Ch. 24 Social Change

1. Ch. 24 Social Change

2. What is Social Change? A Theory of Social Change (Ford Foundation, 2014) The transformation of culture and social institutions over time. The process: • Happens all the time, but some societies or elements change faster than others. • Is sometimes intentional, but often unplanned. • Is controversial. • Some changes matter more than others.

3. Causes of Social Change Culture and Change Invention • Production of new objects, ideas, and social patterns Discovery • Taking note of and highlighting existing elements of a culture Diffusion • The spread of products, people, and information from one culture to another

4. Causes of Social Change Conflict and 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 *Remember the video “The Take”?

5. Causes of Social Change Demographic change Increases and decreases in migration or birth rates can lead to social change as society may need to expand and/or contract housing, education, and health.

6. 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

7. 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 efficiency, rootlessness, and impersonal relationships But…. • Gemeinschafte.g., families and friendships, exists in modern society • Romanticized traditional societies

8. 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 But… Society’s norms and values are strong enough to avoid anomiefor most people,and people value the personal freedom of modern society despite the risks.

9. Max Weber: Rationalization Modernization means replacing a traditionalworldview 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. • Weber called it “the empty cage of capitalism” However…Rationalization could erode the human spirit, but the alienation he attributes to bureaucracy could stem from social inequality

10. Karl Marx: Capitalism Industrial revolution was a capitalist revolution • Modernity weakened small-scale communities • Social conflict in capitalism sows seeds of egalitarian socialist revolution • Capitalism sows the seeds of its own destruction However…underestimates dominance of bureaucracy, and stifling socialist bureaucracies were as bad or worse than dehumanizing capitalism. David Harvey on the Crises of Capitalism (RSA, 2010)

11. 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 • Tradition-directedness:rigid conformity to time-honoured ways of living • Inner-directedness: Seeking to “be yourself” • Outer or Other-directedness: receptiveness to the latest trends and fashions, often expressed by imitating others

12. 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 disagreed that modern society is rational and technology solves problems, and states that science causes problems not solves them.

13. Modernity and Progress • Progress: a state of continual improvement • Traditional cultures are seen as backward, but… • Is our society too fast and stressful? • Is our environment endangered? • 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

14. 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.

15. Postmodernity (cont.) • Cultural debates are intensifying: The promises of social movements have not been fulfilled • Social institutions are changing: post-industrial society is remaking society again What changes do you see happening? Are they good or bad? What about automation and robotics? Can you think of alternatives?