CBSE Syllabus for Class 8 Social Science 2024-2025

Where, When, How

(a) An overview of the period.

(b) Introduction to the new geographical categories.

(c) An outline of the time frame.

(d) An introduction to the sources.

(a) Introduce the changing nomenclature of the subcontinent and regions.

(b) Delineate major developments within the time frame.

(c) Suggest how the sources of study for this period are different from those of earlier periods.

The Establishment of Company Power

(a) Mercantilism and trade-wars.

(b) Struggle for territory, wars with Indian rulers.

(c) The growth of colonial army and civilian

administration.

(a) Unravel the story of a trading company becoming a political power.

(b) Show how the consolidation of British power was linked to the formation of colonial armies and administrative structures.

Rural Life and Society

(a) Colonial agrarian policies; their effect on peasants and landlords.

(b) Growth of commercial crops.

(c) Peasant revolts: focus on indigo rebellions.

(a) Provide a broad view of changes within rural society through a focus on two contrasting regions.

(b) Show the continuities and changes with earlier societies.

(c) Discuss how growth of new crops often disrupted

the rhythms of peasant life and led to revolts.

Colonialism and Tribal Societies

(a) Changes within tribal economies and societies in the nineteenth century.

(b) Tribal revolts: focus on Birsa Munda.

(a) Discuss different forms of tribal societies.

(b) Show how government records can be read against the grain to reconstruct histories of tribal revolts.

Crafts and Industries

(a) Decline of handicrafts in the nineteenth century.

(b) Brief reference to growth of industries in the twentieth century.

(a) Familiarise students with the processes of

de-industrialisation and industrialisation.

(b) Give an idea of the technologies of weaving and the lives of weavers.

The Revolt of 1857-58

(a) The rebellion in the army and the spread of the movement.

(b) The nature of elite and peasant participation.

(a) Discuss how revolts originate and spread.

(b) Point to the changes in colonial rule after 1857.

(c) Illustrate how vernacular and British accounts can be read to understand the rebellion.

Education and British rule

(a) The new education system – schools, syllabi, colleges, universities, technical training.

(b) Changes in the indigenous systems.

(c) Growth of ‘National education’.

(a) Show how the educational system that is seen as universal and normal today has a history.

(b) Discuss how the politics of education is linked to questions of power and cultural identity.

Women and reform

(a) Debates around sati, widow remarriage, child marriage and age of consent.

(b) Ideas of different reformers on the position of women and women’s education.

(a) Discuss why so many reformers focused on the women’s question, and how they visualised a change in women’s conditions.

(b) Outline the history of new laws that affect women’s lives.

(c) Illustrate how autobiographies, biographies and other literature can be used to reconstruct the histories of women.

Challenging the Caste System

(a) Arguments for caste reform. The ideas of Phule, Veerasalingam, Sri Narayana Guru, Periyar, Gandhi, Ambedkar.

(b) Consequences and implications of the activities of the reformers.

(a) Familiarise students with the biographies and writings of individuals who sought to criticise and reform the caste system.

(b) Discuss why the question of caste was central to most projects of social reform.

Colonialism and Urban Change

(a) De-urbanisation and emergence of new towns.

(b) Implications of colonial policies and institutions – municipalities, public works, planning, railway links, police.

(a) Outline the nature of urban development in the 19th and 20th centuries.

(b) Introduce students to the history of urban spaces through photographs.

(c) Show how new forms of towns emerged in the colonial period.

Changes in the Arts: Painting, Literature, architecture

(a) Impact of new technologies and institutions: art schools, printing press.

(b) Western academic style and nationalist art.

(c) Changes in performing arts – music and dance enter the public arena.

(d) New forms of writing.

(e) New architecture.

(a) Outline the major development in the sphere of arts.

(b) Discuss how these changes are linked to the emergence of a new public culture.

(c) Illustrate how paintings and photographs can be used to understand the cultural history of a period.

The Nationalist Movement

(a) Overview of the nationalist movement from the 1870s to the 1940s.

(b) Diverse trends within the movement and different social groups involved.

(c) Links with constitutional changes.

(a) Outline the major developments within the national movement and focuses on a detailed study of one major event.

(b) Show how contemporary writings and documents can be used to reconstruct the histories of political movements.

India after Independence

(a) National and regional developments since 1947.

(b) Relations with other countries.

(c) Looking to the future.

(a) Discuss the successes and failures of Indian democracy in the last fifty years.

(b) Illustrate how newspapers and recent writings can be used to understand contemporary history.

UNIT 1: The Constitution

This unit focuses on the Constitution through first highlighting why there is a need for laws and then showing how the Constitution is the framework that determines the making of laws in this country. Aspects of secularism, as well as economic justice, are highlighted with respect to the Constitution.

Section 1

The Role of the Constitution and the Need for Laws

• On the need for laws discussed through an example like dowry,

• Role of Constitution in determining the authority/legitimacy of the law,

• Laws and Dissent: Salt Satyagraha and a post-1947 example such as anti-liquor agitation.

Section 2

• Vision set forth in the Indian Constitution with a focus on secularism.

• On how an ideal of the Constitution translates into a law

• On how ideals of secularism got translated into fundamental rights.

• On Fundamental rights as human rights.

• On Fundamental Duties.

• On whether the fact that a law exists to secure certain rights mean that in effect these rights have been realised for all. This will be discussed with examples from current efforts of various marginalised communities to realise their rights.

To enable students to:

• develop an understanding of the rule of law and our involvement with the law

• understand the Constitution as the primary source of all our laws

• understand laws as evolving and subject to change.

• understand the vision and the values of the

Constitution

• develop an appreciation of human rights

guaranteed in the Constitution

• appreciate our continuous involvement with the constitution as a living document

UNIT 2: Parliamentary Government

In this unit the functioning of parliamentary

government and the roles and responsibilities of the various individuals involved in explained in context. In addition, the workings of the central government are explained through the steps involved in passing a new law that arose out of people’s struggles.

Section 1

• Reasons why parliamentary form chosen in India.

• Main features of composition of parliament and its role in debating a bill.

• Accountability of the government to the parliament.

• Role of President, PM and the Council of Ministers.

Section 2

Understand central government through issue of minimum wages or other struggles keeping the following in mind:

– Translation of felt need into law and the critical features of the legislation.

– The implication of law.

To enable students to:

• understand why India chose a parliamentary form of govt.

• gain a sense rationale of the essential elements of the parliamentary form of government.

• analyse the role of people’s agency in placing demands for legislation.

• understand the ways in which the government and

other groups respond to such issues.

UNIT 3: The Judiciary

This unit focuses on understanding the judiciary through tracing a case from the lower to the higher courts. It also examines the difference between civil and criminal cases and the difference between the police and the courts as well as provide information on an FIR.

Section 1

• The structure and process followed by the judiciary:

Trace a case from lower to higher courts.

• Distinguish between civil and criminal cases.

• Indicate the rationale of the process

Section 2

Difference between the roles of the police and that of the courts.

• Role of the Public Prosecutor.

• On an FIR: filing one, on the illegality of the police not accepting an FIR and the Supreme Court’s directive on this.

To enable students to:

• understand the main elements of our judicial

structure

• appreciate the need for the processes followed

• understand what an FIR is and how to file one.

UNIT 4: Social Justice and the Marginalised

This unit focuses on issues of social justice and the marginalised. It first provides an understanding of what is meant by ‘marginalised’ groups. It then discusses in-depth the issue of untouchability and reservations.

Section 1

A brief explanation of what is meant by marginalised.

Include how various communities (SC, ST, OBC, minorities) fit in.

• Forms of social inequality – Constitutional

provisions relating to social justice.

• Effect of social inequalities on economic inequalities.

• On Reservations.

Section 2

Different forms of untouchability that continue to exist

• The law on manual scavenging with reference to existing realities in rural and urban areas.

To enable students to:

• understand what is meant by marginalised

• gain a critical understanding of social and economic injustices

• develop skills to analyse an argument from the marginalised point of view.

UNIT 5: Economic Presence of the Government

Introduction of various ways by which the government is engaged in developmental activities, especially in infrastructure and social sectors.

To enable students to:

• think about the role of government in the economic sphere

• see some links between people’s aspirations needs and the role of government.

Resources: resources and their types – natural and human.

To know the meaning of resources their variety, location and distribution.

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Natural resources: their distribution, utilisation and conservation, land and soil, water, natural vegetation, wildlife, mineral and power resources (world patterns with special reference to India).

To understand the importance of resources in our life.

To appreciate the judicious use of resources for sustainable development.

To develop awareness towards resources conservation and take initiative towards conservation process.

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Agriculture: types of farming, major crops, food crops, fibres, beverages, agricultural development – two case studies – one from India and the other from a developed country/a farm in the US/ Netherlands/ Australia.

Learn about various types of farming and agricultural development in two different regions.

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Industries: Classification of industries based on size, raw material, ownership; major industries and distribution; infrastructure and development.

Iron and Steel (a comparative study of Jamshedpur and a centre in USA e.g., Detroit).

Textile Industry (Ahmedabad and Osaka).

Information Technology (Bangalore and Silicon Valley).

To understand important forms of manufacturing industries.

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Human Resources – composition, population change, distribution and density.

To understand the role of human resources in the development of the nation’s economy.

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