India is a classic land of agriculture. Its long past history, its complex social organization and religious life, its varied cultural patterns, can hence be understood only if a proper study is made of the rise, growth, crystallization and subsequent fossilization and break up of the self-sufficient village community, the principal pivot of the Indian Society. Rural society in India has acquired a new significance after independence. The agrarian sector provides the very morphological framework for the underdeveloped Indian Society. As a result, constant efforts are being made to re-shape the agrarian social structure, subjecting it to the pressures of actively operating agencies of social change.
This paper attempts to focus the attention on the need of a sociological perspective in studying rural life and outline the approach to study the rural society. It further attempts to portray the picture of the multi-sided and complex rural life and the emerging trends.
Rural Sociology: Meaning, Origin and Development, Scope, Subject Matter, Approaches and Utility. Need for development of Rural Sociology in India.
Rural Community: Concept and Distinctive Features; Rural Habitation and Settlement; Rural Social Institutions: Family, Marriage and Caste.
Urban Community: Concept and Characteristics; Rural-Urban Distinction and Continuum; Rural Emigration.
Agrarian Society: Agrarian Relations (Meaning and Definition); Agrarian Social System and Stratification; Land Management in Rural India; Rural Land Reforms.
Rural Dynamics: Processes of Change in Rural Society- Little Tradition, Great Tradition, Universalization and Parochialization.
Rural Power Structure: Traditional Power Structure in Rural India: Bases and Features, Modernization of Traditional Power Structure.
Rural Leadership: Meaning, Features, Traditional Bases and Emerging Patterns.
Panchayati Raj and Democratic Decentralization ( with special reference to Rajasthan) : Gram Sabha, Gram Panchayat, Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad.
Rural Reconstruction: Meaning, Objectives and Importance; Programmes for Rural Reconstruction (with special reference to Green Revolution, IRDP and Five Year Plans, MNREGA)