NCERT Book Class 11 Sociology (Understanding Society) Chapter 1 Social Structure, Stratification and Social Processes in Society

CHAPTER 1

SOCIAL STRUCTURE, STRATIFICATION AND SOCIAL
PROCESSES IN SOCIETY

INTRODUCTION leisure opportunities s/he avails, the
health access s/he has, i.e. her/his
You will recall that the earlier book lifestyle in general. As in the case of
Introducing Sociology, Class XI had social structure, social stratification
begun with a discussion on the constrains individual action.
relationship between personal One of the central concerns of the
problems and social issues. We also sociological perspective has been to
saw how individuals are located within understand the dialectical relationship
collectivities such as groups, classes, between the individual and society. You
gender, castes and tribes. Indeed each will recall C.Wright Mill’s elaboration of
of you, is a member of not just one the sociological imagination that seeks
kind of collectivity, but many to unfold the interplay between an
overlapping ones. For instance, you are individual’s biography and society’s
a member of your own peer group, history. It is towards understanding
your family and kin, your class and this dialectical relationship between the
gender, your country and region. Each society and individual that we need to
individual thus has a specific location discuss the three central concepts of
in the social structure and social structure, stratification and social
stratification system (see pages 28-35 processes in this chapter. In the next
in Introducing Sociology). This also few chapters we then move on to how
implies that they have different levels social structure in rural and urban
and types of access to social resources. societies are different, to broader
In other words the choices an individual relationships between environment and
has in life in terms of the school s/he society. In the last two chapters we look
goes to — or if s/he goes to school at at western social thinkers and Indian
all — would depend on the social sociologists and their writings that
s t r a t u m t h a t s/ h e b e l o n g s t o . would help us further understand the
Likewise with the clothes s/he gets to ideas of social structure, stratification
wear, the food s/he consumes, the as well as social processes.