UPSC Sociology Optional Syllabus 2026

Topic

Subtopics

Sociology - The Discipline

(a) Modernity and social changes in Europe and the emergence of Sociology.

(b) Scope of the subject and comparison with other social sciences.

(c) Sociology and common sense.

Sociology as Science

(a) Science, scientific method, and critique.

(b) Major theoretical strands of research methodology.

(c) Positivism and its critique.

(d) Fact value and objectivity.

(e) Non-positivist methodologies

Research Methods and Analysis

(a) Qualitative and quantitative methods.

(b) Techniques of data collection.

(c) Variables, sampling, hypothesis, reliability, and validity

Sociological Thinkers

(a) Karl Marx - Historical materialism, mode of production, alienation, class struggle.

(b) Emile Durkheim - Division of labour, social fact, suicide, religion and society.

(c) Max Weber - Social action, ideal types, authority, bureaucracy, protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism.

(d) Talcolt Parsons - Social system, pattern variables.

(e) Robert K. Merton - Latent and manifest functions, conformity and deviance, reference groups.

(f) Mead - Self and identity

Stratification and Mobility

(a) Concepts - equality, inequality, hierarchy, exclusion, poverty and deprivation.

(b) Theories of social stratification - Structural functionalist theory, Marxist theory, Weberian theory.

(c) Dimensions - Social stratification of class, status groups, gender, ethnicity and race.

(d) Social mobility - open and closed systems, types of mobility, sources and causes of mobility.

Works and Economic Life

(a) Social organisation of work in different types of society - slave society, feudal society, industrial capitalist society

(b) Formal and informal organisation of work.

(c) Labour and society.

Politics and Society

(a) Sociological theories of power.

(b) Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups, and political parties.

(c) Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.

(d) Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.

Religion and Society

(a) Sociological theories of religion.

(b) Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.

(c) Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularisation, religious revivalism, fundamentalism

Systems of Kinship

(a) Family, household, marriage.

(b) Types and forms of family.

(c) Lineage and descent.

(d) Patriarchy and sexual division of labour.

(e) Contemporary trends.

Social Change in Modern Society

(a) Sociological theories of social change.

(b) Development and dependency.

(c) Agents of social change.

(d) Education and social change.

(e) Science, technology, and social change

Topics

Subtopics

Introducing Indian Society

Perspectives on the Study of Indian Society

1. Indology (G.S. Ghure).

2. Structural functionalism (M. N. Srinivas).

3. Marxist sociology (A. R. Desai).

Impact of colonial rule on Indian society

1. Social background of Indian nationalism.

2. Modernisation of Indian tradition.

3. Protests and movements during the colonial period.

4. Social reforms.

Social Structure

Rural and Agrarian Social Structure

1. The idea of Indian village and village studies.

2. Agrarian social structure—evolution of land tenure system, land reforms.

Caste System

1. Perspectives on the study of caste systems: G. S. Ghurye, M. N. Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre Beteille.

2. Features of caste system.

3. Untouchability- forms and perspectives

Tribal Communities in India

1. Definitional problems.

2. Geographical spread.

3. Colonial policies and tribes.

4. Issues of integration and autonomy.

Social Classes in India

1. Agrarian class structure.

2. Industrial class structure.

3. The middle classes in India.

Systems of Kinship in India

1. Lineage and descent in India.

2. Types of kinship systems.

3. Family and marriage in India.

4. Household dimensions of the family.

5. Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour.

Religion and Society

1. Religious communities in India.

2. Problems of religious minorities.

Social Changes in India

Visions of Social Change in India

1. The idea of development planning and mixed economy.

2. Constitution, law and social change.

3. Education and social change.

Rural and Agrarian Transformation in India

1. Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives, and poverty alleviation schemes.

2. Green revolution and social change.

3. Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.

4. Problems of rural labour, bondage, and migration.

Industrialisation and Urbanisation in India

1. Evolution of modern industry in India.

2. Growth of urban settlements in India.

3. Working class: structure, growth, class mobilisation.

4. Informal sector, child labour.

5. Slums and deprivation in urban areas.

Politics and Society

1. Nation, democracy, and citizenship.

2. Political parties, pressure groups, social and political elite.

3. Regionalism and decentralisation of power.

4. Secularisation.

Social Movements in Modern India

1. Peasants and farmers' movements.

2. Women’s movement.

3. Backward classes & Dalit movements.

4. Environmental movements.

5. Ethnicity and Identity movements.

Population Dynamics

1. Population size, growth, composition, and distribution.

2. Components of population growth: birth, death, migration.

3. Population Policy and Family Planning.

4. Emerging issues: ageing, sex ratios, child and infant mortality, reproductive health.

Challenges of Social Transformation

1. Crisis of development: displacement, environmental problems, and sustainability.

2. Poverty, deprivation, and inequalities.

3. Violence against women.

4. Caste conflicts.

5. Ethnic conflicts, communalism, and religious revivalism.

6. Illiteracy and disparities in education.

S.No.

Book

Author(s)

1

Sociology

Anthony Giddens

2

Sociological Theory

Ritzer George

3

Sociology

Haralambos & Holborn

4

Oxford Dictionary Of Sociology

Oxford

5

Sociological Thought

M Francis Abraham and John Henry Morgan

6

Political Theory

O P Gauba

S. No.

Book

Author(s)

1

Social Change in India

M N Srinivas

2

Caste Its Twentieth Century Avatar

M N Srinivas

3

Handbook of Indian Sociology

Veena Das

4

Indian Society and Culture

Nadeem Hasnain

5

Modernisation of Indian Tradition

Yogendra Singh

6

Persistence and Change in Tribal India

M.V. Rao

7

Rural Sociology

S L Doshi

8

Social Background of Indian Nationalism

A R Desai