5 Practices of sociology in professional institutions

Anurekha Chari Wagh

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Section one, the Historical location of the discipline within the

Institution;

Section two, Sociology in the margins and the students’ perception of the discipline

Section three Experience of being a teacher. Section four: Conclusion

Over a period of time, sociology has been taught as a part of Humanities within the most elite professional institutions. Analysis of the disciplinary practices of this discipline requires a critical examination of each of its locations. After an evaluation of disciplinary practices and institutional locations in Universities and colleges it is important that we examine the actual practice of teaching sociology in professional institutions. Chaudhuri (2010) argues that sociology, as a discipline, is marginal in these institutions. This is very true. Speaking from experience of teaching sociology to law students in one of the premier law schools in the country, I can say that it was an onerous task. Looking back, at my classes, I think I spent most of my time in discussing ‘how sociology would be relevant to them as law students’. It is very difficult to teach and engage in the class if every time one has to think of the ‘viability and necessity’ of doing sociology. The more premier the professional institution, the more marginalized location ‘Humanities’ occupy and specifically in this context a discipline like sociology.

Such a fragile position of sociology is further challenged with the shift in the very meaning of what constitutes education and knowledge. With the onslaught of neoliberal policies, one finds a change in the vision in these institutions from Nationalist vision of nation building in the Nehruvian era to transnational global demands of efficiency and relevance. In such demanding times, Chaudhuri (2010) argues that it is important to argue for a sociological practice that helps not just critical thinking but also endows basic democratic and egalitarian values to students. It is important to recognize that one has to traverse the complex fields of disciplinary marginality. Why? Within the hierarchy of social sciences sociology has to struggle to find a higher- up position, which is captured by disciplines such as economics, history and political science. This complexity is further stretched when one is trying to argue for sociology within institutions that place a premium on technology and management. And then, in the class and staff meetings, one faces the dominant perception that sociology is nothing more than common sense, requiring no deep thought and thinking.

When one thinks of this picture, it makes much sense to analyse how scholars negotiated the challenges and through this make a strong argument for sociology. What would the students learn from this module?

How do the macro policies of the education policy impact the practices of the discipline?

Understand that students from professional institutions engage with sociology differently as a marginal subject.

What are the challenges faced by sociology teachers teaching the discipline to non-sociology students?

The issues raised in this module relating to the practices of the discipline in professional institutions will be discussed under three themes: Section one, the Historical location of the discipline within the Institution; section two, Sociology in the margins and the students’ perception of the discipline and section three Experience of being a teacher. In doing this we shall discuss arguments for four different scholars working in different locations, including management, technology and engineering, nursing and law institutions.

The reflections with regard to management and technology and engineering institutions are specific; it includes analysis of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkatta and the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. The analysis with regard to nursing and law are not specific to any particular institute but to the profession however, both are based in Kolkatta, West Bengal. In these institutions the students have different expectations from the programme they have chosen for themselves and thus carry an ambivalent attitude towards the discipline of sociology. Generally, students ask questions about its relevance to their field of specialization, feel the irrelevance of engaging with the discipline, consider it a waste of time while some of them do not even have a position on it, they just ignore it. In such a scenario the marginality of the disciplines gets reflected on making the practitioners marginal in the process of knowledge within these elite institutions.

The scholars analyzing the discipline within professional institutions are located in different institutions. There are two common threads that tie them together. One, the analysis and observations of the four different scholars are based on their personal reflections and experiences in being sociology teachers in professional institutions. Secondly, they are both ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’, which is crucial in terms of their reflections. On the one hand because each of them is a faculty member of these institutions, they are insiders. On the other hand, because sociology as a discipline is positioned in the margins, they are relegated to being the ‘outsider’, the ‘ones’ who do not belong.

Section one: Historical location of the discipline within the Institution

It is by now well recognized that any analysis of the discipline needs to contextualize itself within the process of institutionalization. The examination as to why a particular institution was established, its vision statement and the rationale for the practices with regard to disciplines is important for understanding the disciplinary trajectory. What does it imply for an understanding of sociology? The argument is, we want to examine and evaluate the disciplinary position of sociology, within institutions that are not focused on learning sociology, unlike university disciplinary departments.

In the case of the Indian Institute of Management institutions (IIMs), Thakur (2010) argues that by focusing on the trajectory of sociology within IIMs, both its history and contemporary trends, one can reflect on the institutional and intellectual legacies of sociology. Though IIMs were initially modeled on the lines of American management schools, the institution closely reflected and nurtured the vision of development, modernization and democracy of the Indian state. It is important to recognize that sociology lies in the margins within one of the most visible, recognized and celebrated educational institutions in India.

What was then the model institutionalized by American schools of business and management with reference to the discipline? Sociology was bestowed an important strategic importance in the management process. Scholars reflecting on this generally referred to the appointment of Elton Mayo at the Harvard Business School in 1960. What did it imply? Thakur (2010) argues that it implied equating industrial sociology with Hawthorne experiments. As a result, sociology is generally perceived as a discipline resolving industrial conflict and a source of ‘social skills’- that is as Thakur states solving ‘human (read labour) problems in industrial societies’ (2010:159). Such promise in the discipline justified its strategic presence in management schools. The justification runs on two levels. One, through sociology, management students can learn about institutions, especially industrial institutions such as trade unions, labour market, the enterprise and also reflect on the interaction of industrial institutions with other institutions such as family, class, politics and education. Second through sociology, students learnt to be good managers as it was believed that the discipline had a liberalizing effect on them, helped them broaden their perspective and understand the social values defining industrial institutions.

In order to understand the marginality of the discipline within IIMs it is important to know the stated objectives of the institution. Thakur (2010) states that the objectives of IIMs such as meeting the needs of the industry, assisting solution of management problems and developing indigenous literature on management through effective programmes of teaching, research, consultancy and publication, was closely intertwined with the post independence drive of the Indian state towards industrialization and development. So IIMs were an integral part of the nationalist vision of development. What was surprising was that the policy makers could not perceive any inherent inconsistency of interests between the vision of IIMs and the quest for a society based on socialist ideas as a national goal. Drawing upon the initial IIM convocation addresses, Thakur argues that it was expected that the IIM graduates, by working in the public sector, would facilitate the building of an India based on socialism. Thus IIMs were an integral part of building a modern industrial nation based on values of socialism. It is also important to recognize that IIMs were perceived as strengthening and make possible the processes of the industrialization in the country.

Continuing similarly, one can see from the analysis of Ganguly (2010) that sociology as a discipline was considered essential to the vision of nurse training. Ganguly (2010) states that it needs to be recognized that sociology has been, for long, an integral part of sociology in undergraduate nursing courses. The discipline is incorporated in terms of its functional utility. He draws on the West Bengal University of Health Sciences, where it is stated that ‘the syllabus is designed to reorient students to sociology related to community and social institutions in India and its relationship with health, illness and nursing’ (Ganguly 2010: 186). Historically sociology as a discipline was given the rationale that health and community are closely interrelated. It was argued that having sociology would make possible a broad-based sensitization and training of the nurses, orienting them to the development within society and making them sensitive to the social world. It is expected that sociology will help them to reflect upon their personal values, making them more tolerant and less judgemental in their action.

What about law? Sen (2010) argues that the rationale for studying law is based on an understanding of the perceived role of its students as legal practitioners in the larger society. According to her, most of the law schools in India are greatly influenced by observations and recommendations of Professor N.R Madhava Menon, who recommended for independent law schools. For Menon, it was important that students, while learning clinical legal education, make connections with larger issues concerning legal theory, public policy and social justice. So he demanded for a five-year law programme, wherein the first two years had to be law subjects in combination with social science and humanities subjects. So developing a sense of responsibility in the student to serve the society and promoting interdisciplinary study of law, was believed would help law and legal processes to be efficient instruments of social development (Sen 2010).

Similarly in the case of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), sociology or rather Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) were expected to play a crucial role in shaping the students. Deb draws upon the website of the department of HSS, which rationalizes the significance of the disciplines. The website states ‘The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences’ plays a unique and distinctive role in an institute where the ethos of science and technology prevails. It is believed that engineering and science are, by their very nature, humanistic and socially derived enterprises. Hence, a complete science and technology education must include liberal arts, economics, social and behavioural sciences where the student unites application of scientific principles along with human, moral and social understanding. The undergraduate courses taught by the department faculty aim at making the science and technology students aware of the various issues concerning man and society. They are meant to sensitize students to the broader social, cultural, economic, ethical and humane issues involved in social change’ (Deb 2010: 221). This implies that in terms of its vision and values, social sciences and humanities are considered an important element of IIT, believing that engaging with these ideas and perspectives makes the students sensitive to larger social issues.

The analysis presented above make for a case that sociology is integral to its vision of education. If this is so then the question that becomes pertinent is why then sociology is pushed to the margins within these institutions and how do the students perceive the discipline?

Section two: Sociology in the ‘Margins and the students perception of the discipline

To this question, as far as IIMs are concerned Thakur argues that it is a combination of factors that push sociology towards a marginal position, though the vision of IIMs is to facilitate building of a society based on socialistic values. One, within the world of management, sociology as a discipline does not provide the requisite skills much needed to be the best. Scholars belonging to the management disciplines are in charge of important programmes, design the vision, and by offering a number of programmes to the market such as management development programmes, training, and consultancy, bring in money and recognition to the institute. Social sciences, which includes sociology does not have this kind of orientation and thus occupy marginal position. Sociologists are considered inferior and scholars have to constantly prove that sociology is an empirical and scientific discipline. Two, to add to this marginality the ‘mainstream’ of sociology on the other hand does not recognize these institutions as potential sites of academic research and teaching. Joining IIM and joining Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) for a sociologist, does not carry the same meaning. Thakur states that for a sociologist, joining JNU connotes being part of what is ‘best’ in the discipline.

Based on the above information, one can argue that sociology faces double marginality, where on the one hand institutions like the IIMs pushes sociology to margins and on the other hand ‘mainstream’ sociology, institutionalized in central and state universities, perceives sociology pursued in management and professional institutions as marginal. As students, we need to understand that marginality of any discipline is perceived not only in terms of its institutional location but also its disciplinary location. Thakur (2010) goes on to state that though the mission statement of most of the IIMs stresses on values and social concerns and aims to develop social sensitivity among its students, the courses offered and its syllabi do not offer much in terms of sociological perspective and components. The fact that IIMs are not organized around distinctive disciplinary identities reflects that it has a negligible presence.

With regard to the marginal position in nursing, Ganguly (2010) argues that nursing students have an apprehension that sociology as a discipline does not have applicability or viability in their field. Ganguly argues that what has happened is that while designing the sociology course it is not realized that the nurses have to be made aware and sensitive of what it costs to the people. According to him, the nurses fear that the health sector is changing rapidly and sociology focusing on theoretical aspects does not equip them with relevant skills necessary to tackle the new developments. This opinion pushes the discipline to the margins.

Among the many responses that the law students have is that sociology, because it deals with society of which we are members, is easy to study and comprehend and therefore requires no special effort. In addition, the optional courses offered include areas like Gender and Law, International Human Rights Law, Disability and Law and, Law, Culture and Pluralism. Among the above listed the course on International Human Rights Law has much demand because of the high international popularity, but the other courses are perceived by the students to be theoretical and heavy and thus many are not interested. Students prefer to sign up for courses such as Law and Economics as compared to courses offered by Sociology, because it is considered an added value to specialized law courses such as ‘Corporate law’, Banking Law’ or ‘Trade Law’. To add to this, sociology as a discipline in India has not reflected consistently on law in India and so there is dearth of literature on the interface between law and sociology. Sen states that law as a discipline or practice has not been of much scholarly interest to the social science academic community. In addition, one can observe that sociology undergraduate and postgraduate courses do not have many components dealing with Law.

Section three: Experience of being a teacher

The experience of being a teacher is varied. Among the scholars it is Sen and Deb who have reflected much more in detail with regard to the teaching experience. For Thakur (2010) the experience of being a teacher is tied to the perception of the discipline within the institution. He states that it is unfortunate that even when sociologists are increasingly offering consultancies with NGOs and corporate houses, doing social auditing, the image of the discipline is that of a vague discipline dealing with issues of religion, caste, village, etc and is thus not needed in professional institutions like IIMs. Such a perspective puts a great deal of pressure on being identified as a sociology teacher. Similarly Ganguly argues that the experience of a sociology teacher is different in a nursing college, he/she is placed subsidiary, hierarchically placed lower than the other faculty members teaching nursing.

Sen (2010) argues that one faces a feeling of identity crisis, she states ‘to the community outside, I am a ‘pseudo -lawyer’ and to the community inside the law school I am a ‘social scientist’ in a law school’ (Sen 2010: 206). She raises an important question by asking whether one is teaching ‘sociology of law’ or ‘sociology’ to law students. This is for her, is a very important question. Sen (2010: 207) drawing upon the arguments of Coterral (1992: 311) believes that we should ask the question whether in law school, one is teaching sociology to law students or teaching sociology of law. Sen believes that one teaches sociology to law students. What is the difference? For Sen, sociology of law aims to interpret complexity of social details and link the legal experience of individuals and of different social groups to construct perspectives. Unfortunately, in India there is no established sub-discipline of sociology of law. We continue to teach sociology without making any linkages of legal with sociological perspectives.

The challenge lies in pushing the students to believe that sociology is significant in legal education. Sociology shapes the law student into nurturing a sociological imagination. Such an imagination constantly pushes one to examine for linkages between development and wider social relations, to interpret law within the wider social context. Further, it helps one to understand why laws get passed at particular historical moments and its reflection on society. Additionally, the study of sociology is crucial because laws are not only the results of benevolence of the state and the judiciary, but also the result of social movements. Sociology has a strong research methodology perspective which is very useful for pursuing legal research. One can conclude by arguing that reflexivity is crucial to sociology which nurtures a critical component in our understanding of society. It is this critical approach that the legal culture needs so as to be relevant for the future. Sociology and legal studies should approach each other through the framework of transdisciplinarity, each building on the strength of the other and in the process strengthening itself (Sen 2010).

It is Deb who reflects in greater detail with regard to his identity as a teacher and his interventions to make sociology more integrated in the perception of his students. The reason, I believe, is that Deb identifies himself more as a teacher than a researcher. He consciously identifies himself more as a teacher of sociology rather than a researcher. Why is this identity important? Deb believed that sociology was a discipline possessing a strong subversive potential, which could unravel the relations of power and domination implicit in everyday life, in social process and institutions. Teaching the students and facilitating within them the development of sociological imagination and critical sensibility to social inequality and injustice was not only challenging but also personally fulfilling. In analyzing Deb’s analysis one has to realize that, for him it was a professional and personal commitment and the discipline defined his identity both as a professional and as a person.

To this one needs to add another dimension. We need to recognize that Deb’s disciplinary location of teaching in both mainstream state university and IIT, an elite technology institute, makes his reflections important for critically evaluating the disciplinary trajectory of sociology. His self evaluation is interesting and pertinent to the analysis.

The challenge in teaching sociology in an elite technology institute is quite distinct from that of a state university. It would also be important to recognise that the challenge lies in teaching the core course in sociology to a large class of students, who are generally disinterested in the subject and would not be pursuing the discipline in their later years. Though the mandate of the institution was to inculcate social sensitivity within the students through a grounding of social sciences, the students were generally not concerned or even interested in it. The major challenge is to make the students realize that sociological understanding is different from the commensensical knowledge and the journalistic approach to social issues. The challenge lies in facilitating students to appreciate the depth of sociological knowledge and inculcating within them the required sociological imagination. The perspective would help them to understand the social issues holistically so that they would develop sensitivity towards social issues.

To take up the challenge of making sociology more interesting for the students, Deb experimented with a number of innovative teaching practices. A particular practice used by Deb to inculcate sociological imagination within the students included the pedagogical technique of ‘teacher as text1’, where the teacher gives his/her lived experiences and helps them to understand that one needs to contextualize them in the larger macro context. As Jacobs states ‘Teacher as Text’, is a pedagogical practice where ‘he’ as the teacher uses his personal experience to nurture sociological imagination within students; he states, ‘shared my personal experience with the class and used them to illustrate theoretical concepts, and encouraged students to use my illustration to understand how power works productively and destructively in their own lived experiences….with eternal vigilance and self reflection, the teacher as text facilitates the formation of the sociological imagination (Jacobs:1998, pp 226-227). It is in this manner that Deb used his personal experiences to help students develop sociological imagination. The idea is for the students to realize that personal experiences should not prevent them from critically analysing the issue in terms of the larger context in which it is embedded. This practice is used not only in class, but also to nurture ‘sociological sensitivity’ among students. In order to do this Deb, intervenes very actively in newsgroup debates on various socio -political issues of national interest and on issues concerning campus life. Such a practice does challenge many administrators and faculty from different (especially engineering) departments, but Deb argues that it was important to bring out in discussion forums, the one-dimensional perspectives and arguments of many scholars.

The challenge is to carve a space for sociological inquiry within the highly technologically dominated spaces, but this has to be done without compromising one’s dignity and disciplinary interests. It is important to note that Deb believes that, ‘Networking and getting massive funding for projects remain important because these activities get the discipline visibility and employment for those research students who are without fellowships. But those like me who cannot do consultancies or get massive projects, also have a place within that framework. We are doing a very crucial job. We are training future technologists to think critically, to be sensitive to the conditions of the poor and oppressed sections of our society and inculcating in them secular and humanitarian values’.(Deb 2010, pp 231)

1 Kushal Deb (2010:225) mentions in the footnote that the phrase ‘The Teacher as Text’ was borrowed from Walter R Jacobs article ‘The Teacher as a Text’: Using Personal Experience to Stimulate the Sociological Imagination’ in Teaching Sociology, Vol 26, No 3 (July 1998), pp 222‐228.

Conclusion:

The question is whether it is possible to maintain a judicious balance between expectations of IIMs in terms of applied research and training and the conceptual and theoretical rigour of sociology. Thakur states that we need to create spaces for engagement and dialogue between practitioners of the discipline, irrespective of the sites of the practices. What also needs to be understood is that there is an increasing trend within the profession (transcending institutional location) of the growth of a new breed of scholars whom he referred to as ‘corporate scholars’ who specialize essentially in ‘networking’ Deb (2010:218). What does it exactly mean? According to Deb, these are scholars who aspire to be a big name in academics without essentially being a great scholar due to the person’s capabilities in networking. According to Deb, such a practice within academia pushes to the backstage, the earlier practice of teaching, inspiring students and investing one’s life in analyzing an idea..

But one needs to realize that this trend within academia is not related to one’s location in state universities or professional institutions. Rather it the neoliberal educational model that is pushing scholars to pursue academics in terms of output, such as number of conferences attended, papers published, projects in hand which could be measured and evaluated. So academicians do not invest time, energy and effort in teaching and motivating students other than the expected minimum requirement by institutions because at the end it cannot be calculated to be cashed for returns in terms of promotions or career advancement. In such a context when sociology itself is facing a number of challenges in terms of its relevance, it is important to remember that the sociology as a theoretical perspective explores both the micro politics of everyday life and links it up with the macro politics of institutional politics. Any discipline that carries within it the potential and capacity to critically reflect on itself cannot ever lose its significance.

POINTS TO PONDER:

1. What is pedagogy? http://infed.org/mobi/what-is-pedagogy/ :Many discussions of pedagogy make the mistake of seeing it as primarily being about teaching. In this piece Mark K. Smith explores the origins of pedagogy and the often overlooked traditions of thinking and practice associated with it. He argues that a focus on teaching as a specialist role is best understood in other ways. Pedagogy needs to be explored through the thinking and practice of those educators who look to accompany learners; care for and about them; and bring learning into life. Teaching is just one aspect of their practice. He also looks to some of the issues facing the development of pedagogical thinking.

2. Why Sociology? http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2012/08/why-sociology.html

What if sociologists ran the world? Okay, that’s probably not going to happen any time soon, but what if they commented on everything from politics, religion, race, and inequality to pop culture on a colorful, fun, website? That’s more like it. Welcome to Everydaysociologyblog.com, a site that features interesting, informative, and most of all entertaining commentary from sociologists around the United States. Come to this site regularly to get a sociological take on what is happening in the news (and on what should be in the news).

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REFERENCES:

• Chaudhuri, Maitrayee (ed) (2010): Sociology in India: Intellectual and Institutional Practices. Rawat Publications, Jaipur
• Kushal Deb (2010): The Challenges in Teaching Sociology at IIT: Are “Karl” and “Max” Relevant? In Maitrayee Chaudhuri,(ed) (2010): Sociology in India: Intellectual and Institutional Practices. Rawat Publications, Jaipur
• Manish Thakur (2010): Of Mainstream and Margins: Sociology in Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) In Maitrayee Chaudhuri,(ed) (2010): Sociology in India: Intellectual and Institutional Practices. Rawat Publications, Jaipur.
• Ramanuj Ganguly (2010): Nurturing Sociology among Nurses: The Case of West Bengal. In Maitrayee Chaudhuri,(ed) (2010): Sociology in India: Intellectual and Institutional Practices. Rawat Publications, Jaipur
• Rukmini Sen: Integrating Sociology in a Law School Curriculum Discontent, Dilemma, Direction In Maitrayee Chaudhuri,(ed) (2010): Sociology in India: Intellectual and Institutional Practices. Rawat Publications, Jaipur