Why can’t things stay the same as they were? Why do things have to change?

1. Why can’t things stay the same as they were? Why do things have to change? What makes change happen? The subject: Societal Change

2. "Change is inevitable. Change is constant."   --  Benjamin Disraeli “When you’re finished changing, you’re finished.” anon.

3. In this class, we will discuss the subject of “Why Societies Change” To do this, we’ll explore the major theories on this subject We will look at these theories in chronological order, as they appeared and were discussed.

4. Theory One: Evolutionary Based on studies of Charles Darwin – popular in last 19th and early 20th centuries Darwin - His 1859 book On the Origin of Species …. established evolution as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature.

5. In biology, evolution is the change in the heritable traits of a population over successive generations, as determined by shifts in genetic makeup. Over time, this process can result in the development of new species from existing ones.

6. Sociocultural evolution(ism) is an umbrella term for theories of cultural and social evolution, describing how cultures and societies have developed over time. If organisms can develop over time according to certain laws, it seems reasonable that societies can as well.

7. The assumption here is that evolution/natural selection results in growth and improvement (that a man is somehow an “improvement” over an ape). In comparison, then, societies change by “improving” over previous societal states. For example, civilization is an “improvement “ over barbarism.

8. Concepts of: • Progress • Fixed stages through which human societies progress (savagery, barbarism, to civilisation) • Strange customs are are throwbacks to earlier useful practices

9. Human society as a kind of organism subject to the process of growth – from simple to complex, from chaos to order, from generalization to specialization, from flexibility to organism Newer, more evolved society is better.

10. Lewis Henry Morgan promoted theories of change in three states (or eras): • Savagery, barbarism and civilization – divided by technological inventions: • Fire, bow, pottery in savage era • Domestication of animals, metalworking in barbarian era • Alphabet and writing in civilization era • Technological process as force behind social progress , including economic forces

11. Ferdinand Toennies – evolution from informal society (many liberties, few laws and obligations) to formal rational society (traditions, and laws, and restrictions on actions) Tendency of standardization and unification of smaller societies into larger (globalisation?) Toennies also discussed urbanisation process (Gemeinschaft (folk/rural) to Gesselschaft (city/urban)

12. Oswald Spengler – Decline of the West – wrote about cycles of societal change, through religion, art, and politics Spring – cultural creation, awakening Summer – maturing, urbanization, critical thought Fall – high point of disciplined organizational strength Winter – exhaustion, breakup, rise in “irreligiousness”

13. Another way to look at this view of the societal change process is the sine curve

14. Every natural organism (including multi-organism entities) has a cyclic process of birth, growth, maturity, decline, and ultimately death due to natural causes Societies also have this process (consider the Roman empire) Is every great society doomed to repeat this cycle and to decline? Is the U.S. in decline?

15. Evolutionary change theory: Change is natural, universal, perpetual, ubiquitous, inherent, endogenous (from within), progressive, inevitable, continuous, cumulative

16. Theory Two: Change as Conflict Society functions so that each group struggles to maximize benefit to themselves Conflict over scarce resources (economic) Since resources scarce, conflict is inevitable

17. Pyramid structure of society – Elite dictates terms to masses – Major institutions , laws, traditions designed to support those in power Others (those NOT in power) struggle to overthrow those in power and gain hegemony (dominance over other group/s)

18. Five assumptions: • Competition over scarce resources – human characteristic • Structural inequality – power and reward • Revolution – change occurs as result of conflict between social classes • War – unifier of societies; causes end to whole societies

19. Major proponent was Karl Marx History of society is history of class struggles He believed that workers were being exploited by capitalists, who were keeping too much for themselves (“too much profit”) Revolt of “proletariat” (workers ) was inevitable

20. Five stages of society: • Tribal/primitive • Ancient communal (state ownership with slavery • Feudalism – ownership of land by few, over many • Capitalism – ownership of production by few, over many • Communism – ownership of production by many

21. Ralf Dahrendorf claimed that power imbalance was at root of class struggle Constant struggle for authority Lewis Coser said conflict could be good because it could solidify a group If a society seems to be disintegrating, conflict with another group could strengthen the group, cause more integration (U.S. vs terrorists)

22. THEORY THREE: Structural Functional Structure (organization) And Function (how it works) Are related Based on new “systems theory” approach to thinking: Parts of society: economic, political, social, technological, cultural, educational ….

23. Explains society as metaphor of an organism or a system: • Parts function together for good of whole (interrelated) • Equilibrium as a goal, although never attained • Change as slow adaptive process • System integration through shared values

24. Older simpler societies held together by solidarity, more cohesive , with shared values (everyone doing similar tasks) Modern complex societies – all do different tasks – strong interdependence “organic solidarity” – good of the whole

25. Equilibrium – dynamic working balance of parts- each subsystem adjusts to changes in other subsystems – will only work if changes happen slowly Example: “sexual revolution” “Democrats vs. Republicans” Is change a result of disequilibrium, or is disequilibrium a result of change?

26. Cultural “lag” (disequilibrium?) Society unable to keep up with rapid pace of technological change, social problems and conflicts caused by this lag Example: we had the technology for personal computers long before we had the software and before we had developed the ethics of their use (“hackers”)

27. Theory Four: Social-Psychological What changes society is people Personality theory of change Social “agents” with high influence and visibility drive social change Inventors, political activists, business people, artists?

28. Max Weber – The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism – Capitalism evolved when Protestant (particularly Calvinists) ethic influenced large numbers of people to engage in work in the secular world – developing their own enterprises and engaging in trade and accumulation of wealth Tied in with Industrial Revolution

29. Weber saw individuals (“heroic entrepreneurs” ) as having characteristics of planning, self-denial, hard work, pursuit of economic gain Example: Ben Franklin Others – modern society is a product of innovational personalities – breaking from status quo – creating new values Bill Gates, Tim Berniers-Lee, Google guys …. Did a strong “cave man” lead change by beginning to use tools?

30. David McClelland In The achieving Society (1961) he asserted that human motivation comprises three dominant needs: the need for achievement , the need for power and the need for affiliation. The importance of each need varies by individual. Need for achievement NAch linked directly to societal growth – 1961 study of British school children showed strong correlation with industrial growth and NAch

31. So people who have a high need for achievement become entrepreneurs. Schumpeter said these “wild spirits” caused the innovation and technological change of a nation He believed entrepreneurs were the ones who make things work in the economy and the country. (Heilbroner was a pupil of Schumpeter) Great entrepreneurs cause societal change

32. Other “change agents” – Political and social activists and leaders – like Martin Luther King, Jr Franklin D. Roosevelt People who invent things that change the course of history also create societal change - Gutenberg Do great leaders cause societal change or does societal change cause great leaders to emerge?

33. So which societal change theory makes the most sense to you? • Societies “evolve” to a higher and more complex level • Societal change comes in “waves” • Societies grow, then decline • Change happens because of conflict between segments of society

34. Societies change as the segments of society grow and adapt to each other • Societal change happens as a consequence of adjustments to changes outside the system and through internal innovations • Societies change as strong individuals emerge to drive changes • Societal change comes as the result of individual entrepreneurial, political, and social activity

35. … or all of the above?