Includes sociological theories, social institutions, social change, and research methodologies, for candidates studying societal structures and dynamics.

GATE Humanities and Social Sciences - Sociology

Official 2025 syllabus extracted from https://gate2025.iitr.ac.in/doc/2025/GATE%20_XH-C6_2025_Syllabus.pdf

Sociological Theory

Durkheim: social solidarity, social facts, religion, functionalism, suicide, anomie, division of labour, law

Weber: types of authority, social action, Protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism, bureaucracy, ideal type, methodology

Marx: class and class conflict, dialectical and historical materialism, capitalism, surplus value, alienation

Classical Sociological Traditions

Bronislaw Malinowski

A.R. Radcliffe-Brown

Talcott Parsons: AGIL, systems approach

Robert K. Merton: middle range theory, reference groups, latent and manifest functions

Claude Levi-Strauss: myths, structuralism

Structural-Functionalism and Structuralism

G.H. Mead

Alfred Schutz: phenomenology

Harold Garfinkel: ethnomethodology

Erving Goffman: symbolic interaction, dramaturgy

Clifford Geertz: culture, thick description

Hermeneutic and Interpretative Traditions

Pierre Bourdieu

Michel Foucault

Jurgen Habermas

Anthony Giddens

Frankfurt School

Post-Modernism, Post-Structuralism and Post-Colonialism

Ralf Dahrendorf

C. Wright Mills

Conflict Theory

M.K. Gandhi

B.R. Ambedkar

Radha Kamal Mukherjee

G.S. Ghurye

M.N. Srinivas

Irawati Karve

Indian Thinkers

Research Methodology and Methods

Philosophy of science

Scientific method and epistemology in social science

Hermeneutic traditions

Objectivity and reflexivity

Ethics and politics of research

Conceptualizing Social Reality

Reading social science research

Data and documents

Induction and deduction

Fact, concept and theory

Hypotheses, research questions, objectives

Research Design

Ethnography

Survey method

Historical method

Comparative method

Quantitative and Qualitative Methods

Sampling

Questionnaire and schedule

Statistical analysis

Observation, interview, case study

Interpretation, data analysis and report writing

Research Techniques

Sociological Concepts

Social structure

Culture, network

Status and role

Identity, community

Socialization

Diaspora

Values, norms and rules

Personhood, habitus and agency

Bureaucracy, power and authority

Self and society

Marriage, family and kinship

Economy

Polity

Religion

Education

Law and customs

Social Institutions

Social difference, hierarchy, inequality, marginalization

Caste and class

Status and power

Gender, sexuality, disability

Race, tribe and ethnicity

Social Stratification

Evolution and diffusion

Modernization and development

Social transformations and globalization

Sanskritization

Educational and occupational change

Social Change

Agrarian Sociology and Rural Transformation

Rural and peasant society

Caste-tribe distinction and continuum

Agrarian social structure and emergent class relations

Land ownership and agrarian relations

Decline of agrarian economy

De-peasantization and agrarian change

Agrarian unrest and peasant movements

Feudalism and mode of production debate

Land reforms

Panchayati Raj

Rural development programmes and community development

Green revolution and agricultural change

Peasants and farmers movements

Agrarian Sociology

Family, Marriage and Kinship

Structural-functionalist, alliance and cultural approaches

Gender relations and power dynamics

Inheritance, succession and authority

Gender, sexuality and reproduction

Children, youth and elderly

Emotions and family

Emergent forms of family

Changing marriage practices

Changing care and support systems

Family laws

Domestic violence and crime against women

Honour killing

Indian Society / Sociology of India

Colonial, nationalist, indological perspectives (G.S. Ghurye)

Structural-functional approach (M.N. Srinivas)

Dialectical approach (A.R. Desai)

Subaltern studies (R. Guha)

Non-Brahmin perspectives (Phule, Ambedkar)

Feminist perspectives (Leela Dube, Sharmila Rege)

Social institutions: family, kinship, household, village and urban settings

Social stratification: caste, class, tribe, gender

Tradition and modernity (Srinivas, Yogendra Singh, Dipankar Gupta)

Peasants and agrarian sociology (Andre Beteille, A.R. Desai, D.N. Dhanagare)

Village studies

Communalism and secularism

Indian Society

Social Movements

Nature, definitions, characteristics

Social movement and social change

Types: reform, rebellion, revival, revolution, insurrection, counter movement

Introduction to Social Movements

Structural-functional

Marxist

Resource Mobilization Theory

New Social Movements

Theories of Social Movements

Peasant movement

Labour movement

Dalit movement

Women's movement

Environmental movement

Social Movements in India

Relationship with state and civil society

Impact of globalization on social movements

Issues of citizenship

Social Movements, Civil Society and Globalization

Sociology of Development

Definitions and indices

Liberal, Marxist and Neo-Marxist perspectives

Dependency theory, world systems

Epistemological critiques of development

Perspectives on Development

Institutions and ideologies

Planned development and society

Globalisation and liberalization

State and Market

Maps and models

Knowledge and power in development

Subaltern movements

Post-colonial development

Decentralization and devolution

Participatory approaches

Micro-Politics of Development

Post-sustainable development

Development, violence and inequality

Post-structural perspectives (Escobar)

Alternative development paradigms

Feminist critique

Human development

Sustainable Development

GATE Humanities and Social Sciences - Sociology Syllabus 2025, 2026 and more: Subjects, Topics, and What to Study