Sociology Optional is the most preferred choice for Optional syllabus by the civil service aspirants. Sociology is considered one of the easy to score optional subject. With proper strategy and understanding an aspirant can score good marks in sociology optional and confirm their name in the final list.
Tips to choose the Sociology Optional Booklist: –
- Analyse the syllabus: The first important thing is to understand the syllabus carefully. The aspirants should go through every topic from syllabus and check the scope of it.
- Start with NCERTs: The aspirants should go through the NCERTs once or twice to understand the basic concepts of the subject.Sociology is introduced in Class XIth for the first time. Hence, the NCERTs of Class XIth and XIIth will give you the basic understanding of the subject.
- Go through previous year papers: The previous year papers will help the aspirants to understand what kind of questions are being asked in the syllabus. This will also help them to choose the sources wisely.
- Keep your sources concise: The aspirant should refer to the standard books to complete the syllabus topic-by-topic. Make small notes for all the topics that are quick to revise.
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Booklist for Sociology Optional
Sociology Optional is one of the popular optional subjects among UPSC aspirants owing to its crisp syllabus. The resources for this optional is also widely available. Below is the paper-wise booklist for sociology optional:
Booklist for Sociology Optional Paper 1:
- Introduction to Sociology – Anthony Giddens
- Sociological Thought – M Francis Abraham and John Henry Morgan
- Political Theory – O P Gauba
- A Dictionary of Sociology – John Scott
- Classical Sociological Theory – George Ritzer
- Sociology Themes and Perspectives- Haralambos and Holborn (Bluebook)
- Sociology Themes and Perspectives- M Haralambos with R M Heald(Orange book)
- Intro To Social Movements- Nancy O. Wilson
- Theoretical Sociology – Randall Collins
- Modern Organization (Foundations of Modern Sociology)- Amitai Etzioni
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Booklist for Sociology Optional Paper 2:
- Caste Its Twentieth Century Avatar -M N Srinivas
- Indian Society: Themes and Social Issues – Nadeem Hasnain
- Modernization of Indian Tradition – Yogendra Singh
- Handbook of Indian Sociology- Veena Das
- Social change in modern India – M N Srinivas
- Sociological Background of Indian Nationalism- A R Desai
- Indian Society – S C Dube
- Caste in Indian politics – Rajni Kothari
- Caste- Surinder Jodhka
- Rural Sociology – S.L Doshi and P.C Jain