Syllabus note
Note: This chapter is not part of the CBSE Class 12 Sociology syllabus for 2026-27 (CBSE has deleted it). Students of other boards should check their board’s latest syllabus.
A quick revision cut of Class 12 Sociology Chapter 4, The Market as a Social
Institution. Every definition and every named example,
with nothing in between. Read the full notes first; read this the morning of the exam.
1 All the Definitions
Every definition in one place
Market (general sense)Almost equal to “the economy”: the whole set of institutions and relationships through which goods, services and labour are exchanged
EmbeddednessEconomies are not separate systems; they are embedded in society, shaped by culture, caste and social groups
HaatA periodic, usually weekly, rural market serving both economic exchange and social life
HundiA bill of exchange, like a credit note, used for long-distance trade on trust
CommoditisationThe process by which something not previously bought or sold becomes a market commodity
Status symbolA good whose ownership signals a person’s social or economic standing (Weber)
LiberalisationPolicies of privatisation, deregulation and opening markets to foreign trade and investment, from the late 1980s
GlobalisationGrowing international movement of goods, money, people, information and technology, interconnecting the world
MarketisationUsing market processes rather than government policy to solve economic or social problems
Support priceThe price at which government agrees to buy farm produce, guaranteeing a minimum income
SubsidyA government payment that lowers the cost of an input, such as fertiliser
2 Named Examples At A Glance
| Case / community | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations | Market as a self-running system of individual exchanges |
| Dhorai, Bastar (Box 4.1, Gell 1982) | A weekly tribal haat as a social, not only economic, institution |
| Nakarattars, Tamil Nadu (Box 4.2, Rudner 1994) | Caste-based banking, no central bank, trust sustains the system |
| Marwaris | Rose during the colonial period, esp. Calcutta; today control the most industry of any community |
| Banjaras | Marginalised group that controlled the colonial salt trade: caste-trade link is not the same as high status |
| Karl Marx | Capitalism as commodity production; two classes; surplus value |
| Max Weber | Status symbol; consumption carries social meaning |
| Pushkar fair (Box 4.3) | A traditional livestock market becoming a tourism commodity |
Exam Tip
Karl Polanyi is NOT named in the chapter’s running text for “embeddedness”: he
appears only in the References list. Do not write his name as if the book itself
credits him for the idea.
3 The Liberalisation Debate, In Short
4.1 Arguments for and against
Arguments for
- Private industry more efficient than government-run industry
- Foreign investment helps growth and employment
- Software/IT and some agriculture gain from a global market
Arguments against
- Automobiles, electronics, oilseeds cannot compete with imports
- Farmers lose support prices and subsidies, face import competition
- Job losses in some sectors; growth of unorganised employment
Quick Revision: read this the night before the exam
- The market is an economic AND a social institution, like caste, tribe or family
- Sociologists say the economy is “embedded” in society, shaped by culture and caste
- Caste and kinship shape trade: Nakarattars, Marwaris, Banjaras
- Marx: capitalism = commodity production + wage labour; commoditisation extends the market into new areas of life
- Weber: goods signal social status (“status symbol”)
- Liberalisation (from the late 1980s) brought globalisation; impact on India has been mixed
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