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Name of the University : Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
Degree : MA
Document Type : Sample Question Paper
Name of the Subject : Society and Culture

Website : hss.iitgn.ac.in
Download Sample Question Paper: https://www.pdfquestion.in/uploads/7613-MAsocietyCulture.pdf

IITGN Society & Culture Sample Paper

Passage A

Twentieth-Century science, in all its aspects, was a superstructure built upon mathematics and upon the great expansion of scientific knowledge and new methods of investigation which took place in the century before 1914.

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Within the framework of thought provided by the ‘big ideas’ of Darwin and Einstein, the basic sciences of physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics developed rapidly. Through the subsidiary sciences, such as engineering and medicine, these advances exerted a powerful effect upon the life of the individual in society. The intensive quest for new knowledge through experiment and observation called for a degree of precision, a mastery of technique, a dedication to specialization which led to a further fragmentation of science.

1. ‘Fragmentation of science’ in the passage refers to:
a) Breakdown of science.
b) Dilution of science.
c) Intensive study of various aspects of science.
d) None of the above.

2. ‘New forces’ in the passage implies:
a) Violence and wars.
b) Misuse of power and exploitation.
c) Scientific ideas and popular aspirations.
d) None of the above.

3. How could mankind overcome the ‘dislocations of crisis’?
a) By devising inclusive thought and action.
b) Through violent rejection of the past.
c) Through rejection of technology.
d) All of the above.

4. According to the passage, there was no crisis of culture.
a) True
b) False
c) Partially true
d) Partially false

5. According to the author, what made the totalitarian state formidable? a) Its assurance of freedom and welfare of the individual b) Its promotion of science and technology c) Its promotion of a turbulent order d) None of the above

Passage B

All countries in the world have inequalities of various kinds. India, however, has a unique cocktail of lethal divisions and disparities. Few countries have to contend with such extreme inequalities in so many dimensions, including large economic inequalities as well as major disparities of class, caste and gender. Caste has a peculiar role in India that separates it out from the rest of the world. Many countries, to be sure, have had in the past (and to some extent even right now) caste like institutions that place people in confined boxes. But India seems to be quite unique both in terms of the centrality of caste hierarchies and in terms of their continuing hold in modern society (despite many great pieces of legislation outlawing any practice of caste discrimination). And caste stratification often reinforces class inequality, giving it a resilience that is harder to conquer.

6. Based on the passage above, which of the following is the argument of the authors?
i. Gendered division of labor within a family is often influenced by bargaining power of men and women in the “productive” public spheres
ii. Division of labor within the family is often marked by intra-household ambivalence in interests and motivations
iii. Perceptions of individual contributions and appropriate entitlements within a family are often independent of the social narratives around gender
a) Both (i) and (iii)
b) Only (ii)
c) Both (i) & (ii)
d) Both (ii) and (iii)

7. The authors borrow a statement from B.R Ambedkar: “the caste system is not merely a division of labor. It is a division of laborers”. This statement implies that:
i. Caste rigidities are often maintained by occupational hierarchies
ii. Certain tasks are performed by certain types of laborers based on their specializations
iii. In a stratified society, economic activities of laborers are often associated with their social class and background
a) Only (i)
b) Only (iii)
c) Both (i) and (ii)
d) Both (ii) and (iii)

8. In a survey (CSDS, 2006) of 315 editors and other leading members of the print and electronic media in Delhi, found that not one of them belonged to a scheduled caste or scheduled tribe. In fact about 85% belonged to a small group of upper castes (accounting for only 16% of India’s population) and about half were Brahmins. This study supports Drèze and Sen’s contention that:
a) Inequality is embedded in the public culture
b) Certain opportunities still remain an upper-caste monopoly
c) Class and caste dimensions are often interlinked
d) All the above

9. Based on the passage above, is it more likely that the authors will support/oppose caste-based or gender-based reservations?
a) Support
b) Oppose
c) Neither oppose nor support
d) Not enough information to answer

10. The central argument of the above passage was to highlight the:
a) Caste hierarchies in India
b) Intersectional nature of inequalities in India
c) Persistent discrimination of the underprivileged in India
d) Regional differences in the subjugation of women in India

Passage C

In A Free Man, Aman Sethi follows the lives of migrant labourers in Bara Tooti Chowk, a labour market in Delhi, a city in preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth Games and “splintering under the strain of fundamental urban reconfiguration…”. What had started out as a journalistic research project on an article for The Hindu about healthcare for homeless workers, grew into a book about the life of Mohammad Ashraf, one of the many itinerant labourers of India’s thriving informal economy.

11. Who is the narrator in this passage?
a) Ashraf
b) Aman
c) Only a
d) Both a and b

12. What is the idea of bondage in this passage?
a) A philosophical idea that suggests that one enters bondage through one’s own will, by choosing ‘kamai’ over ‘freedom’
b) An existential idea that suggests that there may be no escaping such bondage
c) A historical materialist idea that illustrates the exploitation of the poor
d) All of the above.

13. What is Aman’s attitude towards Ashraf’s concept of azadi/freedom?
a) Dismissive
b) Characterizes it as idealistic
c) Projects it as ironic given the conditions of a mazdoor’s existence
d) In agreement but characterizes it as utopic.
c) A historical materialist idea that illustrates the exploitation of the poor
d) All of the above.

14. What is Aman’s attitude towards Ashraf’s concept of azadi/freedom?
a) Dismissive
b) Characterizes it as idealistic
c) Projects it as ironic given the conditions of a mazdoor’s existence
d) In agreement but characterizes it as utopic.