Social Change

Unit II: Culture

Social Change

All cultures change over time

Some cultures change faster than others

The more cultural traits there are, the faster the culture can change (more possibilities for change exist)

What Causes Social Change?

Values and Beliefs

Technology

Population

Diffusion

Physical Environment

Wars and Conquest

1.Values and Beliefs

A change in one aspect of society produces change throughout the system

Changes in values and beliefs can have far-reaching consequences for society

This is especially true when new values and beliefs are part of a larger system of ideology

1.Values and Beliefs

Ideology:

A system of beliefs or ideas that justifies some social, moral, religious, political, or economic interests held by a social group of society

Ideologies often are spread through social movements

1.Values and Beliefs

Social Movement:

A long-term conscious effort to promote or prevent social change

What are some influential historical social movements? Modern?

2. Technology

Technology:

The knowledge and tools that people use to manipulate their environment for practical purposes

Two ways in which new technologies arise: discovery and invention

2.Technology

Discovery occurs when people recognize new uses for existing elements in the world or begin to understand them in new ways

Invention occurs when people use existing knowledge to create something that did not previously exist

3. Population

A change in the size of population may bring changes in the culture

Population increases and decreases affect the economy

3. Population

People also bring about changes by moving from one place to another

Changes in the age structure of a population also brings about social and cultural changes

4. Diffusion

People often borrow ideas, acts, beliefs, and material objects from other societies

Diffusion:

The process of spreading culture traits from one society to another

The more contact a society has with other societies, the more ideas it will borrow

5. Physical Environment

Environment provides conditions that may encourage or discourage cultural change

Resources, natural disasters, weather, natural resources all contribute to physical environment

6. Wars and Conquest

Not a common source of cultural change

However, they bring about the greatest change in a society in the least amount of time

War and conquest affect all aspects of life: family, property, industry, economy, ect.

Brings about both positive and negative changes

Resistance to Change

Almost always two opposing forces

Most change is a result of compromise

1. Ethnocentrism

The tendency to view one’s own culture or group as superior

Change from outside of a group is often met with strong resistance

Extreme ethnocentrism can make compromise or borrowing between individuals/groups difficult or impossible

2. Cultural Lag

A situation in which some aspects of the culture change less rapidly, or lag behind, other aspects of the same culture

People tend to accept changes in material culture traits much more readily that changes in non-material cultural traits

3. Vested Interests

People who are satisfied with how things are currently are more likely to resist change

The known present is better than the unknown future

They are invested in the present