Main Features Of Rural Society

Village is a community-

The village satisfies all their needs in the village. They have a sense of unity and a feeling of amiability towards each other. Village is a institution-

The development of villages is influenced considerably by the life of the village. In this way village is a primary institution. Religiosity-

Faith in religion and universal power is found in the life of the villages. The major occupation is agriculture which involves dependence on nature. Farmers worship forces of nature. The life of the village is the joint family system.

Family has a strict control and administrative powers over the individual. All the members of the family share the burden of the family occupation. In this way of working together the villagers maintain sense of cooperation among themselves. In the life of the villagers group feeling occupies an important place. They respect the judgment and obey the orders of their elders and the panchayats.SVillage Tour in India Explore the rural areas in India Rajasthan

Often when we think of rural life in India -vivid effigies of mud plastered walls, shady trees, green fields, dung cakes, uneven roads, bullock carts and deep dark wells becharms our minds - ah! This the picture of every rural areas in India. And how can one miss hashing out about the sweet and refreshing aroma of the earth when exposed to the very first drop of rain...rural life in India villages is very down to earth and very own always.

Take a village tour in India and experience the colorful village life in India, untouched by modernity. More than 700 million Indian population live in 600000 villages across rural areas in India. It won't be wrong to say that a true picture of India can be witnessed in its soulful villages - rural India. The Government of India is taking commendable steps in promoting the village tourism in India in order

to give the visitors a glimpse of "Wonderful Rural India" and offer information on major rural areas in India. Click Here For More Information/Booking Villages of Rajasthan Villages of Rajasthan display their own distinctive charm. The palaces, forts, gardens and wildlife parks are the major delights of Rajasthan but the villages here also are in no way less attractive than the above mentioned. The villages here showcase the present life of people of the state at its most basic. Finding a village in the barren land, for a tourist though is a difficult task but once he/she comes across it, the weariness evaporates. The villages of Rajasthan are far away from the hustle and bustle of the city life and are very much grounded in tradition. A tour to these hamlets would give the travellers an insight in to rural India. One would get bowled by the simplicity of people's lifestyle here.

Camel ride in a desert proves to be the best way to explore the beauties of the villages. On the Shekhawati tract one can find a number of colorful villages. The hamlets have well built houses that are decorated with beautiful wall paintings and other items of great delight. The villages boast of architectural richness. Every village has a deep dark well that quenches the thirst of every jaded traveller. The charm of spending a day in the villages of Rajasthan is a great source of pleasure. The villages present a true picture of the arduous life of the desert folks. All these provide an extra edge to Rajasthan Village Tourism.

Best of Rural Rajasthan Enjoy the cockfight Relish the traditional cuisine Bask in the village fair. Watch kids playing in the desert. See farmers working in the fields. Check the village cobbler. Watch Village folk performers. Women filling water from wells. The colourful handicraft items. Watching women making rotis (bread) from earthen kilns.

Try your hands at churning of some fresh butter from the brimmed milk pot.ociety, caste and panchayat have control over the individual. Rural sociology is a field of sociology associated with the study of social life in non-metropolitan areas. It is the scientific study of social arrangements and behaviour amongst people distanced from points of concentrated population or economic activity. Like any sociological discipline, rural sociology involves the examination of statistical data, interviews, social theory, observation, survey research, and many other techniques. In contrast to rural sociology, urban sociology is the study of urban social life. Agribusiness is one focus of rural sociology and much of the field is dedicated to the economics of farm production. Other areas of study include rural migration and other demographic patterns, environmental sociology, amenity-led development, public lands policies, so-called "boomtown" development, social disruption, rural health care and education polices, etc. [edit]Definition of "rural"

Sociologists define "rural" is those areas which are not urban in nature. The line between urban and rural is quite arbitrary, although rural sociologists in America often use the U.S. Census Bureau's definition of rural as being an area of fewer than 1000 people per square mile.[1] The 2000 Census reported that rural America was home to nearly 21% of the U.S. population (59,274,000 people).[2] Recent research has examined the "rural" and the "urban" as linked parts of a dialectical discourse.[1] [edit]History of rural sociology

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2006) Rural sociology became prominent during the late industrial revolution in France, Ireland, Prussia, Scandinavia, and the US. As urban incomes and quality of life rose, a social gap appeared between urban and rural dwellers. Early works of Max Weber in the late 19th century were concerned with rural sociology. The term was first coined in the USA. Sociology majors acquire a greater understanding and appreciation of life in a diverse world. They become aware of how society influences lives. They learn to value the power of individuals and groups in changing society. Majors develop skills in gathering and analyzing data on social issues and putting this information into a sociological context. Sociology also has a six year articulation agreement in Occupational Therapy with Seton Hall University where students will receive a BA in three years from Saint Peter's and an MS in Occupational Therapy from Seton Hall in another three years. The Urban Studies and Planning Program

The great majority of US citizens, and a growing proportion of people throughout the world, live in cities. Cities provide the environment in which people work, learn, play, and make decisions together. Local governments make critical interventions in the quality of life. At the same time, the cities of the world are increasingly linked in a global economic system, making diverse contributions to the international division of labor.

Urban studies and planning (USP) is an interdisciplinary program providing students with a variety of perspectives for understanding the development, growth, and culture of cities and the communities within them. Course work introduces students to the ways different disciplines understand cities and the societies of which they are a part. Upper-division requirements educate students about the parameters within which urban choices are made.

One of the outstanding features of the Urban Studies and Planning Program is the upper-division research requirement. During a two-quarter sequence designed to be taken in the fall and winter of the senior year, all USP majors are guided through a research internship and writing process. The upper-division field studies sequence allows students to work on specific policy projects in the San Diego region. Eligible students may choose to enroll in USP 190 in the spring to write an honors thesis. The honors option is an opportunity to do advanced research and writing that builds on work already completed in the senior sequence.

Urban studies and planning is an undergraduate community of students with diverse interests and goals. After graduation some majors pursue graduate work in social science disciplines. Others pursue graduate study in public policy, law, planning, or architecture. Urban Studies and Planning has always also attracted students interested in medicine and public-health issues, who continue to study in these areas at schools of medicine or public health. Urban studies and planning provides students with a solid liberal arts background for graduate study or for professional work in a number of fields. Many students find employment opportunities through their internship placement. More generally, graduates of urban studies and planning will have the analytic skills to think clearly and act creatively about the problems and prospects of the urban environment. Villagers in India manifest a deep loyalty to their village, identifying themselves to strangers as residents of a particular village, harking back to family residence in the village that typically extends into the distant past. A family rooted in a particular village does not easily move to another, and even people who have lived in a city for a generation or two refer to their ancestral village as "our village." Indian Villagers share use of common village facilities--the village pond (known in India as a tank), grazing grounds, temples and shrines, cremation grounds, schools, sitting spaces under large shade trees, wells, and wastelands. Perhaps equally important, fellow villagers share knowledge of their

common origin in a locale and of each other's secrets, often going back generations. Interdependence in rural life provides a sense of unity among residents of a village.

A great many observances emphasize village unity. Typically, each village recognizes a deity deemed the village protector or protectress, and villagers unite in regular worship of this deity, considered essential to village prosperity. They may cooperate in constructing temples and shrines important to the village as a whole. Hindu festivals such as Holi, Dipavali (Diwali), and Durga Puja bring villagers together (see Public Worship, ch.3). In the north, even Muslims may join in the friendly splashing of colored water on fellow villagers in Spring Holi revelries, which involve villagewide singing, dancing, and joking. People of all castes within a village address each other by kinship terms, reflecting the fictive kinship relationships recognized within each settlement. In the north, where village exogamy is important, the concept of a village as a significant unit is clear. When the all-male groom's party arrives from another village, residents of the bride's village in North India treat the visitors with the appropriate behavior due to them as bride-takers--men greet them with ostentatious respect, while women cover their faces and sing bawdy songs at them. A woman born in a village in India is known as a daughter of the village while an in-married bride is considered a daughter-in-law of the village. In her conjugal home in North India, a bride is often known by the name of her natal village; for example, Sanchiwali (woman from Sanchi). A man who chooses to live in his wife's natal village-usually for reasons of land inheritance--is known by the name of his birth village, such as Sankheriwala (man from Sankheri).

Traditionally, villages in India often recognized a headman and listened with respect to the decisions of the panchayat , composed of important men from the village's major castes, who had the power to levy fines and exclude transgressors from village social life. Disputes were decided within the village precincts as much as possible, with infrequent recourse to the police or court system. In present-day India, the government supports an elective panchayat and headman system, which is distinct from the traditional council and headman, and, in many instances, even includes women and very low-caste members. As older systems of authority are challenged, villagers are less reluctant to take disputes to court.

The solidarity of a village is always riven by conflicts, rivalries, and factionalism. Living together in intensely close relationships over generations, struggling to wrest a livelihood from the same limited area of land and water sources, closely watching some grow fat and powerful while others remain weak and dependent, fellow villagers are prone to disputes, strategic contests, and even violence. Most villages of India include what villagers call "big fish," prosperous, powerful people, fed and serviced through the labors of the struggling "little fish." Villagers commonly view gains as possible only at the expense of neighbors. Further, the increased involvement of villagers with the wider economic and political world outside the village via travel, work, education, and television; expanding government influence in rural areas; and increased pressure on land and resources as

village populations grow seem to have resulted in increased factionalism and competitiveness in many parts of rural India.

The Government of India, has launched various programmes like community development programme, co-operative movement etc for the improvement of villages. And Rural Sociology provides scientific knowledge, Rural Sociology is gaining importance. The importance can be analysed in brief under following heads.

(1) Village is the life and blood of Indian Social Life:

Near about 80% of the population of India live in villages. So India is a classic land of villages. Villages are the centre of India culture. Dubey has rightly remarked that from time immemorial village has been a basic and important unit in the organisation of Indian social life. Desai has also proclaimed in the same vein that village is the unit of Rural Society.

It is the theatre where in the quantum of rural life unfolds itself and functions. Like every social phenomenon village is a historical category the principal pivot of the Indian society only till recently.

(2) Unique nature of transformation of Indian Society:

Due to historical reasons, Indian Rural Society has become a society of societies which means, Rural Society within its frame work includes different rural societies, hence reveals a diversified cultural pattern. A careful observer can find that all the elements of traditional and modern culture are juxtaposed in Indian rural life. This simultaneous operation of traditional and modern forces makes the Rural Society an interesting field of study.

A great transformation has also taken place in a peculiar way in Rural India. Such peculiar nature of transformation may be termed as traditionalisation of modernity. For a proper analysis of Indian society the study of such peculiarities is highly necessary. Therefore, Rural Sociology becomes more important in India.

(3) Agriculture nexus of the country:

Agriculture is the Indian way of life. The most predominant mode of occupation in India is agriculture. Unless, the agriculture is modernised the countrys economy cannot make a steady progress. Through the study of Rural Sociology, we are able to know about the agricultural programmes involvement of the farmers with agriculture and other agricultural mechanisms for its improvement.

If the vast majority of the rural population has to be provided with minimum basic necessities of life, like food, clothing and housing, agriculture has to be improved. This can be done when we have adequate knowledge about agriculture, and Rural Society. Hence the importance of Rural Sociology in India can hardly be undermined.

(4) For Rural Development and Solution of Rural problems:

Rural India suffers from various social evils to changes the face of Rural Society; these evils have to be removed. Rural Sociology provides us knowledge about the study of rural problems and their solutions. When the problems of rural life are solved, the country can make tremendous progress. Further, the country can be remodeled through rural reconstruction.

Rural Sociology teaches us the various methods and programmes for rural reconstruction. Desai has rightly remarked that this systematic study of rural social organisation, of its structure, function and evolution has not only become necessary but also urgent after advent of independence.

(5) Growing influence of Industrialisation and Urbanisation:

Although the process of industrialisation and urbanisation are taking place at a Shails pace in India, but Rural Society is very much being influenced by it. The charges, due to such influences at one aspect without the corresponding change in the entire system, become dangerous for Rural Society. The study of such dangerous situations becomes necessary for the smooth progress of Rural Society.

(6) Village as basic unit of study:

Microscopic studies have become necessary to understand the complexities of modern society and its multifarious problems. Srinivas has remarked that these studies constitute, therefore, valuable contributions towards social, political, economic and religious history of our country. Village forms

as the basic unit of study for any such macroscopic analysis. So knowledge about true nature and form of village life is of prior importance in the present context.

(7) Scientific study of village community as a prerequisite for democratic decentralisation:

Through the decentralisation of power, economy and administration, the country can make real progress in a genuine democratic way. Village Panchayat, Community Development programme and Co-operative Movement are real democratic apparatus for such decentralisation.

Rural Sociology provides us knowledge about the structure and functioning of this organisation. The programmes are the three main forces of social progress. Hence, Rural Sociology which studies the structure and functions of these organisations is definitely of greater importance.