Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Sociology

Chapter

Social Change and Development in India: Structural Change

Question:

Which of the following statement is incorrect in the context of colonialism?

Options:

Colonialism led to considerable movement of people from one part to another within India.

Capitalism in the west emerged out of a complex process of European exploration of the rest of the world.

Before the First World War, the concepts of passports did not exist

The principle of nationalism assumes that any set of people have a right to be free and exercise sovereign power.

Correct Answer:

Before the First World War, the concepts of passports did not exist

Explanation:

The correct answer is Option 3: Before the First World War passports were not used for international travel

  • Option 1 (Correct statement): Colonial rule significantly altered labor demographics. It induced large-scale migration of people within India to work in plantations (e.g., tea, indigo), mines, and newly established urban industrial hubs.

  • Option 2 (Correct statement): Historians and sociologists widely agree that Western capitalism was deeply connected to the exploration, colonization, and exploitation of resources from the rest of the world, providing the capital necessary for the Industrial Revolution.

  • Option 3 (Incorrect statement): While passports were not widely required for international travel as they are today, the concept of a passport (a document of safe passage) has existed even before World War 1. The specific claim that the concept did not exist is factually inaccurate.

  • Option 4 (Correct statement): Nationalism, as a political ideology, posits that a "nation"—defined by shared culture, language, or history—should have the right to self-determination, freedom from colonial rule, and the exercise of sovereign power.