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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Define the concepts of ‘Descent’ and ‘Alliance’. Differentiate between North Indian and South Indian Kinship systems with examples.

  • UPSC 2023
  • Systems of Kinship in India

Descent and alliance are rival answers to one question: is the elementary unit of kinship the group that perpetuates itself, or the marriage that links groups? India is the decisive test case — the northern system reads through descent, the southern through alliance. Irawati Karve's Kinship Organisation in India (1953) mapped the difference; Louis Dumont…

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What the full answer covers

  • Descent
  • Alliance
  • North and South contrasted
  • What the contrast reveals
  • Conclusion

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