Rural and Urban Community
India is a country of villages. Even today, most of the population here lives in villages. Village is a place where people live for a long period of time to fulfill their necessities of life. There are primary relationships between people here. Their culture is less influenced by the metropolitan cities. They are also less developed from a technical point of view. On the other hand city refers to a place where secondary relations between people take place. These are greatly developed from the point of view of technical communication and transportation. The culture here is influenced by the culture of different places. Sociologists studied both urban and rural communities and realized that the study of Indian society is not possible without the study of rural communities. The study of Indian villages began in the 18th century when the British rulers began to survey the landownership status of the villagers. Marx and Baden Powell tried to understand Indian villages as a ‘closed’ and separate system. Charles Metkel has also written while describing Indian villages as monolithic and unchanging, that “the rural community is a small republic which is self-dependent and free from any external influence. Communities remain unchanging, self-dependent and peaceful.” In fact, this is not true. In the true sense, the villages have neither been isolated nor self-dependent and their sensitivity to any change is questionable. Indian rural life has been related to the outside world or rather it has been influenced by the outside world. Mendelbaum clarified his views that the village is no longer a ‘closed society’ but a social unit whose scope is wide. Rural community will be mentioned in the context of urban community. First of all it has to be known that what is a rural community? Rural community is made up of two words – rural and community. What is community? This has been discussed in detail in Chapter 5. Therefore, what is a village, what is its nature will be considered.
Meaning of Village
Village does not mean a particular place but a way of life. Indian villages have been symbols of rich culture in their historical perspective. Looking at the power structure of the villages, it is clear that democracy has been an ancient tradition of our country. Manu called the village official as Gramik who used to collect rent on behalf of the king. The villager used to do his work with the help of old people and other senior people. The villager not only collected rent but also protected the villagers. Historical aspects of villages are also depicted in Buddhist and Jain literature. Families of one thousand people lived in a village. The land was personally owned. There was a watchman in the village who looked after him. The management of irrigation was collective and everyone had the right in place of firewood and cattle grazing. During the reign of Chandragupta Maurya, there was a division of villages on the basis of population – Jyeshtha Madhyam and Kanishka. Some scholars have tried to define village on the basis of total population and density of population. Generally, the place where 3000 or less people reside is called village. But there are some villages in India whose population is more than 5000. There are some villages which not only depend on agriculture but also earn their livelihood through other industries and other occupations.
N Srivastava has written while expressing his view, “A rural area is one where people are engaged in agricultural industry, that is, they do primary production of goods with the help of nature.” Landis has given three things for the word ‘rural’. (i) direct dependence on nature, (ii) limited size and (iii) close and primary relationships. Bertrand has discussed two grounds for ‘rural’ – (i) income or subsistence from agriculture and (ii) low density population area. .
In fact, there is no definite boundary line which separates the village from the city. In this regard, McIver has written while clarifying his views that “There is no such clear boundary line of division between town and village, on the basis of which it can be told where the village ends and from where the town begins.” The words rural and urban do not only explain the geographical location but also the types of community life. There is less division of labor and most of the people are associated with agriculture and simple industries.
Rural Community
Sociologists have expressed their views regarding rural communities.
According to Merill and Elridge, “the rural community consists of institutions and individuals who are organized around a small center and participate in common natural interests”.
According to Sanderson, “a rural community consists of the social interaction of the people of the local area and their institutions in which they live in huts and pukhas or villages scattered around the fields and which are the center of their common activities.
According to Sims, there is an increasing tendency among sociologists to place the rural community in such large areas in which all or most of the major human interests are served.
It is clear from the views of the above scholars that the rural community is closer to the nature from the point of view of the environment. It has less artificiality. From an economic point of view, they mainly depend on agriculture and general industry. There is less division of labor here. Rural communities are small in size and have low population density. Intimacy, closeness, primary relationship, informality and similarity are found between them. Culturally, the rural community would be religious, tradition-oriented and orthodox.
Characteristics of Rural Community
The rural community has some of its salient features which need to be discussed. All the characteristics of a village are found in a rural community. A brief description of these is presented
1 Small size – The size of the rural community is small. That is, there is no excess of population in them. There are many such villages in India whose population is less than one thousand. Being directly dependent on nature, the community base is small. Due to this feature, Smith described rural community and small community as synonyms of each other. Similarly, Robert Redfield defined the rural community as ‘Little Community’. Whenever there is an increase in the population of the village, it gets divided into two parts. That is, it is divided into two small villages.
2 . Low Population Density – The size of the rural community is not small, but the density of population is also low in them. That is to say, the proportion of population per square mile in villages is less than in cities. Due to low population density, the problems of dense settlement or slum settlements do not arise in rural communities. In other words, it can be said that the rural community remains isolated from child crime, crime, gambling, alcoholism, various diseases and other mental frustrations.
Agriculture is the main occupation and nature based living – Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of rural community. Most of the population of today’s Indian rural community is directly dependent on agriculture. This does not mean that the people here do not do other business at all. There are many castes in the villages who earn their livelihood through cottage industry or handicrafts. For example making mat, rope, cloth, pottery and jaggery etc. Still, these people consider agriculture business as important for themselves. Rural community is closer to nature in terms of food and behavior. Even today, he is dependent on nature for agricultural works. Rural communities enjoy the seasons and the natural scenery. They have direct contact with plants and animals and birds. All in all, they are born, grow and die in the lap of nature.
4. Lack of division of labor and specialization – There is less division of labor in the rural community. They have knowledge of almost all the work related to their life. For example, a farmer knows what season
Urban Community
Before knowing the urban community and their characteristics, it is necessary to know what a city is.
Meaning and definition of city
Generally the city is called that whose population is more than one lakh. The size of such a community is usually large. Under this people lead a changeable life. In relation to this, Barth said that cities are those places which are relatively large, dense and there are people living in socially heterogeneous forms (people with different conditions). Three characteristics of the city are clear from Berthe’s ideas. more population. 2 . High density of population, 3. Heterogeneity – that is, having people of different classes, caste, education, economic status and political ideology.
According to Kingsley Davis, the city is inhabited by people of more social differences, there is also an abundance of occupations. He also told that in the city, secondary relatives have primacy. Not all people know each other through direct relationships. Davis clarified his views and said that the density of population cannot be considered as the only important factor in determining the city. Certain types of social elements are needed for the city. The density of population at any place, whether more than one thousand or less, if there is an urban attitude, then it will be called a city.
That is to say that the basis of the city is not only the population but the method of city life. Davis told that there are many such villages in India in which the density of population is more than many cities but it cannot be called a city.
According to Lumis’ (CP Loomis) a city is a unit that can be distinguished from its neighboring areas on the basis of characteristics such as size and density of population, nature of occupation and nature of social relations. That is to say that the large size of the city, multiplicity of occupations, dominance of secondary relations, division of labor and specialization, social mobility etc. are such characteristics which are found in the civil community.
According to Willcox, “City” means an area where the density of population per square mile is more than 1000 persons and where agriculture is not done.
“Queen” defined the city from the legal point of view and said that the city means the areas prescribed by law in which a population of a certain size resides and within whose boundaries the work of establishing order is authorized by the state. This idea is not more important from the sociological point of view.
From the sociological point of view, Louis Mumord described the predominance of formality, pretentiousness and selfishness as important features in the city. Apart from this, the plurality and primacy of secondary relations, division of society on the basis of occupation and other activities, social mobility, individualism, rationality and more social mobility etc. are also considered important. (
B. F. Hoselitz (B. F. Hoselitz) considers the urban community as a unit where cheap and skilled labor is found, where capital is available, where there is a market, where changes are high and where there is the greatest amount of traffic. There is convenience. In the modern era, industry and industrial trade are considered to be the most important basis of cities. Modern economic development is not possible without urban life.
In fact, a city is a group of such characteristics in which a particular kind of life arises. . It is difficult to explain this by any definition. Therefore, some important features of urban community will be mentioned. So that its concept can be more clear.
Characteristics of Urban Community
. Large population – There is an excess of population in the urban community. The cities are densely populated. From the demographic point of view, the size of population in cities is large and its density is also high. A fixed base of population is kept for the urban community in each country. This number is not the same in all countries. For example, there are five thousand in India, two and a half thousand in America, one thousand in Argentina and ten thousand in Italy and Spain. But in all countries, along with the population, civic amenities are also considered essential. Today there are more such cities in India whose population is more than one lakh. The density of population in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Madras, Chandigarh, Kanpur etc. is more than two thousand per square kilometer.
. Heterogeneity – Different types of population are found in cities. People of all religions, languages, castes, races and cultures reside here. Differences are also found in their dress, eating habits, standard of living and thoughts.
Different occupation – There is also an abundance of occupations in the urban community. Here people are engaged in different types of occupations. The sustenance of the people in the city depends only on business and trade. The sequence of occupational variation can be seen in the field of service starting from the simple laborer to the highest official and starting from the smallest shopkeeper in the field of private business.