Thinker
Louis Dumont
Louis Dumont is central to 34 previous-year questions, spanning 2009 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.
34Questions
2009–25Years tested
I & IIPaper
8Syllabus topics
Concepts asked alongside Louis Dumont
What the examiner actually wants you to know when this name appears.
hierarchy 8purity and pollution 7encompassing of the contrary 5cross-cousin marriage 4cultural unity of india 4ideology of caste 4structuralism 4book-view versus field-view 3sanskritisation 3tribe-caste continuum 3village studies 3commensality 2dominant caste 2endogamy 2holism versus individualism 2jajmani system 2kinship terminology 2marriage rules 2
Where Louis Dumont appears in the syllabus
Every question on Louis Dumont
Each links to a full breakdown — how to approach it, a model answer, and the examiner’s perspective.
2024
- Analyse the changing nature of caste as a status group.
- Differentiate between 'Western' and 'Indological' perspectives on the study of Indian society. Bring out the major aspects of G. S. Ghurye's contribution to 'Indological' approach.
- What, according to you, are the factors responsible for the continuance of caste system in India? Explain.
2023
- Analyse the differences between the attributional and interactional approach in studying the caste system.
- Contextualize Louis Dumont's concept of 'binary opposition' with reference to caste system in India.
- Define the concepts of 'Descent' and 'Alliance'. Differentiate between North Indian and South Indian Kinship systems with examples.
- Do you agree with the view of Andre Beteille that India's villages are representative of Indian society's basic civilizational values ? Present a sociological overview.
2022
2021
2020
- “Indian caste system is unique and has been unhealthy for the growth of sociology of India.” How far do you agree with this view?
- How are Hierarchy and Exclusion the major impediments in the transformation of societies ? Discuss.
- How do you justify Dumont's deliberate stress on ideology that produced intellectualized account of Indian society?
2018
2017
2015
2010
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