Chapter 8- Lecture Flashcards
What is social change?
- Changes in the typical features of society over time
- Ongoing process and inevitable
- Broad concept used to explore the changes that take place in interpersonal relations as well as in society’s social organizations
Explain “changes in the typical features of society over time” using examples.
changes in what is considered deviant over time, changes in the way we dress, texting and diving
What does it mean to say that social change is an ongoing process and inevitable?
Occurs when there are changes to public policy, cultural traditions, or social institutions, at times inspired by collective behaviours
-society will die if it doesn’t occur
What are some examples of social change being a broad concept?
Europeans in North America changed Indigenous society
Social change is most likely to occur when…(4 reasons)?
- The change originates within what are seen as cutting edge sources (e.g., fashion shows, academic research findings)
- The change addresses a strongly felt need among the public (e.g., legislation to restrict access to question content on the Internet, bullying, drunk driving, etc.)
- The change is material rather than non-material (e.g., subsidizing the costs of alternative fuels versus brochures promoting the benefits of mass transit)
- The change is broadly compatible with people’s existing values (e.g., recycling programs succeed because people’s environmental awareness is rising)
What does Marc Prensky (2001) believe?
The education system is ill suited to the needs and aspirations of todays students
- Digital Natives
- Digital Immigrants
What are digital natives?
Students who spent entire lives using computers, internet, cell phones, video games
What are digital immigrants?
Those who did not grow up with digital technology
-migrate into technology
What do digital natives and immigrants responds to in different ways?
technology
What is the life-cycle of social change?
innovation, exponential growth, saturation
What is innovation?
- something new that inspires a change
- change is slow, adopted by 10-25% of population
- youth and upper and middle classes
What is innovation from a conflict pop?
divisive if people in society can’t access it
What is exponential growth
- the majority of the population adopts the technology or behaviour
- majority adopts change
What is saturation?
- whereby the change enters a society’s traditions and normal daily practices
- everyone has it, common place
What are vested interests? Examples?
- Describes why privileged members of society resist change
- Napster, Limewire, etc.
- Resist change to consolidate power
What is the connection between vested interests and robots?
- Robots and the economy
- Cheaper to hire a robot
- They don’t care if they don’t get benefits
- No family drama, time off, maternity, unions, etc.
- Do we want to pay for uneducated people to get education?
What are luddites?
resistance to technologies that challenged their way of life
-belief that technological advances are neither inevitable nor uncontrollable
What are the two oppositions to social change?
1) Vested interests
2) Luddites
What are the 9 inspirations for social change?
1) Technology
2) Physical Environment
3) Demographic Shifts
4) Economic Competition
5) War
6) Ideas
7) Governments
8) Individuals
Social Movements
How does technology inspire social change? Examples?
-Provides artificial means to achieve given end or result
-Inspires great deal of social change that accumulates
Ex. farming, microwaves
How does our physical environment inspire social change? Examples?
- diverse environments inspire social change
- Ex. Canadian weather vs. tropical climate
- Winter clothing and air conditioning
How do demographic shifts inspire social change? Examples?
- aging population
- people requiring more and more assistance
- immigration and migration
- we need their expertise
How does economic competition inspire social change?
- industrial powerhouses
- competities inspires innovation
How does war inspire social change? Examples?
- inspiration for technological development
- dispersion among larger society
- after WWII the world did change–freedom and liberation
- the internet has ties to military
How do ideas inspire social change? Examples?
-impact of ideas
-enlightenment: free will, evolution, democracy, freedom, etc.
Bill C-51:
-gather info on people without warrant (idea of free will)
How do governments inspire social change? Examples?
- strong political leadership mobilizes large-scale efforts to alter the character of society
- Ex health care reform, human rights legislation
How do individual inspire social change? Examples?
- inspire social change through personality, charisma, and conviction
- gandhi, mandel, malala yousafzai
How do social movements inspire social change? Example?
- emergence of grassroots movements
- ex. greenpeace
How do functionalists approach social change?
- change occurs through profess of differentiation
- equilibrium theory
What is the equilibrium theory (functionalism)?
Holds that changes in one part of society require changes in other parts in order for society to return to its natural state of balance and harmony
How does conflict theory approach social change?
- change not necessarily an improvement
- stages defined by exploitation of poor
- social change through active revolt
- conflict as inevitable and necessary to inspire social change
Who are the evolutionary theorists that approaches social change?
Darwin, Comte, Durkheim