Changing social structure and mobility Essay

Rural Society: The village is the oldest permanent community of man. All early communities were basically rural in character. Bogardus says, â€Å"Human society has been cradled in the rural group†. The rural community is simply means a community that consists of people living in a limited physical area and who have common interests and common ways of satisfying them. Each society consists of different parts, such as individuals, groups, institutions, associations, and communities. The simplest analogy one can think of at this point is that of an organism that has different components working together as a whole. Society is a system like any other system, such as the solar system. The major features of rural society are: 1. Small size of village community, 2. Intimate relations, 3. Jajmani System, 4. Isolation, 5. Social homogeneity, 6. Informal Social Control, 7. Dominance of Joint Family, 8. Status of Rural Women, 9. Occupation, 10. Role of neighborhood, 11. Faith in religion, 12. Self Sufficiency, 13. Widespread caste system, 14. Simplicity, 15. Feelings, 16. Fellow feelings, 17. Conservatism, 18. Observance of moral norms, 19. Poverty, 20. Illiteracy, 21. Desire for Independence, 22. Dominance of primary relations, 23. Social Homogeneity, 24. Occupations, 25. Preservers of the Ancient culture of the society, 26. Legal Self Government, 27. Change in the Villages. Urban Society: As a result of development in science and technology, there has been industrial development. Due to industrial development there is urbanization as a result of which urban societies created. Every country has its own urban society. Every village possesses some elements of the city while every city carries some feature of the villages. Different criteria are used to decide a community as urban. Some of them are, for example, population, legal limits, types of occupations, social organizations. The city in the words of Louis wirth refers to â€Å"a relatively large, dense and permanent settlement of socially heterogeneous individuals. † The Major Features of Urban Society are: 1. Social Heterogeneity, 2. Secondary Relations, 3. Anonymity, 4. Secondary Control, 5. Large-scale Division of Labour and Specialization, 6. Large-scale social mobility, 7. Individuation, 8. Voluntary Association, 9. Social Reference, 10. Unstable Family, 11. Special Segregation, 12. Lack of community feeling, 13. Lack of unity in family, 14. Moral Laxity, 15. Unbalanced personality, 16. High incidence of crime, 17. Social disorganization, 18. Peculiarities of marital life, 19. Dynamic life, 20. Voluntary associations are formed quickly, 21. Artificial life. Forms of diversity in India Unity implies oneness or a sense of we-ness; it holds tightly together the various relationships of ethnic groups or institutions in a dovetailed manner through the bonds of contrived structures, norms and values. The sources of diversity in India may be traced through a variety of ways, the most obvious being the ethnic origins, religions, castes, tribes, languages, social customs, cultural and sub cultural beliefs, political philosophies and ideologies, geographical variations etc. A. Linguistic diversity The high degree of large diversity found in India is due to the existence of diverse population groups. The greatest variety in languages can be found in the one of the biggest democracies in the world. Most of these languages are distinct and have their own distinct form of writing and speech. The dictionary defines ‘Diversity’, as variety or different. Languages are defined as a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. In India, the tribal communities are smallest in geographical spread and in population strength. They cover only 8. 8% (1991census) of the Indian population. Not only we should consider linguistic diversity as a resource of human kind but also should conceive both the decline in the number of languages and the emerging trend in having mono linguistic dominance over small languages as a threat to our plural existence. It is to be accepted that even in the very ecological sense, like bio-diversity, linguistic diversity should also need to maintain. Post-Independence Period After India obtained its independence, policies had to be formulated for the administration of the newly born nation. While forming the constitution of India, the leaders of the nation had to come up with a national language. They decided on Hindi as the national language and the use of English for official purposes. The Present situation Though the situation has improved from the early fifties, there has not been a significant development. India still faces the problems due to the diversity in languages. One of the foremost problems is the lack of a unified language system. Though a national language was chosen among the 114 officially recognized languages and 216 (Census of 1991) mother tongues in India, only 28% of the populations speak this language. People in India have a sense of belonging to a particular language speaking community rather that the nation as a whole. B. Religious diversity Religion is a major concern of man. Religion is universal, permanent, pervasive and perennial interests of man. The institution of religion is universal. It is found in all the societies, past and present. Religious beliefs and practices are, however, far from being uniform. Religious dogmas have influenced and conditioned economic endeavors, political movements, properly dealings, and educational tasks. The major religions in India are following: Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Christianity, Islam, Parsi, The basic ideas and faith of the each religion differs. But they co existently stood in Indian society. The preamble of the Constitution of India proclaims India to be a secular republic where citizens may freely worship and propagate any religion of their choice. The right to freedom of religion is also declared as a fundamental right by the Constitution of India. Indian religions have exerted significant influence all over the world. PART II : FAMILY, MARRIAGE AND KINSHIP Family in Indian Society The family is the basic unit of society. It is the first and the most immediate social environment to which a child is exposed. It is in the family a child learns language, the behavioral Patterns and social norms in his childhood. In some way or the other the family is a universal group. It exists in tribal, rural and urban communities and among the followers of all religions and cultures. It provides the most enduring relationship in one form or other. From the moment of birth to the moment of death the family exerts a constant influence. In spite of the universal and permanent nature of the family one can also see vast difference in its structure in different societies. In tribal and agrarian societies people of several generations live together. These societies have large and ‘joint families’. In the industrial society the family is limited to husband, wife and their children. Sociologist calls it a ‘nuclear family’. The family is formed with number of members. These members live together. They have a home. They have definite purposes in living together. In this sense the family in a group. There is certain rules and procedures at the roots of the family. In this sense the family in an institution. Factors affected the family: A) The consanguine Family declines: The consanguineous or joint family tended to disappear especially in the western world and conjugal or nuclear family has become predominant with the increasing urbanization and industrialization people are less subject to Parental control which lessens social control. Women have attained a new legal status in which there is less discrimination between them and men. B). Increasing Rate of Divorce: Divorce is the most obvious symptom of family disintegration. Economic freedom, new life style, new idealities together creates an idea of free life. The traditional joint family system in India has under gone vast changes. They have definitely affected its structure and functions. Milton singer has identified most there are; Education, Industrialization, Urbanization, changes in the institution of marriage. C. Influence of education: Modern education affected joint family in several ways. It has brought about a change in the attitude, beliefs, values and ideologies of the people. Education which is spreading even amongst the females has created and aroused the individualistic feelings. The increasing education not only brings changes in the philosophy of life of men and women, but also provides new opportunities of employment to the women. After becoming economically independent, women demand more freedom in family affairs. They refuse to accept anybody’s domination over them. Education in this way brings changes in relations in the family.D. Impact of Industrialization: New system of production based on factory and new joint families have disintegrated considerably. 2. The impact of Economic and Technological changes: Industrial development and application of new advanced techniques reduced the economic functions of family. The technological changes took both the work and workers out of the home. E. Chang es in the position of women: The chief factor causing changes in the position of women in our society lie in her changing economic role. New economic rule provided a new position in society and especially in their relation to men.