NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Sociology Chapter 5: Change and Development in Industrial Society

These Class 12 Sociology Chapter 5 solutions cover Change and Development in Industrial Society from Social Change and Development in India, the NCERT textbook for the 2026–27 session. The chapter examines how industrialisation has reshaped social relations in India — the structure of the organised and unorganised sectors, the impact of liberalisation, privatisation and disinvestment, how people find jobs, how work is carried out under mechanisation, working conditions in mining and home-based work, and the role of strikes and trade unions. Below you get step-by-step, exam-ready answers to both NCERT exercise questions, clear notes on key concepts, extra practice, MCQs, Assertion–Reason questions and FAQs.

Class: 12 Subject: Sociology Book: Social Change and Development in India Chapter: 5 Title: Change and Development in Industrial Society Session: 2026–27
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Class 12 Sociology Chapter 5 – Overview

Chapter 5, Change and Development in Industrial Society, studies how the kind of work people do, and the technology they use, transforms social relations — while institutions like caste, kinship, gender and region continue to shape how work is organised. Classical thinkers (Marx, Weber, Durkheim) linked industry with urbanisation, a detailed division of labour and Marx’s idea of alienation. The chapter highlights the specificity of Indian industrialisation: a large share of workers still in agriculture, low regular salaried employment, and over 90% of work in the unorganised/informal sector. It traces the effects of liberalisation since the 1990s — foreign investment, takeovers, disinvestment, outsourcing and contract labour — and examines how people find jobs (personal contacts, jobbers, contractors, badli workers), how work is carried out under mechanisation (Maruti’s assembly line, IT ‘time slavery’, Braverman’s deskilling thesis), working conditions in mining and migrant labour, home-based work like the bidi industry, and the history of strikes and unions, illustrated by the Bombay Textile strike of 1982.

Key Concepts & Terms

Division of labour: the splitting of production into many small specialised tasks so that each worker produces only one part of a product and often does not see the end result; it raises output but makes work repetitive.

Alienation (Marx): the condition in which workers do not enjoy their work and see it only as something they must do to survive, having lost control over the product and the process of labour.

Organised (formal) sector: by one definition, all units employing ten or more people throughout the year; these are registered with the government, which ensures proper wages, pension and other benefits.

Unorganised (informal) sector: the vast majority — over 90% — of Indian work in agriculture, industry and services, where personal relationships govern employment and laws are poorly enforced.

Liberalisation: the post-1990s policy of opening the economy — encouraging private and foreign investment in sectors once reserved for the government, removing the need for industrial licences, and freely allowing foreign products.

Disinvestment: the process by which the government sells its share in public sector companies, often leaving workers afraid of losing their jobs (as in ‘Modern Foods’).

Outsourcing and contracting: reducing permanent staff and giving out work to smaller firms or homes; for multinationals this happens across the globe, using cheap labour from developing countries like India.

Jobbers, mistris and badli workers: in the past, factory workers were recruited through contractors or jobbers (called mistris in Kanpur mills); badli workers substitute for permanent workers on leave, often for years, without the same status or security.

Just-in-time production: a system (seen at Maruti Udyog) in which parts arrive from nearby suppliers every couple of hours, keeping costs low but making workers very tense and exhausted.

Deskilling (Harry Braverman): the argument that the use of machinery actually reduces workers’ skills — for example, computers now do much of the drafting that architects and engineers once did by hand.

Home-based work: piece-rate production of goods like lace, zari, carpets, bidis and agarbattis, done mainly by women and children, with an agent supplying raw materials and collecting the finished product.

Strike and lockout: in a strike workers refuse to come to work; in a lockout the management shuts the gates and prevents workers from entering. The Bombay Textile strike of 1982 (led by Dr. Datta Samant) is a famous example.

NCERT “Questions” — Full Solutions

Both questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter Questions section. Answers are original, written in exam-ready style.

1. Choose any occupation you see around you – and describe it along the following lines: a) social composition of the work force – caste, gender, age, region; b) labour process – how the work takes place, c) wages and other benefits, d) working conditions – safety, rest times, working hours, etc.

ANSWER This is an observation-based question, so your answer should describe an occupation you actually see around you. A model answer is given below for the work of building-construction labourers at a city construction site. a) Social composition of the work force: The workforce is largely made up of migrants drawn from poorer regions of the same or neighbouring states, often belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes. Both men and women work, but they are given different tasks — men usually do masonry and lifting, while women carry bricks, sand and cement. Workers range from young adults to those in their forties; whole families sometimes migrate together, and children may help their parents. They typically come from the same villages or communities, recruited by a contractor. b) Labour process: A contractor goes to the villages, recruits workers and often advances them money that includes the cost of transport; the loan is then adjusted against their wages. At the site the work is manual and physically demanding — digging, mixing concrete, carrying loads, laying bricks and plastering. Tasks are divided by skill and gender, and the pace is set by the contractor and the building schedule. c) Wages and other benefits: Workers are usually paid daily or weekly cash wages, with skilled masons earning more than helpers. Because the work is casual and in the unorganised sector, there is little or no provision for pension, paid leave, insurance or medical benefits; women frequently earn less than men for comparable work. Much of the early wage may go towards repaying the advance taken from the contractor. d) Working conditions: Conditions are difficult and often unsafe. Workers labour in hot sun and rain for long hours with few fixed rest breaks, frequently without helmets, gloves or safety nets, so injuries from falls and falling objects are common. Many live in temporary shelters at or near the site with poor sanitation. Since they are casual workers, they have little job security and rarely belong to a trade union to bargain for better wages or safety. (You may instead describe any occupation you observe — e.g. a tailor, a domestic worker, a software professional or a roadside vendor — using the same four headings.)

2. How has liberalisation affected employment patterns in India?

ANSWER Since the 1990s the government has followed a policy of liberalisation, which has reshaped employment in several ways: Foreign investment and takeovers: Private and foreign firms were encouraged to invest in sectors once reserved for the government, such as telecom, civil aviation and power, and industrial licences were no longer required. Many Indian companies, small and large, were bought over by multinationals (for example, Parle drinks was bought by Coca Cola), while some Indian companies themselves became multinationals. Disinvestment and loss of public sector jobs: The government began selling its share in public sector companies (disinvestment). Government workers feared losing their jobs — in ‘Modern Foods’, the first company to be privatised, 60% of the workers were forced to retire within the first five years. As avenues of secure government employment shrank, an important route to upward mobility, especially for marginalised groups, narrowed. Outsourcing, contract and casual labour: More and more companies, including government ones, reduced their permanent staff and outsourced work to smaller firms or even to homes. For multinationals this outsourcing spans the globe, using cheap labour from developing countries like India. Because small firms compete for orders from big companies, they keep wages low and working conditions poor, and trade unions find it hard to organise. Even the small number in regular salaried employment became more insecure due to the rise of contract labour. Growth of services and the middle class: The service sector — shops, banks, the IT industry, hotels and other services — began employing more people, and the urban middle class grew along with its values. At the same time, very few Indians have access to secure jobs with benefits. Overall effect: India remains largely agricultural, but employment has shifted towards casual, contractual and service-sector work, with declining secure employment in large industry and in government. Worldwide, liberalisation and privatisation appear to be associated with rising income inequality, and a similar trend is visible in India.

Extra Practice Questions

Short Answer Type Questions

Q1. What did Karl Marx mean by ‘alienation’?

ANSWERMarx used ‘alienation’ to describe the situation in industrial society where workers do not enjoy their work and see it only as something they must do to survive. Because of the detailed division of labour, a worker produces only one small part of a product, never sees the end result, and loses any sense of creativity or control, making work repetitive and exhausting.

Q2. Distinguish between the organised and unorganised sectors.

ANSWERThe organised (formal) sector, by one definition, consists of units employing ten or more people throughout the year; they are registered with the government, which ensures proper wages, pension and other benefits. The unorganised (informal) sector covers all other work; in India over 90% of work in agriculture, industry and services is in this sector, where there is little security, weak law enforcement and personal relationships decide many aspects of employment.

Q3. What is disinvestment? Give an example from the chapter.

ANSWERDisinvestment is the process by which the government sells its share in public sector companies. It often makes government workers fearful of losing their jobs. The chapter cites ‘Modern Foods’ — set up by the government to make cheap healthy bread and the first company to be privatised — where 60% of the workers were forced to retire in the first five years.

Q4. Who are badli workers?

ANSWERBadli workers are those employed in factories to substitute for regular permanent workers who are on leave. Although many of them have actually worked for the same company for many years, they are not given the same status, security or benefits as permanent workers. This is a form of contract work within the organised sector.

Q5. What is the difference between a strike and a lockout?

ANSWERIn a strike, workers collectively refuse to come to work in order to press their demands. In a lockout, it is the management that shuts the factory gates and prevents workers from entering. Calling a strike is a difficult decision because managers may use substitute labour and workers find it hard to survive without wages, as seen in the Bombay Textile strike of 1982.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q1. Explain the specificity of Indian industrialisation with reference to employment.

ANSWERIndian industrialisation is in some ways similar to the western model and in many ways different, and comparative analysis shows there is no standard model of industrial capitalism. First, unlike developed countries where the majority work in services and less than 10% in agriculture, in India in 2018–19 nearly 43% were still employed in the primary sector, about 17% in the secondary sector and 32% in the tertiary sector — yet agriculture, though it employs the most people, generates relatively little income. Second, while in developed countries most workers are formally employed, in India over 52% of workers are self-employed, only about 24% are in regular salaried employment and about 24% are in casual labour. Third, over 90% of all work is in the unorganised sector, so very few people experience employment in large firms, very few have secure jobs with benefits, and very few belong to unions that fight collectively for proper wages and safe conditions. Of those with secure jobs, two-thirds work for the government, which is why people strive so hard for government employment, and why such employment has helped overcome boundaries of caste, religion and region.

Q2. Describe how work is carried out in industrial settings, using examples from the chapter.

ANSWERA manager’s basic task is to control workers and get more work out of them, either by extending working hours or by increasing output within a given time. Machinery raises production but also threatens to replace workers — both Marx and Mahatma Gandhi saw mechanisation as a danger to employment. Textile mill workers in Kanpur described themselves as extensions of the machine, weaving under a continuous gaze. At Maruti Udyog Ltd., two cars roll off the assembly line every minute and workers get only 45 minutes of rest in the whole day; many are exhausted by the age of 40 and take voluntary retirement. The firm outsources services and parts, which arrive ‘just-in-time’, keeping costs low but leaving workers tense. Even in the IT services sector, supposedly creative work is subject to Taylorist control and ‘time slavery’, with 10–12 hour days and night-outs. The sociologist Harry Braverman further argues that machinery deskills workers — for instance, computers now do much of the drafting that engineers and architects once did themselves.

Q3. Examine the working conditions of mine workers and home-based workers in India.

ANSWERAlthough the government has passed laws such as the Mines Act 1952 (now part of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Condition Code, 2020) to regulate hours, overtime and safety, these rules are mainly followed in big companies and ignored in smaller mines and quarries, where sub-contracting is widespread and contractors avoid responsibility for accidents by not keeping proper registers. Workers in underground mines face flooding, fire, roof collapse, harmful gases and ventilation failure, and develop diseases like tuberculosis and silicosis, while overground miners face sun, rain and blasting injuries; India’s mining accident rate is very high. Many industrial workers are migrants — fish-processing plants employ single young women housed ten to twelve in a room, seen as ‘submissive’ labour. Home-based work, such as making lace, zari, carpets, bidis and agarbattis, is done mainly by women and children on a piece-rate basis; in the bidi industry a contractor supplies tobacco and leaves, women roll the bidis at home, and the contractor collects them for the manufacturer to brand and sell. Such work offers little security, low pay and poor conditions, though for some young women migration also brings a measure of independence and economic autonomy.

MCQs & Assertion–Reason

1. The term ‘alienation’ in industrial society is associated with:

(a) Max Weber    (b) Karl Marx    (c) Emile Durkheim    (d) Clark Kerr

2. According to one definition, the organised sector consists of units employing:

(a) five or more people    (b) ten or more people throughout the year    (c) twenty or more people    (d) any number of people

3. Approximately what share of work in India is in the unorganised or informal sector?

(a) about 50%    (b) about 70%    (c) over 90%    (d) about 24%

4. The process by which the government sells its share in public sector companies is called:

(a) liberalisation    (b) outsourcing    (c) disinvestment    (d) privatisation of labour

5. In Kanpur textile mills, the jobbers who recruited workers were known as:

(a) badli    (b) mistris    (c) contractors    (d) sardars

6. Workers who substitute for regular permanent workers on leave are called:

(a) casual workers    (b) badli workers    (c) self-employed workers    (d) regular salaried workers

7. The idea that the use of machinery actually deskills workers is associated with:

(a) Harry Braverman    (b) Karl Marx    (c) Carol Upadhya    (d) Datta Samant

8. At Maruti Udyog Ltd., how much rest do workers get in the entire day?

(a) 30 minutes    (b) 45 minutes    (c) 60 minutes    (d) 90 minutes

9. The famous Bombay Textile strike of 1982 was led by:

(a) Jan Breman    (b) Dr. Datta Samant    (c) Clark Kerr    (d) Harry Braverman

10. Home-based work such as rolling bidis and making lace is done mainly by:

(a) regular salaried men    (b) government employees    (c) women and children    (d) software professionals

Answer key: 1-(b), 2-(b), 3-(c), 4-(c), 5-(b), 6-(b), 7-(a), 8-(b), 9-(b), 10-(c).

For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.

A-R 1. Assertion: Industrialisation involves a detailed division of labour.

Reason: Workers often produce only one small part of a product and do not see the end result of their work.

A-R 2. Assertion: In India, the majority of workers are in regular salaried employment.

Reason: Over 52% of Indian workers are self-employed and only about 24% are in regular salaried jobs.

A-R 3. Assertion: Liberalisation has increased the use of outsourcing and contract labour.

Reason: Companies reduce permanent staff and give work to smaller firms that keep wages low to compete for orders.

A-R 4. Assertion: Government employment has helped overcome boundaries of caste, religion and region.

Reason: Public sector firms like the Bhilai Steel Plant employ people from all over India who work together.

A-R 5. Assertion: A strike and a lockout are the same thing.

Reason: In a strike workers refuse to come to work, while in a lockout the management shuts the gates and keeps workers out.

Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(D), 3-(A), 4-(A), 5-(D).

Exam Tips & Common Mistakes

How to score full marks in this chapter

For the occupation question, use the four sub-headings (social composition, labour process, wages/benefits, working conditions) as a clear structure and back each point with concrete detail. For the liberalisation question, organise your answer into themes — foreign investment and takeovers, disinvestment, outsourcing and contract labour, growth of services — and use the textbook’s own examples (Parle/Coca Cola, Modern Foods, Maruti Udyog). Remember key figures (over 90% in the unorganised sector, 52% self-employed, 60% of Modern Foods workers retired) and key names (Marx’s alienation, Braverman’s deskilling, Datta Samant’s 1982 strike) to show you have studied the chapter.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Confusing the organised sector (registered units of ten or more, with benefits) with the unorganised sector (over 90% of work, little security).
  • Mixing up strike (workers stop coming) with lockout (management shuts the gates).
  • Treating disinvestment and privatisation as identical — disinvestment is the government selling its share.
  • Leaving the observation question (Q1) blank or vague — describe a real occupation under all four headings.
  • Forgetting that in India most workers are self-employed, not regular salaried.
  • Attributing the deskilling thesis to Marx instead of Harry Braverman.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Chapter 5 of Class 12 Sociology (Social Change and Development in India) about?

Chapter 5, Change and Development in Industrial Society, explains how industrialisation and technology reshape social relations in India — the organised and unorganised sectors, the effects of liberalisation, privatisation and disinvestment, how people find jobs, how work is carried out under mechanisation, working conditions in mining and home-based work, and the role of strikes and trade unions.

How many questions are there in the NCERT exercise for this chapter?

The end-of-chapter Questions section of Chapter 5 contains two questions — one observation-based question on describing an occupation, and one on how liberalisation has affected employment patterns in India. Both are answered fully and step by step on this page.

What is meant by alienation in this chapter?

Alienation, a concept from Karl Marx, refers to the situation in industrial society where workers do not enjoy their work and see it only as a means of survival. Because of the detailed division of labour, a worker makes only one part of a product, never sees the finished result, and loses creativity and control over the work.

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