Social Change and Development in India | Chapter-1 | Class12 | Sociology | NCERT

Social Change and Development in India       

                     Chapter--1

             Structural Change

We have a parliamentary and a legal system, a police and educational system built very much on the British model.We drive on the left side of the road like the British. We have ‘bread-omlette’ and ‘cutlets’ as menu offered in many roadside eateries and canteens. A very popular manufacturer of biscuits, is actually named after Britain. Many school uniforms include neck-ties. We often admire the west

and as often resent it. These are just some of the many and complex ways that British colonialism lives on in contemporary India.

Understanding Colonialism 

• At one level, colonialism simply means

the establishment of rule by one country over another.

• The impact of colonial rule

is distinguishable from all other earlier rules because the changes it brought in were far-reaching and deep.

• There is a vital difference between

the empire building of pre-capitalist times and that of capitalist times. Apart from outright pillage, the pre-capitalist conquerors benefited from their domination by exacting a continuous flow of tribute. On the whole they did not

interfere with the economic base. They simply took the tribute that was skimmed

off the economic surplus that was produced traditionally in the subjugated areas.

• British colonialism which was based on a capitalist system directly interfered to ensure greatest profit and benefit to British capitalism. Every policy was geared towards the strengthening and expansion of British capitalism. For instance it changed the very laws of the land. 
• It changed not just land ownership laws but decided even what crops ought to be grown and what ought not to be.
• Forest Acts that changed the lives of

pastoralists. They were prevented from entering many forests that had earlier.provided valuable forage for their cattle. The box carries a brief account of the impact of colonial forest policy in North-East India.

Forest Policy in the Colonial Period in North-East India.

Between 1861 and 1878, an area of approximately 269 square miles had been constituted as reserved forests. By 1894, the area had gone up to 3,683 square miles. And, by the end of the nineteenth century, the

area of forests under the department was 20,061 square miles, of which 3,609 square miles comprised reserved forest

• Significantly, large areas of these forests are located in the hill areas occupied by tribal communities who for centuries depended upon and lived in close harmony with nature.

URBANISATION AND INDUSTRIALISATION

THE COLONIAL EXPERIENCE

Industrialisation refers to the emergence of machine production, based on the use of inanimate power resources like steam or electricity.

• In India the impact of the very same British

industrialisation led to deindustrialisation in some sectors. And decline of old urban centres. Just as manufacturing boomed in Britain, traditional exports of cotton and silk manufactures from India declined in the face of Manchester competition. This period also saw the further decline of cities such as Surat and Masulipatnam while Bombay and Madras grew.

• Unlike Britain where the impact of industrialisation led to more people moving into urban areas, in India the initial impact

of the same British industrialisation led to more people moving into agriculture.

THE TEA PLANTATIONS

We cannot go into details about different industries here. We simply take the case of the tea industry in India as an example.

• The colonial government often used unfair means to hire and forcibly keep labourers.

• The colonial administrators were clear that harsh measures were taken against the labourers to make sure they benefited the planters.
• INDUSTRIALISATION IN INDEPENDENT INDIA

For Indian nationalists the issue of economic exploitation under colonial rule was a central issue. Images of pre-colonial fabled riches of India contrasted with the poverty of British India. The Swadeshi movement strengthened the loyalty to the national economy. Modern ideas made people realise that poverty was preventable. Indian nationalists saw rapid industrialisation of the economy as the path

towards both growth and social equity. Development of heavy and machine-making industries, expansion of the public sector and holding of a large cooperative sector were considered very important

URBANISATION IN INDEPENDENT INDIA

Villages all over India are becoming increasingly subject to the impact of urban influences.

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