Chapter – 5

Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion

In this post we have given the detailed notes of class 12 Sociology Chapter 5 (Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion) in English. These notes are useful for the students who are going to appear in class 12 board exams.

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India and Social Inequality and Equality

• Social inequality or inequality is a common practice for every person born in India.
• We have all seen many sections of people in our country, some people who are very poor and on the contrary, some people who are very rich.
• Social inequality or inequality exists on a large scale in India.
• This is social inequality; inequality is not natural but due to Indian society itself.

Social inequality

• The situation when all the citizens of the country do not have equal access to the resources available in the country, social inequality is called equality.
  • Resources available in the country such as education, wealth, health, power etc.
• In this situation, one section of society has many resources while on the other hand other people have almost no resources, this creates a situation of poverty and prosperity in the country.
  • There are some people who have enough resources, due to which the poor, rich and middle class emerge in the country.
  • In our country, you will find many examples of social inequalities such as discrimination on the basis of caste, women not being given their rights, tribals not getting adequate facilities.
• In this situation, the rich lead a comfortable life while the poor people have to live a life full of suffering.
• This social diversity or inequality is not natural, it arises from the rules of society and the way it functions.

Social Stratification

• Within every society, people are divided at different levels, some of these levels are considered high and some are considered low.
• The system of society which classifies people in the society and divides them into higher or lower levels is called social stratification
• According to social stratification, classes get different status. A class is considered as high while a class is considered inferior to it and some classes are given the status of lowest classes
• This stratification or division of society persists from generation to generation and it is transferred from the present generation to the future generation
• This social stratification or division is strengthened by the beliefs and ideologies of the people and that is why it remains in the society.

Prejudice

• Prejudice literally means a prior decision i.e., taking a decision in advance.
• Prejudice is the situation when we form our opinion for the person of that community based on some old things without knowing the status of a person or community.

For example

• In Indian society, some communities are considered heroic and brave.
• While there are some communities that are considered normal in society.
• Some communities are seen as fully involved in trade.
• While some other communities are seen to be completely associated with religious topics
• People of all these communities may be associated with different tasks in the present situation, but due to these biases, all of them are associated with these works.

Social Boycott

• Social exclusion is the system or method of society by which a single person or community is prevented from fully integrating into society, i.e., efforts are made to keep a particular community or person separate from society.
• Exclusion includes all the reasons why a section or individual of society is excluded from all the opportunities and resources that are easily available to the rest of society.
• To live an active and fulfilling life, a person needs his basic needs such as bread, cloth, and housing as well as some other services such as education, health, traffic insurance, bank, police, etc. But due to social exclusion, the person somehow arranges for bread, clothes, and housing, but other facilities are not available to him, thus he does not live a full life.
• Social exclusion does not happen suddenly, it is the result of the structure of our society, that is, the structure of our society, in other words, the way our society is created, exclusion is born.
• For example, in ancient India, when upper caste Hindus banned lower caste people from visiting temples for a long time, after some time these people stopped trying and demanding to go to Hindu temples. Built separate temples or adopted religions like Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam

India and Boycott

• In ancient times, the Brahminical system in India boycotted the Dalits and Chandal people in the name of untouchability, while in present-day India, the poor were boycotted in other areas.
• We will mainly discuss about four groups that have been victims of social inequality and exclusion in India: Dalits, former untouchable castes, tribals, i.e., tribes, women, otherwise abled people.

Caste system

• The caste system in India has a long history.
• These castes are determined based on the work being done by the person and these castes are associated with a person from birth.

Other Backward Classes

• In India, socially and economically backward castes are included in the OBC category, it included those people who neither belong to the very upper caste nor go down the very low, but these were the people who were living a normal poor life and were economically and educationally weak.
• The OBC Commission was first constituted under the chairmanship of Kakasaheb Kalelkar.
• But given the circumstances of that period, it was not considered further
• After the imposition of Emergency in the country, once again the demand for the rights of other backward classes arose, in this period, the second Backward Class Commission was appointed under the chairmanship of BP Mandal.
• Their recommendations were incorporated in the 93rd Amendment of the Constitution and other backward classes were given reservation in higher educational institutions

Untouchability

• Untouchability or untouchability is the worst aspect of the Indian caste system, under which a particular community was considered contaminated and touching them was also considered a sin.
• These communities had no part in the caste hierarchy.
• It used to be completely different from society, those people who were around got nothing but exclusion, disrespect, and exploitation from society.

Dimensions of Untouchability

• Social exclusion, disrespect exploitation
• These people were called Harijans by Gandhiji, Harijan means people of Lord Hari.
• Untouchability has been banned by the Indian Constitution to eliminate untouchability in the country.
• This Act of the Indian Constitution is effective from June 1, 1955

Tribes

• During the process of development in the country, the tribes have suffered the most, due to which they had to face replacement, due to which the culture and communities of these tribes were completely shattered.

Steps taken to end discrimination.

• Many steps were taken to end the discrimination being done to the caste and tribes in Indian society.
• Reservation was made in state legislatures for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• Reservation was given to people of castes and tribes in government jobs.
• Untouchability was criminalised under the Government of India Act 1955
• In 1989, the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Abolition Act was enacted.
• By the 93rd Amendment of the Indian Constitution, reservation was given to other backward classes in higher educational institutions in the country.
• Other backward classes included those who were economically or educationally backward in the country.

Women’s Rights

• It is argued by many that inequality between men and women is natural, but this argument is completely wrong because if this equality was natural then why some women reach places again in the society.
• There are also many countries and societies in the world where women are in power, and their women do this work efficiently.
• If women are naturally ineligible, how can they successfully pursue agriculture and trade?
• So, on all these grounds it can be said that equality between men and women is the gift of society and not of nature.
• It is completely wrong to discriminate between men and women in this way.

Movements to improve the condition of women.

• Raja Ram Mohan Roy opposed the practice of Sati and child marriage prevalent in the country and he supported widow marriage.
• Jyotiba Phule openly opposes atrocities against women based on caste and gender in the country.
• Sir Syed Ahmed Khan recommends girls go to school to promote social reforms in Islam.
• Dayanand Saraswati ji contributed to the education of women.
• Ranade stresses on widow remarriage
• Tarabai Shinde wrote The Gender Comparison, which depicts how men have been wrongly elevated in society.
• Begum Ruqaiya Hussain brought a book called Sultan Dream in which she recommended equal rights for every gender in society.
• In the 1970s, there were many movements related to women in which women spoke openly on issues like rape, dowry, and murder.

Disability Disability

• A disabled or disabled person is said to be one who cannot meet his needs according to the society due to being physically or mentally handicapped.
• The term disability is currently used for people with disabilities or disabilities.
• When problems arise in front of a disabled person, it is assumed that it is all the result of his short distance, that is, that person is held responsible for all of them, which is completely wrong.
• A close link between poverty and disability can be seen because due to poverty many women are victims of malnutrition, due to which she gives birth to a rare child and in the future that child gets included in the disabled category.
• Many programs are run by the government to help the disabled at many levels.
• They are encouraged to move forward in the field of education and business so that they can also lead a life like normal people.
• The government also runs many such awareness programs so that people give equal status to disabled people in society and accept them.

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