Revision summary
Civil society: associations and publics between family and state. Gramsci, Tocqueville, and Habermas are the frame. Indian S&T engagement: people’s science, Bhopal, dams, GM, trials, RTI. Unequal scientific capital limits who sits on committees. Consultation is not yet co-decision.
Model answer
Copper italics in this answer — like this — are the key facts. Each one is unpacked in the Facts & figures rail.
Introduction
- Civil society is associative life between family and state: unions, movements, professional bodies, and publics that argue. Antonio Gramsci placed hegemony there. In India it has also knocked on the laboratory door.
Body
Civil society
- Alexis de Tocqueville saw associations as schools of democracy. Jürgen Habermas pictured a public sphere of critical talk.
- It is not only NGOs. Uncivil groups also organise. The test is public argument, not a registration certificate.
Engagement with S&T policy
- People’s science movements, the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad, and later right-to-information work asked that expertise be accountable.
- Campaigns on Bhopal, big dams, GM crops, nuclear siting, and drug trials forced environmental and ethical review.
- Patient groups and disability networks entered medical technology debates. Farmers’ groups contested seed law.
Limits
- Donor-led NGOs can thin into project talk. The state may consult and still decide.
- Scientific capital, as Bourdieu would say, is unequally held. Informal labour rarely sits on expert committees.
Note
- Engagement is real in EIA hearings, PILs, and open-data fights. It is uneven in who speaks for “the people”.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD CS[Civil society] --> PUB[Public argument] CS --> ST[S and T policy] ST --> CAM[Bhopal dams GM trials] LIM[Expert closure] --> ST
Conclusion
Civil society is organised public life outside office and kin. In Indian S&T policy it has forced accountability on disaster, dams, seeds, and trials. Gramsci and Habermas frame the hope. Capture and expert closure frame the limit.
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Same topic · past papers
UPSC has asked this before
These previous-year questions sit on the same topic. Open one to practise the earlier ask.
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2024 · Q5(e) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
Critically examine the roles of science and technology in social change. What is your opinion on their increasing trend in 'online' education and teaching? -
2023 · Q8(c) · Sociology GS 1 · 10 marks
Examine the role of science and technology in addressing age-old taboos and superstitions -
2022 · Q8(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Sociologists argue for democratization of science and technology for inclusive development. Comment. -
2021 · Q8(b) · Sociology GS 1 · 15 marks
Describe the role of Science and Technology in enabling us to face the challenges triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. -
2020 · Q4(a) · Sociology GS 1 · 20 marks
Is humanity at the mercy of Nature, Science and Technology ? Comment in the light of pandemic situation.
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