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THEORIES & FACTORS OF CHANGE. EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE. Physical Environment Climate, weather, vegetation, animal populations, other humans Changes to one aspect of the environment will have a ripple effect T sunamis , Hurricane Katrina, global warming, pollution
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EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE • Physical Environment • Climate, weather, vegetation, animal populations, other humans • Changes to one aspect of the environment will have a ripple effect • Tsunamis, Hurricane Katrina, global warming, pollution • China’s geography forced the people to develop a large-scale irrigation system, which required a strong centralized government • North American coasts have small inlets which led to the development of small, separate colonies, able to be independent of each other
EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE • Population Change • Immigration & emigration have important implications for change • New immigrants create a diverse city • Mass emigration will cause problems in the places the people leave behind • Quebec: in the 1970s, many English-speaking people emigrated to escape strict French-language laws (Bill 101)
EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE • Proximity • Nearness between one cultural group and another will have an effect on how both societies change and develop • The nearer one cultural group is to another, the faster changes will occur • Changes occur more quickly in Toronto than in Iqaluit • In the past, intercultural contact was caused mainly by trade and war • Today, intercultural contact is still caused by trade, but also by tourism, globalization, and media (to a lesser extent)
EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE • Social Environment, Culture, and Values • A post-industrial society’s people are conditioned to accept & embrace change • The more isolated or isolationist a society is, the more reluctant its people are to change (traditions, customs, & rituals are valued) • Isolated groups tend to be more ethnocentric
EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING CHANGE • Technology • Wide-reaching implications on institutions, customs, and values • It alters the way we interact with our environment • Plow, wheel, printing press, train, airplane, Internet • William Ogburn(sociologist, 1886 – 1959): technology as the most important mechanism driving progress
FORCES THAT INFLUENCE CHANGE • External Events • Large-scale, man-made events that have far-reaching and immediate impact on society • American Civil War: abolished slavery; created long-lasting tensions between Northerners and Southerners • WWI & WWII: forced women into the workforce – they never returned home; emergence of the US as a superpower; end of colonialism • September 11, 2001: a change of thought regarding national threat and security
FORCES THAT INFLUENCE CHANGE • Conditions Necessary for Change • A charismatic leader • Modernizing elites • A populace ready for change • Impediments to Change • Tradition • Expense
REACTIONS TO CHANGE • Conformity • Maintaining a degree of similarity to peers, authority figures, or the status quo • Involves submission, in thought and behaviour, to others • Alienation • A feeling that one does not share the major values of society – that one is an outsider • Usually stems from a feeling that one has no control over the important parts of one’s life
THEORIES OF CHANGE • Evolutionary Theory • Change is a positive, beneficial force in society • Progress: a society becomes more sophisticated, moving toward better living conditions through innovation • Cyclical Theory • All cultures, trends, traditions, beliefs, and values will rise into fashion and then fall out of favour – like the changing of the seasons
THEORIES OF CHANGE • Challenge and Response Theory • All societies face challenges (environment, external and internal forces) that they need to deal with • Great societies successfully deal with challenges that confront them • Knowledge of history is key in building a greater society than one’s predecessor (avoid mistakes) • Conflict Theory • Change results from the struggle between the rich and poor, the command class and the obey class
KEY TERMS • Command class: people in a society who have authority • Ethnocentricity: a belief that one’s own culture, nation, or ethnic group is superior to all others • Intercultural contact: exchanges (of symbols, customs, beliefs, etc.) between different groups • Obey class: people in a society who do not have authority