SOCIAL CHANGE AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

SOCIAL CHANGE AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Change- a means, a process, an end or even a social movement, a state of affairs involving a program, an ideology, a doctrine or a problem -involves comparison of past and present- equated with progress, but actually is only one of of its aspectsSocial Change-refers to any alterations in the patterns and regulations regarding social interaction within a sub-group in a society or within the entire society itselfIt can be manifested in the rise or fall of groups, communities or institutional structures and functions or changes in the statuses and role of members in the family, work setting, church, school, government, health welfare and other sub-systems of the social organizationSocial Structure is the framework of the society that is already laid out before you are born; It is the patterned relationships among people ex: student teacher relationships; the characteristics of groups all of which give direction to and set limits to behavior -the process is universal but occurs at different rates in different ways 4 levels of Human Action-individual personality-interaction among individuals-the group or social system-the cultural systemSources of Change-the physical environment-Population-ideas-events-cultural innovation, discovery;Invention, diffusion-human action-technology

THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE

Evolutionary Theories

These theories are based on the assumption that societies gradually grow and develop from simple beginning to even more complex form.

AUGUSTE COMTE believed that human societies evolve in a unilinear way that is one line of development that recurs in every society.

HERBERT SPENCER also claimed that Western races had survived and evolved to high levels that non-Western ones because they were better adopted to face the conditions of life.

Evolutionary Theories

MULTILINEAR EVOLUTION

Societies tend to move from small-scale to more complex forms. Change can take place in many different ways and do not follow exactly the same direction in every society.

Cyclical Theories

Focuses on the cyclical mature of change displayed in the rise and fall of civilizations over time.

The theorists focus on the conditions leading to instability but, in addition, are concerned with the processes whereby societies, cultures, or civilizations move along a pattern of growth, stagnation, and retrogression.

Cyclical Theories

Spengler

OSWARD SPENGLER declared that the fate of civilizations was a matter of destiny. He claims that civilizations are like biological organisms that go through a process of birth, maturity, old age and death.

Cyclical Theories

Toynbee

ARNOLD TOYNBEE believes that every society faces challenges posed first by the environment then later from the internal and external enemies and then the nature of societies response determines its fate.

Conflict Theories

Holds that the change is caused y tensions between competing interests in society.

Conflict theorists draw our attention to the fact that the cumulative effect of changes within the system may result in a change of the system.

Conflict Theory

Marx

KARL MARX believe that the character of social and cultural forms is influenced by the economic base of society particularly by the mode of production that is used by the relationships that exist between those who work for them thus history is the story of conflict between the exploiting and the exploited classes.

Conflict Theory

GEORGE SIMMEL claimed that conflict binds people together in interaction, although hate and envy may drive them apart, they cannot enter into conflict without interacting with their opponents.

Conflict encourages people of similar interest to bind together to achieve their objectives thus continuous conflict keeps a society dynamic and changing.

Conflict Theories

RALPH DAHRENDORF regards that all history is the history of class conflict as an justifiable and oversimplification.

He points to conflict between racial groups, nations, political parties and religious groups as examples involving units other than social classes which also lead to social change.

Functionalists Theories

Mainly focuses on social statics.

EMILE DURKHEIM examined several aspects of society by focusing in the function they play in maintaining the social order as a whole.

Functionalists Theories

Parsons Theory of Social Order

TALCOTT PARSON argued that the society is consisted of interdependence parts, each of which helps to maintain the stability of the entire system.

Functionalists Theories

Parsons Theory of Social Change

Parson came to see change as something that disturbs the social equilibrium but as something alters it, with the result that a qualitatively new equilibrium results.

He also acknowledge that changes may arise from two sources: inside and outside the society.

Functionalist Theory

Adaptation to the environment performed by the economy, by not any economic system, only capitalism can adapt to the environment.

Goal attainment performed by the government, pursuing liberal aims as defined by English and French thinkers.

Functionalist Theory

Integration (linking the institutions together) performed by the legal institutions and religion. But not any religion. Branches of the judeo-christian religions were the right ones.

Latency (pattern maintenance of values from generation to generation) performed by the family as an ahistorical basic human organization, and education.

Modernization Theory

Modernization theories may be distinguished from the various theoretical approaches of multilinear evolution of socio-cultural phenomena in that the latter mostly refer to primitive or historical societies and examine the origin and the development of certain elements of these societies with respect to their multilinearity.

Modernization Theory

Modernization theories are mostly concerned with certain aspects of industrialization in the First and Second World.

WILBERT E. MOORE (1967: 89) defines modernization as the total transformation of a traditional or pre-modern society into the types of technology and associated social organization that characterize the advance, economically prosperous, and relatively politically stable nations of the Western World.

Modernization Theory

NEIL J. SMELSER (1966: 111) says that the term modernization refers to the fact that technical, economic, and ecological change ramify through the whole social and cultural fabric.

Modernization Theory

The two most important, interrelated processes of change involved in modernization:

INDUSTRIALIZATION

DIFFERENTIATION

Contrast Conceptions and Theories of Social Change

Gemeinschaft

Gesellschaft

Contrast Conceptions and Theories of Social Change

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft was an attemp to answer (by Tnnies):

What are we?

Where are we?

Whence did we come?

Where are we going?

Gemeinschaft

A unity based on intimate personal living together (Worsely, 1980).

Organizing principle rests upon shared morals and sentimental bonds (Strasser & Randall, 1981).

Gesellschaft

Impersonal and limited contractual relations established as a result of calculation and reflection (Worsley, 1980).

Based upon the criterion of rational self-interest (Strasser & Randall, 1981).

Gemeinschaft vs. Gesellschaft

All intimate, private and exclusive living together . . . . is . . . life in Gemeinschaft. Gesellschaft is public life it is the world itself. In Gemeinschaft with ones family, one lives from birth on, bound to it in weal and woe. One goes into Gesellschahft as one goes into a strange country.

Gemeinschaft is old; Gesellschaft is new . . . . All praise of rural life has pointed out that Gemeinschaft among people is stronger there and more alive; it is the lasting and genuine form of living together. In contrast to Gemeinschaft, Gesellschaft is transitory and superficial. Accordingly, Gemeinschaft should be understood as a living organism, Gesellschaft as a mechanical aggregate and artifact (Tnnies, 1955, pp. 37-9). (Worsely, 1980).

Durkheims mechanical and organic

Mechanical is defined as societies in which the social division of labor was not very marked in which there were few specialized roles exhibited a particular kind of social solidarity.

Mechanical social cohesion derives from a certain conformity of the behavior of an individuals to a common standard.

Durkheims mechanical and organic

Organic is defined as societies with a marked division of labor and a high degree of occupational specialization.

Mechanical vs. Organic

Durkheim saw mechanical solidarity based on the similarity of individuals, while organic solidarity is considered to be based on interdependence, arising out of diversity and complementarity.

Cooleys primary and secondary groups

Primary groups is characterized by intimate face-to-face association and co-operation.

Secondary groups are all those which are not primary.

MacIvers community and association

Community is any group of individuals living together in such way that they shared not this or that particular interest but the basic institutions of a common life.

The mark of community is that ones life may be lived wholly within in, that all ones social relationships may be found with in it (MacIver, 1937, pp. 8-9).

MacIvers community and association

Association is a group specifically organized for the pursuit of an interest or group of interests.

The difference is obvious, we contrast the business or the church or the club with the village or city or nation (MacIver, 1937, p. 11).

A social movement is an interrelated and coacting unity of persons with some degree of organizational continuity aimed to promote or to resist change in the society of which it is a part.

Directed toward the change of the established norms, values or, social structures.

It arises resulted from a stressful conditions in ones environment which cause unrest and dissatisfaction with existing conditions.

Giddens (1985) has identified four areas in which social movements operate in modern societies: 1. democratic movements that work for political rights 2. Labor movements that work for control of the workplace 3. ecological movements that are concerned with the environment 4. peace movements that work toward, well, peace

Three characteristics differentiate social movements from other types of collective behavior:

1. a higher degree of internal organization

2. typically longer duration, often spanning many years3. and the deliberate attempt to reorganize society itself.

TRADITIONAL APPROACH: COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR THEORY

Core assumptions:1. temporary nature of movements

2. Grievances/deprivation as impetus to movement formation and participation

3. irrational and violent

4. pathological explosion of participation, psychological response to mitigate societal strain

Herbert Blumer and Neil Smelser on CBT:

1. unpatterned, unpredictable mode of social action

2. dangerous threatening, extreme form of behavior

3. participants are irrational and violent

4. psychological response, triggered by social strain

CONTEMPORARY APPROACHES

1. Break away from the traditional viewing of SMs

2. Denies centrality of grievances as cause of SMs

3. SMs are normal

4. Access and control over mobilization of resources as key to effective SM

RATIONAL ACTOR THEORY

Seeks to answer why people participate

All about incentives SM offers

Core assumptions:

1. basic units of analysis

2. movements are formed because it is a way to achieve incentives

3. preferences are given; bounded rationality

a. dilemma of collective action: individual non cooperation is rational

b. individual rationality can lead to collective disaster

c. individuals do not always act according to economic and self interested rationality: people join even without incentives

RESOURCE MOBILIZATION THEORY

Answers how people participate

Core assumptions:

1. emergence of SMs explained with resources available

2. elitist model of politics

3. movements measured by criteria of strategic effectiveness

4. SMs emerge from social networking

Principles

1. Importance of getting resources

2. outside groups role

POLITICAL PROCESS MODEL

SM emerges when political opportunities are open

SM activism is akin to political struggle

Core assumption:

SM with long-held grievances are crucial components but will only emerge if opportunity structure will allow it.

Key concepts:

1. Political opportunity

2. Political constraints

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM

Application of culture in analysis of SMs

Explains how movements are sustained over time

Shows framework on link on how culture is related to political analysis

The larger the movement, the larger is its influence in the mainstream

Framing

act of cultural appropriation

using existing social ideational social strains to galvanize activism

conception of reality and how we see it

Cultural resonance

1. tracing the roots of movements

2. expanding cultural opportunities as a stimulus to action

a. political opportunity doesnt say it all

b. importance of people

3. role of long standing activist sub cultures in social movement emergence

NEW SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

result of the development of the postindustrial economy

unique and different from previous social movements of the industrial economy

concentrate not on issues of economic wellbeing, but on less materialistic qualities of lifeTypes of Social Movements

Social movements are classified along two basic dimensions:

Who is changed? and

How much change?

Four types of social movements are identified:

alternative

redemptive

reformative

revolutionary

Expressive Movement

=> it is not directed to bring about changes in power relations but is a kind of response to a sense of powerlessness or alienation and dissatisfaction

*Colorum Movement in Quezon Province led by Ruperto de Dios in 1902

* Lapiang Malaya movement by Valentine de los Santos in the 1960s

2. Reform Movement

=> directed at changing certain aspects of the social class structure or a segment of the power distribution of a social system

Common goal: existing social structure work more effectively extending certain rights and privileges to given groups

Seek to change only some segments of the society or to reaffirm its values

Consumers movement

Labor movement

Movement against discrimination of women

Students movement

Pro-life movement

Human rights movement

Movement for the Gunless Society

3. Rebellion and Revolutionary movements

=> aim to change the whole social order and replace leadership

=> occur in distinct ruling elite and are a result of oppression, conquest or colonization.

=> brought about by the:

Wide gap between the rich and poor

Widespread poverty and oppression of some social classes by the more powerful groups

Trampling on the rights of the people

Colonizing groups exploitation of a nations natural resources

Stages In Social Movements

Despite many differences that set one social movement off from another, all unfold in roughly the same way.

Researchers have identified four stages in the typical social movement.

Emergence

Coalescence

Bureaucratization

Decline

LOOKING AHEAD: SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

It is suggested that the scope of social movements in the future will increase for three reasons:

women and other excluded categories of people are gaining a greater political voice,

technology of the Information Revolution means that anyone can stay abreast of political events,

new technology and the emerging global economy mean that social movements are now uniting people throughout the entire world.

Social Movements in the Philippines

Huk Rebellion

Communist Party of the Philippines- New Peoples Army (CPP-NPA)

Reform Armed Forces Movement (RAM)

Metro National Liberation Front (MNLF)

The February 22-25, 1896 Peoples Power RevolutionREPORTERS:

Robert Go

Paulo Javier

Jenny Navales

Cecil Cabiao

Airish Baquiran