Social Change

© 2005 Pearson Education Canada Inc.

Social Change: Traditional, Modern and Postmodern Societies


What is Social Change?

The transformation of culture and social institutions over time. The process:

1. Is inevitable, but some societies or elements change faster than others.

2. Is sometimes intentional, but often unplanned.

3. Is controversial.

4. Some changes matter more than others.

Forces of Social Change

What is Social Change?

Social Change: Changes in the way society is organized, and the beliefs and practices of the people who believe in it

All societies are involved in a process of social change, however this change may be so subtle and slow that society is hardly aware of it

The opposite of social change is social continuity which means that there are structures within society which are built to resist change. Example - the Catholic Church

Examples of Social Change

Question 1: How has public opinion shifted regarding social issues such as:-Smoking-Domestic Violence -Divorce-Addiction

6

Social Change: An Introduction

Change is a general phenomena that being occurred in society very much. In an another sense, society is always in changing process .

Society can never stopped in a specific way . Changes are either in positive way or in negative

way in society.

7

Social Change

Changes or mobilization in different institutions are both of backward mobility or in upward mobility. As changes occur, people of the earth are living in the so-called civilized world. Such as changes from primitive society to modern society to post modern society .

8

Social Change

Social change is a general term which refers:

a) To change in the nature, the social institutions, the social behaviour or the social relations of a society, community of people, or other social structures.

9

Causes of Social Change

The causes of social change below affect or characterize every aspect of society across the world.

On a macro scale: They shape all of our major social institutions such as economics, politics, religion, family, education, science/technology, military, legal system, and so on.

On a micro scale: They shape values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of human being to all over the world.

What are some of the sources of change in our society?

Single dramatic event Cultural and technological

innovations Shifting population size Environmental pressures Diffusion from other cultures Media Others?

Major source of change: Technological advancement

Technological change may be one of most accelerated

Computers have become indispensable

Convenience and access to information

Loss of privacyBlurring of traditional lines

between work and home

Rising Expectations

When conditions at their worst, many solely focused on survival

People more likely to seek social change when living conditions have improved somewhat

Chance for change seems possible


Causes of Social Change

InventionProduction of new objects, ideas, and social patterns

DiscoveryTaking note of certain elements of a culture

DiffusionThe spread of products, people, and information

from one culture to another

(Cont’d)


Causes of Social Change (Cont’d)

Conflict and social change: Tensions and stressors between individuals and groups as they gain or lose power can bring about change, e.g., capitalists and workers

Ideas and change: Ideas can fuel social movements which bring about social change, e.g., human rights

(Cont’d)


Causes of Social Change (Cont’d)

Natural environment is under great stress because of our development. The current patterns of pollution are not sustainable.

Demographic change: Increases and decreases in numbers can lead to social change as society may need to expand and/or contract housing, education, and health.


Modernity

Modernization: The process of social change initiated by industrialization. The key dimensions are:

Decline of small, traditional communities: Cars, TV, and high-tech communications puts small towns in touch with the world

Expansion of personal choice: An unending series of options referred to as “individualization”

Increasing social diversity: Modernization promotes a more rational, scientific world-view

Future orientation and growing awareness of time


Ferdinand Tönnies: The Loss of Community

With modernization comes the loss of Gemeinschaft, or human community

Modernity brings about a condition referred to as Gesellschaft, or impersonal relationships

Critical evaluation: – Gemeinschaft exists in modern society– What is a cause and what is an effect?– Romanticized traditional societies


Emile Durkheim: The Division of Labour

Specialized economic activity moves from– Mechanical solidarity refers to a time when society was

held together by social bonds anchored in common moral sentiments

– Organic solidarity refers to modernity during which time social bonding is accomplished by way of mutual dependence

Critical evaluation: Society’s norms and values are strong enough to avoid anomie for most people, and people value the personal freedom of modern society despite the risks.


Max Weber: Rationalization

Modernization means replacing a traditional worldview with a rational way of thinking– Modern people value efficiency, have little reverence for

the past and adopt whatever social patterns allow them to achieve their goals

– Modern society is “disenchanted”: science replaces gods.

Critical evaluation: Rationalization could erode the human spirit, but the alienation he attributes to bureaucracy could stem from social inequality


Karl Marx: Capitalism

Industrial revolution was a capitalist revolution– Modernity weakened small-scale communities– Social conflict in capitalism sows seeds of

egalitarian socialist revolutionCritical evaluation: Complex theory underestimates

dominance of bureaucracy, and stifling socialist bureaucracies were as bad or worse than dehumanizing capitalism.


Structural-Functional Analysis

Theory of mass society, where industry and bureaucracy have eroded traditional social ties

Modern life is on a mass scale leading to the de-humanizing of everyone.

Ever-expanding states doom traditional values and social patterns.

Critical evaluation: theory romanticizes the past and ignores plight of women and minorities


Social-Conflict Analysis

Theory of class society, a capitalist society with pronounced social stratification

Capitalism promotes self-centredness Persistent inequality and the state cannot combat

problems because it is controlled by capitalistsCritical evaluation: theory overlooks the increasing

prosperity of modern societies; human rights have improved; and most Canadians favour unequal rewards for talent and effort.


Modernity and the Individual

Mass society can make finding an identity difficult People can shuttle from one identity to another According to David Reisman modernization brings

changes in social character, personality patterns common to members of a society, from– Tradition-directedness: rigid conformity to time-

honoured ways of living to– Other-directedness: receptiveness to the latest trends

and fashions, often expressed by imitating others


Class Society: Problems of Powerlessness

Persistent inequality undermines modern society`s promise of individual freedom.

Some are well off and many experience economic uncertainty and powerlessness.

Herbert Marcuse disagrees that modern society is rational, and states that science causes problems not solves them.


Modernity and Progress

Progress: a state of continual improvement– Traditional cultures are seen as backward, but– Is our society too fast and stressful?– Does technology threaten privacy?

Global variation: In other parts of the world, such as the People’s Republic of China and Latin America, combinations of traditional and modern are not unusual.


Postmodernity

Patterns of post-industrial societies In important ways, modernity has failed: Much

poverty and and lack of financial security The bright light of “progress” is fading: Less

confidence about future Science no longer holds the answers: Science has

created its share of problems.(Cont’d)


Postmodernity (Cont’d)

Cultural debates are intensifying: The promises of social movements have not been fulfilled.

Social institutions are changing: post-industrial society is remaking society again

Critical evaluation: Great increases in life expectancy and standard of living have occurred. What are the alternatives?


Looking Ahead

Solutions to problems elude us– Finding meaning– Resolving conflicts among nations– Eradicating poverty– Controlling population– Treating AIDS– Establishing a sustainable economy

9/11 has drawn us into the U.S. sphere of influence. We cannot isolate ourselves.

Social Change

Documents

Transcript of Social Change