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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Examine the functional as well as dysfunctional aspects of religion in a pluralistic society taking India and the United States of America as illustrative models.

  • UPSC 2004
  • Religion and Society

Émile Durkheim saw religion as a source of solidarity. Robert K. Merton (Social Theory and Social Structure, 1949) rejected the "postulate of functional unity" and noted that in societies with several faiths religion can be dysfunctional, dividing rather than binding. India and the United States, two large religiously plural democracies with different secular models, test…

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What the full answer covers

  • Two plural settings
  • Functional and dysfunctional aspects compared
  • What the comparison reveals
  • Conclusion

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