GATE 2021 Question Paper XH C6 Humanities and Social Sciences - Sociology

General Aptitude (GA)

Q.1 – Q.5 Multiple Choice Question (MCQ), carry ONE mark each (for each wrong
answer: – 1/3).

Q.1 Consider the following sentences:
(i) After his surgery, Raja hardly could walk.
(ii) After his surgery, Raja could barely walk.
(iii) After his surgery, Raja barely could walk.
(iv) After his surgery, Raja could hardly walk.
Which of the above sentences are grammatically CORRECT?

(A) (i) and (ii)

(B) (i) and (iii)

(C) (iii) and (iv)

(D) (ii) and (iv)

Q.2 Ms. X came out of a building through its front door to find her shadow due
to the morning sun falling to her right side with the building to her back.
From this, it can be inferred that building is facing _________

(A) North

(B) East

(C) West

(D) South

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Q.3 M

O N

In the above figure, O is the center of the circle and, M and N lie on the
circle.
The area of the right triangle MON is 50 cm2.
What is the area of the circle in cm2 ?

(A) 2π

(B) 50π

(C) 75π

(D) 100π

Q.4 "  " means" − ",
" " means" ",

If 
" " means" + ",
" " means" ",

then, the value of the expression  2  3  ( ( 4  2)  4) =

(A) -1

(B) -0.5

(C) 6

(D) 7

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Q.5 “The increased consumption of leafy vegetables in the recent months is a
clear indication that the people in the state have begun to lead a healthy
lifestyle”
Which of the following can be logically inferred from the information
presented in the above statement?

(A) The people in the state did not consume leafy vegetables earlier.

(B) Consumption of leafy vegetables may not be the only indicator of healthy
lifestyle.

(C) Leading a healthy lifestyle is related to a diet with leafy vegetables.

(D) The people in the state have increased awareness of health hazards causing by
consumption of junk foods.

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Q. 6 – Q. 10 Multiple Choice Question (MCQ), carry TWO marks each (for each wrong
answer: – 2/3).

Q.6 Oxpeckers and rhinos manifest a symbiotic relationship in the wild. The
oxpeckers warn the rhinos about approaching poachers, thus possibly
saving the lives of the rhinos. Oxpeckers also feed on the parasitic ticks
found on rhinos.
In the symbiotic relationship described above, the primary benefits for
oxpeckers and rhinos respectively are,

(A) Oxpeckers get a food source, rhinos have no benefit.

(B) Oxpeckers save their habitat from poachers while the rhinos have no benefit.

(C) Oxpeckers get a food source, rhinos may be saved from the poachers.

(D) Oxpeckers save the lives of poachers, rhinos save their own lives.

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Q.7

A jigsaw puzzle has 2 pieces. One of the pieces is shown above. Which one
of the given options for the missing piece when assembled will form a
rectangle? The piece can be moved, rotated or flipped to assemble with the
above piece.

(A)

(B)

(C)

(D)

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Q.8 The number of hens, ducks and goats in farm P are 65, 91 and 169,
respectively. The total number of hens, ducks and goats in a nearby farm Q
is 416. The ratio of hens:ducks:goats in farm Q is 5:14:13. All the hens, ducks
and goats are sent from farm Q to farm P.
The new ratio of hens:ducks:goats in farm P is_____

(A) 5:7:13

(B) 5:14:13

(C) 10:21:26

(D) 21:10:26

Q.9

The distribution of employees at the rank of executives, across different
companies C1, C2, …, C6 is presented in the chart given above. The ratio of
executives with a management degree to those without a management degree
in each of these companies is provided in the table above. The total number
of executives across all companies is 10,000.
The total number of management degree holders among the executives in
companies C2 and C5 together is_____.

(A) 225

(B) 600

(C) 1900

(D) 2500

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Q. 10 Five persons P, Q, R, S and T are sitting in a row not necessarily in the
same order. Q and R are separated by one person, and S should not be
seated adjacent to Q.
The number of distinct seating arrangements possible is:

(A) 4

(B) 8

(C) 10

(D) 16

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Reasoning and Comprehension (XH-B1)
Q.1 – Q.5 Multiple Choice Question (MCQ), carry ONE mark each (for each wrong
answer: – 1/3).

Q.1 According to a recent article in a medical journal, consuming curcumin
(from turmeric) significantly lowers the risk of COVID-19. The researchers
draw this conclusion from a study that found that people who consumed
one or more teaspoons of curcumin extract everyday were half as likely to
be diagnosed with the disease as people who did not consume curcumin.
Which of the following, if true, most weakens the argument in the article?

(A) In another study, people who were given a zinc supplement everyday were more
than four times less likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 as those who did
not.

(B) All the participants in this study were from the same state where no other spices
or herbs are consumed.

(C) The participants who consumed curcumin were also more likely to exercise than
those who did not.

(D) In another study, COVID-19 patients who were given curcumin were no more
likely to recover than others.

Q.2 Froot Inc. carried out an internet advertisement campaign for its new
beverage CocoLoco. After the campaign, the director of the advertising
company conducted a survey and found that the CocoLoco sales were
higher than that of TenderJoos a competing product from Joos Inc. The
agency concluded that the internet advertising campaign is more effective
than advertising through other media.
Which of the following statements could strengthen the conclusion above
by the agency?

(A) A ₹2 discount was offered on CocoLoco during the campaign period.

(B) CocoLoco sales were higher than those of TenderJoos before the internet
campaign.

(C) A newspaper advertisement campaign the previous year did not increase
CocoLoco sales.

(D) During the campaign for CocoLoco, Joos Inc. did not advertise TenderJoos at
all.

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Q.3 An e-commerce site offered a deal last month conditional on the customer
spending a minimum of ₹500. Any customer who buys 2 kg of fresh fruit
will receive a hand mixer and any customer who buys 2 kg of fresh
vegetables will receive a vegetable chopper.
Which of the following is NOT a possible outcome of the above?

(A) A customer purchased 3 kg of fresh fruit and did not receive a vegetable
chopper.

(B) A customer purchased items for ₹500 which included 1 kg of vegetables and
received a hand mixer.

(C) A customer purchased items for ₹500 which included 2 kg of vegetables and 1
kg of fruit and received a hand mixer.

(D) A customer purchased items for ₹300 which included 2 kg of fruit and received
neither a hand mixer nor a vegetable chopper.

Q.4 Writers of detective fiction often include an incompetent detective as a foil
for the brilliant investigator-protagonist as they follow different paths in
trying to solve the crime. In the individual accounts, the incompetent
detective is frequently distracted by the culprit’s careful plans, while the
competent investigator solves the case after a final confrontation. Analysts
of such fiction believe that the authors select this story-telling technique to
provide readers with more complexities in the form of misleading clues,
while figuring out the crime.
Which of the following statements most logically follows from the passage
above?

(A) A detective story is considered well-written if the brilliant investigator is
accompanied by an incompetent detective.

(B) Writers of detective fiction use the contrast of an incompetent detective to
mainly show how complex the investigation is.

(C) Writers of detective fiction never write stories where the incompetent detective
solves the case.

(D) Writers of detective fiction use two investigative accounts to make it difficult
for the reader to figure out the outcome.

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Q.5 The first (P1) and the last (P6) parts of a single sentence are given to you.
The rest of the sentence is divided into four parts and labelled (L,M,N,O).
Reorder these parts so that the sentence can be read through correctly and
select one of the options given.
P1: Studies of several Sahitya Akademi award winners show that…
L: or encounter professional
M: and invariably develop a strained relationship with other literary figures
N: they often publish very little
O: after winning the prize
P6: …envy and rivalry.
The correct order is:

(A) NOLM

(B) MLON

(C) ONML

(D) MOLN

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Q.6 – Q.10 Multiple Choice Question (MCQ), carry TWO mark each (for each wrong
answer: – 2/3).

Q. 6 Gerrymandering refers to the targeted redrawing of election constituencies
so as to benefit a particular party. This is especially important where the
electoral system is “first past the post” in each constituency (i.e. one winner
is selected in each constituency based on a majority of votes won) and
where there is no other provision for proportional representation (as for
example in the German system). For a simple illustration of
gerrymandering, if a region consists of districts 1, 2, 3, …, 9 with districts
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 favouring party P and 7, 8, 9 favouring party Q, then
grouping of districts to constituencies as {1,2,3}, {4,5,6}, {7,8,9} will give
two seats to party P and one seat to party Q, whereas the grouping {1,2,7},
{3,4,8}, {5,6,9} will give all three seats to party P, as they will secure a
majority in each constituency.
Which of these statements can be deduced from the above?

(A) Gerrymandering implies that constituency boundaries can sometimes be drawn
to favour one party over the other.

(B) Gerrymandering implies that proportional representation is impossible when
districts are grouped to form constituencies.

(C) To counteract gerrymandering political parties should concentrate on districts
where they are favoured.

(D) The grouping of districts to constituencies has very little impact on proportional
representation.

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Q. 7 X-ray examination of a recently discovered painting that some authorities
judge to be a self-portrait by Michelangelo revealed an under-image of a
woman’s face. Either Michelangelo or some other artist must have
repainted over the first painting that had now been seen on the canvas.
Because the woman’s face also appears on other paintings by Michelangelo,
this painting is determined to indeed be an authentic painting by
Michelangelo.
Which of the following assumptions must be made in reaching the
conclusion above?

(A) When an already painted canvas of an artist is used, the second artist using that
canvas for a new painting is usually influenced by the artistic style of the first.

(B) Several painted canvases that art historians attribute to Michelangelo contain
under-images that appear on at least one other of Michelangelo’s paintings.

(C) Subject or subjects that appear in authenticated paintings of Michelangelo are
rather unlikely to show up as under-images on painted canvases not attributed to
Michelangelo.

(D) No painted canvas can be attributed to a particular artist with certainty without
an X-ray analysis.

Q. 8 This season _______ tourists visited Ladakh than last season; however,
______ to be the biggest tourist destination in India. The tourism
department explains that the number of tourists to India has ______
relative to previous years, ________ have chosen to visit Ladakh.
Select the correct sequence of phrases to fill in the blanks to complete the
passage above.

(A) more / for the first time in many seasons it does not appear / increased / and it
seems that most

(B) fewer / as in the past, it appears / in fact decreased / but it seems that only a
small proportion

(C) fewer / for the first time in many seasons it appears / in fact decreased / but it
seems that most

(D) more / this season as well, it appears / in fact decreased / but it seems that a
large proportion

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Q. 9 Reorder the sentences in (1) – (5) such that they form a coherent
paragraph.
(1) In fact, dozens of languages today have only one native speaker still
living, and that person's death will mean the extinction of the language: It
will no longer be spoken, or known, by anyone on earth.
(2) Many languages are falling out of use and are being replaced by others
that are more widely used in the region or nation, such as English in
Australia or Portuguese in Brazil.
(3) Many other languages are no longer being learned by new generations
of children or by new adult speakers.
(4) An endangered language is one that is likely to become extinct in the
near future.
(5) Unless the trends are reversed, these endangered languages will become
extinct by the end of the century.
(Adapted from What is an Endangered Language by A. Woodbury.)

(A) 2 3 1 4 5

(B) 2 3 5 4 1

(C) 4 1 5 2 3

(D) 4 2 3 1 5

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Q. 10 The first (P1) and the last (P6) parts of a single sentence are given to you.
The rest of the sentence is divided into four parts and labelled L,M,N,O.
Reorder these parts so that the sentence can be read correctly and select
one of the sequences below.
P1: For a little while…
L: it was a common belief
M: right after the treaty of Versailles
N: that Germany had caused World War I not just by her actions
O: held by analysts and politicians alike
P6: … but by also encouraging Italy in her own aggressions.

(A) LMNO

(B) MLON

(C) LNMO

(D) MOLN

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Q.11 – Q.15 Multiple Select Question (MSQ), carry TWO mark each (no negative marks).

Q. 11 After Florentino Ariza saw her for the first time, his mother knew before
he told her because he lost his voice and his appetite and spent the entire
night tossing and turning in his bed. But when he began to wait for the
answer to his first letter, his anguish was complicated by diaorrhea and
green vomit, he became disoriented and suffered from sudden fainting
spells, and his mother was terrified because his condition did not resemble
the turmoil of love so much as the devastation of cholera. Florentino
Ariza’s godfather, an old homeopathic practitioner who had been Tránsito
Ariza’s confidant ever since her days as a secret mistress, was also alarmed
at first by the patient’s condition, because he had the weak pulse, the
hoarse breathing, and the pale perspiration of a dying man. But his
examination revealed that he had no fever, no pain anywhere, and that his
only concrete feeling was an urgent desire to die. All that was needed was
shrewd questioning, first of the patient and then of his mother, to conclude
once again that the symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera. He
prescribed infusions of linden blossoms to calm the nerves and suggested a
change of air so he could find consolation in distance, but Florentino Ariza
longed for just the opposite: to enjoy his martyrdom.
(Adapted from Love in a Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez.)
The author of the passage is implying that:

(A) Homeopathy cures love.

(B) The doctor could not distinguish between love and cholera.

(C) The doctor could distinguish between love and cholera.

(D) The symptoms of love and cholera are similar.

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Q. 12 Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political
and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that
individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original
cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on
indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a
failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather
the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly
and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our
language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.
(Adapted from Politics and the English Language by George Orwell.)
The illustration of the man who takes to drink is used to underscore which
of the following ideas in the passage above?

(A)
Political and economic causes control deterioration of language.

(B) Foolish thoughts are enabled by inaccurate language.

(C) Effect of an action becomes the cause in a cyclic pattern.

(D) Drinking enables people to have foolish thoughts and slovenly language.

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Q. 13 It is a pity that Caste even today has its defenders. The defences are many.
It is defended on the grounds that the Caste System is but another name
for division of labour, and if division of labour is a necessary feature of
every civilised society, then it is argued that there is nothing wrong in the
Caste System. Now the first thing to be urged against this view is that Caste
System is not merely division of labour. It is also a division of labourers.
Civilised society undoubtedly needs division of labour but nowhere is
division of labour accompanied by this unnatural division of labourers into
watertight compartments, grading them one above the other. This division
of labour is not spontaneous or based on natural aptitudes. Social and
individual efficiency requires us to develop the individual capacity and
competency to choose and to make his own career. This principle is
violated in so far as it involves an attempt to appoint tasks to individuals in
advance, not on the basis of trained original capacities, but on that of birth.
Industry undergoes rapid and abrupt changes and an individual must be
free to change his occupation and adjust himself to changing
circumstances, to gain his livelihood. (Adapted from Annihilation of Caste
by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.)
Which of the following observations substantiate the arguments found in
the passage above?

(A) Newer generations are unable to change and move away from low-paying
family professions, even with changed economic circumstances.

(B) Sedentary desk jobs are considered to have more value and are in greater
demand than those involving manual labour.

(C) The government’s jobs guarantee programme makes low-level management
jobs available across all industries to all graduates in the nation.

(D) A bus driver becomes an app creator and, in the course of one month, reaches
one million downloads on Playstore with a four-star rating.

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Q. 14 Imagine that you’re in a game show and your host shows you three doors.
Behind one of them is a shiny car and behind the others are goats. You pick
one of the doors and get what lies within. After making your choice, your
host chooses to open one of the other two doors, which inevitably reveals a
goat. He then asks you if you want to stick with your original pick, or
switch to the other remaining door. What do you do? Most people think
that it doesn’t make a difference and they tend to stick with their first pick.
With two doors left, you should have a 50% chance of selecting the one
with the car. If you agree, then you have just fallen afoul of one of the most
infamous mathematical problems – the Monty Hall Problem. In reality,
you should switch every time which doubles your odds of getting the car.
Over the years, the problem has ensnared countless people, but not, it
seems, pigeons. The humble pigeon can learn with practice the best tactic
for the Monty Hall Problem, switching from their initial choice almost
every time. Amazingly, humans do not!
(Adapted from an article by Ed Yong in Discover Magazine.)
Which of the following conclusions follow from the passage above?

(A) Humans calculate the probability of independent, random events such as the
opening of a door by dividing the specific outcomes by the total number of
possible outcomes.

(B) Humans find it very difficult to learn to account for the host’s hand in making
the event non-random and, thereby, changing the outcome of the event.

(C) Calculating probabilities is difficult for humans but easy for pigeons; which is
why the pigeons succeed where the humans fail.

(D) Humans are governed by reason, but pigeons are irrational and only interested
in the outcome and will do whatever it takes to get food.

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Q. 15 The truth is that, despite the recent success of car-makers P and Q, India’s
automobile industry is in a state not that different from the bad old days of
the license-permit quota raj when two carmakers dominated a captive
domestic market with substandard vehicles and with very little, if any,
research and development, and low to negligible productivity growth. High
tariff barriers have certainly induced foreign automobile makers to enter
the Indian market by setting up local operations, but this so-called “tariff
jumping” foreign investment has produced an industry that is inefficient,
operating generally at a low scale, and whose products are not globally
competitive either in terms of cost or of innovation. It is noteworthy that
the automobile parts industry, which has faced low tariffs (as low as
12.5%) and has been largely deregulated, has been characterised by higher
productivity and much better export performance than the completely-
built units’ sector in the years since liberalisation.
(Adapted from an Op-Ed in The Mint.)
Which of the following statements can be inferred from the above?

(A) Low tariff barriers increase productivity.

(B) Tariff jumping leads to increases in productivity.

(C) Deregulation has worked for the automotive parts industry and therefore should
be applied to completely-built units.

(D) P and Q do not invest enough in research and development.

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SOCIOLOGY (XH-C6)

Q.1 – Q.12 Multiple Choice Question (MCQ), carry ONE mark each (for each wrong
answer: – 1/3).

Q.1 The term kulak refers to

(A) a type of hoe used in agriculture.

(B) a form of property right over agrarian produce.

(C) a rich farmer.

(D) the Russian word for peasant uprising.

Q.2 M.N. Srinivas’ principal work was built around the method of

(A) conjectural history.

(B) archival research.

(C) fieldwork.

(D) content analysis.

Q.3 In an experimental design, the dependent variable is

(A) the one that is not manipulated and in which any changes are observed.

(B) the one that is manipulated in order to observe any effects on the other.

(C) the unknown variable that emerges from the analysis of the data.

(D) the variable whose meaning depends on how informants perceive it.

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Q.4 The avunculate refers to the relationship between

(A) virilocal and neolocal families.

(B) matrilateral cross cousins.

(C) members of a matrilocal tharavad.

(D) mother’s brother and sister’s son.

Q.5 Who among the following Indian sociologists argued against Verrier
Elwin’s proposal of preserving the ‘tribal way of life’ on the grounds that
the Indian tribes are not ‘aborigines’ but are “imperfectly integrated
classes of Hindu society” or are ‘Backward Hindus’?

(A) Irawati Karve

(B) A.R. Desai

(C) G.S. Ghurye

(D) D.D. Kosambi

Q.6 M.N. Srinivas called his work on Rampura ‘The Remembered Village’
because

(A) ‘collective memory’ is the concept he used to understand Rampura.

(B) his experience in Rampura was memorable.

(C) the village Headman had forbidden Srinivas from taking any notes forcing him
to write this account solely from memory.

(D) he lost his field material in a fire and had to rely on his memory to write the
book.

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Q.7 “An ideal society should be mobile, should be full of channels for conveying
a change taking place in one part to other parts. In an ideal society there
should be many interests consciously communicated and shared. There
should be varied and free points of contact with other modes of association.
In other words there must be social endosmosis.”

On the basis of the above statement, which one of the following can be
asserted?

(A) This is M.K. Gandhi describing his vision of Rama Rajya in ‘Hind Swaraj’.

(B) This is V.D. Savarkar describing caste equality in ‘Essentials of Hindutva’.

(C) This is Jawaharlal Nehru describing socialist society in ‘The Discovery of
India’.

(D) This is B.R. Ambedkar describing fraternity in ‘The Annihilation of Caste’.

Q.8 ‘The City and the Grassroots’ authored by ________________ is among the
most important books published on urban social movements.

(A) Michel Foucault

(B) Charles Tilly

(C) Manuel Castells

(D) Veena Das

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Q.9 A fisherman in southwest Sri Lanka has received a warning that a cyclone
may hit his coastal region and he has to decide whether to evacuate or stay
put. He knows that the probability of the cyclone striking is 70%. He has
the means to evacuate and his property is worth three times the cost of
evacuation. He calculates accurately that his best chance to protect himself
and his assets lies in evacuation. At a later meeting of the whole
community, the village elders decide that no one will evacuate because the
village shrines cannot be left unattended indefinitely. Hence in deference to
the elders, the fisherman decides to stay put.

In Max Weber’s terms, his decision is closest to

(A) value rational action.

(B) instrumental rational action.

(C) traditional action.

(D) affective action.

Q.10 The Jonestown massacre of 1978 in the United States saw the death of 900
persons including children. Reverend Jones, leader of an American cult,
ordered his followers ‘The Peoples Temple’ to kill a US Congressman and
several journalists and then commit mass suicide by drinking fruit punch
laced with cyanide. In Durkheim’s view, this would be a case of

(A) anomic suicide.

(B) altruistic suicide.

(C) egoistic suicide.

(D) fatalistic suicide.

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Q.11 Pierre Bourdieu defined ________________ as “Systems of durable
dispositions, structured structures predisposed to function as structuring
structures … collectively orchestrated without being the product of the
orchestrating action of a conductor.”

Which of the following completes the above sentence?

(A) social capital

(B) culture

(C) habitus

(D) field

Q.12 Read the following statements:

(1) Throughout the developing world, poverty rates among households
headed by women are higher than those headed by men.

(2) The greater ‘investment value’ associated with the survival of boys in a
household in comparison with girls leads to discrimination against girl
children and adult women.

(3) The unequal allocation of resources within households results in
differential allotments of nutrition and healthcare that reflect the perceived
inferior short-term and long-term value of females.

(4) In all transitional economies, an increase in prostitution and trafficking
of women has been observed.

The above statements are all examples of

(A) the ‘feminisation of poverty’ thesis.

(B) labour market informalisation.

(C) the ‘culture of poverty’ thesis.

(D) differences in bargaining power between advanced and transitional economies.

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Q.13 – Q.20 Multiple Select Question (MSQ), carry ONE mark each (no negative marks).

Q.13 In which of the following ways did the founding scholars usually
distinguish New Social Movements (NSMs) from Old Social Movements?

(A) NSMs are devoted to changing cultural norms concerning individual dignity
rather than bringing about structural transformation.

(B) NSMs are based in social class and not on social identities.

(C) NSMs reject hierarchical organisational structures and prefer flexible,
horizontal participation.

(D) NSMs are all revolutionary in their mode of action.

Q.14 Which of the following option(s) correctly applies/apply to a key informant
in sociological research?

(A) One who intentionally restricts a researcher's access to participants.

(B) One with in-depth knowledge of the community.

(C) One who refers the researcher to those knowledgeable about the subject of the
research.

(D) One who because of her social position provides a deeper understanding of her
society.

Q.15 For Karl Marx, which statement(s) below define(s) absolute surplus value?

(A) It is value extracted by using technology in the labour process.

(B) It is value saved by technology.

(C) It is value created over and above worker subsistence.

(D) It is value extracted by means of extending the working day.

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Q.16 Who among the following sociologist(s) use(s) a Marxist framework to
understand Indian society and history?

(A) Yogendra Singh

(B) A.K. Saran

(C) Leela Dube

(D) A. R. Desai

Q.17 Which of the following reverse(s) the process of primitive accumulation in
India?

(A) NREGA

(B) The Land Acquisition Act of 1894

(C) Special Economic Zones

(D) Microfinance lending

Q.18 Which of the following applies/apply to Lévi-Strauss’ fundamental unit of
kinship?

(A) It is constituted by the father and mother and their children.

(B) It is constituted by the nuclear family and the wife’s brother.

(C) It is the basis of alliance theory.

(D) It is based on the universal incest taboo.

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Q.19 Which statement(s) correctly explain(s) why feminists and women’s rights
activists are uncomfortable with the term ‘honour killings’?

(A) It has been defined variously across disciplines from law to sociology to
philosophy.

(B) It has become associated with the ‘uniqueness’ of Asian societies and cultures.

(C) The idea that women embody male honour makes violence against them and
even their murder justifiable.

(D) It has become associated with communities that retain archaic patriarchal
practices and refuse to modernise.

Q.20 Which of the following is/are Louis Dumont’s formulation(s)?

(A) Indian sociology must lie at the confluence of Indology and anthropology.

(B) The ideological principle that religion is always superior to power is at all times
found exhibited at the empirical level in India.

(C) Equality runs contrary to the general tendencies of societies.

(D) Traditional Indian ideology allows only ‘surreptitious’ entry of economic and
political power.

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Q.21 – Q.28 Multiple Choice Question (MCQ), carry TWO mark each (for each wrong
answer: – 2/3).

Q. 21 The Latin American system of compadrazgo or ‘godparenthood’ is one in
which, at the time of baptism of a child into the Christian church, a
relationship is set up between the child’s biological mother and father and
possibly unrelated persons who become the child’s spiritual parents. This
may be understood as a form of

(A) fictive kinship.

(B) cognatic kinship.

(C) mystical kinship.

(D) bilateral kinship.

Q. 22 The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) is

(A) a trade union for self-employed women workers in the informal economy.

(B) not a trade union as its members have no employer.

(C) an association of all home-based women workers across India.

(D) a trade union for all self-employed women workers outside the agrarian sector.

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Q. 23 Match statements (P), (Q), (R), (S) to names (1), (2), (3), (4):

(P) “Today, Indians no longer idealise hierarchy. What they … idealise is
equality.”

(Q) “[We] do not argue that non-dalit feminists can ‘speak as’ or ‘for the’
dalit women but they can ‘reinvent themselves as dalit feminists’.”

(R) “[From] the point of view of people at the lowest end of the scale, caste
has functioned (and continues to function) as a very effective system of
economic exploitation.”

(S) “The pure hierarchy that Louis Dumont wrote so compellingly about a
few decades ago … now stands bereft of empirical support from practically
every quarter of Hindu India.”

(1) Dipankar Gupta
(2) Sharmila Rege
(3) André Béteille
(4) Joan P. Mencher

(A) (P)-(3), (Q)-(2), (R)-(4), (S)-(1)

(B) (P)-(4), (Q)-(2), (R)-(3), (S)-(1)

(C) (P)-(3), (Q)-(1), (R)-(4), (S)-(2)

(D) (P)-(4), (Q)-(1), (R)-(2), (S)-(3)

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Q. 24 Match statements (P), (Q), (R), (S) to names (1), (2), (3), (4):

(P) “The executive of the modern state is but a committee for managing the
common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie.”

(Q) The state is “an institutional association of rule, which within a given
territory has succeeded in gaining a monopoly of legitimate physical force
as a means of ruling.”

(R) “It is only through the State that individualism is possible,
although it cannot be the means of making it a reality, except in
certain precise conditions. We might say that in the State we have
the prime mover. It is the State that has rescued the child from
patriarchal domination and from family tyranny; it is the State that
has freed the citizen from feudal groups and later from communal
groups; it is the State that has liberated the craftsman and his master
from guild tyranny.”

(S) “The family is indeed a fiction, a social artefact, an illusion in the most
ordinary sense of the word, but a ‘well-founded illusion’, because, being
produced and reproduced with the guarantee of the state, it receives from
the state at every moment the means to exist and persist.”

(1) Pierre Bourdieu
(2) Emile Durkheim
(3) Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
(4) Max Weber

(A) (P)-(3), (Q)-(4), (R)-(2), (S)-(1)

(B) (P)-(3), (Q)-(4), (R)-(1), (S)-(2)

(C) (P)-(3), (Q)-(1), (R)-(2), (S)-(4)

(D) (P)-(4), (Q)-(2), (R)-(3), (S)-(1)

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Q. 25 Read the abstract of the article titled “‘Taming’ Arab social movements:
Exporting neoliberal governmentality” (2013).

“In the wake of the recent Arab revolutions, the European Union (EU) has
sought to provide genuine and substantial support to a range of Arab social
movements in the region’s emerging polities…We argue, however, that the
EU’s attempts at democracy promotion in the Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) region may be understood through a governmentality
framework, despite the limitations of such an approach. Specifically, the
EU is actively promoting neoliberal policies in the aftermath of the Arab
Spring in order to foster a mode of subjectivity that is conducive to the
EU’s own norms and interests. What we observe are not just innocent
attempts at democracy promotion, but a form of politics and economics
that seeks to subject the agency on the ‘Arab street’ to EU standards. We
conclude by going over the radical plurality of the Arab street, and show
how it was in fact earlier neoliberal reforms by their former regimes that
created the conditions of possibility for the recent revolutions in Tunisia
and Egypt.”

On the basis of the above statement, which of the following can be
asserted?

(1) Social movements can no longer be understood as a purely intra-
national phenomenon.

(2) Local social movements for democratisation have little to do with the
transnationalisation of the practices of neoliberal governmentality.

(A) Both the statements are correct

(B) Both the statements are incorrect

(C) Only (1) can be asserted

(D) Only (2) can be asserted

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Q. 26 According to Karl Marx, the socially necessary labour time to produce a
commodity will directly vary with

(A) the particular time period and place.

(B) the annual rainfall.

(C) the average productivity of agrarian workers.

(D) the output of natural resources.

Q. 27 Imagine there is a spiritual leader from any religion who has a huge estate,
organisation, publications etc. In Weberian terms, this could be considered
an example of

(A) patrimonial power.

(B) bureaucratised patrimonial power.

(C) charismatic power.

(D) bureaucratised charismatic power.

Q. 28 Which of the following is a proposed explanation for a group of facts or
phenomena that provides the basis for empirical testing?

(A) An ideal type

(B) A logical framework matrix

(C) A hypothesis

(D) A sampling procedure

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Q.29 – Q.40 Multiple Select Question (MSQ), carry TWO mark each (no negative marks).

Q. 29 To which of the following option(s) does C. Wright Mills’ ‘Grand Theory’
NOT apply?

(A) A theory proposed by one of classical sociological theorists.

(B) A highly abstract theory making broad generalisations about the social world.

(C) An accurate theoretical explanation of observed empirical regularities.

(D) An intellectually satisfying theory of social knowledge.

Q. 30 Which statement(s) about contemporary India is/are endorsed by recent
sociological research?

(A) The skewed sex ratio at birth is enabling cross-regional marriages that may
breach caste boundaries.

(B) The skewed sex ratio at birth means that women are valued more for their roles
in reproduction, domestic and care work.

(C) The skewed sex ratio at birth reduces the supply of women and improves their
life chances throughout society.

(D) The skewed sex ratio at birth is causing a male marriage squeeze due to the
female deficit.

Q. 31 Which of the following statements is/are representation(s) of the
‘modernisation theory’ of the mid-twentieth century?

(A) All versions of this theory could be summarised as the attempt to understand
how traditional societies modernise.

(B) This theory saw the developmental efforts of all decolonised nations through the
binary of communist or capitalist.

(C) Ashis Nandy termed this theory as a “secular theory of salvation”.

(D) The theory seeks to understand macro changes in terms of ‘development’ and
not how to make individuals develop modern values and sensibilities.

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Q. 32 “We demanded changes that would make the law more sensitive to the
cultural and economic contexts of women’s lives. Women’s groups
investigating ‘dowry deaths’ demonstrated how the designation of the
family as the private domain restricted women’s access to protection
against domestic violence. They exposed the collusion of the law, police,
medical system, and the family in classifying these deaths as suicides.
Feminist scholars worked to salvage gender and women’s issues from being
subsumed by class analysis, sought to extend the Marxist understanding of
labour to include domestic production, and pointed out the marginality and
vulnerability of women in the workforce”.

(Susie Tharu and Tejaswini Niranjana (1996), ‘Problems for a
Contemporary Theory of Gender’)

Which among the following statements can be asserted from the above
excerpt?

(A) Women’s lives have contexts that are peculiar/unique.

(B) The division of domains into public and private allows women’s specific
concerns to be foregrounded.

(C) Marxist understanding of labour is not gender-sensitive.

(D) The classification of dowry deaths as suicide lowers the institutional and social
protection of women against violence.

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Q. 33 “The claim, made by structuralism and dependency theory, that
subordination to the world market seals the fate of nations is wrong.
Inequality, poverty, low productivity and sluggish growth in the periphery,
their propensity to import luxury goods and transfer profits to the centre,
and the lack of coordination of economic activity in many countries, are
due primarily to the social structures prevailing in the periphery, rather
than their international trade relations.”

(Alfredo Saad-Filho (2005), ‘The Rise and Decline of Latin American
Structuralism and Dependency Theory’)

Which among the following statements can be asserted from the above
excerpt?

(A) Underdevelopment is mainly due to the balance of political forces within the
periphery.

(B) Trade patterns between core and periphery follow from “the social structures
prevailing in the periphery”.

(C) Unequal exchange between core and periphery inhibits development of the
latter.

(D) There is a pathway to development through the world market.

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Q. 34 There is scholarly controversy over the role of the middle peasants in
peasant movements in India. In this regard, which of the following
statements is/are true?

(A) Hamza Alavi argued that the middle peasants are more likely to initiate and
actively participate in peasant movements.

(B) Dhanagare argued that the middle peasants are weaker and more heterogeneous
than other agrarian classes.

(C) Kathleen Gough argued that poor peasants and agricultural labourers have the
potential for organising peasant movements.

(D) Gail Omvedt argued that caste is the basis of peasant mobilisation, not class.

Q. 35 In ‘The Nation and its Fragments’ (1993), Partha Chatterjee observes that
“By the 1940s, the dominant argument of nationalism against colonial rule
was that the latter was impeding the…development of India….A
developmental ideology...was a constituent part of the self-definition of the
postcolonial state. The state was connected to the people not simply
through the procedural forms of representative government; it also
acquired its representativeness by directing a program of economic
development on behalf of the nation.”

In what way(s) was the connection between development and the
representativeness of the Indian state achieved, for Chatterjee?

(A) Colonialism had demonstrated the benefits of free trade and globalisation.

(B) Colonialism stood for economic exploitation, therefore liberty meant the
reverse.

(C) The procedural forms of government would by themselves be insufficient to
drive development.

(D) The procedural forms of government would inevitably fall to corruption.

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Q. 36 Which of the following statement(s) correctly represent(s) A.M. Shah’s
views in his ‘The Household Dimension of the Family in India’?

(A) Indological conceptions of the ‘Indian joint family’ have become an obstacle to
sociological investigation of the familial structure and transformation.

(B) Household and family are two different, though related, categories.

(C) The process of modernisation will break the traditional Indian joint family into
nuclear families.

(D) The classification of the households into ‘simple’ and ‘complex’ resolves the
existing confusing classification of ‘elementary’ and ‘joint’ family.

Q. 37 See the diagram and identify which option(s) below applies/apply to it

(A) The diagram shows parallel cousin marriage which is a form of restricted
exchange.

(B) The diagram shows cross cousin marriage which is a form of generalised
exchange.

(C) This form of marriage creates a distinction between bride-givers and bride-
takers.

(D) This form of marriage conforms to the ideal of kanyadana.

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Q. 38 Which of the following statement(s) correctly applies/apply to reflexivity in
sociological research?

(A) A researcher can take a bird’s eye perspective of research subjects.

(B) A researcher reflects on how her position impacts her research and findings.

(C) A researcher considers how her biases and values bear on her interpretations
and analyses.

(D) A researcher reflects on how she in turn can help the community she is
studying.

Q. 39 “If we make abstraction from its use value, we make abstraction at the
same time from the material elements and shapes that make the product a
use value; we see in it no longer a table, a house, yarn, or any other useful
thing. Its existence as a material thing is put out of sight. Neither can it any
longer be regarded as the product of the labour of the joiner, the mason,
the spinner, or of any other definite kind of productive labour. Along with
the useful qualities of the products themselves, we put out of sight both the
useful character of the various kinds of labour embodied in them, and the
concrete forms of that labour; there is nothing left but what is common to
them all; all are reduced to one and the same sort of labour, human labour
in the abstract.” (Karl Marx, ‘Capital’)

Which statement(s) can be asserted from the above excerpt?

(A) Abstraction refers to a material process that occurs in production.

(B) Abstraction refers to an analytical operation.

(C) Abstraction refers to the reduction of material products to their common
element.

(D) Abstraction refers to a mathematical operation.

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Q. 40 “The capitalistic economy of the present day is an immense cosmos into
which the individual is born, and which presents itself to him, at least as an
individual, as an unalterable order of things in which he must live…In
order that a manner of life so well adapted to the peculiarities of capitalism
could be selected at all, i.e. should come to dominate others, it had to
originate somewhere, and not in isolated individuals alone, but as a way of
life common to whole groups of men. This origin is what really needs
explanation...The question of the motive forces in the expansion of modern
capitalism is not in the first instance a question of the origin of the capital
sums which were available for capitalistic uses, but, above all, of the
development of the spirit of capitalism. Where it appears and is able to
work itself out, it produces its own capital and monetary supplies as the
means to its ends, but the reverse is not true.” (Max Weber, ‘The
Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’)

Which among the following is/are Weber’s argument(s) in the above
excerpt?

(A) The origins of capitalism cannot be explained by purely material factors.

(B) Before it is mature, capitalism does not drive individual behaviour.

(C) Before it is fully functional, capitalism needed the support of an ethic.

(D) Capitalism requires greed to be adopted by all as “a manner of life”.

END OF THE QUESTION PAPER

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