chapter 16

Social Change

The transformation of culture over time

Collective behavior

behavior that follows from the formation of a group or crowd of people who take action together toward a shared goal

Riot

continuously disorderly behavior by a group of people that disturbs the peace and is directed toward other people and/or property

mass behavior

similar behaviors engaged in by large groups of people who are not necessarily in the same place

Fads

interests or practices followed enthusiastically for a relatively short period of time

Fashion

the widespread custom or style of behavior and appearance at a particular time or in a particular place

Social dilemma

a situation in which behavior that is rational for the individual can, when practiced by many people, lead to collective disaster

Social Movement

any social group with leadership, organization, and an ideological commitment to promote or resist social change

Activism

any activity intended to bring about social change

Progressive

term describing efforts to promote forward-thinking social change

Regressive

term describing resistance to particular social changes, efforts to maintain the status quo, or attempts to reestablish an earlier form of social order

Framing theory

examines how participants give meaning to their struggles for social change.

Globalization

The cultural and economic changes resulting from dramatically increased international trade and exchange in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

contagion theory

one of the earliest theories of collective action; suggests that individuals who join a crowd can become “infected” by a mob mentality and lose the ability to reason

Tragedy of the commons

type of social dilemma in which many individuals’ overexploitation of a public resource depletes or degrades that common resource

public good dilemma

type of social dilemma in which individuals incur the cost to contribute to a collective resource, though they may never benefit from that resource

•People who take advantage of a public good without having contributed to it are called “free riders.”