Introduction: Sociological problems refer to those problems that affect society as a whole, certain social relationships or social institutions. They are important in light of sociology since the essence of the discipline lies in discovering the deeper realities of commonly observable social phenomena. Let's glance over a few of them...
1. Dual burden/ Triple burden on women : Arlie Hochchild’s concept of dual burden refers to the workload of women who work at paid jobs while also having responsibility for daily household chores. Add to this the emotional labour that goes into catering to the needs of children and elderly, and women are handed over with triple burden, as highlighted by Duncombe and Marsden. Thanks to the debates in media and academic circles that are contributing in increasing the awareness about care economy.
2. Urban-Rural Inequality: Sharad Joshi’s India vs Bharat refers to the widening gulf between urban and rural, between industry and agriculture, between sectors blessed by liberalisation and not, between rich and poor. That majorly farmers from Punjab and Haryana are protesting for legalisation of MSP and not others, is rooted in the fact that these regions have reaped the benefits of Green Revolution and hence are leading in wheat and rice production. Farming here is majorly commercialised, with average incomes per month as high as Rs. 27,000. Economically, anyone earning above Rs. 20,000 per month in India comes under middle class! On the other hand, farmers in other parts, especially Vidarbha are still in news for high suicide rates due to market fluctuations, climate vagaries and mounting indebtedness.
3. Growing Reserve Army of Labour: As Marx discussed the fallouts of capitalism, he brought forward the concept of Reserve Army of Labour referring to those people who are currently unemployed, but are employable on short term whenever market demand rises. It was clearly illustrated in the recent global pandemic which was followed with massive Mass Layoffs (both blue collar and white collar), generating a huge pool of RAoL. Also, if seen with a pink lens, it’s easy to observe that women were more vulnerable to being fired.
4. Race to the Bottom: Heightened competition between different jatis to appropriate the benefits of the state’s affirmative action has led to the attempts towards Structural Desanskritization, where a jati as a whole is willingly climbing down the ladder of ritual hierarchy. The so called dominant castes like Marathas in Maharashtra who once took pride in introducing themselves as Warrior/ Kshatriya caste are now claiming to be Shudras (OBC status). Similar is the case with Kapus in Andhra Pradesh and Gujjars in Rajasthan.
5. Brahmanical Patriarchy: Introduced by Uma Chakravarti, it refers to the intersectional effect of caste hierarchy and gender hierarchy that together helped build a Brahminical social order in ancient India. One of its manifestations today is the Devadasi System. Although its origin dates back to the 6th century when women were married to the temple deity before attaining puberty, it is still seen in 21st century with an added flavour of caste and sexual exploitation. Consider the case of Karnataka where mostly Dalit girls are still forced for religiously sanctioned sexual exploitation. The State Women Development Corporation estimates around 9733 devadasis. Another manifestation seen in the civil society is much relatable yet unnoticed, that people were violent on Nirbhaya, but silent on Hathras.
Many more sociological problems exist around us.. Next time you leave your house, remember to wear the sociological lens too..! Happy learning!
