Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Highlight the main features of historical materialism as propounded by Marx. How far is this theory relevant in understanding contemporary societies? Explain.

  • UPSC 2025, 2023
  • Sociological Thinkers

Historical materialism is Karl Marx's theory of how societies are organised and how they change. Marx worked it out with Friedrich Engels in The German Ideology (1846) and summed it up in the Preface to A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy (1859). Its claim: "It is not the consciousness of men that determines…

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

What the full answer covers

  • Main features
  • Where it remains relevant
  • Limits
  • Conclusion

Unlock this answer and 1,500+ more

  • 1,500+ solved UPSC Sociology PYQs from 1985 to 2026, Paper-1 and Paper-2
  • Topic-wise across all 25 syllabus units, newest exam year first
  • A full model answer for every question, shaped to 10 or 20 marks, with thinkers and Indian examples
  • Read online on lotusarise.com, plus PDF download

₹1,499₹2,50040% off

Get Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions @ ₹1,499 →

One-time payment · 12 months of access · Instant access · UPI, cards, RuPay

See every Sociological Thinkers question (192 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in