Social Change and its Actors

Social Change

Social change is the process through which culture, institutions, social structure, and people's interactions are transformed.

  • Social change can be both positive and negative.
  • Example: Effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on society.
    • Education:
      • Teachers find it helpful for lesson plans and multiple-choice questions.
      • Concern about students using AI for assignments, as it may interfere with critical thinking and writing skills.
    • Medicine:
      • AI can assist doctors in considering different diagnoses.
      • Potential for race and sex biases in AI, affecting patient treatment.
    • Economy:
      • AI is expected to create jobs but also lead to job losses as it replaces certain tasks.

Actors in Social Change

The government (state): Refers to all forms of government (federal, local, etc.).

  • Legislation: A significant way the government creates social change.
    • Example: Overturning of Roe versus Wade, which restricted abortion access.
  • Government benefits: The provision or denial of benefits impacts social change.
    • Example: Increasing the age for collecting Social Security benefits (currently 67 for full benefits), leading to senior citizens working longer.
  • Government inaction: Lack of action can also drive social change.
    • Example: Not addressing environmental pollution can lead to various social changes.

Corporations: Play a crucial role in social change.

  • Products: Creation of products that transform society.
    • Example: The iPhone, which transformed communication and travel.
  • Services: Services provided by corporations can create social change.
    • Example: Amazon transforming shopping habits.
  • Political practices: Engagement in political activities can lead to social change.
    • Lobbying: Corporations attempt to convince legislators to support or reject certain laws.
    • Financial contributions: Corporate donations to political campaigns can influence election outcomes. (See reading for details.)

Social Movements: Collections of individuals and organizations connected by a common identity, purpose, and grievance, working together to create social change.

  • Tactics used by social movements include:
    • Routine politics: Working within the existing political system to create change.
      • Tactics: Voter registration drives, town hall meetings, volunteering for campaigns, writing letters, and lobbying.
      • Examples: In the video Feel What Teens Felt Like in 1963.
    • Contentious politics: Tactics used to disrupt and challenge institutions and organizations, aiming to change social systems.
      • Marches: Mass gatherings to show support and raise awareness.
        • Example: The annual March for Life (pro-life march). These have been very effective in changing public opinion.
        • Effectiveness: Lets legislators know there is widespread support.
        • Example: March for Our Lives: Includes speeches that create urgency, personalize problems, and inspire action.
        • The pro-life movement has been effective in changing the public's view on abortion over the last three decades, with Americans becoming less supportive of abortion.
      • Speeches: Generate a sense of urgency, personalize the problem, inspire action, and often use emotion. Refer to the video on the March for Our Lives.
      • Sit-ins: Disrupting "business as usual".
        • Example: Civil rights movement sit-ins at lunch counters, where activists intentionally broke segregation laws, anticipating media coverage to build sympathy and publicize social injustice.
      • Kneel-ins: Used by Black Lives Matter to raise awareness of police brutality.
      • Protests: Large gatherings to voice opposition.
        • Example: Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality, featuring signs, speakers, and calls for police reform.
        • Dramatic elements: Bring attention to an issue.
          • Example: Animal rights movement in Italy using dramatic imagery to highlight animal cruelty.
      • Illegal activities: Actions that break the law.
        • Example: Animal rights activists trespassing on farms to secretly photograph animal abuse and distribute those images.
    • Market politics: Tactics to change corporate practices.
      • Boycotts: Encouraging people not to buy a product.
      • Buycotts: Encouraging people to buy a product.
      • Social media: Spreading information about unethical corporate practices.
        • Example: Civil rights activists using boycotts of products tested on animals.

Experts: Individuals with authority, respect, and knowledge who can influence decision-makers.

  • Actions:
    • Present information to policymakers (e.g., testifying at hearings).
    • Give speeches articulating moral and ethical issues.
      • Example: Martin Luther King Jr., using Christian principles to advocate for civil rights.
    • Produce knowledge that creates social change.
      • Example: Research showing the link between secondhand smoke and lung cancer led to smoking bans in public places.