As distinct from prejudice, "discrimination" refers to:

Actual behaviour or practice towards another group

A pre-conceived opinion held about another group before knowing the facts

Actual behaviour or practice towards another group

A fixed characterisation of a group

Inequality between individuals of different talent

The NCERT book identifies three main dimensions of untouchability. They are:

Exclusion, humiliation-subordination and exploitation

Endogamy, hierarchy and occupation

Prejudice, stereotype and discrimination

Exclusion, humiliation-subordination and exploitation

Purity, pollution and ritual rank

Assertion (A): Social exclusion, as defined in the book, is involuntary. Reason (R): Exclusion is practised regardless of the wishes of those who are excluded.

Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A

Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion — Caste, Tribe, Gender and Disability

Some inequalities look natural — the result of individual talent or effort. Sociology asks why access to resources, respect and opportunity is distributed in patterned ways that persist across generations and are justified by beliefs. This chapter introduces the concepts used to analyse such patterns — stratification, the three forms of capital, prejudice, stereotypes, discrimination and social exclusion — and then applies them to four groups whose experiences the book examines in detail: Dalits facing caste and untouchability, Adivasis, women, and the disabled. For each it records both the forms of exclusion and the struggles — by the excluded themselves, by reformers, and by the state — to overcome them.

Stratification, Capital, Prejudice and Exclusion

Social stratification is a society-wide system that ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. The book stresses three principles: stratification is a characteristic of society, not simply a reflection of individual differences; it persists over generations, being closely linked to the family and the inheritance of resources; and it is supported by patterns of belief or ideology that make it seem fair or natural. Drawing on the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, the book notes that a person's position depends on three forms of capital: economic capital (material assets and income), cultural capital (such as educational qualifications and status) and social capital (networks of contacts and social associations). These can be converted into one another — wealth buys education, education opens networks — which is how advantage is passed on.

Three terms the paper keeps apart
Term	Meaning
Prejudice	Pre-conceived opinions or attitudes held by members of one group towards another — literally a "pre-judgement", made before knowing the facts; may be positive but is usually negative
Stereotype	A fixed and inflexible characterisation of a group of people, often applied to ethnic and racial groups and to women
Discrimination	Actual behaviour or practice towards another group or individual — denying opportunities open to others; it can be hard to prove because it may not be explicit

Social exclusion refers to ways in which individuals may become cut off from full involvement in the wider society — from housing, education, health care, jobs or public spaces. The book draws out its features: exclusion is systematic, the result of structural features of society rather than accident; and it is involuntary, practised regardless of the wishes of those excluded. Prolonged exclusion can produce a reaction in which the excluded stop trying to be included, which is then misread as a choice — a reversal of cause and effect the book warns against.

Caste, Untouchability and the Responses to Them

Untouchability is described in the book as an extreme and particularly vicious aspect of the caste system, prescribing stringent social sanctions against members of castes located at the bottom of the purity–pollution scale. It has three main dimensions: exclusion (from shared water sources, temples, public places and social contact), humiliation and subordination (enforced gestures of deference and degrading treatment), and exploitation (forced, unpaid or underpaid labour). The groups subjected to it have been called by different names: "Harijan", the term Mahatma Gandhi used, and "Dalit" — literally "downtrodden" — the term preferred by activists and now widely accepted, which conveys the experience of oppression and the assertion against it.

Laws: the colonial Caste Disabilities Removal Act, 1850 protected the rights of those who changed religion or caste; the Government of India Act, 1935 gave legal force to the schedules of castes and tribes; Article 17 of the Constitution abolished untouchability; the Untouchability (Offences) Act, 1955 was revised in 1976 as the Protection of Civil Rights Act; and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 made atrocities against these groups specific offences.
Reservations: seats in legislatures, posts in government services and places in educational institutions are reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. For the Other Backward Classes, the First Backward Classes Commission was headed by Kaka Kalelkar (1953); the Second, the Mandal Commission, reported in 1980, and its recommendation of reservations in central government jobs was implemented in 1990, provoking intense debate.
Struggles by the excluded: the book stresses that change did not come only from above. Jotiba Phule challenged caste and gender oppression in nineteenth-century Maharashtra; E. V. Ramasamy "Periyar" led the non-Brahmin Self-Respect Movement in the Tamil region; and B. R. Ambedkar led the struggle of the "untouchable" castes for dignity and rights, and as chairman of the Drafting Committee shaped the Constitution's protections. Dalit movements continue to assert both rights and a distinct cultural identity.
Adivasi struggles: tribal communities were excluded through the loss of forests and land under colonial and later forest laws and through displacement by development projects; their movements, from colonial-era uprisings to the movements for Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, have sought control over land, forests and identity.

The Struggle for Women's Equality and the Struggles of the Disabled

Gender inequality is often explained as natural — the result of biological difference. The book rejects this: the forms of inequality between men and women vary greatly across societies and over time, which shows they are social. In nineteenth-century India, the "women's question" was raised by reformers: Raja Rammohun Roy campaigned against sati in Bengal; M. G. Ranade supported widow remarriage; Jotiba Phule attacked caste and gender oppression together; Sir Syed Ahmed Khan sought to promote education among Muslims; and Dayanand Saraswati supported women's education. Women also wrote for themselves: Tarabai Shinde, a housewife from Maharashtra, wrote Stri Purush Tulana (1882), protesting the double standards of a male-dominated society; and Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain wrote Sultana's Dream (1905), imagining a world in which the roles of men and women were reversed.

The national movement drew women into public life, and the Karachi session of the Indian National Congress (1931) adopted a declaration on the Fundamental Rights of Citizenship that committed it to women's equality, including universal adult franchise and equal rights regardless of sex. After independence a renewed women's movement took shape in the 1970s; the report Towards Equality (1974), prepared by the Committee on the Status of Women in India, documented how far women remained from the equality the Constitution promised, and helped revive the movement.

The disabled. The book uses the term differently abled and observes that disability is commonly understood in ways that place the problem in the person: as a biological given, so that every difficulty a disabled person faces is assumed to arise from the impairment; with the disabled person seen as a victim; and with the idea that disability is linked to the person's self-perception and need for help. Disability activists counter that it is society — buildings, transport, schools and attitudes — that turns an impairment into a disability. The book also stresses a two-way link between disability and poverty: poverty, through malnutrition and poor health care, raises the risk of impairment, and disability, through exclusion from education and work, deepens poverty. The Persons with Disabilities Act of 1995 was a landmark; it has since been replaced by the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

Key takeaways

Stratification is a feature of society, persists over generations and is supported by ideology.
Bourdieu: economic capital (assets, income), cultural capital (education, status), social capital (networks).
Prejudice is an attitude, a stereotype a fixed characterisation, discrimination actual behaviour; social exclusion is systematic and involuntary.
Untouchability has three dimensions — exclusion, humiliation-subordination and exploitation; Article 17 abolished it and the 1989 Act targets atrocities.
OBC commissions: Kaka Kalelkar (1953) and the Mandal Commission (report 1980, implemented 1990).
Tarabai Shinde wrote Stri Purush Tulana (1882); Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain wrote Sultana's Dream (1905); the Karachi session (1931) committed the Congress to women's equality.
Disability is commonly treated as a biological given; activists stress social barriers, and disability and poverty reinforce each other.

Practice questions (8)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

As distinct from prejudice, "discrimination" refers to:
1. A pre-conceived opinion held about another group before knowing the facts
2. Actual behaviour or practice towards another group
3. A fixed characterisation of a group
4. Inequality between individuals of different talent
Show answer
Answer: B — Actual behaviour or practice towards another group
Prejudice is an attitude — a pre-judgement — while discrimination is what people actually do: behaviour or practice that denies a group opportunities open to others. The pre-conceived opinion describes prejudice itself, and the fixed characterisation is a stereotype; the three terms are distinct, and the paper tests whether they are kept apart.
Match each form of capital, as described by Pierre Bourdieu, with its example.
A. Economic capital B. Cultural capital C. Social capital
1. Networks of contacts and social associations
2. Educational qualifications and status
3. Material assets and income
1. A-1, B-2, C-3
2. A-2, B-3, C-1
3. A-3, B-1, C-2
4. A-3, B-2, C-1
Show answer
Answer: D — A-3, B-2, C-1
Economic capital is material assets and income, cultural capital includes educational qualifications and status, and social capital is networks of contacts and associations. The commonest slip is to treat educational status as "social" capital because status sounds social; Bourdieu classes it as cultural capital, and the three can be converted into one another.
The NCERT book identifies three main dimensions of untouchability. They are:
1. Endogamy, hierarchy and occupation
2. Prejudice, stereotype and discrimination
3. Exclusion, humiliation-subordination and exploitation
4. Purity, pollution and ritual rank
Show answer
Answer: C — Exclusion, humiliation-subordination and exploitation
The book names exclusion (from water sources, temples and public places), humiliation-subordination (enforced deference and degrading treatment) and exploitation (forced or unpaid labour). Endogamy, hierarchy and occupation are features of the caste system in general, and purity and pollution are the ideas behind the hierarchy — neither set describes what untouchability does to those subjected to it.
Untouchability was abolished, and its practice in any form forbidden, by which Article of the Constitution of India?
1. Article 17
2. Article 14
3. Article 21
4. Article 46
Show answer
Answer: A — Article 17
Article 17 abolishes untouchability and makes the enforcement of any disability arising from it an offence. Article 14 guarantees equality before the law in general terms, which is why it tempts, and Article 46, a Directive Principle, asks the state to promote the educational and economic interests of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes — related, but not the abolition itself.
Assertion (A): Social exclusion, as defined in the book, is involuntary. Reason (R): Exclusion is practised regardless of the wishes of those who are excluded.
1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
3. A is true, but R is false
4. A is false, but R is true
Show answer
Answer: A — Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
Calling exclusion involuntary means exactly that it happens whatever the excluded want, so R states the content of A and explains it. The book adds that prolonged exclusion can lead the excluded to stop trying to be included — which outsiders then misread as choice. That later reaction does not make the original exclusion voluntary.
"Stri Purush Tulana" (1882), a work protesting the double standards of a male-dominated society, was written by:
1. Pandita Ramabai
2. Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain
3. Tarabai Shinde
4. Savitribai Phule
Show answer
Answer: C — Tarabai Shinde
Tarabai Shinde, a housewife from Maharashtra, wrote Stri Purush Tulana in 1882. Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain is the likeliest confusion because the book pairs the two as women who wrote for themselves, but her work is Sultana's Dream (1905), a utopia in which gender roles are reversed.
The Second Backward Classes Commission, whose recommendation of reservations for Other Backward Classes in central government jobs was implemented in 1990, is known as the:
1. Kalelkar Commission
2. Kothari Commission
3. Sarkaria Commission
4. Mandal Commission
Show answer
Answer: D — Mandal Commission
The Mandal Commission was the Second Backward Classes Commission; it reported in 1980 and its recommendation was implemented in 1990. The Kalelkar Commission is the trap: it was the First Backward Classes Commission, set up in 1953. The Kothari Commission dealt with education and the Sarkaria Commission with Centre–state relations.
Consider the following statements about disability as discussed in the book:
1. Disability is commonly understood as a biological given, with every difficulty a disabled person faces assumed to arise from the impairment.
2. The book treats disability and poverty as unrelated to each other.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
1. Both 1 and 2
2. 1 only
3. 2 only
4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer
Answer: B — 1 only
The book observes that disability is commonly seen as a biological given that places the problem in the person — the view disability activists challenge by pointing to social barriers — so statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: the book stresses a two-way link, with poverty raising the risk of impairment and disability deepening poverty.