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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

How does the rise of new ‘cults’ and ‘sects’ influence intercaste relations?

  • UPSC 2026
  • Religion and Society

Ernst Troeltsch saw the sect as a voluntary, protesting offshoot of an established faith. Howard P. Becker (1932) described the cult as a looser, personal, often guru-centred group. In India both have long served as a religious language of caste protest. Their effect on intercaste relations is two-sided: they open spaces of equality, and they…

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What the full answer covers

  • Integrative influence: equality within the fold
  • Divisive influence: new boundaries and conflict
  • Assessment
  • Conclusion

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