| Sociology II

This course develops from the introductory course in sociology that you have taken – Sociology I. In this course, we will particularly examine power – political, bureaucratic, and legal power – through the sociological and anthropological lens. While Sociology I takes a broad look at sociology and social anthropology through a sweep of themes, the study of state power remain the core theme of Sociology II. This course stems from the questions: 1) how do considerations of power shape interactions between citizens and the state?

2) What is the relationship between the domain of law, politics, and the state with the domain of the social?

3) How can we analyze the state through attention to its everyday functioning?

4) what is the value of attending to the state and the political domain in a disaggregated manner?

These and related questions will be taken up in this course using texts from political sociology and as well as anthropology of law, and the state.

The main objectives of this course are:

1. To further the interdisciplinary study and inquiry of law and the state for students who are trained mostly in doctrinal law;

2. To introduce students to a different lens on law and the state, that being the sociological and anthropological lens;

3. To familiarize students with the scholarship in sociology and anthropology of law, politics, and the state, especially texts focused on the Indian context.