Rajesh Raz Kr Kumar

3 hrs Edited

I am listing the study material that UPSC Sociology Toppers referred, for UPSC Sociology Paper I
and Paper II, through this post.
Heres my recommended booklist for Sociology ( Student strictly followed what Mr Upendra Gaur told
his batch to read with some modifications which fortunately worked for them)
Paper-I
1) Haralambos (V th edition, the large book not the earlier orange covered one) (In my opinion, the
most important book for conceptual clarity not only for paper I, but also for paper II).
Here are the page numbers that I read from the book: Page 1 to 21, 23 to 49, 69 to 104, 136 to 141,
145 to 156, 222 to 236, 282 to 286, 291 to 305, 334 to 346, 353 to 362, 372 to 378, 386 to 390, 431
to 439, 446 to 492, 504 to 551, 966 to 990, 991 to 1030 and 1032 to 1079 (Please understand that I
am not saying that read only these page numbers and leave the rest, I am merely saying that student
read only these pages from the book considering the time that they had).
2) UIES (Upendra Gaur Sirs notes): Entire paper I notes.
3) Sociological Theory by George Ritzer and Douglas J. Goodman (VI edition) (for chapter 4 only, to
be read only if you have finished the above two) I referred only those topics which I was not
comfortable at.
4) Sindhuri Madams notes (UPSC 2008 AIR 43), available in Delhi (especially for Chapters 1,2 and
3).
Paper-II
Please note that there are standard text books available for Paper I but the study material for Paper-II
is not found easily. Hence it becomes mandatory to refer to multiple sources.
1) Primarily I relied on Sindhuri Madams notes (UPSC 2008 AIR 43) which I got through the xerox
shops in Rajendra Nagar (She has very meticulously collected material from various sources and
prepared her own analyses as well)
2) UIES class notes (Upendra Gaur Sirs class notes for Paper II)
3) Newspapers (The Hindu and The Indian Express, select articles)
4) Yojana (the monthly magazine)
5) IGNOU MA Material (MSO Series, selective pages, details I have mentioned below)
6) Contemporary Sociology by M Francis Abraham (Oxford Publications): Chapters 11,14,15 and 17)
7) Society in India by Ram Ahuja (Selective pages from Chapters 1, 2, 4, 8, 9 and 16)
8) Handbook of Indian Sociology by Veena Das (very very selective, only those topics which are not
covered in the above)

Here is the list of some of the articles Student referred for selective topics in paper II (again told to us
by Mr Upendra Gaur), (they are available in Delhi or can be taken from any of your friend who has
attended sessions of Mr Gaur). I would advise the non Delhi aspirants to ask their friends from Delhi
to parcel this material. On a cursory glance this looks mammoth but I believe that many of this have
significant overlaps and can be covered in 4 months along with the other optional and GS.
1) Indological Perspective by Ghurye (Lesson 8)
2) Structural Functional Perspective by M N Srinivas (Lesson 10)
3) Marxian Perspective by A R Desai (Lesson 14)
(I dont know the name of the book from which the above three chapters are taken, apologies, but all
three articles are available at any standard book store in Delhi)
4) Modernization of Indian tradition by Yogendra Singh (page 85 to 160, page 208 to 213)
5) Caste its 20th Century Avatar by M N Panini
6) The Political Economy of Caste by M N Panini (pp 28 to 63)
7) Tribal India by Nadeem Husnain (selective pages)
8) Indias Population Policy by Bhende and Kanitkar (selective pages)
9) Principle of Polulation Studies by Bhende and Kanitkar (Appendix C)
10) Indian tribals and search for an indigenous identity by Walter Fernandes
11) Slum problem in India: Magnitude, Genesis and Possible Solution by B K Chakraborty
12) Sixty Years of Development induced Displacement in India by Walter Fernandes
IGNOU booklets that I referred:
MSO 001 Book 1: Block 2, 3 and 4
MSO 001 Book 2: Block 5, 6, 7 and 8
MSO 003 Book 1: block 1 (all the 4 units), block 2 (unit 5), block 3 (unit 9 and 10)
MSO 003 Book 2: block 6 (all the 4 units), block 7 (unit 24, 25), block 8 (unit 27 and 28)
MSO 004 Book 1: Entire booklet
MSO 004 Book 2: Block 5 (Unit 17, 19 and 20), block 6, 7 and 8
MSOE 004 Book 2: Blocks 5, 6 and 7
MPSE 007
Very briefly, I also referred to some of the reference books for the areas which I thought were not
covered extensively through the notes. Two of them were Changing India by Robert Stern, and
India: Development and Participation by Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze. (I referred very very
selectively and I wouldnt advise the serious aspirants to go for them if you have only 3 months for
the exam and you havent read them earlier).

Especially for paper II, stick very strictly to the syllabus and prepare your own pointers/ notes(from
the above material coupled with newspaper articles) so that you can revise the syllabus just before
the examination.
I think that the understanding of key concepts of Paper-I and ability to apply them to the
contemporary scenario comes in handy for scoring good marks in both the papers. Also Paper I and
II shouldnt be studied in isolation. Application of relevant examples from Indian Society and your
own family/ personal experiences in Paper I and International studies in Paper II, depending on the
demand of the question should fetch good marks.
Besides, u must be a regular reader of :
1) Rajiv Ranjan Singhs blog on Sociology (AIR 191, CSE 2009):http://intellection-rajiv.blogspot.in
2) Tanvi Sundriyals (AIR 6, CSE 2009) blog:http://thecivilservicesdream.blogspot.in/
3) Anay Dwivedis (AIR 5, CSE 2009) blog:http://anaydwivedi.wordpress.com/

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