Thinker

Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels is central to 13 previous-year questions, spanning 2010 to 2025 across Paper I and Paper II. Everything below is drawn from the official papers — the questions themselves, the concepts they test, and where they sit in the syllabus.

13Questions

2010–25Years tested

I & IIPaper

5Syllabus topics

Concepts asked alongside Friedrich Engels

What the examiner actually wants you to know when this name appears.

mode of production 7base and superstructure 4class struggle 4forces and relations of production 4dialectical change 3sexual division of labour 3dialectical materialism 2patriarchy 2public and private spheres 2alienationalienation and inversionbourgeois familycash nexusclass antagonismclass conflictclass consciousnessclass polarisationcommodification of relationships

Where Friedrich Engels appears in the syllabus

4. Sociological Thinkers7
9. Systems of Kinship3
10. Social Change in Modern Society1
6. Works and Economic Life1
Systems of Kinship in India1

Every question on Friedrich Engels

Each links to a full breakdown — how to approach it, a model answer, and the examiner’s perspective.

2025

Highlight the main features of historical materialism as propounded by Marx. How far is this theory relevant in understanding contemporary societies? Explain.Paper I · 20 marks · 4. Sociological Thinkers

2023

What is historical materialism? Examine its relevance in understanding contemporary societies.Paper I · 20 marks · 4. Sociological Thinkers

2022

2021

Critically examine the dialectics involved in each mode of production as propounded by Karl Marx.Paper I · 20 marks · 4. Sociological Thinkers

2020

2017

Analyse Marxian conception of historical materialism as a critique of Hegelian dialectics.Paper I · 20 marks · 4. Sociological Thinkers

2014

According to Marx, capitalism transforms even the personal relationships between men and women. Critically examine with illustrations from the contemporary Indian context.Paper I · 10 marks · 4. Sociological Thinkers

2013

2012

In Marxian classification of Society, feudal and slave societies are very important. How are they different from each other ?Paper I · 20 marks · 6. Works and Economic Life

2010

Examine Karl Marx's views on 'class-in-itself' and 'class-for-itself' with reference to proletarians.Paper I · 30 marks · 4. Sociological Thinkers

Browse all thinkers by exam frequency, or see the full trend analysis.