Class presentation on Why I am not a Hindu

A presentation was made by a group of students from PSEco on the much discussed and debated work of Kancha Ilaiah, titled Why I am Not a Hindu. Each one of the group members took a few aspects of the book and explained them thoroughly – starting from the status of women among the dalit bahujan society in contrast to the relatively oppressed status of women in the brahminical society; to the stark difference between them and the mainstream Hindu society with respect of modes of worship or deities. Not only this, they were also able to bring out the passion with which Kancha Ilaiah wrote this book, and the passion with which he believed in his ideals. All in all, it was a very informative and well structured presentation. 

2016: Academic Presentations

The academic year for 2016 – 2017 has been enriching, thought provoking and fulfilling for the undergraduate students currently in their sophomore year.

The academic voyage began with an odyssey through the budding years of classical Sociology with the founding fathers August Comte, Herbert Spencer, and Emile Durkheim. As a scientific study of society its essence resides in Critical Thinking, thereby the sea of Marxist ideas and Weberian ‘Verstehen’ paved way, encouraging divergent thinking, as opposed to the mainstream structural- functionalist approach. Collectively, by the end of the third semester the wide array of theoretical perspectives enriched pre-existing knowledge about the discipline while exposing the pupils to newer concepts and stirring ideas.

 

On the other hand the consequent semester focuses on the Study of Indian Society. As a result enabling the students to contextualise the former Eurocentric discipline and situate it within the context of India; understand the emergence of Indian sociology in relation to Colonial Anthropology, Orientalism, Indology; subsequently countering colonial constructions and conceptualisation concerning the nature and composition of our Pluralistic society using Marxist and Subaltern perspectives.

While the curriculum offers room for debates and classroom discussions, the unique and non-conventional approach adopted by our professors enhanced consumption of knowledge. All students belonging to 2^nd PSEnglish, 2ndPSEconomics and 2^nd EPSociology were encouraged to participate in panel discussions, shoot documentaries, and deliver presentations on pre-planned days. This along with our Continual Internal Assignments engaged the pupils in the course while also teaching them values extending much beyond the curriculum.

As actors and members of society, roles are introduced and assigned by institutions, while being internalised by individuals. Although a generalisation it isn’t very misleading to assume that a significant majority of the pupils are very likely to join the workforce soon after.

Hence acquiring and enhancing one’s communication skills is an important part of academic training. Committed to our University aim ‘Excellence in Service,’ our professor’s encouragement ensured active participation and engagement among students. Weekly presentations and panel discussions bestowed on many an opportunity to overcome stage-fright, anxiety or social shyness, while simultaneously stimulating an engagement with the content of the curriculum. In addition, it also stimulated learning by the process of peer education.

 

Such activities instil values of solidarity among peers while engaging in constructive tasks or common group goals. Therefore latently equipping and exposing us to quasi- work atmosphere and ethics while working collectively, and representing ourselves as a unit. It has also been an experience for us to observe operating group dynamics and means of conflict resolution under tense situations.

 

Furthermore, the two seminars conducted by the Department of Sociology during the due course of this academic term provided a forum for students to voice their concerns regarding further studies and receive guidance from peers belonging to the Christ family; evoking zeal and inspiring the youth to actively participate in bringing about social change.

The nature of Sociology as a discipline is such that the “philosophy of Praxis” is a key ingredient which when absorbed expands Sociological Imagination.

In conclusion the pedagogical methodologies undertaken by our Professors really enhanced the curricular experience for us students, encouraging us to question Indian social reality in the modern context as well as the colonial meta-narratives that continue to prevail and operate latently.

 

 

As students of second year we were both thrilled and nervous when we were given the opportunity to present on a large variety of topics in our class. This opportunity was first of its kind as it was not part of any assignment instead it was included as an integral part of our classroom learning process itself. The opportunity gave us a chance to expose ourselves to the thoughts of great thinkers like Auguste Comte, Karl Marx , Emile Durkheim and Herbert Spencer as well as relive the extraordinary lives that these men lived . Not only did students in our class learn about their lives and struggles but also their contribution to sociology and their fascinating ideas on topics like suicide, bureaucracy ,social Darwinism, positivism, etc. We also dealt with various books like Protestant Ethics and The Spirit of Capitalism, Communist Manifesto, Rules of Sociological Methods, etc. Some other fascinating topics that we had the chance to present on were sociological imagination propounded by C.W.Mills, theory of surplus value, organic analogy, sociology of religion, etc . Thus with these presentations we were able to have an enriching learning experience and were also able to gain various skills like public speaking, teamwork, etc. We were also able hone our researching skills. We are truly grateful to the Sociology department for incorporating such a worthwhile learning experience into our curriculum.

The Fourth Semester of our Sociology course was an interesting dive into the Indian Realm of sociology.  Our Professor helped us brainstorm into the vastness of the subject. We were divided into panels and were asked to voice our own findings and constructive opinion about them. We as a class would collectively talk about great Sociologists  like M.N. Srinivas, Louis Dumont Nicolas Dirks and Andre Beteille. Students gave a detailed account of origins of Indology and the Sankrtization of the lower caste’s in India. They also talked about the Westernization and modernization and its impact on the Indian society. Caste became an important topic of discussion as the panelist’s ventured into the different branches of caste like dominant caste and other sub caste. We did a detailed account on the Indian villages we traced the history of villages in India since Vedic age. Our panelist’s covered the idea of Villages as a self -serving Republic. Remembered Village by Indian Vanguard of Sociology M.N Srinivas was also covered in detail. Tribes of India formed another core concept pf the paper where our panelist’s discussed the tribes in India their distinct characteristics, way of life their problems. Tribal zones and welfare programs were discussed in detail. In conclusion this semester has made us aware of the complex Indian society and what makes this country a sociological paradise.  

Social Responsibility Week

Report

Social Responsibility Week: Human Trafficking Awareness

Date – 23/02/17

On the 23^rd of February, 2017, one of the last few days of the Social Responsibility week our class, final year students of PSEco took up the responsibility to spread awareness on Human Trafficking and the harmful impacts of having such a social reality in our society.

The class had come up with three major ideas to spread awareness; put up a street play, read out an original poem on the ills of trafficking and rally from the first block of college to the second block shouting out slogans to spread awareness on the same.

At 1:15 pm sharp, a group of 50+ students assembled and gathered a commendable crowd to listen to their story on trafficking and the harm it caused our society. The class of PSEco rallied from Block I to the entrance of Block II and back to central block, where they then performed their street play.

The street play dealt with the theme of how anybody could be practicing trafficking of humans and how society and most importantly us, shouldn’t look at the world with tainted glasses and learn to be more aware, informed and proactive in situations such as these.

The event ended with a bow from the students and a few other people distributing pamphlets to make people aware about the responsibility they equally hold in society, to stop human trafficking.

Workshop on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

The Department of Sociology had organized a workshop on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) on February 9 and 10, 2017. Given below is the report on the same.

February 9^th, 2017

The first day of the workshop was a theory class on Participatory Rural Appraisal by Mr. Murugan. As a typical data collection process would be very time consuming, with the PRA, we can rapidly collect data to get a comprehensive understanding of the complexity of rural societies. Participatory Rural Appraisal is a semi structural tool to assess the status, problems, needs and aspirations of people residing in the area. The objectives of conducting PRA are:

a.       To learn and familiarise with the current situation

b.      To arrive at an agreed set of possibilities for further development

c.       Leads to mutual support in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluation

PRA is most effective in an area of not more than 150 households and has an accuracy rate of 80%. The idea is to gather information directly from the villagers. Identify key informants (typically they are individuals who have been living there for a long period of time) and they will give all the details regarding demography, topographical features, wealth accumulated etc. Various tools are employed under this – social mapping, wealth ranking, transect walk, resource mapping, seasonality analysis, time line & trend analysis, Venn diagram, matrix scoring and skill mapping. Once we understood the processes of each tool we were divided into 4 teams – social mapping, wealth ranking, seasonality analysis and documentation. Each team sat together and came up with their game plans. We prepared for the field visit and presented our interview schedules to Murugan Sir and Maya ma’am.

February 10^th, 2017

The 3 hour journey to Yalachammanahally was spent watching ‘Force 2’. As soon as we reached, Murugan sir directed us to take a walk around the village. After our recon and a cup of tea, the teams got to work immediately. Each team had 3 student translators and 3 members of the documentation team.

SOCIAL MAPPING

Language was a barrier; the translators did most of the work due to which others felt sidelined. Mr. Murali and Ms. Sarojamma were the two key informants for social mapping. It was a time consuming process as only one was drawing the map but on the other hand because only Mr. Murali was drawing there was less confusion. Instructions were given by Murugan Sir and Maya Ma’am which led to better productivity. Keeping aside language and the initial hiccups the team members worked hard to draw the social map. Mr. Murali was interviewed by the group to get the demographical details of each of the 47 households, like - the number of family members, facilities and education.

The team found all but 3 nuclear families. Though they wanted a better future for their children only primary education was free. The rich families sent their children to English medium schools in nearby towns.  Though child marriage is not practiced anymore, some girls got married at that age of 16 (average).

WEALTH RANKING

After the social mapping team got the list of households, the wealth ranking process began. Students enlisted the help of 7 villagers to be the teams’ key informants in this exercise. Three indicators were used - gold ring, watch and a pen – to represent three economic classes. The informants discussed amongst themselves and placed each household in a category. Then they were asked to share the reasons on the basis which they divided.

In total there were 7 rich households, these were mostly government employees or had their own business (poultry farm). They owned more or less 3 acres of land, tractors, and cars and lived in stone roofed houses. They also had money for rotation and savings in bank.

The 17 middle class households lived in AC sheet roofs and owned less than 2 acres of land. They had very little assets and earned their livelihood as daily wage labourers.

The remaining 20 households worked as seasonal labourers. Their houses were not in good conditions and they borrowed money to meet their needs.

According to the informants, there were no joint families in the village and already 3 families have migrated out in search of jobs but none have returned.

SEASONALITY ANALYSIS

There were 9 informants for seasonality analysis’ group discussion – Geeta, Pilamma, Shrilakshmi, Ratnamma, Geeta, Nagamma, Ratnamma and Yeuklashamma. All 9 informants were female and daily wage labourers. The student translators served as the liaison between the informants and the team. The questions revolved around the religious, ceremonial and agricultural activities. All informants were forthcoming and were eager to answer all questions.

The student team drew a table on the floor to analyse the festival, crops and marriage systems in the village. The village comprises of only Hindu community. The main agricultural crop is ragi, which is cultivated in June - July. Other crops like corn, mustard, peas, cauliflower, and potato are grown throughout the year. Since the past 10 years, people have stopped practicing organic farming. Ugadi, Varmalakshmi and Vijaylakshmi are the main festivals celebrated. Marriages take place in the month of April, May and June.

No labourer from outside comes to work on the fields even for daily wages. The minimum wage rate as implemented by the government is not applicable here. The village sangha is the primary access to finance that the villagers have, charging less than 2% p.a. 2 people from the sangha serve as witness for lending money.

REFLECTIONS

The workshop was a great exposure as most of us were doing a field exercise for the first time. Earlier we had a theoretical clarity but this field exposure gave us a clear understanding to our roles as researchers.

First of all, these tools were tried in a controlled and familiar environment. The village is adopted by the Centre for Social Action and is used to having the Christ University students visiting them. Murugan sir had informed them of our arrival and had arranged for informants. He was also present for each of the exercises, thus the role of us, as researchers, to build the rapport was minimal.

Some of the information gathered by the teams found was contradicting. For instance, team social mapping found 3 joint family households while team wealth ranking were informed that there are only nuclear families in this village. The social mapping team were told that girls are mostly married off by 16, but the informants of seasonality analysis gave the example of how their daughters are getting married at 25 (after they have a job). With such variations, a lot of students questioned the reliability of the source. Murugan sir had told us that PRA has an accuracy rate of 80%, such variations are bound to happen and this proves the need for researchers to triangulate the data collected. Interestingly, the English words the informants spoke were – ‘research’ ‘joint family’ ‘nuclear family’ etc. This shows that they have had interactions like this with many such groups.

Interactive session

The Department of Sociology had organized an interactive session with students and faculty from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences on Friday, February 2, 2017. The students of MA Applied Sociology participated in this interactive session.

The students and faculty members from both Universities had a vibrant engaging discussion on issues relating to gender from a cross cultural perspective with special focus on the scenario in Switzerland and India.

Lecture by Shiv Visvanathan

Shiv Visvanathan is one of the widely acclaimed public intellectual and social scientists in India. He delivered a lecture on 'Reading the unpopular' on January 28, 2017 at Christ University. His works, innovative stream of consciousness and critical insights were quite popular even before the event began. The talk was witnessed by a full house gathering consisting of students and faculty members. 

Professor started off with his proposition that of youth being the most overused brand of the present century. The emphasis on youth and the act of turning a blind eye to the deformities of youth was accused as the primary problems of concern.

What followed was a phase of providing critical insights into the consciousness of the present day youth. The mere silence of present generation was termed to be alarming. The acceptance of ‘order’ as uniformity was heavily critiqued upon. The phenomena of surveillance and threats it possesses were explained in detailed. But the primary question was how the youth had surrendered in good faith to this control mechanism. The passive submission was questioned. Professor explained how the present generation was susceptible for a despotic rule with their consent. This could lead to a autocracy worst that the Nazi days.

The evils of modern day trending philosophies were showcased. He spoke of how more refugees are generated due to the construction of dams than all the wars put together. There was a systematic deconstruction of the concept of ‘development'. Professor spoke of the mad race that every youth aspires to join in. Thereby they are forgetting to exercise his/her agency to dissent. So much is the inhospitality of defeat that no one wants to risk any further failures through dissents.

Through various such though experiments, the professor held the little finger of all the minds in the auditorium and directed them towards the statue of a question mark. What followed was a spontaneous change in audience towards dissent that could be seen in the Question and Answer session that followed the suite.

The debates were intriguing, innovative and multivariate. The wide variety of opinions and critical outlook towards many common world problems were very refreshing and encouraging to see. The scope for involving students in this process of thought experiments and providing them half of the allotted schedule was commendable. It made the session more inclusive and interesting. The witty humor, innovative strategies like vouching for ethical startups sowed seeds for a different line of thought process.

Finally, Shiv Visvanathan did what all speakers aspire to do: to interest, to involve and to inspire. 

Reported by

Prajwal N

MA Applied Sociology