Best Sociology Optional Books for UPSC Preparation

Sociology is one of the easiest optional subjects and is one of the most favored optional subjects among IAS aspirants because of the short syllabus. There is a lot of online and offline study material, and aspirants from various academic backgrounds can pick sociology optional and get good marks. Sociology paper comprises two papers, where Paper 1 is Fundamentals of Sociology for the study of society developed by western scholars and Paper 2 is for Indian society.

Sociology optional subject for UPSC has a lot of syllabi that overlap with topics from General Studies and essay topics that were asked in the previous years. Thus, along with the preparation of Sociology optional, your essay preparation is also done.

Along with books, mentorship, good guidance, a proper strategy, and good quality of study material are required for getting a high score. For this, join The Thought Tree (T3) for Sociology Optional Coaching. T3 offers the best study material, counselling, answer writing practice, interview guidance, and mock tests. A schedule is created for finishing the syllabus for IAS and Sociology optional.

The scores of the mains exam are dependent on the marks of the optional papers. The higher the score, the higher the rank. Given below is a list of the sociology books:

• Sociological Theory: George Ritzer 
• Society In India: Concepts, Theories And Recent Trends – Ram Ahuja 
• Social Problems In India: Ram Ahuja 
• Oxford Dictionary Of Sociology 
• Sociology Themes and Perspectives: Michael Haralambos, Martin Holborn 
• Sociology: Anthony Giddens 
• Social Change In Modern India: M. N. SRINIVAS 
• Caste Its Twentieth Century Avatar: M. N. SRINIVAS 
• Persistence and Change in Tribal India: M.V. Rao 
• Social Background of Indian Nationalism: A. R. Desai 
• Modernization Of Indian Tradition: Yogendra Singh 
• Sociological Thought: Francis Abraham, John Henry Morgan 

Sociology Optional Books for UPSC

UPSC Sociology Syllabus 

Sociological Thinkers

• Karl Marx: Historical materialism, mode of production, and class struggle.
• Emile Durkheim: Division of labour, social fact, suicide, religion and society.
• Max Weber: Social action, bureaucracy, the spirit of capitalism, and authority.
• Talcott Parsons: Social system, pattern variables.
• Robert K. Merton: Conformity and deviance, reference groups and latent and manifest functions.
• Mead: Self-identity.

Sociology as Science

• Positivism and its critique.
• Major theoretical strands of research methodology.
• Non- positivist methodologies.
• Fact value and objectivity.
• Science, scientific method and critique.

Research Methods and Analysis

• Techniques of data collection.
• Qualitative and quantitative methods.
• Variables, reliability, validity, sampling, and hypothesis.

Sociology – The Discipline

• Modernity and social changes in Europe and the emergence of sociology.
• Scope of the subject and comparison with other social sciences.
• Sociology and common sense.

Stratification and Mobility:

• Theories of social stratification: Structural functionalist theory, Marxist theory, Weberian theory.
• Concepts: equality, inequality, hierarchy, exclusion, poverty and deprivation.
• Social mobility: open and closed systems, types of mobility, sources and causes of mobility.
• Dimensions: Social stratification of class, status groups, gender, ethnicity and race.

Politics and Society:

• Sociological theories of power.
• Protest, agitation, social movements, collective action, revolution.
• Power elite, bureaucracy, pressure groups, and political parties.
• Nation, state, citizenship, democracy, civil society, ideology.

Works and Economic Life:

• Formal and informal organization of work.
• Labour and society.
• Social organization of work in various kinds of society such as feudal society, capitalist society and slave society.

Religion and Society:

• Sociological theories of religion.
• Types of religious practices: animism, monism, pluralism, sects, cults.
• Religion in modern society: religion and science, secularization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism.

Systems of Kinship:

• Lineage and descent.
• Patriarchy and the sexual division of labour.
• Family, household, marriage.
• Kinds of family.

Social Change in Modern Society:

• Sociological theories of social change.
• Development and dependency.
• Agents of social change.
• Education and social change.
• Science, technology and social change.

1. Introducing Indian Society

Impact of colonial rule on Indian society:

• Social reforms.
• Social background of Indian nationalism.
• Modernization of Indian tradition.
• Protests and movements of the colonial period.

Perspectives on the study of Indian society:

• Indology (GS. Ghurye).
• Structural functionalism (M N Srinivas).
• Marxist sociology (A R Desai).

2. Social Structure

Tribal communities in India:

• Definitional problems.
• Geographical spread.
• Colonial policies and tribes.
• Issues of integration and autonomy.

Rural and Agrarian Social Structure:

• The idea of Indian village and village studies.
• Agrarian social structure – the evolution of land tenure system, land reforms.

Social Classes in India:

• Agrarian class structure.
• Industrial class structure.
• Middle classes in India.

Caste System:

• Perspectives on the study of caste systems: GS Ghurye, M N Srinivas, Louis Dumont, Andre Beteille.
• Features of the caste system.
• Untouchability – forms and perspectives.

Religion and Society:

• Religious communities in India.
• Problems of religious minorities.

Systems of Kinship in India:

• Lineage and descent in India.
• Types of kinship systems.
• Family and marriage in India.
• Household dimensions of the family.
• Patriarchy, entitlements and sexual division of labour.

3. Social Changes in India

Rural and Agrarian transformation in India:

• Programmes of rural development, Community Development Programme, cooperatives, poverty alleviation schemes.
• Green revolution and social change.
• Changing modes of production in Indian agriculture.
• Problems of rural labour, bondage, migration.

Read More: How to get good marks in exam

Politics and Society:

• Nation, democracy and citizenship.
• Political parties, pressure groups, social and political elite.
• Regionalism and decentralization of power.
• Secularization.

Visions of Social Change in India:

• Idea of development planning and mixed economy.
• Constitution, law and social change.
• Education and social change.

Industrialization and Urbanisation in India:

• Evolution of the modern industry in India.
• Growth of urban settlements in India.
• Working class: structure, growth, class mobilization.
• Informal sector, child labour.
• Slums and deprivation in urban areas.

Social Movements in Modern India:

• Peasants and farmers movements.
• Women’s movement.
• Backward classes & Dalit movement.
• Environmental movements.
• Ethnicity and Identity movements.

Final Word 

So with this, we have come to the end of Sociology Optional Books. There is no denying that optional subjects play a crucial role in clearing the most challenging exam of India. Many UPSC aspirants have picked Sociology as the optional subject from different academic backgrounds because of its success rate. 

I hope that this article about the recommended books for sociology optional will be helpful to you. Understand the syllabus, look at the previous year’s papers, and begin preparing.

Happy Learning!