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SeminarSeminaronon

A seminar on:Social Change Theory of Mr. Pitrim Sorokin

Presented by:Name of the Student : C.H.S.S. MaruthiRoll No. :Course : M.Ed.Year : 2014-2015

Malla Reddy College of Teacher Education (M.Ed.) & (B.Ed.),Accredited by NAAC with “B” Grade,

Suraram ‘X’ Roads, Quthbullapur (M), R.R. Dist.

Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society. Social change may include changes in nature, social institutions, social behaviours, or social relations.

It also refers to social revolution

Social change may be driven by cultural, religious, economic, scientific or technological forces.

Collective Behavior Cultural Diffusion Technological Innovation Social Movements Politics Inequality Population War

Cyclical Theory

• views change from a historical perspective

• assumes natural stages of development

• likely to gain popularity during periods of upheaval

Oswald Spengler• German historian• wrote Decline of the

West– asserted that West

was well into decline in the 1900s & collapse was inevitable

– Civilization like stages like childhood, youth, adulthood, old age and eventually dies.

Pitirim Alexandrovich Sorokin - January 21, 1889 – February 11, 1968.

He was a Russian American sociologist.

In 1930 at age 40, Sorokin was personally requested by the president of Harvard University to accept a position there.At Harvard, he founded the Department of Sociology.

Sorokin was an ardent opponent of communism, which he regarded as a "pest of man."

He is best known for his contributions to the social cycle theory and published book “Social and Cultural Dynamics”

Sorokin's academic writings are extensive; throughout his lifetime he wrote 37 books and more than 400 articles.

His controversial theories of social process and the historical typology of cultures are expounded in Social and Cultural Dynamics and many other works.

Sorokin was also interested in social stratification, the history of sociological theory, and altruistic behavior.

1. Ideational culture - emphasizes faith and new forms of spirituality.

2. Sensate culture - stresses partial approaches to reality and involves the hedonistic.

3. Idealistic culture - society wrestles with the tension between the ideal and the practical.

Pitrim Sorokin in his book Social and Culture Dynamics - 1938 has offered another explanation of social change.

Instead of viewing civilization into the terms of development and decline he proposed that they alternate of fluctuate between two cultural extremes: the sensate and the ideational.

It is practical, hedonistic, sensual and materialistic.

Ideational culture emphasizes those things which can be perceived only by the mind.

It is the opposite of the sensate culture.

As the culture of a society develops towards one pure type, it is countered by the opposing cultural force.

Cultural development is then reversed moving towards the opposite type of culture.

Societies contain both these impulses in varying degrees and the tension between them creates long-term instability.

Between these types lies a third type 'idealistic' culture.

This is a desirable blend of other two but no society ever seems to have achieved it as a stable condition.

It includes detailed statistical analysis of phases in art, architecture, literature, economics, philosophy, science, and warfare – he identified three strikingly consistent phenomena:

There are two opposed elementary cultural patterns, the materialistic (Sensate) and spiritual (Ideational), along with certain intermediate or mixed patterns.  One mixed pattern, called Idealistic, which integrates the Sensate and Ideational orientations, is extremely important.

Every society tends to alternate between materialistic and spiritual periods, sometimes with transitional, mixed periods, in a regular and predictable way.

Times of transition from one orientation to another are characterized by a markedly increased prevalence of wars and other crises.

Sorokin examined a wide range of world societies.

In each he believed he found evidence of the regular alternation between Sensate and Ideational orientations, sometimes with an Integral culture intervening.

According to Sorokin, Western culture is now in the third Sensate epoch of its recorded history.

Based on a detailed analysis of art, literature, economics, and other cultural indicators, Sorokin concluded that ancient Greece changed from a Sensate to an Ideational culture around the 9th century BC; during this Ideational phase, religious themes dominated society (Hesiod, Homer, etc.).

The three major theories of Sorokin are:

Social Differentiation Social Stratification Social Conflict

The theory of social differentiation describes the societal relationships.

The first is feministic, which is the type that we would generally strive for. It is the relationship that has the most solidarity, the values of everyone involved are considered, and there is a great deal of interaction.

Social stratification refers to the fact that all societies are hierarchically divided, with upper and lower strata and unequal distribution of wealth, power, and influence across strata.

There is always some mobility between these strata.

People or groups may move up or down the hierarchy, acquiring or losing their power and influence.

In his Social and Cultural Dynamics, his magnum opus, Sorokin classified societies according to their 'cultural mentality', which can be "ideational" (reality is spiritual), "sensate" (reality is material), or "idealistic" (a synthesis of the two).

He suggested that major civilizations evolve from an ideational, to an idealistic, and eventually to a sensate mentality. Each of these phases of cultural development not only seeks to describe the nature of reality, but also stipulates the nature of human needs and goals to be satisfied, the extent to which they should be satisfied, and the methods of satisfaction.

Sorokin has interpreted the contemporary Western civilization as a sensate civilization dedicated to technological progress and prophesied its fall into decadence and the emergence of a new ideational or idealistic era.

ConclusionIn the life of every human being there should be an aim of reaching high destiny. It should be done on the basis of social mobility in status, profession, etc. We should put the efforts in fulfilling our goals; strive for achieving them and simultaneously believing in God.

“For an idealistic society, mobility is must”

Bibliography

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social-change• http://www.sociologyguide.com/social-

change/evolutionary-theories.php