Forces of Social Change

“Everyone over the age of forty is an immigrant”

- Margaret Mead

What is Social Change?

• Social Change: • All societies are involved in a process of social change,

however this change may be so subtle and slow that society is hardly aware of it

• The opposite of social change is social continuity which means that there are structures within society which are built to resist change. Example - the Catholic Church

What is Social Change?• The term social change is used to indicate the

changes that take place in human interactions and interrelations. Society is a web of social relationships and hence social change means change in the system of social relationships.

Examples of Social Change

• Question : How has public opinion shifted regarding social issues such as:-Smoking-Domestic Violence -Divorce

Causes of Social Change

Invention• Production of new objects, ideas, and social

patternsDiscovery

• Taking note of certain elements of a cultureDiffusion

• The spread of products, people, and information from one culture to another

(Cont’d)

Natural Forces of Social Change

GEOGRAPHY• This is when the natural

lay of the land has affectedthe way societies have developed Examples?

• Natural disasters can also drastically change a society (floods, earthquakes, volcanoes)

ENVIRONMENT• Pollution, garbage, ozone, car emissions, recycling• national, provincial and local programs that address

environmental problems• Effects?

Technology• Technology has strongly

affected the way societies are designed and how they keep changing

• People receive their information more quickly now, can communicate in different ways

• Greatest invention of the millennium? Guesses?

• Impact…

Population changes:

•A population change is itself a social change .

• group relations multiply, institutional structures grow more elaborate and many other changes follow

• Example: Karachi• Schools ,collages ,hospitals .universities,

railway stations ,air port

Modernization

standardizing as towards modern tools Examples:

Life StyleTechnology

Urbanization:

• Moving population from ruler areas to urban (Cities) areas.

• Adopt culture • Tube veil ,tractors, fertilizer • Vaccine,• Lady worker

Education:

• Educational uplift is also main cause of social change

• Examples: china, Japan, Malaysia • School• Collage• Universities• Mental education

Religion

• Beginning of Islam • Religious Belief

Political factors

• Society is based on rules and regulations ,customs which are built or prepared by govt

• politics affects the society.• Govt is made of different kinds of people who are educated or

uneducated but the ultimate aim o f them as upliftment of society.

• So these political leaders are products of society.• . As any political party or person change something in state or

contributes in changing in something in society which definitely brings a social change.

• Examples: The impact of World War-2, Rule of Nazi dictator Hitler in Germany , partitions of India in 1947 have brought about several social changes in the respective societies.

• Cultural diffusion • Planning • Leaders• Propaganda • War

Cultural Factor

The cultural factors also play a role in bringing about social change. Our social life depends upon our beliefs, ideas, values, customs, conventions, institutions and the like. When there is a change in these, it influences the social life.

Changing in Culture of Pakistan

Pakistan has undergoing in massive cultural change rapidly. Pakistani people are adopting the western culture increasingly. The pakistani media is playing a vital role in this regard. People are adopting the European culture by watching their movie and dramas.

Continue… Pakistani nation stands on an undesirable

path. It has become extremely evident from today's lifestyle of people, the extent to which Indian culture is adopted. Starting from Bollywood films to adopting their TV shows. Today, the topmost watched channels in Pakistan are Indians which influence Indian lifestyle.

External Events as Forces of Social Change

• External events are events that have occurred on a large scale affecting an entire nation or several nations

• These events have a large and immediate impact on social change

Examples• American Civil War – abolished slavery• WWII – forced women into the workforce and they never

returned home• September 11/2001 – a change of thought regarding national

threat and security

Poverty and Affluence

• Karl Marx was first to point sociology to study inequality in society

• Income inequalities: gap between earnings of the rich and poor

• Is social inequality an inherent part of human social structures?• Does society have a responsibility in trying to deal with the

effects of income inequality?

• Effects? - education, crime, housing• Examples?

Unemployment

Media and Social Change

• Media plays a vital role for social society.• Shrunk the size of the world.• Played vital role in controlling population by

advertising various effects of high population.• One of the best media which bring social

change is Internet.

Values and Social Change: Pluralism

• Singularity- belief that everyone in society should act and think the same way

• Pluralism- widespread acceptance of differences in culture, religion, values and lifestyle

• Inclusiveness- all law abiding people, regardless of their particular background, should be able to play a constructive role in the life of the nation

• Examples: struggle for inclusiveness with women obtaining equal roles and status to traditionally ‘male’ roles