Department of Sociology

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The present Department of Sociology was established as a combined Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology by the University of North Bengal in 1976. Professor Niren Ch. Choudhury, eminent anthropologist, was the first Professor and Head of the Department who provided the leadership in the formative years of the Department.Professor R.K.Bhadra and Dr.Namita Choudhury were associated with him since inception of this department and helped in the process of its development. The bifurcation between sociology and anthropology took place in 2001 and thus the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology was renamed Department of Sociology and a separate Department of Anthropology was established under the Science Faculty. From its beginning the Department of Sociology has been training students for three courses: M.A., M. Phil. and Ph.D. The Department has produced more than 30 Ph.Ds and more than one thousand Masters. Besides the two main programmes the Department invites visiting faculty, from the reputed national and international universities and the faculty of this department visit the universities abroad on visiting faculty programme and for attending seminars/conferences. The teachers of the Department encourage students to take part in academic discussions outside the class-room interaction and encourage them to present papers in seminars/conferences. In recognition of the good work done by the Department the University Grants’ Commission (UGC) has granted the Special Assistance Programme (DRS – 1) in 2007 which has facilitated undertaking a good number of research projects on issues relating to gender question and the problem of ethnicity in the North Bengal region. The Department has been organizing a national level seminar every year on the gender and ethnicity related issues, which constitute the focal theme of the SAP. As a part of the programme the Department publishes Occasional Papers and edited volumes based on the research articles that are produced under different SAP related programs.

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Start date: 2022Subject: search.filters.subject.social stigma

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    Self as an Interpreter of Stigma: The Everyday Life Agony of the Hijras of North Bengal
    (University of North Bengal, 2024-03-31) Dukpa, Lhamu Tshering; Sachdeva, Swati Akshay
    Social stigma is ubiquitous and characteristic of almost all human societies. Any supposed “anomalous” behaviour is often deemed as socially “reprehensible” eliciting in the process, social proscriptions to impose conformity and enforce consensus. The hijras of India constitute one such stigmatised ilk wherein they routinely experience social opprobrium and censure for irregularities vis-a-vis their gender and sexual identities that diverges from the heteronormative straitjackets normalised by society. Centring on “social stigma”, the present paper attempts to qualitatively apprehend the meanings that arise as and when the hijras interact/encounter “normal” in mainstream or hijra household settings. Drawing on the life story method and Goffman’s work on stigma, the paper seeks to foreground individuals as interpreters of stigma who consciously formulate meanings in their everyday lived social and interactional contexts.
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    ItemOpen Access
    On the Margins: A Tale of the Pandemic and the Funeral Workers in Benares
    (University of North Bengal, 2022-03) Kumari, Sarita
    Caste is one of the core markers of Hindu society. Many castes still continue with their hereditary traditional occupations across India; burning of the funeral pyre is such an unrecognized occupation performed by the Doms. Outbreak of any infectious disease often adds to the burden of a work, which is already challenging. The pandemic COVID-19 unfolded a series of events in the lives of funeral workers in Benares, as they had to negotiate the transition from normal to pathological conditions while carrying on with their occupation. The stigma attached to their work of dealing with death and their caste identity played a pivotal part in undermining their efforts both by the State and the caste-based society at large.