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UPSC 2023 GS-I · 15 marks · 250 words

Why is caste identity in India both fluid and static?

What “Discuss” demands

present several distinct facets of the issue and connect them into an argument, giving the competing views real weight rather than one line each.

The characteristic failure: a list of points with no argument running through them.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

  • Fluidity: sanskritisation (Srinivas), dominant-caste shifts, urban anonymity, inter-caste marriage at socio-economic parity, caste-cluster political coalitions
  • Static: endogamy persistence (IHDS: ~95% marriages within caste), matrimonial-ad evidence, caste-based violence, reservation categories fixing identity legally
  • Theoretical frame: Ghurye's features vs Dipankar Gupta's 'hierarchy to difference'; caste as identity vs caste as system
  • Synthesis: ritual hierarchy weakening while caste as political-material identity hardens — fluid in status, static in boundary

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