MPSE 007 Solved Guess Paper 2026: Social Movements and Politics in India (IGNOU MA Political Science, MPS)

Meaning, importance and components of social movements

Question: What is a social movement? Discuss the importance and components of social movements.

Definition of social movements

Collective challenges, based on common purposes and social solidarities in sustained interaction with elites, opponents and authorities. (Sidney Tarrow)

There is no single definition of a social movement, but every scholar agrees on one thing: collective action (people acting together). A mob stopping a train is collective behaviour, but it is not a social movement. It is impulsive and does not aim at social change.

Herbert Blumer calls social movements "collective enterprises to establish a new order of life". Paul Wilkinson calls them "a deliberate collective endeavour to promote change in any direction and by any means". The definitions share three elements:

1. Collective action: People act together, not alone.
2. Social change: The aim is to change society.
3. Common purpose: Members share one goal.

Importance of social movements

1. No "end of history": No political system can solve all conflicts. Every system creates new conflicts, so movements remain needed.
2. Dissent is the spirit of democracy: A social movement is one form of organised dissent (planned disagreement). Rulers often become intolerant of opposition, and movements check this.
3. Voice for grievances: Movements let people express their problems and hopes.
4. Pressure on the state: They put pressure on the state and keep a check on authority. This is needed for a healthy democracy.
5. Understanding politics: Without studying movements, we cannot fully understand institutions. For example, the land reform laws of the 1950s came from earlier peasant movements.

Components of social movements

Social movements have five main components. They are interdependent, so each one affects the others.

1. Objectives: A movement has an immediate objective, like solving one issue. It also has a long-term objective, like changing power relations.
2. Ideology: It is a set of ideas and values. It is not always well-knit. Sometimes it guides the movement, and sometimes it grows with the movement.
3. Programmes: Leaders make programmes to mobilise people and keep them involved.
4. Leadership: Leaders explain the ideology and plan the strategy for action.
5. Organisation: It may be loose or well formed. Decision-making may be centralised or decentralised.

These components are not fixed. They change during the movement, and sometimes even the objectives change direction.

Conclusion: Social movements are collective actions for social change. Objectives, ideology, programmes, leadership and organisation are their components. They are the spirit of democracy and the dynamics of society.

The Gandhian approach to the study of social movements

Question: Describe the Gandhian approach to the study of social movements.

The means may be likened to a seed, the end to a tree, and there is just the same inviolable connection between the means and the end as there is between the seed and the tree. We reap exactly as we sow. (Mahatma Gandhi, 1909)

Gandhi did not give a systematic analysis of the social system, but he was a critic of Western "modernity" and of the capitalist system. He cared deeply for the poorest of the poor. He led struggles against British rule, racial discrimination in South Africa, untouchability and discrimination against women.

Main features

1. Cause of conflict: For Gandhi, conflict is not due to clashing economic interests. It comes from a different understanding of interests, different moral values, or prejudices.
2. Purity of means: This is the central concern. Means are as important as ends, so he stood for ahinsa (non-violence). Violence cannot end injustice; it only feeds fear and prejudice.
3. Satyagraha: Satya means truth and agraha means holding firmly. Victims oppose an unjust law, even break it, and accept punishment peacefully. This opens the eyes of the oppressor.
4. Gandhian dialectic: Bondurant (1988) gave this name. Non-violent action (antithesis) meets existing power (thesis). The result is a more just relationship (synthesis).
5. Realistic pressure: Gandhi knew suffering alone has limits. Rulers depend on people's co-operation, so satyagraha was used to put pressure on opponents, not only to convert them.
6. Not passive resistance: Gandhi said in 1920 that satyagraha differs in three essentials: it is a weapon of the strong, it admits no violence at all, and it always insists upon truth.
7. Dialogical resistance: This is David Hardiman's term. The opponent is not an enemy, and Gandhi tried to change the opponent's heart through dialogue. Fasting, non-co-operation, tax refusal and hartals added pressure when needed.
8. Self-limiting approach: Wehr (1979) used this term. Gandhi kept the conflict within limits so that it did not become violent.

How Gandhi kept conflict within limits

1. Single clear issue: Each campaign focused on one clear issue on which agreement was possible.
2. Good personal relations: He kept good relations with opponents, so disagreement did not become personal hatred.
3. Complete openness: He was fully open with people and the media. This reduced fear and suspicion.

Conclusion: The Gandhian approach rests on purity of means, non-violence and satyagraha. It sees the opponent as someone to be persuaded, not destroyed. It has deeply influenced social movements in India, both before and after independence.

The Bahujan Samaj Party: growth, ideology and limitations

Question: Discuss the growth, ideology and objectives of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). What are its achievements and limitations?

Political power is the master-key with which you can open any lock, whether it is social, educational or cultural. (Kanshi Ram, quoted in Chandra, 2004)

Growth of the BSP

1. BAMCEF (1978): Kanshi Ram formed this federation of government employees. It gave the BSP its initial organisational and financial base.
2. DS4 (1981): The Dalit Shoshit Sangharsh Samaj Samiti spread ideas through "The Oppressed Indian" and bicycle rallies.
3. Formation: Kanshi Ram inaugurated the BSP on 14 April 1984. Mayawati joined in UP.
4. Bahujan category: It included SCs, STs, OBCs and converted minorities.
5. Electoral rise: Kanshi Ram got 18 per cent in the Allahabad by-election (1987). The BSP won 3 Lok Sabha seats in 1989 and became a National Party in 1997. Its UP seats rose from 13 (1989) to 97 (2002).

Ideology and objectives

1. Vague ideology: Gail Omvedt calls it vague. The sole thrust is breaking the caste system after gaining state power.
2. Critique of Brahminical order: It draws on Ambedkar, Phule and Periyar. Society has two groups: the low castes, and the upper castes, who are only about 15 per cent.
3. Aryan origin: Kanshi Ram held that the Aryans subjugated the Mool Nivasis (original inhabitants).
4. Capture of power: The main aim is to end Brahminical rule and win power for the Bahujans.
5. Two-stage revolution: First comes electoral victory over the upper castes, then a deeper transformation of society, both through the ballot box.
6. "Fake" democracy: The BSP says present democracy is dominated by upper castes. It wants real democracy of the Bahujans.

Limitations of the BSP

1. Exclusive ideology: It has a programme for dalits, not for all the poor, and no economic programme.
2. Leader-centric: Kanshi Ram and Mayawati take decisions alone (Jagpal Singh, 2002).
3. Limited social base: It remains a party of Chamars and Jatavs, not of the poorest Balmikis or Pasis. It is weak outside UP.
4. Opportunist alliances: Alliances with the BJP on three occasions hurt its credibility.

Conclusion: The BSP achieved what no Ambedkarite party could: it formed governments in Uttar Pradesh and mobilised dalits politically. But its vague ideology, narrow base and opportunism limit its growth.

The politics of reservation and the Mandal Commission

Question: Discuss the politics of reservation in India. Write a note on the Mandal Commission.

Whether a community can get itself identified as OBCs is a political question; it depends on the political factors.

Early demand for reservation

1. Constituent Assembly: Punjab Rao Deshmukh raised the demand for backward classes, as Ambedkar did for the Scheduled Castes.
2. AIBCF (1950): Deshmukh founded the All India Backward Classes Federation on 26 January 1950.
3. Split: Congress and Lohiaite socialist groups differed. The splinter group, the National Backward Classes Federation, was led by R.L. Chandpuri and later by Chaudhry Brahm Prakash.

Kaka Kalelkar Commission

1. First commission: It was the first backward class commission, set up on demand at the time of independence.
2. Rejection: It suggested class as the criterion. Parliament rejected the report.
3. Demand for a new commission: Leaders then demanded a commission using social and educational backwardness as the criteria.

Role of socialists

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia wanted 60 per cent reservation for backward classes, dalits and minorities in government jobs. In the 1960s, socialists demanded implementation of the Kaka Kalelkar report.

Mandal Commission

1. Result of pressure: It was the result of the consistent demand of backward class leaders.
2. 27 per cent reservation: Its report, introduced by V.P. Singh's government in 1990, recommended 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in central government jobs.
3. National issue: It made reservation a national issue, drew both support and opposition, and changed the contours of Indian politics.
4. Issue not settled: Newer groups still demand to be recognised as OBCs. For example, Rajasthan (1999) and UP (2000) added the Jats to the OBC list.

Reservation in state politics

1. Janata government: Its move for 25 per cent reservation for backward castes met stiff upper caste resistance and polarised backwards and forwards.
2. Tamil Nadu: Reservation rose to 68 per cent through a politics of accommodation.
3. Delivery of funds: Reservation matters not only for jobs but also for the role of these groups in the delivery of public funds.
4. Private sector demand: As privatisation cuts government jobs, dalit leaders demand reservation in the private sector.

Conclusion: The politics of reservation grew from the Constituent Assembly to the Mandal Commission. The mobilisation around OBC recognition, commissions and reservation remains relevant in Indian politics.

Short notes: the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the Chipko Movement

Question: Write notes on the following: (a) Narmada Bachao Andolan (b) Chipko Movement.

(a) Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)

The Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada (1312 km, the fifth largest river) covers Gujarat, MP and Maharashtra. Its reservoir will submerge 37,000 hectares and displace about one lakh persons from 248 villages.

1. Formation: People's groups of the three states united as the NBA under Medha Patkar.
2. Growth of aims: It began as a fight for information, then for just rehabilitation, and finally challenged the project itself.
3. Mass pledge: In September 1989, over 50,000 people pledged to fight "destructive development".
4. Morse Report (1992): This World Bank review endorsed all the main concerns of the NBA.
5. Achievements: The World Bank exited (1993), construction was halted (1994 to 1999), and foreign investors left the Maheshwar dam (1999 to 2001).
6. Method: Non-violent, Gandhian protest with wide international support.

(b) Chipko Movement

In 1973, the forest department refused ash trees to the Dashauli Gram Swarajya Sangha in Chamoli but gave them to Symonds Co. Chandi Prasad Bhat suggested hugging the trees (chipak jayenge), and Chipko was born.

Reasons for success

1. Link with livelihood: People saw it as a fight for basic subsistence.
2. Non-violence: It strictly followed the Gandhian tradition. Women's support was unique.
3. Leaders: Sunderlal Bahuguna's sincerity and his access to national leaders helped.

It made six demands: stop commercial felling, recognise traditional rights, allow people's participation in tree cultivation, form village forest committees, support forest-based home industries, and afforest to suit local needs. It inspired the Appiko movement (1983) in Karnataka.

Conclusion: The NBA and Chipko are landmarks of Indian environmentalism. Both used Gandhian non-violence to defend the rights of local people over natural resources.