Sociology · Class 12 Arts
Ch 5The Challenges of Cultural Diversity — Class 12 Sociology, concept-first.
Social institutions — family, market, and the rest — don't only pull people together. The last two chapters showed how the very same institutions that build community and cohesion can equally well produce inequality and exclusion.
Key concepts
Hover a concept to preview it and jump to its most relevant Q&A.
Cultural Diversity
Think of a garden. If every plant in it is identical, a single disease can wipe out the whole garden. But if the garden has many different species, some will survive no matter what comes.
Most relevant Q&A
Chapter contents
The NCERT structure, section by section. Open a section to see its questions, then read the concept-first solution.
Introduction
Social institutions — family, market, and the rest — don't only pull people together. The last two chapters showed how the very same institutions that build community and cohesion can equally well pro…
The Importance of Community Identity
Every person needs a stable sense of identity to function in the world. From childhood, we constantly ask ourselves: Who am I? How am I different from others? How do others see me? What should I aim f…
Communities, Nations and Nation-States
A nation, at its simplest, is a large-scale community — a community of communities. What makes a collection of communities into a nation is a shared desire to belong to the same political collectivity…
Cultural Diversity and India as a Nation-state
The Indian nation-state is one of the most socially and culturally diverse countries in the world. According to the Census of India 2011, its population is about 1.21 billion — the second largest in t…
Regionalism in the Indian Context
Regionalism in India is not an accident — it is rooted in the country’s deep diversity of languages, cultures, tribes, and religions.
Religion-related Issues and Identities
Of all the dimensions of cultural diversity, religion-based identities have proved to be the most contentious.
Minority Rights and Nation Building
The makers of Indian nationalism chose an inclusive and democratic path. Inclusive because it recognised diversity and plurality.
Communalism, Secularism and the Nation-state
Communalism is a term that carries a very specific meaning in the Indian (or South Asian) context — quite different from its ordinary English sense.
State and Civil Society
The state is the central institution for managing cultural diversity in a nation. It claims to represent the nation and its people, but it can also become somewhat independent of them.
More questions
13 Q+−Show 10 questionsHide questions10 questions
- Q1What is meant by cultural diversity? Why is India considered to be a very diverse country?Free
- Q2What is community identity and how is it formed?Free
- Q3Why is it difficult to define the nation? How are nation and state related in modern society?Free
- Q4Why are states often suspicious of cultural diversity?Preview
- Q5What is regionalism? What factors is it usually based on?Preview
- Q6In your opinion, has the linguistic reorganisation of states helped or harmed India?Preview
- Q7What is a ‘minority’? Why do minorities need protection from the state?Preview
- Q8What is communalism?Preview
- Q9What are the different senses in which ‘secularism’ has been understood in India?Preview
- Q10What is the relevance of civil society organisations today?Preview