Match the scholars in List I with their ideas in List II
| LIST-I (Scholars) | LIST-II (Ideas) | ||
| A. | Adam Smith | I. | Concept of surplus value |
| B. | Alfred Gell | II. | Status symbol |
| C. | Karl Marx | III. | The Invisible Hand |
| D. | Max Weber | IV. | Tribal market in Dhorai |
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II
(A) Adam Smith — this matches (III) The Invisible Hand. Smith argued that each person looks only to his or her own self-interest, yet the interests of society also seem to be looked after, as if an unseen force converts what is good for each individual into what is good for society. He called this force ‘the invisible hand’.
(B) Alfred Gell — this matches (IV) Tribal market in Dhorai. Gell is the anthropologist who studied the weekly tribal market in Dhorai, Bastar, and showed that the layout of the market reflects the hierarchical relations between social groups in the region.
(C) Karl Marx — this matches (I) Concept of surplus value. Under capitalism workers sell their labour, and the capitalist class profits by paying workers less than the value of what they produce, so extracting surplus value from their labour.
(D) Max Weber — this matches (II) Status symbol. Weber was among the first to point out that the goods people buy and use are closely related to their status in society, and coined the term status symbol for this relationship.
Note: The lines on Adam Smith’s ‘invisible hand’, and the line naming Alfred Gell as the anthropologist who studied Dhorai, in the chapter ‘The Market as a Social Institution’, were there in the pre-rationalised NCERT, which NTA followed in 2023. These lines have been deleted from the NCERT book (2025-26), though the chapter is still there with its account of Adam Smith and its box on the Dhorai market, which cites Gell as its source.
NCERT (2025-26): “4.1 Sociological Perspectives on Markets and the Economy … To answer this question, we need to go back briefly to eighteenth century England and the beginnings of modern economics, which at that time was called ‘political economy’. The most famous of the early political economists was Adam Smith, who in his book, The Wealth of Nations, attempted to understand the market economy that was just emerging at that time. Smith argued that the market economy is made up of a series of individual exchanges or transactions, which automatically create a functioning and ordered system. This happens even though none of the individuals involved in the millions of transactions had intended to create a system.…” “4.2 Understanding Capitalism as a Social System … The capitalist class is able to profit from this system by paying the workers less than the value of what they actually produce, and so extracting surplus value from their labour.…” “Commoditisation and Consumption … One of sociology’s founders, Max Weber, was among the first to point out that the goods that people buy and use are closely related to their status in society. He coined the term status symbol to describe this relationship.…” NCERT (Pre-rationalised): “4.1 Sociological Perspectives on Markets … Each person looks only to her or his own self-interest, but in the pursuit of this self-interest the interests of all – or of society – also seem to be looked after. In this sense, there seems to be some sort of an unseen force at work that converts what is good for each individual into what is good for society. This unseen force was called ‘the invisible hand’ by Adam Smith.…” “A Weekly ‘Tribal Market’ in Dhorai Village, Bastar, Chattisgarh … According to Alfred Gell (1982), the anthropologist who studied Dhorai, the market has significance much beyond its economic functions. For example, the layout of the market symbolises the hierarchical inter-group social relations in this region.…” |