Social Change
The transformation of society and culture over time
Intentionality? -
Controversy?
Importance?
Causes and mechanisms of change
Major Physical events
Hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruption
Demographic factors
Baby boomers, millennials
Discoveries and innovations
Wheel, internal combustion engine, nuclear power, smartphone
Perspectives on Social Change
Structural functionalism
Social change maintains
societal equilibrium.
Societal order
Environmental movement ;
Natural resources are necessary
The conservation movement is functional
Conflict theory
Social change is inevitable.
Social inequality
Conflict over resources
Environmental movement (EM):
Privileges are unequally distributed
EM works to secure equal access rights
Symbolic Interactionism
Social change is a change in meanings
Environmental Movement
Works to change the meaning attached to the environment, animals, etc.
Collective Behavior
A group of people who form together to take action toward a shared goal
Theoretical explanations;
Contagion theory; everyone gets infected with group thinking when in a group (a riot)
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Emergent norm theory - any number of factors can motivate
people to participate in crowd activities. The underlying assumption here is that a group is guided by norms (shared cultural expectations for behavior) that emerge in interaction as the group responds to a situation
Types of Collective Behavior
• Crowd
Temporary gathering of individuals with a common focus
• Riot
Continuous disorderly behavior by a gathering of individuals
Disturbs the peace
Directed toward other people and/or property
• Mass behavior
A gathering of individuals engaging in similar behaviors
Not necessarily in the same place
The transformation of society and culture over time
Intentionality? -
Controversy?
Importance?
Causes and mechanisms of change
Major Physical events
Hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruption
Demographic factors
Baby boomers, millennials
Discoveries and innovations
Wheel, internal combustion engine, nuclear power, smartphone
Perspectives on Social Change
Structural functionalism
Social change maintains
societal equilibrium.
Societal order
Environmental movement ;
Natural resources are necessary
The conservation movement is functional
Conflict theory
Social change is inevitable.
Social inequality
Conflict over resources
Environmental movement (EM):
Privileges are unequally distributed
EM works to secure equal access rights
Symbolic Interactionism
Social change is a change in meanings
Environmental Movement
Works to change the meaning attached to the environment, animals, etc.
Collective Behavior
A group of people who form together to take action toward a shared goal
Theoretical explanations;
Contagion theory; everyone gets infected with group thinking when in a group (a riot)
12
Emergent norm theory - any number of factors can motivate
people to participate in crowd activities. The underlying assumption here is that a group is guided by norms (shared cultural expectations for behavior) that emerge in interaction as the group responds to a situation
Types of Collective Behavior
• Crowd
Temporary gathering of individuals with a common focus
• Riot
Continuous disorderly behavior by a gathering of individuals
Disturbs the peace
Directed toward other people and/or property
• Mass behavior
A gathering of individuals engaging in similar behaviors
Not necessarily in the same place
