Everyone enters with prior 'natural' knowledge about society through socialization.

It requires unlearning biased common sense shaped by one's social group.

Critical ability to examine oneself from an outsider's perspective.

Tool locating individuals via identities like age, class, caste in society.

C. Wright Mills, linking personal troubles to social issues.

Individual worries like family conflicts or job fears.

Large-scale patterns affecting groups, like structural unemployment.

Demographic structure of Indian population and its social significance.

Caste as a unique Indian institution and its changes.

Challenges of diversity like communalism and minority security.

• Prior knowledge is acquired naturally but shaped by one's social group.
• It is partial - incomplete and biased towards group interests.
• Sociology needs impartial, broader view of social reality.
• Unlearning allows seeing beyond personal viewpoint.
• Ex: Regional biases in understanding other communities.

• Self-reflexivity is turning outward gaze inward critically.
• It involves quick criticism and slow self-praise.
• Helps understand how others see you.
• Essential for sociological perspective on biases.
• Ex: Reflecting on one's class privileges.

• Social map locates individuals in society's web of relations.
• Via identities: age (youth 40%), region (Gujarati speaker).
• Class (upper/lower middle), religion/caste/tribe.
• Shows group interrelations and personal implications.
• Ex: Telugu speaker from Andhra in economic class.

• Personal troubles are individual worries like family treatment.
• Social issues are large group patterns like inequality.
• Mills links them via sociological imagination.
• Troubles derive from personalised view; issues structural.
• Ex: Job worry as personal vs. youth unemployment issue.

• India second most populous, soon overtaking China.
• Studies demographic aspects like age structure socially significant.
• Questions if population obstacles or aids development.
• Sociologists/demographers analyze growth impacts.
• Ex: Youth bulge as potential dividend.

• Caste: Unique feature, scholarly attention, modern meanings.
• Tribe: Historical context, community definitions, contemporary self-assertion.
• Family: Diverse forms under rapid change pressures.
• Builds base for further society aspects.
• Ex: Caste endogamy evolving.

• Market as powerful change vehicle in world history.
• Evolution in India via colonialism/developmental policies.
• Socio-cultural dimensions and chain reactions.
• Most sweeping economic changes analyzed.
• Ex: Rural markets transformed by globalization.

• Devoted to inequality/exclusion via caste/tribe/gender/disabled.
• State/oppressed efforts to reform caste system.
• Movements resisting exclusion, their successes/challenges.
• Women's movement impacts on oppressive institutions.
• Ex: Tribal assertions against marginalization.

• Invites thinking beyond normal ways on unity in diversity.
• Clichés hide hard realities like communal conflict.
• Strengths/weaknesses in handling chauvinism/casteism.
• Importance of minority security for national future.
• Ex: Linguistic regional tensions.

• Suggestions for practical course component.
• Ideas for students/teachers on engaging activities.
• Makes learning interesting/enjoyable.
• Links theory to real application.
• Ex: Field visits for social mapping.

• Sociology unlike others - prior knowledge acquired naturally via growing up.
• No one starts from zero; even children know social relations intuitively.
• Advantage: Confidence in learning; disadvantage: Biased common sense needs unlearning.
• Common sense partial - incomplete/biased by social group viewpoint.
• Socialization shapes opinions/expectations; sociology demands broader impartiality.
• Initial learning: Unlearn to see full social reality.
• Ex: 18-year-old knows society without study but from biased lens.
• Debate: Balances personal insight with critical distance.

• Self-reflexivity: Critical inward gaze, quick to criticize self.
• Allows seeing oneself as others do; essential for sociological insight.
• Social map: Positions via identities in society's web.
• Age: Youth 40% population; region: Gujarati from Gujarat.
• Class: Based on family income; religion/caste/tribe groups.
• Sociology describes group relations and life implications.
• Ex: Telugu speaker in lower middle class facing caste barriers.
• Expanded: Fosters empathy beyond personal bubble.

• Mills: Links personal troubles to social issues.
• Troubles: Individual concerns like elder treatment or future worries.
• Issues: Group-level, e.g., gender inequality affecting many.
• Imagination maps private-public connections.
• Transforms personalised views to structural understanding.
• Applies to identity tensions, pride/embarrassment sources.
• Ex: Sibling rivalry as personal vs. patriarchal norms issue.
• Relevance: Empowers addressing root causes.

• India second populous, projected to overtake China soon.
• Sociologists study population via age, growth, migration.
• Socially significant: Youth bulge, urban shifts.
• Questions: Obstacle to development or helping factor?
• What aspects drive India's trends?
• Builds foundation for social structure analysis.
• Ex: Demographic dividend from young workforce.
• Debate: Burden vs. opportunity in policy.

• Basic building blocks of Indian society revisited.
• Caste: Unique, centuries of change; modern meanings?
• Tribe: Colonial introduction; what communities, self-definitions today?
• Family: Diverse forms pressured by rapid change.
• Questions on evolution, contexts, contemporary assertions.
• Presupposes for further chapters.
• Ex: Joint families shifting to nuclear urban.
• Expanded: Interlinks hierarchy and kinship.

• Market as powerful historical change institution.
• Socio-cultural dimensions explored.
• Evolution: Colonialism first, then developmental policies.
• How markets of kinds evolved in India.
• Chain reactions set in motion by economic shifts.
• Most rapid changes via these vehicles.
• Ex: Bazaar to global markets transforming culture.
• Relevance: Links economy to society.

• Focus on society's inequality/exclusion capacity.
• Contexts: Caste, tribe, gender, disabled.
• Caste system: Reform/abolition attempts by state/oppressed.
• Problems faced, movement successes.
• Tribal movements special issues; gender relations assertions.
• Society's responsiveness to disabled needs.
• Ex: Dalit movements against exclusion.
• Debate: Progress vs. persistent barriers.

• Steps outside normal thinking on diversity.
• Unity in diversity: Clichés vs. complex realities.
• Strengths/weaknesses despite failures.
• Handling communal conflict, regional chauvinism, casteism.
• Young adults facing without denial or overwhelm.
• Minority insecurity risks for nation.
• Ex: Linguistic riots as diversity test.
• Importance: Collective future depends on inclusion.

• Beyond common sense to sociological viewpoint.
• Emphasizes unlearning, reflexivity, mapping.
• Mills' imagination connects personal to social.
• Previews larger processes shaping society.
• From demographics to diversity challenges.
• Builds critical lens for rest of book.
• Ex: Viewing family as institution, not just personal.
• Goal: Impartial understanding of India's structures.

• First book: Basic structure of Indian society.
• Covers demographics, caste/tribe/family, market, inequality, diversity.
• Second book: Specifics of social change/development.
• This chapter previews first book's chapters 2-7.
• Chapter 7 practical for application.
• Sequence: Structure before change analysis.
• Ex: Caste structure (Ch3) before reforms (second book).
• Holistic: From static to dynamic society view.