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SOCIAL CHANGE:Social change is controversial.

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Introduction to Sociology ­ SOC101
VU
Lesson 43
SOCIAL CHANGE
Change is difference between two points in time. What was at time one and what it is at time two. The
difference between two points in time can be called as change.
Time 2 ­ Time 1 = Difference i.e. change
Social change means the changes in the social structure and social relationships. At macro level we can look
at social change at the societal level just like the changes in the population structure of the country. One
could look at age structure of the population. As we have already discussed this structure like 43 percent of
the population of Pakistan is that of children, about 4 percent is that of old people and the rest may be
adults. Then you can also look at the rural and urban distribution of people. Educational distribution of
people is another angle of population structure; there is lot of shifting from rural to urban areas. One could
also look at changing birth rate as an aspect of social change. At the micro level one could also look at the
changes taking place in the structure of families in terms of size, authority structure, age at marriage,
number of children per woman.
There can be change in the relationships of people. For example there is decline in the neighborliness, there
are changes in the employer and employee relationships, there is change in the men and women
relationships (women empowerment), and so on.
Similar to social change there is another concept of cultural change, which means changes in the culture
of society. This change could be seen in the patterns of behavior of people (norm), in the laws of society, in
the technology of the society. Social change and cultural change overlap and sometimes it become difficult
to make a distinction between social change and cultural change.  Therefore to overcome such an
ambiguous situation the two concepts are combined and called as socio-cultural change.
Social change usually does not appear suddenly unless there is some natural catastrophe. It is usually a
continuous process. The process of social change has four major characteristics.
Social change happens all the time. Nothing is constant and change is inevitable. The process of
change may be slow at one time than another time. One society may be changing faster than the other.
Hunting and food gathering societies have been changing quite slowly; members of today's high income
societies on the other hand, experience significant change within a single lifetime.
Some elements of culture change faster than the others.  The gap between the two has been referred as
cultural lag. The concept of cultural lag was given by W. F. Ogburn. This concept may be defined as: when
two interrelated parts of culture change at different rate so that one moves faster than the other whereby
one is left behind, the gap between the two is called cultural lag. Within the culture, material culture usually
changes faster than the non-material culture (ideas, attitudes).
Social change is sometimes intentional but often unplanned. Industrial societies actively encourage
many kinds of change. For example, scientists seek more efficient forms of energy, and advertisers try to
convince us that life is incomplete without this or that new gadget. So market researchers find out new ways
of convincing people to use the new product. Yet rarely one can envision all the consequences of the
changes that are set in motion. Automobile has been introduced for mobility and transportation. At the
same time there have appeared many unintended consequences like pollution, accidents, and the same autos
being used for robbery and other unlawful activities.
Social change is controversial. Social change brings both good and bad consequences. Capitalists
welcomed the industrial revolution because new technology increased productivity and increased profits.
However, the workers feared that the machines would make their skills outdated and resisted the push for
progress.
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Introduction to Sociology ­ SOC101
VU
Look at women empowerment; for some it could be a sign of progress while others may consider it as a
sign of decline.
Some changes matter more than others. Some changes (such as clothing fads) have only passing
significance, whereas others (like computers) last a long time and may change the entire world. Information
technology may revolutionize the whole world just like the industrial revolution.
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Table of Contents:
  1. THE ORIGINS OF SOCIOLOGY:Auguste Comte, The Fields of Sociology
  2. THE SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE:Society affects what we do
  3. THEORETICAL PARADIGMS:Salient Paradigms, Critical Evaluation
  4. SOCIOLOGY AS SCIENCE:Empirical, Verifiable, Cumulative, Self-Correcting
  5. STEPS IN SOCIOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION:Exploration/Consultation
  6. SOCIAL INTERACTION:Social Status, ROLE, The Social Construction of Reality
  7. SOCIAL GROUPS:Primary and Secondary Groups, Reference Group, Networks
  8. ORGANIZATIONS:Utilitarian Organizations, Coercive Organizations
  9. CULTURE:Universality, Components of Culture, Symbols, Language
  10. CULTURE (continued):Beliefs, Norms, Cultural Diversity
  11. CULTURE (continued):Culture by social class, Multiculturalism, Cultural Lag
  12. SOCIALIZATION: HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, NATURE, Social Isolation
  13. UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIALIZATION PROCESS
  14. AGENTS OF SOCIALIZATION:The Family, The School, Peer Groups, The Mass Media
  15. SOCIALIZATION AND THE LIFE COURSE:CHILDHOOD, ADOLESCENCE
  16. SOCIAL CONTROL AND DEVIANCE:Crime, Deviants, Stigma, Labeling
  17. THE SOCIAL FOUNDATIONS OF DEVIANCE:Cultural relativity of deviance
  18. EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME:Sociological explanations
  19. EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME -- CONTINUED:White-Collar Crime, Conflict Theory
  20. SOCIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CRIME: EXPLANATIONS, Gender and Crime
  21. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: INTRODUCTION AND SIGNIFICANCE
  22. THEORIES OF CLASS AND STRATIFICATION – I:Critical evaluation
  23. THEORIES OF SOCIAL CLASS AND STRATIFICATION – II
  24. THEORIES OF CLASS AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION – III
  25. SOCIAL CLASS AS SUBCULTURE
  26. SOCIAL MOBILITY:Structural factors, Individual factors, Costs
  27. THE FAMILY: GLOBAL VARIETY, Marriage Patterns, Patterns of Descent
  28. FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY:Reproduction, Social placement
  29. FAMILY AND MARRIAGE IN TRANSITION:Family is losing functions
  30. GENDER: A SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION, Gender socialization
  31. GENDER SOCIALIZATION:Role of family, Gender Stratification
  32. EXPLANATIONS OF GENDER INEQUALITY:Conflict Explanations, Feminism
  33. FUNCTIONS OF SCHOOLING:Cultural Innovation, School Tracking
  34. ISSUES IN EDUCATION:Low Enrollment, High Dropout, Gender Disparity
  35. POPULATION STUDY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE:Crude Birth Rate
  36. THEORY OF POPULATION GROWTH:Theory of Demographic Transition
  37. POPULATION PROFILE OF PAKISTAN:World Population Growth
  38. POPULATION PROFILE OF PAKISTAN (Continued):Age Distribution, Sex Composition
  39. IMPLICAIONS OF POPULATION GOWTH:Additional GDP needed per year
  40. POPULATION POLICY:Goals of Population Policy, Objectives, Strategies
  41. ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY:Global Dimension, Historical Dimension
  42. ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:Preserving Clean Water, Clearing the Air
  43. SOCIAL CHANGE:Social change is controversial.
  44. CAUSES OF SOCIAL CHANGE:Culture and Change, Conflict and Change, Modernization
  45. MODERNITY AND POST MODERNITY:Cultural Patterns, Post-modernity