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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Distinguish between sects and cults with illustrations.

  • UPSC 2015
  • Religion and Society

Sects and cults are both small religious groups in tension with the wider society, which is why they are often confused. Sociologists separate them by origin, exclusivity and organisation. The distinction comes from Ernst Troeltsch's church–sect typology, which Howard P. Becker (1932) extended by adding the cult, and it was refined by Roy Wallis, Rodney…

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What the full answer covers

  • Criteria-wise distinction
  • Illustrations
  • What the distinction reveals
  • Conclusion

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