Relationship between Human and Environment

1. URBAN SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS OF PLANNING
LECTURE 1
Module I: MAN AND ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIPS

2. Human and Environment
 Environment: All living (animals, plants, birds, humans, etc.) and non-living
(built structures, land, water, air, etc.) elements and their effects that
influence human life.
 Various types of environment
 Natural environment
 Social environment
 Political environment
 Relationship between humans and environment
 Humans impact the physical environment in many ways: overpopulation, pollution,
burning fossil fuels, and deforestation.
 Changes like these have triggered climate change, soil erosion, poor air quality, and
undrinkable water.
 These negative impacts can affect human behavior and can prompt mass
migrations or battles over clean water.

3. 3
MAN AND ENVIRONMENT RELATIONSHIPS
Some possible ways of tackling the problems and maintaining environmental standard are:
(a) Taking effective measures for population control.
(b) Optimum use of natural resources.
(c) Conserving and protecting biodiversity.
(d) Creating public awareness about the benefits and implications of environment.
(e) Giving top priority for environmental protection.
(f) Developing ecofriendly technological processes.
(g) Promoting sustainable agriculture which will not harm the environment.
(h) Using bio-fertilizer or ecofriendly fertilizers.
(i) Using minimum amount of pesticides and insecticides.
(j) Developing waste land by adopting afforestation programs.
(k) Developing suitable biotechnology to clean up hazardous wastes in the environment.
(l) Choosing suitable technique to treat the pollutants before their discharge into environment.

4. Transformation in Indian society
 Change as nature of Law: The world's universal process is change. From the
Stone Age to the present day, all living things have evolved. Nothing stays the
same.
 Social change meaning
The father of sociology, August Comte, divided sociology into two branches:
Social dynamics and Social statics.
Social dynamics is concerned with changes in the social system.
Social statics is concerned with the society's social structure.
 Social change is a subset of social dynamics that investigates how social
institutions, norms, values, roles, and status evolve over time.
Consider the study of how the family institution is shifting from joint to nuclear

5. Cause of social change
 It takes time for social change to take place. Rather, it is a long-term process that
can take months, years, or even decades to complete.
Social change is a long, slow process that happens one step at a time.
 Factors impacting social change
Geographical or physical circumstances, biological, technological, climatic, and physical
factors, etc.
 There are two types of social change: planned and unplanned.
Plans and programmes (planned) initiated by governments or the state can bring about
change. Unexpected events (unplanned), on the other hand, can bring about change.
For example, recent earthquakes in Nepal have had an impact on people's lifestyles

6. Process of social change in Indian society
 In a society like India, where there are multiple and diverse traditions and cultural
histories, studying social change is extremely difficult.
 Indian society differs significantly from that of its Western counterparts. It has
progressed through monarchy, feudalism, colonialism, and democracy.
 Feudalism was prevalent throughout the country during the time of princely states. The
zamindari system allowed feudal landlords to exploit the entire country.
 Colonialism, the colonial British rulers exerted greater control over the country. Not only
did the British have political control over the country, but they also managed the
economy.
 Heavy machines from the West were brought in by the British, destroying the country's traditional handicraft
factories.
 Democracy, post-independence period saw the emergence of urban cities once more.
People began to leave their villages in search of better food and a better way of life.
 Indian society has evolved through various ideologies, values, and traditions on its
path to democracy.

7. The journey of social change in Indian
society
 M.N Srinivas, an Indian social thinker, sociologist and social anthropologist tried
to understand the various processes of social change in country.
 Srinivas (1966) conducted a field study in India to investigate these processes and
gave concepts and approaches to study Indian society at various points of time.
• Sanskritisation
• Westernisation
• Modernization
• Industrialisation
• Globalisation
 These approaches can help people understand the changes that are occurring in
villages, tribes, agriculture, industry, and cities, among other places.

8. Sanskritisation (caste system)
M.N Srinivas used the concept of 'Sanskritisation' in his study of the Coorgs of
South India.
Srinivas defined’ sanskritisation' as a process in which a person or a larger group
from a low/high caste adopts the customs, rituals, beliefs, and practises of a
higher/lower caste person's daily life in his book Social Change in Modern India
(1966).
It is important to note, however, that the mobility involved in the sanskritisation
process only results in 'positional change,' not’ structural change.
Westernisation
Because of British rule in India, the term 'Westernisation' is very important when
studying social change. The two hundred years of British rule in India resulted in
significant changes in the Indian people's lifestyle.
It resulted in not only economic and political shifts, but also cultural and social
shifts.
Westernisation, according to Srinivas, encompasses not only structural but also
ideological changes.

9. • Modernization
 Modernisation is not a movement or a philosophy. Rather, it is a transformation that
occurs as a result of the adoption of modern values, ideas, and knowledge.
 With the passage of time and circumstance, people prefer to abandon old ideas in favour
of learning new ones. Modernisation is the term for this type of development.
 This is a continuous process that could take years or even generations to complete.
Industrialisation
 Various inventions and developments of machines and tools occurred in Europe during
the nineteenth century. This entire process can be considered the start of the
industrialization process.
 India's industrialisation can be divided into two distinct periods:
A) Pre-British B) Industrial Revolution
 Machines, tools, and the rise of the British Empire all contributed to the demise of
India's handcrafted industries.
 Everything was dominated by machines after the advent of industrialisation.

10. Globalisation
 Over the last decade, globalisation has become a buzzword. With technological
advancements, the entire world is becoming a "global village."
 Globalisation is defined as "the free movement of goods, services, people, and
information across national boundaries..." in the Human Development Report of
South Asia 2001.
Group discussion: Present change in Indian society
due to technological advancement.