SOC Chapter 15: Social Change and the Environment Flashcards
Social Change
Chapter 15, page 482
the alternation of culture and societies over time
Modernization
Chapter 15, page 483
the transformation of traditional societies into industrial societies
Dialectical Process (of History)
Chapter 15, page 487
each arrangement of power (a thesis) contains contradictions (antitheses) which make the arrangement unstable and which must be resolved;
the new arrangement of power (a synthesis) contains its own contradictions;
this process of balancing and unbalancing continues throughout history as groups struggle for power and other resources
Invention
Chapter 15, page 488
the combining of existing elements and materials to form new ones;
identified by William Ogburn as one of three process of social change
Discovery
Chapter 15, page 489
a new way of seeing reality;
identified by William Ogburn as one of three process of social change
Diffusion
Chapter 15, page 489
the spread of an invention or a discovery from one area to another;
identified by William Ogburn as one of three process of social change
Cultural Lag
Chapter 15, page 489
Ogburn’s term for human behavior lagging behind technological innovations
Postmodern Society
Chapter 15, page 490
another term for postindustrial society;
a chief characteristic is the use of tools that extend human abilities to gather and analyze information, to communicate, and to travel
Alienation
Chapter 15, page 491
Marx’s term for workers’ lack of connection to the product of their labor;
caused by workers being assigned repetitive tasks on a small part of a product, leads ti a sense of powerlessness and normlessness;
others use the term in the general sense of not feeling a part of something
Sustainable Environment
Chapter 15, page 498
a world system that takes into account the limits of the environment;
produces enough material goods for everyone’s needs, and leaves a heritage of a sound environment for the next generation
Acid Rain
Chapter 15, page 499
rain containing sulfuric and nitric acids (burning fossil fuels releases sulfur dioxide that becomes sulfuric and nitric acids when they react with moisture in the air)
Eco-Sabotage
Chapter 15, page 503
actions taken to sabotage the efforts of people who are thought to be legally harming the environment
Environmental Sociology
Chapter 15, page 504
a specialty within sociology whose focus is how humans affect the environment and how the environment affects humans
