Meaning of Social Change
The word ‘change’ denotes a difference in
anything observed over some period. Social change therefore, would mean
observable differences in any social phenomena over any period.
Definition of Social Change
Definition of Social Change
1. According
to Jones “Social change is a term
used to describe variations in, or modifications of any aspect of social
processes, social patterns, social interaction or social organization”.
2.
As
Kingsley Davis says, “By Social
change is meant only such alternations as occur in social organization – that
is, the structure and functions of society”.
3.
According
to Maclver and Page, “Social change
refers to a process responsive to many types of changes; to changes the man in
made condition of life; to changes in the attitudes and beliefs of men, and to
the changes that go beyond the human control to the biological and the physical
nature of things”.
4.
Morris Ginsberg defines, “By social change, I
understand a change in social structure, e.g., the size of the society, the
composition or the balance of its parts or the type of its organization”.
5.
P. Fairchild defines social change as “variations
or modifications in any aspects of social process, pattern or form.”
6.
B. Kuppuswamy says, “Social change may be
defined as the process in which is discernible significant alternation in the
structure and functioning of a particular social system”.
7.
H.M. Johnson says, “Social change is either
change in the structure or quasi- structural aspects of a system of change in
the relative importance of coexisting structural pattern”.
8.
According
to Merrill and Eldredge, “Change
means that large number of persons are engaging in activities that differ from
those which they or their immediate forefathers engaged in some time before”.
9.
Anderson and Parker define, “Social change involves
alternations in the structure or functioning of societal forms or processes
themselves”.
10. According to M.D. Jenson, “Social change may be defined as modification in ways
of doing and thinking of people.”
11. As H.T. Mazumdar says, “Social change may be defined as a new fashion
or mode, either modifying or replacing the old, in the life of people or in the
operation of a society”.
12.
According Gillin and Gillin,
“Social changes are variations from the accepted modes of life; whether due to
alternation in geographical conditions, in cultural equipment, composition of
the population or ideologies and brought about by diffusion, or inventions
within the group.”
CAUSES OF SOCIAL CHANGE
There is
no such thing as a permanent social institution. Also in a world linked by
sophisticated communication and transportation technology, change in one place
often begets change elsewhere. Thus sociologists, like everyone else in
contemporary society, have had to adjust their thinking and their methods to
accommodate the rapid pace of social change. Some of the causes of social
change are being discussed here.
1.
Culture and Change
There are three important sources of cultural
change: invention, discovery, and diffusion.
i.
Invention is the combination
of existing elements of culture into something new. Inventions produce new
objects, ideas, and social patterns. Invention of ideas, objects and social
patterns bring social change.
ii.
Discovery occurs when people take note of existing
elements of the world. Medical advances, for
example, offer a growing understanding of the human body. Human body has
been there but perhaps in the olden times humans did not know much about its
functioning and dis-functioning. Discoveries about the functioning of human
body have added to the scientific knowledge. Beyond the direct effects on human
health, medical discoveries have stretched life expectancy. Increase in life
expectancy is change in society.
iii.
Diffusion is the transference
of cultural traits from place and/or group to another. Diffusion creates change
as products, people, and information spread from one culture to another. Many
of the familiar elements of culture may have come from other cultures. For
purposes of diffusion to take place, it is necessary to have contact between
two cultures.
In the past contact used to be physical
contact through whatever means i.e. exchange of visits of people belonging to
different cultures; one way visit of travelers, traders; conquerors who may
invade, plunder, and leave with booty; other invaders who conquer and stay as
rulers; colonizers who rule their colonies. All these situations demonstrate
diffusion situations where the establishment of contact leads to borrowing of
cultural traits from each other.
The invaders and colonizers may bring their
own culture and impose it on the local people. Nevertheless, these very rulers
may have picked up some elements from the local culture. In the present times,
for purposes of diffusion, the two different societies don’t have to have a
physical contact with each other. Presently mass media of communication has
demolished the physical boundaries for contacting other cultures. Now perhaps
you have to have a control over the “mouse” and reach anywhere in the world,
know about its culture, understand it, and if like may borrow its cultural
traits. Look at borrowing of fashions from outside, mixing of cultures, and
exchange of communication across the cultures.
World is becoming a global village where
information spreads instantaneously and becomes a source of change. Diffusion
is the most important factor of bringing change in the culture of society.
Inventions, discoveries, and diffusion, all
bring change in culture which in turn bring change in the social structure and
the relationships of people.
2.
Conflict and Change
Tension and conflict in a society also produce
change. Karl Marx saw class conflict as the engine that drives societies
from one historical era to another. Social class has been considered by Marx as
a means to social change. The two classes identified were the capitalists and
the workers. Both these classes are based on inequality. Social classes are
located in the different relationships of people to the means of production.
The relationships become important if a group becomes conscious and organized
for action. Out of these two groups capitalists oppose social change, whereas
the workers want to change the society. According to Marx the conflict between
the two classes is a means to social change. The two classes cannot remain in
conflict for all the time. The conflicting situation has to be resolved, and whatever
the ‘give and take’ for resolving the conflict, the new situation will be
different from the previous one a social change new relationships In more
than a century since Marx’ death this model has proven simplistic. Yet Marx
correctly foresaw that social conflict arising from inequality (involving not
just class but also race and gender) would force changes in every society.
3.
Ideas and Change
For Karl Marx the most important aspect
of human beings social life is the material basis of that life. In this
approach society where private property is the source of material production
there exists a basis of social conflict which in turn will lead to social
change.
Max Weber considered Marx’s view just one perspective. There
could be other explanations of social change. So instead of economic
determinism, according to Weber, ideas could also determine economic structure.
Weber traced the roots of social change to ideas. For example, people with charisma can carry a message that
sometimes changes the world. Look at the prophets who have changed the
societies with new ideas. The religious ideas turned into movements which
changed the societies. Changes brought by Islam and its ideas brought drastic
changes in the structure of society and relationships among the people.
Weber also highlighted the importance of
ideas by showing how the religious beliefs of early Protestants set the stage
for the spread of industrial capitalism. The fact that industrial capitalism
developed primarily in areas of Western Europe where Protestant work ethic was
strong proved to Weber the power of ideas to bring about change.
Ideas also generate social movements. For
example we come across movements for bringing change in the ideas of people
like social movements against “big dams” as part of environmentalism.
There are movements for improving the lives of poor. There are movements
for the rights of women.
4.
Demographic Change
Population patterns also play a part in social
change. There could be change in the structure of population with respect of
age, education, occupation, etc. Pakistani population is experiencing all these
changes.
Migration within and among societies is a
demographic factor that promotes change. In Pakistan there is a lot of
migration from rural to urban areas. The urban population has increased from 20
percent in 1947 to 33 percent in 1998. The size of the urban settlements has
increased putting pressure on the local resources, and other relationships.
With the change in education of women, female participation in the labor force
is on the increase which has implications for the institution of family.
5.
Environmental Changes
Environmental change can bring changes in the
structure of societies and relationship of people.
Degradation of the environment may force
people to migrate to new places. Water logging and salinity of agricultural
land makes people to migrate simply because they have lost their means of
livelihood. Similarly people leave their settlements due to drought.
Environmental changes brought about by “development
projects” can also be a factor for social change. For the construction of water
reservoirs, motor ways, and industrial zones may necessitate the displacement of
populations. The same populations may get training for new jobs and follow new
occupations. It may change the life styles of the whole communities. Similarly
the natural calamities can destroy the human settlements as well as their means
of livelihood, and thereby could be a factor of social change. People may change
their occupations, develop new settlements, migrate to new areas; all these
situations are situations of social changes.
6.
Modernization
Modernization is process of social change
initiated by industrialization in the mid 18th century. As a result of
modernization:
i.
There is decline of small and traditional
communities. In the traditional societies there is lot of cohesiveness, strong
sense of belongingness, strong neighborhood relations but all these undergo
change as the communities become complex in an industrial society. The
structure and relations in the families also undergo change in the modern
society.
ii.
There is an expansion of personal choice in the
modern society. Personal choices increase for getting education, for choosing
an occupation, for a place to live, for choosing a spouse, and even for
adopting a lifestyle. There are series of options provided by the modern
society and one could choose. Such options were not available in the
traditional society.
iii.
There is an increasing diversity in the society. In
the urban areas one could see the diversity of people, diversity of
occupations, diversity of religions, diversity of races, diversity of ethnic
groups, diversity of lifestyles, diversity of economic systems, diversity of
political lines, and so on. Such diversities provide rich resources for
interactions and changes in society.
iv.
There is future orientation and growing awareness of
time. People in the modern societies think more about the future. Being optimistic
they try to improve their lives by adopting innovations rather than having
emotional attachment with traditions. These people are time conscious and
organize their daily routines down to the very minute.
All the
causes of social change have interconnections and overlap each other.
Types of Social Change
According
to cultural anthropologist David F. Aberle, the four types of social
change include alternative, redemptive, reformative and revolutionary. These different movements
are distinguished by how much change they advocate and whether they target
individuals or the entirety of a society.
1. Alternative social change: It operates at the individual level and seeks to change minor aspects
of behavior. Campaigns against texting and driving are an example of
alternative social change in the sense that they advocate a small change in
behavior and advocate this change on a fairly small scale.
2. Redemptive social change: In this the function on the individual level but advocates a dramatic
change within the individual. The spread of religion is an example of
redemptive social change. Recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous are also
examples of redemptive social change as they advocate dramatic personal change
for a specific portion of the population.
3. Reformative social change: It seeks to enact a specific change on a broad scale. The movement to
obtain marriage rights for same-sex couples is an example of reformative social
change. This movement seeks a very specific set of changes but desires these
changes on a wide scale.
4. Revolutionary social change: It
indicates dramatic change on a large scale. Revolutionary movements seek to
fundamentally restructure society. One of the most important revolutions is
the French Revolution, which was a massive cultural shift in France
that took place in the late 1700s. For examples
of revolutionary social change include the American
Civil Rights Movement and the Russian
Revolution of the early 20th century.
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