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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Differentiate between social hierarchy and social exclusion and substantiate your answer with reference to the caste system.

  • UPSC 2026
  • Stratification and Mobility

Social hierarchy is the graded ranking of statuses, one above another, on a scale that society treats as legitimate. Social exclusion is the process by which individuals or groups are shut out, fully or partly, from the economic, social and political systems through which people take part in society. René Lenoir brought the term into…

You are reading the opening of the model answer. The full answer is part of Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions.

What the full answer covers

  • Criteria-wise distinction
  • Caste as hierarchy
  • Caste as exclusion
  • How the two interlock
  • Conclusion

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