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PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Explain how caste as a social category is also becoming a political category in the democratic politics of India.

  • UPSC 2021
  • 15 marks
  • Caste, Religion and Ethnicity in Indian Politics

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As a social category, caste is an endogamous, hereditary group ranked by purity and pollution. It becomes a political category when it is used to claim power, representation and resources from the state. Rajni Kothari named this conversion the "politicisation of caste": under universal franchise, numbers acquired a value that ritual rank never had.

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What the full answer covers

  • The mechanism of conversion
  • How the conversion changes caste
  • Limits of the conversion
  • Conclusion
PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions

PSIR Optional PYQ Solutions

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