Social change in Nepal

  • Planned change (2013 B.S.)
  • Change in social structure (Change in social system: Caste, Class, Gender, Marriage, Family etc.),
  • political system:(Monararchy system to Federal Republican Democratic Country)
  • economic system, ( Agricultural to Industrial: Feudalism to Capitalism)
  • educational system: (Informal to Formal System)
  • Cultural System: (Hinduism to Secularism, Nepali language vs Others language, Change in traditional norms and values)

Social Movements

  • Collective action for social change
  • Old social movement: Economic based( Industrial revolution)
  • New social movement: Identity based movement ( Feminist movement, Dalits movement, Racial movement, Ethnic movement, etc)

New social movement in Nepal

  • Feminist movement
  • Ethnic movement
  • Dalits movement
  • Madesh Movement
  • Labor Movement
  • Third Gender movement

Sociological Terminologies (Very short Question- Answer)


Ethnocentrism

It often suggests that the way something is done in other societies is inferior to the way it is done in one’s own society.

Cultural Relativism

Cultural relativism is the idea that a person’s beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person’s own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another.

Social capital

Social capital is defined by the OECD as “networks together with shared norms, values and understandings that facilitate co-operation within or among groups”. It provides the glue which facilitates co-operation, exchange and innovation. Verities of social capital: Bonds, Bridges, Linkages.

Enculturation

It is the process by which people learn the dynamics of their surrounding culture and acquire values and norms appropriate in the culture and worldviews. It related to socialization process.

Acculturation

It is a process in which members of one cultural group adopts beliefs and behaviors of another group.

Assimilation

It is the process whereby a minority group gradually adapts to the customs and attitudes of the prevailing culture and customs.

Herbert Spencer(Organic Analogy)

The organic analogy which is a staple of ancient and medieval thought was reformulated by Spencer. He regarded the recognition of the similarity between society and organism as the first step towards a general theory of evolution.

K Merton

He was an American sociologist.

Manifest Function: These are the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern.

Latent Function: These are those unrecognized and unintended consequences.

Etic and Emic Perspective

  • The emic perspective investigates how local people think. How they perceive and categorize the world, their rules for behavior.
  • The etic perspective :shifts the focus from local observation and interpretations to those of the anthropologists.