UNDERSTANDING SOCIOLOGY

                           SOCIOLOGY AS A HUMANISTIC DISCIPLINE Peter L. Berger’s Book INVITATION TO SOCIOLOGY: A HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE is a book about sociology as a scientific methodology and a perspective through which the world can be explored. The author’s major proposition is that sociology is not limited to statistics to which many people often reduce the importance of the science and it is not even limited to being a particular scientific discipline that is part of social science. But it world view in a way sociologist approach various situations in which people orient their actions towards one another i.e. social situations from the perspectives of these interactions and build a system of method to analyze social process. According to Berger sociology’s ongoing communication with other discipline that are vitally concerned with exploring human conditions. (Berger 1963:168) He explains huma...

  ETHNICITY   The term ethnicity and ethnic group are often used interchangeably. In actually, although the two terms are closely related there is a nuance dividing them. While ethnic group is a social group based on ancestry, culture or national origin, ethnicity refers to affiliation or identification with an ethnic group. The term "ethnicity" refers to the shared culture, practices, values and beliefs of a group. There may also be a common language, religion and traditions between them. An ethnic group is a collection of people whose members identify with each other through a common heritage, consists a common culture which may also include shared language or dialect. Common ancestor, religion or race may also be a focal point of Group's ethos or ideology. According to sociologist Max Weber , there are three reasons why ethnic groups are a social construct and an artificial construct. First of all, they're based on an objective view and second, that belief...

  CLASS IN TRIBAL SOCIETY   There have been many misconception and misconstructions regarding the interpretation of tribal societies. Most of the classical theories or studies on tribal societies all over the world undertaken by various historians and scholars maintain that tribal societies are more or less egalitarian in nature, characterized by collective conscience and communal ownership of land and the questions of differentiation and inequality do not arise. S.L. Sharma argues that: “ Several studies of social stratification, ranking system and class formation among the tribes all over World have reported absence of social differential in tribal societies. For centuries tribal people were seen as undifferentiated”. Contemporary empirical studies conducted by some scholars such as K.L. Sharma, R.K. Prasad, Ghanshyam Shah, S.L. Doshi amongst other reveal that Indian tribes are not egalitarian and undifferentiated as claimed by the earlier writers. Some forms of di...

  ECOLOGY ·          Ecology is a biological term for the interaction of organisms and their environment which includes other organisms ·          Cultural ecology is a theoretical approach that attempts to explain similarities and differences in culture in relation to environment. ·          Focus on how the material culture or technology related to the basic survival of human beings. ·          The cultural ecology theory considers: How environmental forces influences humans How human activities affect the biosphere and the earth itself ·          Julian Steward founded the theory of cultural ecology in his book : THE THEORY OF CULTURAL CHANGE (1955) ·          His idea of culture and ecology was influenced by Franz Boas · ...

  IDENTITY   §        Identity is a social construct. §        It refers to how the individual is perceived and labeled by the self and society. §        Determinant factors of an individual’s position and identity in the societal world             BEHAVIOUR             PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTE             MEMBERSHIP             SOCIAL ROLES §        It is the public face of the person in the world §        Identity is the basis of human relationship in society §        Identity is:       Constructed                 ...