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Summary
Society Class 02

THE CLASS STARTED (IN CONTINUATION) AT: (01:05 PM):

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WESTERNIZATION AND MODERNIZATION: (01:06 PM):

  • Parameters Westernization Modernization
    1) Concept Blind imitation of the culture of the West Progressive transformations of social, political, economic, and psychological aspects of the society
    2) Nature It deals with the peripheral aspects of culture e.g. food habits, music, dressing style, etc. It deals with changes at a fundamental level e.g. infra, technology, etc.
    3) Scope It is an elite concept that impacts the upper and middle class. It is a mass affair that penetrates all levels of society.
    4) Desirability Prima facie Westernization is not a negative concept, it is a personal choice. Modernization brings rationalistic transformations and holistic. It is desirable.
  • 1) It is not desirable when people are restricted to Westernization in the name of Modernization.
  • 2) Modernization is not antithetical to traditions, both can co-exist together, it is only against regressive traditions.

FAMILY: (01:24 PM):

  • Joint Family:
  • Concept.
  • Types of family: Marriage, Residence, Ancestry, etc.
  • Features of Joint Family.
  • Life cycles of Joint Family.
  • Functions and dysfunctions of the Joint Family.
  • Impacts of Globalization on the Joint Family.
  • 1) Concept: Family is defined as a Social Group consisting of people united by ties blood, marriage, or adoption.
  • It is characterized by common residence, sexual gratification, reproduction, and economic cooperation.
  • 2) Types OF Family:
  • 2.1) Marriage:
  • Types Of Marriage:
  • Monogamous: (Straight and Serial).
  • Polygamy: (Polygyny and Polyandry).
  • Sologamy: It is marriage by a person to themself.
  • Examples are Polygyny in Islam, Naga Tribes, Juang tribes, and Lushai.
  • Polygamy: Khasa tribe, Toda tribe, Kota tribe.
  • According to NFHS Survey Report 05, the data w.r.t to Polygamy is as follows:
  • a) The maximum incidences are among tribals in the North-Eastern States.
  • b) 2.1% among Christians, 1.9% among Muslims, 1.3% among Hindus, and 1.6% among other religious groups.
  • Question: Discuss the implication of a skewed sex ratio on society (10 marks/150 words).
  • W.r.t to polyandry, according to a study by the Punjab University, there is a rise in polyandrous marriages due to poverty lack of agricultural land, and a skewed sex ratio.
  • W.R.T sologamy has recently emerged in the context of India where a female named Shama Bindu practiced sologamy.
  • Sologamy is an expression of self-love where individuals marry in public light there are no legal sanctions.
  • It is a symbolic ceremony to emphasize self and independence.
  • It is also perceived that now women have education and economic opportunities, hence no longer dependent on others for survival.
  • However, it can be seen as a threat to the institution of marriage.
  • 2.2) Residence:
  • Patrilocal: The wife comes to the husband's home post-marriage.
  • Matrilocal: The wife after marriage stays at her place and the husband has to shift near the wife. Practiced in Garo, and Khasi tribes in India.
  • Neo-local: Both Husband/wife go to an altogether new place.
  • Due to Globalization, we are moving from patrilocal to neo-local.
  • 2.3) Ancestry:
  • a) Patrilineal: When the lineage is traced from the father's side it is patrilineal.
  • b) Matrilineal: Lineage traced from the mother's side (Garo, Khasi, etc.)
  • Patrilineal and patrilocality are the main reasons for the skewed sex ratio of birth.
  • Due to patrilineality, there exists a desirability of a male child which is often referred to as a Son-meta Preference.
  • The girl goes to her husband's place, equal rights in property there is a fear of fragmentation of assets.
  • Based on composition the family can be joint or nuclear:
  • The basic difference is w.r.t with the number of generations e.g. nuclear family maximum of two generations and joint family minimum of three generations but more than this in joint families blood relations are more important than marital relations.
  • Features of Indian Joint family:
  • Patrilocal.
  • Patrilineal.
  • Common residence.
  • Common kitchen.
  • Common sharing of property.
  • Centralized authority (power is in the hand of the oldest male member).
  • Blood relations are more important than marital relations.
  • Age and sex are the main ordering principles of family hierarchy.

FUNCTIONS AND DYSFUNCTIONS OF THE JOINT FAMILY: (02:20 PM):

  • Functions:
  • a) Agency of Primary Socialization: Juvenile crime, suicide, and the emergence of broken men, etc. can be attributed to the disintegration of the joint family.
  • b) Agency of Social Control: The incidents of crime against children are on the rise due to the disintegration of joint families.
  • c) Agency of Social Insurance: From each according to their ability and each according to their need.
  • For example, globalization leads to the disintegration of joint families due to a rise in vulnerability of old people.
  • d) Economic Cooperation: Prevents fragmentation of the assets, and secures economic expenditures.
  • The joint family also provides emotional and social support which acts as a basis of ingroups for individuals.
  • Dysfunctions:
  • a) Lack of privacy.
  • b) High fertility rate.
  • c) Low standard of living.
  • d) Low status of women.
  • e) Self-alienation: In a joint family setup there exist reciprocal obligations between the family members as a result people are acting as per the expectation of others and not their original self.
  • f) Formation of ghettos is leading to 'Us' vs. 'Them'.
  • Ghettos are defined as geographical areas habitated by the people of the same community e.g. family in this case.
  • This process is referred to as Ghettoization which might lead to cultural integration.
  • g) The joint family also acts as an Ideological conditioning device where the child is socialized to always obey the authority which creates a submissive workforce and hence reproduction of social labor.
  • In today's time, the joint family is emerging as an arena of conflict and contradiction because joint families talk about collectivism, cooperation, and delayed gratification as society is becoming individualistic, competitive, and marred with consumerism.
  • h) W.R.T to joint family sexual division is very prominent which may deny the opportunity of upward mobility to women.

LIFE-CYCLE OF THE JOINT FAMILIES: (03:03 PM):

  • 1) Disintegration of Joint Family:
  • 1.1) Migration:
  • a) Push factors: Agricultural distress, population pressure on the rise, lack of infrastructure, prejudices.
  • b) Pull factors: Industrialization, Urbanization, Robust Infra, Better standard of living, opportunities.
  • 1.2) To evade land-ceiling laws people resorted to the theoretical partition which later sowed the seeds for the actual partition of the joint family.
  • 1.3) Westernization: People started emulating the practices and values of the West e.g. individualism, nuclear families, and friendship is more important than kinship.
  • 1.4 ) Further alternatives to marriage are emerging such as live-in relationships which are also leading to the disintegration of joint families.
  • According to Milton Singer, the more a woman is empowered, the more she is aware of her rights. The more she asserts, the more it comes in direct contradiction with the features of the traditional joint family.
  • 1.5) It is believed that certain laws such as minimum wages, and property rights have reduced the financial dependence on the family.
  • 1.6) Because the modern value system has led to a rational education system and as a result, more an individual will question the regressive nature of the society.
  • 2) Reinforcement of the Joint Families:
  • 2.1) Chain migration and the high cost of living which makes separate living unaffordable reinforces the concept of Joint Family.
  • 2.2) Child rearing in a dual career (both husband/wife working) family.
  • 2.3) Due to globalization there is a structural disintegration of the joint family, but functional jointness is there e.g. physical/financial obligations, celebrating festivals, and performance of rituals.
  • There was doubt among the sociologists regarding disintegration hence they introduced the concept of a household that has two characteristics i.e. Common Residence and a common kitchen.
  • Hence, they concluded that it is the joint household that is disintegrating rather than the joint families.
  • 2.4) Globalization has resulted in the emerging nature of the work e.g. work from home which resulted in the reinforcement of the joint families.
  • 2.5) Industrialization provides economic bases to sustain a joint family.
  • 2.6) Feeling of nativism.

TOPICS OF THE NEXT CLASS: Continuation of Remaining topics of the family system, etc.