BSOG-176 Solved Question Paper June 2026 gives complete answers to all 8 questions of Economy and Society, the 6-credit sociology course of IGNOU's Bachelor of Arts (General).
BSOG-176 Economy and Society key facts for the June 2026 solved paper
- Course code: BSOG-176
- Course title: Economy and Society
- Programmes: Bachelor of Arts (General), BAG, Sociology discipline, Semester VI on eGyanKosh; also Bachelor of Arts (Journalism and Digital Media), BAJDM
- Credits: 6
- Blocks / units: 4 blocks and 13 units (3 + 2 + 6 + 2)
- Maximum marks: 100
- Duration: 3 hours
- Questions in the paper: 8 long-answer questions of 20 marks; attempt any 5
- Choice rule: any 5 of 8; no compulsory question, no section split
- Marks split: 8 × 20 = 160 printed; 5 × 20 = 100 attempted
- Printed word limit: about 400 words per answer
- Paper language: English and Hindi printed in the same paper
- Assessment weightage: term-end exam 70%, three assignments 30%
- Sibling course: BSOC-108 Economic Sociology (BASOH) uses the same 13-unit structure
- Samples shown on this page: 2 (Q1 and Q2)
- Answers in the paid file: All 8, including 6 not shown on this page
What the BSOG-176 Solved Question Paper June 2026 covers
The June 2026 term-end paper of BSOG-176 Economy and Society asked students to answer any five questions in about 400 words each, with 20 marks per question. The eight questions moved from classical thinkers such as Simmel and Polanyi to Sahlins on exchange, gift-giving, hunting and gathering societies, the domestic mode of production, development and Thorner's agrarian class structure.
That spread matters. A student who prepared only theory could answer Q1 and Q2, while a student who prepared only modes of production would find Q5, Q6 and Q8. Our solved file gives a full answer for every question, so you can practise whichever five you plan to attempt and see how a good 20-mark answer is shaped.
On this page you can read two answers in full: Q1 on Simmel's ideas on money and Q2 on Polanyi's notion of embeddedness. The other six questions are listed exactly as printed in the IGNOU BSOG-176 Question Paper, and their answers are kept for the full file shared on WhatsApp 9899436384.
BSOG-176 sample answers on Simmel and Polanyi from June 2026
Two BSOG-176 answers are shown here in full, Q1 and Q2, and the remaining six questions appear below as question text only.
Both samples follow the format we use for every question in the file: a short introduction that names the thinker and the key work, headed main points, a brief critical note and a conclusion. Read them as a model of length and depth, then compare them with your own draft.
Question 1 (20 marks)
Q1 20 marks Block 2, Unit 5 Money: 3 of 7 earlier papers
Discuss Simmel's ideas on 'money'. 20
Introduction
Georg Simmel (1858 to 1918), the German sociologist, set out his ideas on money in The Philosophy of Money (1900). For Simmel, money was not only an economic tool. It was a social form that shows how relations between people change as a society moves from personal ties to a modern, urban, money economy.
Value is created in exchange
Simmel argued that objects have no value in themselves. Value appears when a person desires an object that is not easily available and must give up something else to get it. Exchange is therefore a form of interaction between people. Money is this exchange relation in fixed, objective form, which is why Simmel treated it as a social fact rather than a mere coin or note.
Money as the purest instrument
Money has no quality of its own, only quantity. It can be turned into almost anything, so it is the most perfect means that human beings have invented. Because it is pure means, it allows long chains of purpose: we work for money, and money buys what we actually want.
Quantity replaces quality
In a money economy everything gets a price. Unique qualities of objects and even of services are reduced to "how much". Simmel linked this to a calculating, precise and punctual mental style, which he later described in his essay "The Metropolis and Mental Life" (1903).
Freedom and impersonality
Money widens individual freedom. When a peasant's duties in labour or kind were changed into a money payment, he gained the liberty to use his time and produce as he wished. A money economy makes us depend on more people than ever, but on no particular person. The result is both freedom and impersonal, functional relations.
When the means becomes the end
Because money can buy everything, it can turn into an end in itself. Simmel discussed greed and avarice, the miser who hoards and the spendthrift who wastes. He also noted cynicism and the blasé attitude: when everything can be priced, distinctions of value begin to fade.
Money and the growth of objective culture
The money economy supports a fine division of labour and a huge growth of objects, techniques and knowledge. Simmel called this objective culture and warned that individuals cannot absorb it all, so the gap between objective and subjective culture keeps widening.
Critical note
Simmel's view is richer than a purely economic one because he sees both liberation and loss in money. Critics say his method is essayistic and gives less weight to class and power than Marx, who saw money as hiding the exploitation of labour.
Conclusion
Simmel showed that money shapes modern life well beyond the market. It frees individuals from personal dependence, makes relations calculable and impersonal, and can become a goal in itself. His ideas remain central to the sociology of money and to the study of economy and society.
Length check: this answer runs to about 480 words, past the printed 400 and above the 340 to 370 words a 31-minute hand-written answer allows. It is written for revision. In the hall, keep the introduction with The Philosophy of Money, points 1, 2, 4 and 5, and the conclusion; the objective-culture point and the critical note can drop to one line each.
Question 2 (20 marks)
Q2 20 marks Block 1, Unit 2 Polanyi: 4 of 7 earlier papers
Explain Polanyi's notion of 'embeddedness' in the context of substantive economy. 20
Introduction
Karl Polanyi (1886 to 1964), the Hungarian-born economic historian, developed the idea of embeddedness in The Great Transformation (1944) and in his essay "The Economy as Instituted Process" (1957). His aim was to show that markets are not the natural form of economic life but one historical arrangement among several.
Formal and substantive meanings of "economic"
Polanyi separated two meanings. The formal meaning comes from the logic of choice under scarcity: an actor uses limited means to maximise ends. The substantive meaning refers to the way human beings depend on nature and on one another for their livelihood. Formal economics fits market societies; the substantive meaning fits every society.
The economy as an instituted process
In the substantive view, the economy is a process of interaction between people and their natural and social environment that provides material goods. This process gains unity and stability only because it is instituted, that is, organised through social institutions.
Meaning of embeddedness
In non-market societies the economy is embedded in non-economic institutions such as kinship, religion and political authority. People produce and exchange goods to protect their social standing, obligations and claims, not mainly to gain individual profit. Polanyi drew on studies such as Malinowski's account of the Trobriand kula ring to make this point.
Forms of integration
- Reciprocity: movement of goods between symmetrical groups, such as kin or allied households.
- Redistribution: goods flow towards a centre, such as a chief, temple or state, and then back out.
- Exchange: movement of goods between hands through price-making markets.
Most societies combine these forms, but one usually dominates. Market exchange became dominant only in the nineteenth century.
Disembedding and the double movement
The self-regulating market tried to pull the economy out of society. Labour, land and money were treated as "fictitious commodities", although they are not produced for sale. Polanyi argued that society reacted with a protective counter-movement, through labour laws, social insurance and regulation, which he called the double movement.
The substantivist and formalist debate
Polanyi's ideas started a debate in economic anthropology. Substantivists such as George Dalton and Paul Bohannan supported him, while formalists such as Edward LeClair and Harold Schneider argued that maximising choice exists in all societies. Later, Mark Granovetter (1985) argued that even modern markets are embedded in social networks.
Conclusion
Polanyi's notion of embeddedness, read with the substantive meaning of the economy, shows that economic life is always shaped by social institutions. The market society is an exception in history, and its attempt to stand apart from society produces social resistance.
Length check: this answer runs to about 420 words, past the printed 400 and above the 340 to 370 words a 31-minute hand-written answer allows. It is written for revision. In the hall, keep the introduction, formal versus substantive, the meaning of embeddedness, the three forms of integration and the double movement; the formalist debate can shrink to one sentence.
BSOG-176 questions answered only in the full file
These six questions are reproduced exactly as printed in the June 2026 paper. Their answers are not shown on this page.
Q3 What are the three types of exchange discussed by Sahlins? Explain. 20
Q4 Explain the social dimension of gift-giving practice. 20
Q5 Outline main characteristics of hunting and gathering societies. 20
Q6 Critically discuss domestic mode of production. 20
Q7 Explain the socio-cultural dimensions of development. 20
Q8 Explain Thorner's contribution to the understanding of agrarian class structure in India. 20
Q6 and Q8 ask for specific scholarly arguments rather than general description, so the full file names the sources each of these answers relies on, in the same format as the samples above.
BSOG-176 Economy and Society block-wise syllabus
BSOG-176 is studied through 4 blocks and 13 units, and the June 2026 paper drew questions from all four blocks.
The block titles below are taken from the official BSOG-176 Economy and Society course page on eGyanKosh, where the course sits under BAG Sociology, Semester VI. The last column lists themes that IGNOU has actually asked from each block.
| Block | Units | Topics asked from this block |
|---|---|---|
| Block 1 Sociological Aspects of Economic Phenomenon | Unit 1 Economy, Society and Culture; Unit 2 Approaches: Formalism and Substantivism; Unit 3 Sociological Aspect of Economic Processes | Durkheim on economy, society and culture; Polanyi's substantivism; rationality and economic behaviour |
| Block 2 Forms of Exchange | Unit 4 Reciprocity and Gift; Unit 5 Exchange and Money | Forms of reciprocity and Sahlins' types of exchange; Mauss and the gift; Simmel and the functions of money |
| Block 3 Mode of Production | Unit 6 Hunting and Gathering; Unit 7 Pastoralists and Horticulturists; Unit 8 Domestic Mode of Production; Unit 9 Peasants Economy; Unit 10 Capitalism; Unit 11 Socialism | Problems of pastoralists; traditional and advanced horticulture; peasant movements in India; forms of capitalism; pre-requisites of socialism |
| Block 4 Contemporary Issues | Unit 12 Globalisation; Unit 13 Social Development | Impact of globalisation and the Washington Consensus; socio-cultural dimensions of development; development from the top and from the bottom |
Block 3 alone holds 6 of the 13 units, which explains why mode-of-production questions fill so much of every paper. If you want unit-wise notes alongside the solved paper, see our BSOG-176 Study Material.
Units: 3 + 2 + 6 + 2 = 13, the same block and unit layout as BSOC-108 Economic Sociology. June 2026 questions: Block 1 = 1, Block 2 = 3, Block 3 = 3, Block 4 = 1; total 8.
Per unit, Block 2 was densest: 3 questions from 2 units (1.5 a unit), against 3 from 6 units in Block 3 (0.5), 1 from 3 in Block 1 and 1 from 2 in Block 4. Unit 4 alone gave two questions (Q3 on Sahlins and Q4 on gift-giving).
Unit coverage: 7 of 13 units fed a question (Units 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 13). Units 1, 3, 7 (pastoralism), 10 (capitalism), 11 (socialism) and 12 (globalisation) gave nothing. The questions do not follow unit order: Q1 to Q8 run through Units 5, 2, 4, 4, 6, 8, 13 and 9.
Block arithmetic: Blocks 2 and 3 together offered 6 questions, one to spare. Leaving out either of them still left exactly five (Blocks 1, 3 and 4, or Blocks 1, 2 and 4), with no margin.
How the BSOG-176 paper is set: pattern and marks
The BSOG-176 paper has 8 questions of 20 marks each, and you answer any five in about 400 words, for 100 marks in 3 hours.
| Feature | June 2026 paper |
|---|---|
| Questions printed | 8 long-answer questions |
| Questions to attempt | Any 5, with no compulsory question |
| Marks per question | 20 |
| Suggested length | About 400 words per answer |
| Maximum marks and time | 100 marks, 3 hours |
| Medium | English and Hindi printed in the same paper |
Because there is no internal choice and no section split, the five questions you pick decide your score. In June 2026 the questions were spread unevenly across the blocks, as the next table shows.
| Block | June 2026 questions | Marks available |
|---|---|---|
| Block 1 Sociological Aspects of Economic Phenomenon | Q2 (Polanyi and embeddedness) | 20 |
| Block 2 Forms of Exchange | Q1 (Simmel on money), Q3 (Sahlins), Q4 (gift-giving) | 60 |
| Block 3 Mode of Production | Q5 (hunting and gathering), Q6 (domestic mode of production), Q8 (Thorner) | 60 |
| Block 4 Contemporary Issues | Q7 (socio-cultural development) | 20 |
Blocks 2 and 3 together carried six of the eight questions. Students comparing sessions can also look at the wider BAG Question Paper collection for other sociology courses.
Printed 8 × 20 = 160 marks; attempted 5 × 20 = 100. Three questions are spare.
Is 400 words achievable? 180 minutes ÷ 5 answers = 36 minutes each. Keep about 5 minutes per answer for reading and planning, and 31 minutes at 11 to 12 handwritten words a minute gives roughly 340 to 370 words. The printed 400 (20 words a mark) is a fair upper target and matches BSOC-101 and BSOC-103.
Most repeated BSOG-176 topics from 2022 to 2026
Peasant economy came up in 6 of the 8 BSOG-176 papers we checked, while Polanyi and hunting and gathering came up in 5 each.
This table is built from eight official IGNOU papers: June 2022, December 2022, June 2023, December 2023, June 2024, June 2025, December 2025 and June 2026. The December 2024 file on the IGNOU site is a scanned image, so it is not counted.
In the table below, the count covers only the seven papers before June 2026, and a new column shows whether each topic came back in June 2026. Counted this way, peasant economy still leads at 5 of 7, and pastoralism, socialism and globalisation, at 4 of 7 each, are the three most-asked topics that June 2026 left out.
| Topic | Block | Earlier sessions asked | Earlier papers (of 7) | In June 2026? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peasant economy, peasant movements and agrarian classes | 3 | Jun 2022, Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Jun 2024 | 5 | Yes, Q8 (Thorner) |
| Polanyi, substantivism and embeddedness | 1 | Jun 2022, Dec 2022, Dec 2023, Dec 2025 | 4 | Yes, Q2 |
| Hunting and gathering societies | 3 | Dec 2022, Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Jun 2025 | 4 | Yes, Q5 |
| Problems and forms of pastoralism | 3 | Jun 2023, Dec 2023, Jun 2024, Dec 2025 | 4 | No |
| Socialism and its pre-requisites | 3 | Dec 2022, Dec 2023, Jun 2024, Dec 2025 | 4 | No |
| Globalisation and the Washington Consensus | 4 | Dec 2022, Jun 2024, Jun 2025, Dec 2025 | 4 | No |
| Reciprocity and Sahlins' forms of exchange | 2 | Jun 2023, Jun 2024, Jun 2025 | 3 | Yes, Q3 |
| Gift and gift exchange | 2 | Jun 2022, Jun 2024, Jun 2025 | 3 | Yes, Q4 |
| Money, Simmel and Veblen | 2 | Jun 2023, Jun 2024, Dec 2025 | 3 | Yes, Q1 |
| Socio-cultural dimensions of development | 4 | Dec 2023, Jun 2025, Dec 2025 | 3 | Yes, Q7 |
| Economic distribution and exchange | 2 | Jun 2022, Dec 2022, Dec 2025 | 3 | No |
| Domestic mode of production | 3 | Jun 2024, Jun 2025 | 2 | Yes, Q6 |
Every June 2026 question touched a theme that had been asked before. Only the framing changed: Sahlins replaced a plain "forms of reciprocity" question, and Thorner replaced the usual question on peasant movements.
If you want a ready list of likely questions for the next exam, our IGNOU Solved Guess Paper section groups them by course code.
Hit rate: 8 of the 12 tracked topics came back in June 2026 = 67%, all as full 20-mark essays.
Two signals agree, four for four: pastoralism (Unit 7), socialism (Unit 11) and globalisation (Unit 12) sit in dead units, and economic distribution and exchange is the unasked half of Block 2, which gave money, reciprocity and the gift instead.
Session split (4 June and 3 December papers in the earlier window): reciprocity and Sahlins (3 of 4 June, 0 of 3 December), the gift (3 of 4 June, 0 of 3 December) and the domestic mode of production (2 of 4 June, 0 of 3 December) have never been set in a December paper, and all three came back in June 2026. Socialism and Polanyi have appeared in all three December papers in the window.
December 2026 shortlist: what June 2026 left out
- Socialism and its pre-requisites (Unit 11). 4 of 7 earlier papers, including all three December papers, and Unit 11 gave nothing in June 2026.
- Problems and forms of pastoralism (Unit 7). 4 of 7 earlier papers, including 2 of the 3 December papers, and Unit 7 was dead in June 2026.
- Globalisation and the Washington Consensus (Unit 12). 4 of 7 earlier papers, including 2 of the 3 December papers. Block 4 gave only the development question in June 2026.
- Economic distribution and exchange (Block 2). 3 of 7 earlier papers, 2 of them December papers. June 2026 took money, Sahlins and the gift from Block 2 and left this one.
- Capitalism (Unit 10) and economy, society and culture (Unit 1). Both units were dead in June 2026 but neither has a row in the repeat table, so check their earlier record before ranking them.
The three June-only topics (Sahlins, the gift and the domestic mode of production) are the least likely to return in December, on the record so far.
How our BSOG-176 answers are written and checked
Every BSOG-176 answer is written from the official course blocks and checked against earlier IGNOU papers before it goes into the file.
Our sociology team starts with the June 2026 question exactly as printed. Each answer names the thinker and the key text in the introduction, as the Simmel and Polanyi samples do, because IGNOU examiners look for that anchor in a 20-mark answer.
Before writing, the team read every BSOG-176 paper listed in the repeat table, so answers to returning topics such as pastoralism or socialism can carry the points examiners have rewarded across sessions. You can download older papers yourself from our IGNOU Previous Year Question Paper page.
Prateek Talwar, Academic Head of Unnati Educations, is the author of record for this file. Sheetal Kirola, reviewer (M.Ed., 7 years of experience), reviews every answer for accuracy, length and fit with the BSOG-176 blocks.
BSOG-176 solved file index for June 2026
The BSOG-176 solved file holds 8 answers: 2 are on this page and 6 are in the full file only.
| Q. No. | Topic | Course block | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simmel's ideas on money | Block 2 Forms of Exchange | On this page |
| 2 | Polanyi's embeddedness and substantive economy | Block 1 Sociological Aspects of Economic Phenomenon | On this page |
| 3 | Sahlins' three types of exchange | Block 2 Forms of Exchange | Full file only |
| 4 | Social dimension of gift-giving | Block 2 Forms of Exchange | Full file only |
| 5 | Characteristics of hunting and gathering societies | Block 3 Mode of Production | Full file only |
| 6 | Domestic mode of production | Block 3 Mode of Production | Full file only |
| 7 | Socio-cultural dimensions of development | Block 4 Contemporary Issues | Full file only |
| 8 | Thorner and agrarian class structure in India | Block 3 Mode of Production | Full file only |
Block placement follows the eGyanKosh block titles and the topics each block has been examined on. Q1 also draws on the classical thinkers covered in Block 1.
Programmes that study BSOG-176 Economy and Society
BSOG-176 is a 6-credit sociology course taken in IGNOU's BAG and BAJDM programmes, and both sit the same June 2026 paper.
The course is part of the Sociology discipline of the Bachelor of Arts (General), and eGyanKosh lists it under Semester VI. As a 6-credit course it has three tutor marked assignments worth 30 per cent of the final result, while the term-end exam carries 70 per cent.
BSOG-176 is also offered to students of the Bachelor of Arts (Journalism and Digital Media), BAJDM, as a sociology elective. The term-end paper is the same for every programme that offers the course, so this solved file suits BAG and BAJDM students alike.
How to get the full BSOG-176 Solved Question Paper
Send "BSOG 176 June 2026" on WhatsApp to 9899436384 to get the complete file with all 8 answers.
Our team replies with the price and payment details, and the PDF is shared on the same chat. You get the two answers shown above plus the six answers on Sahlins, gift-giving, hunting and gathering, the domestic mode of production, development and Thorner.
If you are also preparing for December 2026, ask for the IGNOU BSOG-176 Solved Question Paper together with the repeat-topic notes, since most themes in this course return from one session to the next.
BSOG-176 FAQs
How can I get the full BSOG-176 Solved Question Paper June 2026 on WhatsApp?
Send a WhatsApp message to 9899436384 with the course code BSOG 176 and the session June 2026. Our team replies with the price and payment details, and the complete PDF is shared on the same chat. The full file has answers to all 8 questions of the paper, including the 6 answers that are not shown on this page, each written to the 400-word length IGNOU asks for.
How many questions are there in the BSOG-176 June 2026 paper?
The BSOG-176 June 2026 paper has 8 questions and students must answer any five, each in about 400 words. Every question carries 20 marks, so the paper totals 100 marks in 3 hours. There is no compulsory question and no section split, which means your choice of five decides your score. Our solved file answers all 8 so you can practise any combination you plan to attempt.
Which topics repeat most in BSOG-176 Economy and Society papers?
Across the eight BSOG-176 papers we checked, from June 2022 to June 2026, peasant economy and peasant movements appeared in six sessions. Polanyi's substantive economy and hunting and gathering societies came up in five each. Reciprocity, gift exchange, money, pastoralism, socialism, globalisation and socio-cultural development each appeared four times. Preparing these clusters covers most of what IGNOU asks every term.
Are the BSOG-176 answers written to IGNOU's word limit?
Yes. Every BSOG-176 answer in our file is written for the 400-word length printed on the paper, with a short introduction, headed main points and a conclusion. Thinker names, book titles and years are given where the question asks for a scholar's view, such as Simmel, Polanyi, Sahlins or Thorner. This keeps each answer close to what an examiner can mark in full.
Which programme includes BSOG-176 Economy and Society?
BSOG-176 Economy and Society belongs to the Sociology discipline of IGNOU's Bachelor of Arts (General), programme code BAG, and eGyanKosh lists it under Semester VI. BAJDM students also take it. It is a 6-credit course, so you submit three tutor marked assignments that carry 30 per cent weightage, and the term-end exam carries 70 per cent.
Is the BSOG-176 solved paper useful for the December 2026 exam?
Yes, because BSOG-176 questions return to a small set of themes. Polanyi, reciprocity, gift, money, hunting and gathering, the domestic mode of production and development all appeared again in June 2026 after earlier sessions. Practising these eight full answers gives you ready structures for the same topics in December 2026. No question is certain to repeat, so revise the whole syllabus too.
Who writes and checks the BSOG-176 answers in this file?
The BSOG-176 answers are written by our sociology team, with Prateek Talwar, Academic Head of Unnati Educations, as author of record. Sheetal Kirola, reviewer with an M.Ed. and 7 years of experience, reviews each answer for accuracy, length and fit with the four course blocks. Answers to repeating topics are also compared with earlier IGNOU papers before the file is shared.
Which two BSOG-176 answers can I read on this page?
You can read the full BSOG-176 answers to Q1, on Simmel's ideas on money, and Q2, on Polanyi's notion of embeddedness in the substantive economy. The other six questions, on Sahlins, gift-giving, hunting and gathering, the domestic mode of production, development and Thorner, are listed as question text only. Their complete answers are in the paid file shared on WhatsApp 9899436384.
Who prepared these BSOG-176 answers
The BSOG-176 answers on this page and in the full file were written by the Unnati Educations sociology team from the official June 2026 paper, the 13 eGyanKosh units of the course and seven earlier BSOG-176 papers from June 2022 to December 2025.
Prateek Talwar, Academic Head at Unnati Educations, led the analysis on this page: restating the repeat table over the seven earlier papers with a new June 2026 column, matching the three skipped topics with the most history (pastoralism, socialism and globalisation) to dead units, finding that Sahlins, the gift and the domestic mode of production have never been set in December, showing that Block 2 gave three questions from only two units, and building the December 2026 shortlist led by socialism.
Sheetal Kirola reviewed the page. She checked every row of the repeat table against the sessions listed, the 3 + 2 + 6 + 2 unit structure and the block-wise question count, and the facts in both samples: Simmel (1858 to 1918), The Philosophy of Money (1900) and "The Metropolis and Mental Life" (1903), Polanyi (1886 to 1964), The Great Transformation (1944) and "The Economy as Instituted Process" (1957), the three forms of integration, the fictitious commodities and double movement, the substantivist and formalist scholars, and Granovetter (1985).