the Indian caste system. The
Sanskrit word for caste is Varna which means color. Color in the original form caste signifies
the basis of divisions along with occupation.
The origin of this caste system in Nepalese and Indian society relates with the ‘Chaturvarna’
system of Hindu philosophy. Chaturvarna doctrine explains the Hindu society was divided into
four main varnas, namely, Brahmins, the kashtriyas, the Vaishyas and the Shudras. The Varna
system which was prevalent during Vedic period was mainly based on the division of occupation
and labor. The caste system, therefore, has its origin to the Varna system. The present caste
system is the modified form of the original.
Definitions
Maciver and Page argues that when status is wholly predetermined, so that men are born to their
lot in life without any hope of changing it, then class takes the extreme form of caste. Quoting
the Report of Indian Statutory Commission, they mention, “Every Hindu necessarily belongs to
the caste of his parents and in that caste he inevitably remains. No accumulation of wealth and no
exercise of talents can alter his caste status; and marriage outside his caste is prohibited or
severely discouraged.”
C.H.Cooley defines caste as, “when a class is somewhat strictly hereditary, we may call it a
caste.”
D.N. Majumdar and T.N. Madan argued that caste is ‘closed group’
Social Stratification and Caste System
The social stratification is the particular form of social inequality. It refers to the presence of
social groups which are ranked one above other, usually in terms of amount of power,prestige,
and wealth their members possess. In this regard, the Indian and the Nepalese caste system
provide an example of social stratification.
Hindu society in traditional India was divided into five main strata: four Varnas or castes, and a
fifth group, the outcaste, whose members were known as untouchables. The emergence of caste
system in Nepalese society dates back to ancient period when, the legendary says, Gopal dynasty
accompanied with the lord Krishna entered Kathmandu valley and imposed Hindu rules-
regulations. Historians argue that the Hindu Aryan entered Nepal at three different time periods:
1. At 1st century A.D. through Kathmandu Valley,
2. At about 12th century A.D. through Karnali basin,
3. From 16th century onwards through different Nepal- India boarders, especially to terai of
Nepal.
All of these arrival of Hindu people has ensured the influence of Hinduism, so the influence of
Caste system. In a more concrete way and in a state level, the king Jayasthiti Malla at around
14th century A.D. divided the then Newari society into four castes and sixty four sub-castes. Later
in the second part of the 19th century, in 1854 A.D., the then Rana Prime Minister Jang Bahadur
Rana, divided whole Nepalese society into four different castes in his promulgated legal code.
This later division has consolidated the Nepalese caste system and has sown the seed of conflict
among the people of privileged and underprivileged castes with a deeply rooted casteism into
Nepalese society.
Characteristics of Caste system
C.N. Shankar Rao in his work, ‘sociology’ has described the characteristics of casteism. The
important of which are given below:

1. Caste is taken as a hierarchical division of society. A sense of ‘highness’ and ‘lowness’ or

‘superiority’ and ‘inferiority’ is associated with caste ranking.
2. The caste system has imposed certain restrictions on food habits of the members and they
differ from caste to caste.
3. The caste system puts restriction on the range of social relations too. The idea of
‘pollution’ and ‘purity’ have explained and defined the boundary of social relations
between different castes with the preordained touchability and untouchability.
4. Social and religious disabilities of certain castes are clearly exhibited in the orthodox
caste system. Generally, the so called impure castes are forced to live on the outskirts of
the city or village.
5. Restriction on occupational choice is another feature of orthodox caste system.
6. Caste system imposes restriction on marriage too. Endogamy is a rule of marriage
according to which an individual has to marry within his or her group only.
Difference between caste and class

Following are the main differences between class and caste systems:

1. Castes are found in Indian sub-continent only, especially in India, while classes are found
almost everywhere. Classes are especially the characteristic of industrial societies of Europe and
America. According to Dumont and Leach, caste is a unique phenomenon found only in India.

2. Classes depend mainly on economic differences between groupings of individuals—inequalities in

possession and control of material resources—whereas in caste system non-economic factors such
as influence of religion [theory of karma, rebirth and ritual (purity-pollution)] are most important.

3. Unlike castes or other types of strata, classes are not established by legal or religious
provisions; membership is not based on inherited position as specified either legally or by
custom. On the other hand, the membership is inherited in the caste system.
4. Class system is typically more fluid than the caste system or the other types of stratification
and the boundaries between classes are never clear-cut. Caste system is static whereas the class
system is dynamic.
5. In the class system, there are no formal restrictions on inter-dining and inter-marriage
between people from different classes as is found in the caste system. Endogamy is the essence
of caste system which is perpetuating it.
6. Social classes are based on the principle of achievement, i.e., on one’s own efforts, not simply
given at birth as is common in the caste system and other types of stratification system. As such
social mobility (movement upwards and downwards) is much more common in the class
structure than in the caste system or in other types. In the caste system, individual mobility from
one caste to another is impossible.
7.This is why, castes are known as closed classes (D.N. Majumdar). It is a closed system of
stratification in which almost all sons end up in precisely the same stratum their fathers
occupied. The system of stratification in which there is high rate of upward mobility, such as that
in the Britain and United States is known as open class system. The view that castes are closed
classes is not accepted by M.N. Srinivas (1962) and Andre Beteille (1965).
8. In the caste system and in other types of stratification system, inequalities are expressed
primarily in personal relationships of duty or obligation—between lower- and higher-caste
individuals, between serf and lord, between slave and master. On the other hand, the nature of
class system is impersonal. Class system operates mainly through large-scale connections of an
impersonal kind.
9. Caste system is characterised by ‘cumulative inequality’ but class system is characterised by
‘dispersed inequality.’
 10. Caste system is an organic system but class has a segmentary character where various
segments are motivated by competition (Leach, 1960).
11. Caste works as an active political force in a village (Beteille, 1966) but class does not work so.

Use of Sociology in Management in terms of diagnostic dimensions:

It is evident that our society is made of social relationships. The term management is associated with the
management of the human resources of the society. Sociology as a holistic, rational and empirical
science studies the human relationship embedded in social institutions, social organizations and social
processes. Sociology provides the information about social realities or more definitely the pattern of
relations to specific group at a particular period of time. Sociology, by conducting research, finds out the
real problems that organization at a given time is facing. Thus, sociology as its subject matter is social
relationship, can provide better insight into the social problem through the information of causes and
course of that problem.

Furthermore, an organization is always influenced by the socio-cultural forces of the environment. Social
forces such as social structure, social institutions and social class has its significant influence in
management operations and decisions. Besides, cultural forces such as religion, language, values,
attitudes and beliefs also affect the organization. Hence, management activities are greatly guided by
these socio-cultural forces of the society. Sociological research helps in identifying patterns, trends,
impact of such socio-cultural forces which assists in better management decisions.

Importance of Studying Sociology in Business

Sociology teaches business leaders about the importance of workplace diversit

To excel in business, you need more than a solid grasp of math and economics. Business requires an
understanding of people -- large populations in particular. Sociology provides the educational
background needed for managers to understand their employees and customers. Business leaders that
understand sociology are able to anticipate customer needs and respond to employee problems in ways
others cannot.

Analytical Process
Studying sociology helps to develop your analytical thinking and capabilities. Sociologists analyze
qualitative and quantitative data to determine the effects of phenomena on a population. For instance,
a sociologist may discover that a country has an age gap due to an uncontrolled epidemic that affects
the country's ability to compete globally. This analytical method of thinking helps those in business with
the ability to research market data and eventually draw conclusions from that data.

Handling Employees

A background in sociology gives business leaders and human resource managers an advantage when
dealing with employees in the workplace. Sociologists study (and are often aware of) the cultural and
social aspects that shape an individual. With this background, those in business can avoid alienating
employees or hurting company loyalty. For example, the company may have a large number of
employees that practice a particular religion. If this religion states that its followers must observe a sab
bath on weekends, you cannot reasonably ask those employees to work on weekends, based on your
background in sociology.

Related Reading:

Market Opportunities

Sociologists understand that certain phenomena create conditions that influence groups of people. For
example, if birth rates drop within a country, that country's population will eventually "age" and require
increased services for the elderly. Those in business with sociology backgrounds can identify such factors
and the opportunities created within a population. For instance, a business leader can look at a country
that was previously ravaged by war or disease and know that its people require basic infrastructure
offerings and access to education and medical facilities. If your company specializes in medical supplies,
this is an opportunity; if your company sells luxury vehicles, you would look elsewhere and identify a
population that requires your services.

Public Relations

Sociology is fundamental to the public relations department of any major company. A PR person's
background in sociology tells her that certain actions by the company will affect its customers based on
their cultural and economic backgrounds. For example, if your company conducts business in another
part of the world, your PR person must know the history of that area to tailor the message and image of
the company. The PR person, for instance, would not create a press release that stresses the
independent nature of the company in a culture that places a large focus on family.

1. The term management is associated with the management of the human resources of the
society.

2. Sociology as a holistic, rational and empirical science studies the human relationship embedded
in social institutions, social organizations and social processes.

3. Sociology, by conducting research, finds out the real problems that organization at a given time
is facing.
 4. sociology as its subject matter is social relationship, can provide better insight into the social
problem through the information of causes and course of that problem.

5. an organization is always influenced by the socio-cultural forces of the environment. Social

forces such as social structure, social institutions and social class has its significant influence in
management operations and decisions

6. Besides, cultural forces such as religion, language, values, attitudes and beliefs also affect the
organization

7. Sociology provides the educational background needed for managers to understand their
employees and customers

8. Business leaders that understand sociology are able to anticipate customer needs and respond
to employee problems in ways others cannot.

9. Studying sociology helps to develop your analytical thinking and capabilities. Sociologists analyze
qualitative and quantitative data to determine the effects of phenomena on a population.

10. A background in sociology gives business leaders and human resource managers an advantage
when dealing with employees in the workplace.

11. With this background, those in business can avoid alienating employees or hurting company
loyalty.

Market Opportunities

1. Sociologists understand that certain phenomena create conditions that influence groups of
people.

Public Relations

1. Sociology is fundamental to the public relations department of any major company.