Unlock Elite Access: Level Up Your Preparation with Exclusive Content

Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Is Indian society moving from ‘hierarchy’ towards ‘differentiation’? Illustrate your answer with suitable examples.

  • UPSC 2021
  • Caste System

Louis Dumont held that India was ordered vertically by one value, purity, which made it homo hierarchicus. Dipankar Gupta replied in Interrogating Caste (2000) that castes are discrete and mutually repelling, and that difference, not rank, holds them apart. India is moving from the first condition to the second — but unevenly, and along one…

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

What the full answer covers

  • The two principles distinguished
  • Evidence of movement towards differentiation
  • Where hierarchy has not moved
  • A weighed answer
  • 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 Caste System question (92 solved) →Already enrolled? Log in