Unit 4 of Sociology (syllabus: Module IV — law as an instrument of social change; the legal profession; and the founders of sociological thought — Comte, Durkheim, Marx and Weber). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- How does law differ from the other social rules, and what does legal pluralism describe in India?
- Can law bring about social change, and what makes a reforming statute succeed?
- What is social engineering, and can interests really be balanced?
- What is Durkheim's contribution, and what does it say about the composition of a legal system?
- How do Marx and Weber differ on class and on why commands are obeyed?
- What is Comte's law of the three states, and how does it connect to his classification of the sciences?
- How does the self develop, and where do Cooley, Mead and Freud disagree?
- How is the origin of social stratification explained, and how far is Indian society closed?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- Roscoe Pound's theory of social engineering and the classification of interests, s. section 122 of the Evidence Act, on privileged marital communications