Sequence & Process of Social Change

Sequence & Process of Social Change

• The process of change has been observed in various societal contexts
• The institutions of technology are the first to change aspects of using implements, tools, and weapons, which affects various industries
• Technological advancement expands industrialization in transportation, medicine, dental surgery, textiles, and environmental factors, satisfying needs
• The economic structure is the first to allow changes in technological development, causing people to move horizontally and vertically
• Social institutions like family, school, government, and religion are affected by industrial and economic development and specialization
• Evolutionary societies become more individualistic and impersonal
• The family is the first institution to accept changes in addressing division of labor and shifting family roles
• Primary groups in families decline in intensity, with more emphasis on secondary groups
• There are more divorces and religious institutions lose dogmatic effects
• Sectarian problems lose importance as people pay less attention to ideological differences, but this may be more ideal in Eastern and Western societies

Social Values and Social Change

• Social values are the last to accept change and resist changes, disrupting their structure and creating social problems
• Social values are the goals of man's efforts, disrupting social order if they change rapidly
• Social values are embedded in individual personalities
• Material values change more rapidly than social values, and the disparity can disorganize the value system which can creates social problems when endangered
• Social change is evaluated based on existing norms: "progress" if useful, good, or important; "retrogress" if the reverse
• Fashions and styles show social change and flexibility, enabling invention and discovery, and reflecting modern acceptance

Ways Social Change Takes Place

• Social change can occur through discovery, inventions, and diffusion
• Discovery involves shared human perception of an existing aspect of reality, like blood circulation in biology, which adds verified knowledge
• Discovery is an important part of social change only when it is put to use
• Invention involves new combination or use of existing knowledge, like assembling the computer from existing ideas
• Inventions can be material and social, and new in form, function, meaning, or principle
• Diffusion spreads cultural traits between groups in contact, like the British introducing their language and tea to India, a two-way and selective process
• Diffusion involves modifying borrowed cultural elements in form, function, or meaning

Influences on Social Change

• Social theorists have sought a grand theory for social change for centuries
• There is no single factor theory that accounts for the diversity of human social development across hunting, gathering, pastoral societies, and complex modern systems
• Key factors influencing social change: physical environment, political organization, and cultural factors

The Physical Environment

• The physical environment impacts human social organization, especially in extreme weather conditions
• Polar Regions inhabitants develop ways of life that are different from people in sub-tropical regions
• The native population of Australia remained hunters and gatherers due to a lack of suitable plants and animals for cultivation and domestication
• Early civilizations originated in areas with rich agricultural land and accessible communication and sea routes
• Societies isolated by mountains, jungles, or deserts often remain unchanged for long
• Social change is not greatly influenced by the environment
• People can develop wealth in harsh areas like Alaskans developing oil, while hunting and gathering cultures have lived in fertile areas

Political Organization

• The type of political organization strongly influences social change
• In hunting and gathering societies, political influence is minimal due to a lack of mobilizing authorities
• Distinct political agencies such as chiefs, lords, kings, and governments affect societal development
• Political systems are not always expressions of economic organization
• Industrial capitalist societies can have authoritarian (Nazi Germany, South Africa under apartheid) or democratic political systems (United States, Britain, Sweden)
• Military power was fundamental in traditional state establishment and exerted influence on survival and expansion
• There is a link between production levels and military strength

Cultural Factors

• Cultural factors, including religion, communication systems, and leadership, affect social change
• Religions can be conservative or innovative forces
• Some religious beliefs emphasize traditional values, while religious convictions can mobilize social change
• Communication systems impact change, such as writing, allowed record-keeping, resource control, and large-scale organization development
• Writing changed perceptions of past, present, and future relationships
• Keeping records leads to societies having a sense of history and actively promotes further development
• Leadership is a crucial cultural factor, with leaders like Jesus, Julius Caesar, and Isaac Newton having enormous influence
• Leaders can overturn established orders by pursuing dynamic policies and radically altering pre-existing thoughts
• Individuals can reach leadership positions when favorable social conditions exist
• Adolf Hitler rose to power due to tensions and crisis in Germany in the 1930s
• Mahatma Gandhi secured India's independence due to the war and unsettling of colonial institutions

Categories of Social Change

• Social change can be planned/unplanned, induced/autonomous, novel/recurrent, progressive/retrogressive, total/partial, fundamental/minor, exogenous/endogenous, significant/insignificant

Types of Change

• Normative Change: Changes in norms occur over time due to changes in objective circumstances or subjective perceptions/expectations
• It may involve the majority or individual perception rather than generality
• Accessibility to power is integral to change in guiding principles and expectations
• Change in Social Values: Conceptions of standards used to compare things as desirable/undesirable
• Social change emanates from ideas, actions, feelings, qualities, objectives, and expectations of individuals/groups
• A successful individual/group will induce its value into the social structure, replacing the old values leading to normative change
• Institutional Change: The society comprises social institutions that function together: changing institutions may occur with societal development
• Change of Personnel/Actor: Social institutions/society are not as effective unless acting in specific positions/carrying out roles
• New norms, values, policy, and service delivery can be brought about by individuals brought into change

Social Movements and Social Change

• Social movements are purposeful, organized groups striving to work toward a common social goal
• Social movements such as the anti-tobacco movement create social change on a global scale

Types of Social Movements

• Social movements can occur on a local, national, or global level
• Reform movements seek to change something specific about the social structure
• Revolutionary movements seek to completely change every aspect of society
• Alternative movements focus on self-improvement and limited, specific changes to individual beliefs and behavior
• Resistance movements seek to prevent or undo change to the social structure

Stages of Social Movements

• Stages include a four-stage process: preliminary, coalescence, institutionalization, and decline
• Preliminary stage: people become aware of an issue and leaders emerge
• Coalescence stage: people join together and organize to publicize the issue and raise awareness
• Institutionalization stage: established organization with a paid staff
• Decline stage: people fall away, adopt a new movement, successfully bring about change, or people take the issue less seriously