Perspectives of social change

APS Social Change Perspectives

  • What is Change?

the act or instance of making or becoming different.

  • Social Change can include

    • A shift in the organization of society itself

  • Politics

  • Economics

  • Infrastructure

  • Residence, work, recreation

  • Population

    • A shift in the beliefs or values of a society

  • Laws

  • Religion

  • Education

    • A shift in the practices or behaviors of a society (changing norms)

  • Travel/commuting

  • Communication (computers/phones/video)

  • Dating/courtship/marriage

Anthropological Change
  • Culture is a constantly changing organism
  • Change is usually slow and steady
    • Think of the changing ideals of your selves vs. your parents vs. your grandparents or even great grandparents.
  • Change varies by country
    • Geography
    • Economy
    • Connectedness with the rest of the world
  • Change is driven by:
    • Invention
    • Discovery
    • Diffusion
  • Culture is learned and internalized by:
    • The physical environment
    • Level of technology
    • Social organization
    • Systems of symbols
Psychological Change
  • People’s attitudes and behaviours are strongly connected.   If attitude changes, so does behaviour.
  • How is behaviour modified?
    • Friends, family, information, experience, social pressure… all influence attitudes, but different methods are needed for different people.
  • Why do we change our minds?
    • Cognitive consistency –keeping attitudes consistent
    • Cognitive dissonance –conflicts in knowledge need to be resolved, changing attitudes and behaviour
  • Change is driven by:
    • Thoughts/ideas/beliefs \n (seeking balance and resolving conflict)
    • Attitudes
    • Behaviours
Sociological Change
  • Change occurs in groups and whole societies
  • Change is an inevitable process
    • Through shared experiences and social forces, change occurs in groups and societies
  • Varying concepts of social change
    • Decay due to materialism and declining spiritualism
    • Cycles of growth and decay (not just decay)
    • Progress –building on the successes and experiences of other societies
  • Social change is not universal or uniform:
    • Different societies develop differently \n (different values and different rates of change)
    • Each society has it’s own norms
  • Social change is an observable difference in patterns of behaviour:
    • Direction of change: positive or negative?  Who says so?
    • Rate of change: fast or slow?  Moderate or radical?
    • Sources of change: exogenous or endogenous?  What is it?
    • Controllability of change: Can it be controlled/directed?