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Sociology Optional PYQ Solutions · Model answer

Is male authority absent in matrilineal society? Discuss.

  • UPSC 2015
  • Systems of Kinship

Matriliny is a rule of descent: membership, property and sometimes succession pass through women. Matriarchy, rule by women, is a claim about authority. Evolutionists such as J. J. Bachofen (Mother Right, 1861) confused the two. Comparative ethnography shows that male authority is not absent in matrilineal societies. It is moved from the husband and father…

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What the full answer covers

  • Why authority stays with men
  • Indian evidence
  • But authority is qualitatively different
  • Change
  • Conclusion

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