Religion and education as social institutions

1. Religion: meaning

• Émile Durkheim (The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, 1912): religion is “a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden — beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them”.
• E.B. Tylor: religion is “the belief in spiritual beings”. His theory of the origin of religion is animism.
• J.G. Frazer (The Golden Bough): religion is a propitiation or conciliation of powers superior to man which are believed to direct and control nature and human life.
• Ogburn and Nimkoff: religion is the attitude towards superhuman powers.

Durkheim divided all things into the sacred (set apart, treated with awe) and the profane (ordinary). Studying the totemism of Australian aborigines, he concluded that in worshipping the totem the clan worships society itself.

2. Elements of religion

1. Belief in supernatural power — God, gods, spirits or forces beyond human control.
2. The sacred and the profane — holy objects, places, times, persons.
3. Rituals — prayer, sacrifice, pilgrimage, fasting, rites of passage.
4. Emotional element — awe, reverence, fear, devotion.
5. Symbols — the cross, crescent, Om; holy books.
6. Sin and salvation — ideas of virtue, vice, heaven, hell, karma and moksha.
7. Moral code — rules of right conduct.
8. Religious organisation — church, sangha, priesthood, mosque committee.
9. Methods of worship — individual or congregational.

3. Functions (merits) of religion

1. Social integration. Shared belief and ritual bind members into a moral community (Durkheim).
2. Social control. Fear of divine punishment and hope of reward enforce morality; religion is an informal agency of social control.
3. Psychological security. Malinowski showed that religion and magic relieve anxiety at times of crisis — death, illness, uncertainty.
4. Sanctifies norms and values and gives them authority.
5. Gives meaning to suffering and death.
6. Promotes welfare — charity, hospitals, schools, langars.
7. Supports family and marriage through sacraments and rites.
8. Can encourage change. Max Weber (The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, 1904–05) argued that the Calvinist ethic of hard work, thrift and a calling helped produce modern capitalism. Reform movements (Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj, the Bhakti saints, Basavanna’s Lingayat movement in Karnataka) attacked caste and ritualism from within religion.

4. Dysfunctions (demerits) of religion

1. Supports inequality. Marx called religion “the opium of the people” (1844): it consoles the oppressed and diverts them from changing their condition. Religious sanction has been given to caste and untouchability.
2. Communalism and conflict — riots, religious wars and persecution.
3. Obstacle to change — resistance to widow remarriage, inter-caste marriage and family planning.
4. Superstition and exploitation by priests and godmen; Karnataka enacted the Prevention and Eradication of Inhuman Evil Practices and Black Magic Act, 2017.
5. Subordination of women in many religious codes.
6. Fatalism — belief in fate discourages effort.

Secularisation is the decline of religious influence over institutions and thought. India’s constitutional secularism (Articles 25–28; “secular” in the Preamble from 1976) means equal respect for all religions and no State religion.

5. Education: meaning

Education is the transmission of knowledge, skills, values and culture from one generation to the next. In the broad sense it is part of socialisation; in the narrow sense it is formal instruction in schools and universities.

• Émile Durkheim: education is “the methodical socialisation of the young generation” by the adult generation.
• John Dewey: education is the reconstruction of experience; not a preparation for life but life itself.
• Mahatma Gandhi: by education I mean an all-round drawing out of the best in child and man — body, mind and spirit.

Types: formal (school, college; fixed syllabus and certification), informal (family, peers, media; unplanned) and non-formal (adult literacy, open and distance learning; planned but flexible).

6. Social functions and importance of education

1. Transmission of culture from one generation to the next.
2. Socialisation and personality development.
3. Social control — it teaches discipline and respect for law; it is a formal agency of social control.
4. Social integration — common schooling builds national unity across caste, religion and language.
5. Occupational training and economic development; human capital.
6. Selection and allocation (Parsons, Davis and Moore) — examinations sort people into roles according to merit.
7. Social mobility — education is the main ladder for SCs, STs, OBCs and women.
8. Social change and modernisation — it spreads scientific outlook, democratic values and awareness of rights.
9. Political socialisation — citizens learn their rights and duties.
10. Innovation and research.

In India, the right to education for children of six to fourteen years is a fundamental right under Article 21A (inserted by the Constitution (Eighty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2002), given effect by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009. The National Education Policy, 2020 replaced the 10+2 structure with a 5+3+3+4 design.

How this is examined

For religion, give Durkheim’s definition, then elements or merits and demerits as asked; the merits-demerits question needs Durkheim and Malinowski on one side and Marx on the other. For education, define with Durkheim, list the functions with Indian examples, and end with Article 21A and the conflict view.