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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Describe the importance of lineage and descent in kinship and family.

  • UPSC 2012
  • Systems of Kinship

Descent is the socially recognised rule that assigns a person to a group through ancestry: patrilineal, matrilineal, double or cognatic. A lineage is a unilineal descent group whose members can trace actual genealogical links to a known ancestor, unlike a clan, whose common ancestor is putative or mythical. For A. R. Radcliffe-Brown and Meyer Fortes…

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What the full answer covers

  • Importance in the kinship system
  • Importance in the family
  • Changing significance
  • Conclusion

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