Society and culture

1. Social Structure-Urban and Rural
India Society and Culture
MBA 2nd Sem
SOM, CUTM

2. Introduction
• What is social structure?
• Social structure refers to the organized patterns of social
relationships and institutions within a society.
• Social structure provides a framework for understanding how
society operates, how individuals fit into it, and how social
order is maintained.

3. Introduction
• Social Structure – Urban and Rural
• There are two divisions of Indian society. They are rural and urban.
• They are integrated but different from each other.
• The village community has comparatively homogenous socio-economic features with
simple technological and organizational pattern where the pace of change is slow.
• They support each other but they are diverse in socio-economic and political aspects.
• With the passage of time, villages gradually acquire urban traits because of the processes
of development and moderanisation.
• The processes of change interconnect rural and urban areas.
• However, in practice the urban areas tend to dominate the rural areas because of better
facilities and infrastructures in urban areas.
• The rural society is constituted by the villages which are predominantly characterized by
agricultural and allied activities.

4. Introduction
• The villages are generally identified as small unit of settlement
with maximum few hundred households and the lowest form of
administrative unit, known as panchayats.
• It is quite common to find houses in the village, clustered according to
kinship, caste or religious groups.
• In the villages, land is usually the primary source of production,
distribution and consumption where predominant occupations are
agriculture and allied occupations.

5. Introduction
• The National Portal of India defines a rural area as having the
following characteristics:
• A population of less than 5,000
• A population density of less than 400 people per square
kilometer
• More than 25% of the male working population is engaged in
agriculture
• Rural India contributes a large chunk to India's GDP by way of
agriculture, self-employment, services, construction etc.
• Rural areas are generally said to house up to 70% of India's
population.

6. Introduction
• The Indian villages are basically agriculture based food
producing units which produce not only for their own
consumption but also for the urban societies which are non-food
producing units.
• Rural is where people live in villages –part of panchayats-blocks-
districts –67.25% population. (2017)
• Village layouts are different
• Mostly engaged in agriculture and allied activities–more than
75%
• Hierarchy by caste, politics and kinship

7. Introduction
• The villages are organised by caste groups
• The interaction of people is face to face
• Social interaction is based on caste
• Jajamani system may be existing
• Village temple is the common place for all to come for worship
and interaction
• River and wells are places where women congregate for
interaction

8. RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE: MAJOR INSTITUTIONS
• Family
• Family is a basic unit to organize a society. It is one of the most
important social institutions.
• Family broadly refers to the primary group comprising as a unit of
husband, wife and their children.
• This concept gives emphasis on the following:
• marriage between spouses,
• sibling relations between children and
• connectivity between the two through the genealogical links between parents
and their children.

9. RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE: MAJOR INSTITUTIONS
• Kinship
• One of the common features of a family is its kinship structure. Kinship is a vast
web of relationship among families and their members.
• In every society there are certain general norms specifying what is familial and
how familial relationships should be organized.
• Hence, Kinship is a system of relationship which is formed, based on the bond of
blood or marriage which binds people together.
• There are generally two types of Kinship, viz. affinal kinship or consanguineous
kinship. The former is constituted by the bond of marriage and the latter is formed
by bond of blood.
• The unity and the integration of families depend primarily on the degree of
relationship existing between parents and children and between the relatives.

10. RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE: MAJOR INSTITUTIONS
• Marriage
• In the family function, personal choice has little role. One gets the spouse
without any personal preference.
• Arranging a marriage is a critical and collective responsibility for parents
and other relatives of both bride and groom.
• The marriage is solemnized with public or social approval.
• Although, these days changes are taking place in the pattern of marriage
where individual preferences are being given relatively more importance.

11. RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE: MAJOR INSTITUTIONS
• Marriage
• In the northern region, a family generally seeks marriage alliances with
people to whom it is not already linked by ties of blood.
• Marriage arrangements often involve looking for a new area.
• In the southern region a family seeks to strengthen existing kin ties
through marriage, preferably with blood relatives.
• Among Muslims of both the north and the south, marriage between
cousins is encouraged, both cross-cousins (the children of a brother and
sister) and parallel cousins.

12. Systems of Caste, Class & Tribe
• Caste can be defined as a group or a collection of groups of people
having a common name and the membership based on birth alone.
• It imposes restrictions on its members in matters of social
relationships (marriage, worship, custom, restrictions, feeding, etc.)
and claims a common origin and assumes a common traditional
occupation.
• Among them, certain castes are known as dominant castes.
• A particular caste can have dominance not only by birth but also due
by various other factors.

13. Systems of Caste, Class & Tribe
• For example, in a village there may be Brahmins but they may not be
in a position to exert influence on the village community.
• At the same time, the members of other caste may enjoy a status of
power by virtue of being landlords or politicians or numerically
strong.
• It has been said that the caste structure constitutes the basis of rural
society.

14. Caste in India
⚫ Caste system – stratification of groups in
society in a hierarchical manner mostly
among Hindu communities in India
⚫ 'Varna' – classificatory device for different
'jatis'
1. Brahmins
2. Kshatriyas
3. Vaishyas
4. Sudras
⚫ Each 'jati' has similar ritual status

15. Changes in the Caste System
- Political and Economic (secular domains)
Fast changing (structural features)
With increased access to education and economic opportunities,
individuals from lower castes have been able to improve their
social and economic status. This has led to a reduction in the
importance of caste in certain aspects of life.
Occupation, political power, land etc.
- Socio-Cultural (religious domain)
Very slow change (cultural)

16. RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE: MAJOR INSTITUTIONS
• Class
• Social class is determined by factors such as: Wealth, Income, Education,
Occupation.
• Here are some social classes in India:
• Upper class: This class includes people who control and regulate wealth and
investment, and profit from it. They are often rich, well-born, and powerful,
and usually have the most political power.
• Middle class: This class includes people who work in white collared jobs or in
technical or administrative sectors.
• Lower class: This class includes people who do unskilled or semi-skilled work.
• Class – people living in the society with similar material conditions (money,
assets and power), economic position and life chances

17. Implications of Class
⚫ Control over resources, people and decisions in society
⚫ Upper class/ruling class is able to maintain themselves by
exploitation of the lower classes
⚫ Struggle by lower classes – especially in the rural areas

18. RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE: MAJOR INSTITUTIONS
• In rural India, the agrarian class structure is made up of four classes:
• Landowner
• Tenant
• Labourer
• People who are not involved in agricultural activities
• The upper class includes the big landlords. The middle class includes the
sub-landlords and sub-sub-landlords. The lower class includes agricultural
laborers and marginal farmers.
• Social class has been defined as a kind of social group, which is neither
legally defined nor religiously sanctioned. It is generally defined as a
stratum of people occupying similar social positions.

19. Agrarian Classes in India
Relational Approach -
• Malik – Proprietors (landowners)
• Mazdoor – Agriculture labour (non-owners)
• Kisan – Working peasants (owner cultivators)

20. RURAL SOCIAL STRUCTURE: MAJOR INSTITUTIONS
• Various authors have referred it as ‘aboriginals’ and ‘adivasi’.
• Tribes have been viewed as semi-civilized people residing in hills and
forests in groups, mostly engaged in agricultural activities.
• Tribe is generally defined as a social group usually living in a definite
area, having their own dialect, cultural homogeneity and unified
social organizations.
• The tribe as a social group usually comprises, of a number of sibling
bonds, villages or other special groups with distinctive culture and a
unified political organization.
• To conclude, a tribe is a territorial group with its own language,
culture, religion and a unified social organization.

21. Dhemsa Dance, Gadaba Tribe, Odisha

23. • The Gonds are patrilineal and property distribute to the sons
equally.
• A marriage among the Gonds is the monogamous (a
relationship with only one partner at a time).
• Cross-cousin marriages are prevalent.
• Selection of a man and a woman based on mutual choice.

28. Dalits

29. Urban Social structure

30. Intro to urban social structure
• Urban areas represent complex social landscapes characterized by
diverse populations, economic activities, and cultural interactions