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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2018/Paper II/Village India, Urbanisation & Social Change
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper II 2018 10 Marks Model Answer Available

Modernization — 2018 Paper II

Question · 2018 · Paper II · 10 Marks

Modernization

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question: Explain modernization as a multidimensional process of social, economic and institutional transformation.
  • Structuring the Response: Identify its major characteristics, relate it to Indian society, and critically distinguish modernization from simple Westernization.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover: Industrialization, urbanization, education, secularization, mobility, rationality, differentiation, Yogendra Singh and cultural continuity.

Model Answer

Introduction: Modernization refers to broad transformations through which societies develop greater technological complexity, institutional differentiation, mobility and rationalized forms of social organization. It affects economic, political, cultural and familial institutions simultaneously.

Major characteristics include:

  • industrialization;
  • urbanization;
  • literacy and mass education;
  • technological expansion;
  • occupational specialization;
  • increased social mobility;
  • bureaucratic organization;
  • growth of scientific-rational orientation;
  • expanding mass communication.

Thus:

Technology + Education + Urbanization → Institutional differentiation → Social transformation

In India, modernization has affected:

  • caste occupations;
  • family structure;
  • village economy;
  • gender relations;
  • political participation.

Yogendra Singh, in Modernization of Indian Tradition, emphasized that modernization in India does not necessarily destroy tradition. Traditional institutions may adapt, reinterpret and reorganize themselves under modern conditions.

Modernization should also be distinguished from Westernization: modern institutions may be adopted without complete imitation of Western culture.

Critical perspective: Modernization can also produce inequality, displacement, cultural homogenization and ecological stress.

Conclusion: Modernization is therefore not a simple shift from “traditional” to “modern”, but a selective and uneven restructuring of institutions in interaction with existing cultural traditions.

2026 Critically examine the salience of F. G. Bailey's study on Bisipara village of Odisha. 2025 "The village was not merely a place where people lived; it had a design in which were reflected the basic values of Indian civilization." Who said this? Elaborate. 2024 Digitisation of rural economy 2024 Compare and contrast the approaches of M.N. Srinivas and L.P. Vidyarthi to social change in village India.

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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2018 — Paper II

28 questions

5(c) Agrarian social structure

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 5.1 Indian Village > Agrarian relations in Indian villages
2018Paper IIVillage India, Urbanisation & Social ChangeModel answer available

1(c) Endangered Languages

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 2. Demographic profile of India > Linguistic elements and their distribution
2018Paper IIIndian Society, Caste & CivilizationModel answer available

5(e) Modernization

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 5.3 Indigenous and exogenous processes of socio-cultural change > Modernization
2018Paper IIVillage India, Urbanisation & Social ChangeModel answer available

1(d) OBCs among non-Hindu communities

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 7.1 Problems of exploitation and deprivation of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes
2018Paper IIIndian Society, Caste & CivilizationModel answer available

1(b) Philosophy behind Purusharthas

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 3.1 Structure and nature of traditional Indian social system > Purushartha
2018Paper IIIndian Society, Caste & CivilizationModel answer available

5(b) Tribe and scheduled tribe

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 6.1 Tribal situation in India > Definition and scheduling of tribes
2018Paper IITribal IndiaModel answer available

5(a) Youth dormitory as an institution

10 Marks150 words
Syllabus: Paper II > 6.1 Tribal situation in India > Social institutions of tribal societies
2018Paper IITribal IndiaModel answer available