1. Social Change Modern and Postmodern Societies
Chapter 16
Social Change
Modern and Postmodern Societies

2. Social Change Four major characteristics:
Social change happens all the time
Social change is sometimes intentional but often unplanned
Social change is controversial
Some changes matter more than others
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3. Causes of Social Change
Culture and change
Invention: Production of new objects, ideas, and social patterns
Discovery: Taking note of existing elements of a culture
Diffusion: The spread of products, people and information from one culture to another
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4. Causes of Social Change
Conflict and social change
Social conflict arising from inequality would force changes in every society
Ideas and change
Ideas can fuel social movements which bring about social change
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5. Causes of Social Change
Demographics and change
Population patterns also play a part in social change
Migration within and among societies promotes change
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6. Causes of Social Change
Collective Behavior and Change
Many people may be involved without most having any direct interaction with others
Crowds
Have the power to bring about change
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7. Causes of Social Change
Mobs and Riots
Challenge the status quo and sometimes to force social change
Rumor
Information that people spread informally
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8. Causes of Social Change
Fashions and Fads
People’s ideas about polite behavior, their tastes in clothing, music, and automobiles;
As well as their political attitudes
Social Movements and Change
About connecting people who share some political goal
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9. Causes of Social Change
Types of Social Movements
Claims Making
Explaining Social Movements
Stages in Social Movements
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10. Who Stays Put? Residential Stability across the United States
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11. Four Types of Social Movements

12. Disasters: Unexpected Change
Event that is generally unexpected & causes extensive harm to people & property damage
Three types:
Natural disasters
Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes
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13. Disasters: Unexpected Change
Technological disasters
Widely regarded as an accident
More accurately the result of our inability to control technology
Intentional disaster
One or more organized groups intentionally harm others
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14. Modernity Berger: Four major characteristics of modernization:
Decline of small, traditional towns
Expansion of personal choice
Increasing social diversity
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15. Modernity Modernization
Future orientation and growing awareness of time
Modernization
The process of social change begun by industrialization
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17. Tönnies: The Loss of Community
With modernization comes the loss of Gemeinschaft, or human community.
Modernity brings Gesellschaft, or impersonal relationships
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18. Tönnies: The Loss of Community
Critical evaluation
Gemeinschaft exists in modern society
Didn’t distinguish between cause & effect
Romanticized traditional societies
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19. Durkheim: Division of Labor
Society transformed from mechanical to organic solidarity
Mechanical solidarity: Shared moral sentiments
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20. Durkheim: Division of Labor
Organic solidarity: Mutual dependency between people engaged in specialized work
Modernization is defined by an increasing division of labor
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21. Durkheim: Division of Labor
Critical evaluation
Societies’ norms and values strong enough to avoid anomie
People value the personal freedom of modern society despite the risks
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22. Max Weber and Rational Society
Modernity meant replacing a traditional worldview with a rational way of thinking
Adopt social patterns that allow goal achievement
“Truth” is the result of rational calculation
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23. Max Weber and Rational Society
Value efficiency; little reverence for the past
Critical evaluation
Weber feared that rationalization, especially in bureaucracies, would erode the human spirit
With endless rules and regulations
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24. Karl Marx: Capitalism
Industrial revolution was a capitalist revolution
Modernity weakened small communities
Social conflict in capitalist societies would incite revolutionary change
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25. Karl Marx: Capitalism Critical evaluation
Complex theory underestimates the dominance of bureaucracy
Stifling socialist bureaucracies are as bad or worse than dehumanizing capitalism
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26. Theoretical Analysis of Modernity
Structural-functional theory
Mass society–A society in which prosperity & bureaucracy have weak traditional social ties
Draws upon the ideas of Tönnies, Durkheim, and Weber
Mass Scale of Modern Life
The Ever-Expanding State
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28. Theoretical Analysis of Modernity
Social-conflict theory
Class society–A capitalist society with pronounced social stratification
Draws upon the ideas of Marx
Capitalism
Persistent Inequality
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30. Theoretical Analysis of Modernity
Critical evaluation
Mass society ignores social inequality, romanticizes the past
Class society overlooks the way equality in modern society has increased
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31. Modernity and the Individual
Personal identity can be a problem since society changes so rapidly
Social character–Personality patterns common to members of a particular society
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32. Modernity and the Individual
Tradition-directedness–Rigid conformity to time-honored ways of living
Other-directedness–Openness to latest trends & fashions, expressed by imitating others
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33. Problems of Powerlessness
Persistent social inequality undermines modern society’s promise of freedom
Problems of relative disadvantage for racial and ethnic minorities
Power of multinational corporations
Does technology solve the world’s problems, or cause the world’s problems?
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34. Modernity and Progress
In modern societies, most people expect and desire social change
Modernity is linked to progress
Social change is too complex to equate with progress
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35. Modernity and Progress
New technology sparks controversy
Toffler
Coined the term "future shock" to describe rapid, overwhelming social change
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36. Postmodernity: Postindustrial societies
In important respects, modernity has failed
The bright light of “progress” is fading
Science no longer holds the answers
Cultural debates are intensifying
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37. Postmodernity: Postindustrial societies
Social institutions are changing
Critical review
Increases in longevity and living standards
What are the alternatives?
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38. Modernization and the Future
Modernization theory
In the past the entire world was poor
Technological change, esp. the Industrial Revolution, enhanced human productivity
& raised living standards in many nations
The United States is no longer separate from change in the rest of the world
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39. Modernization and the Future
Communitarian movement: Rights come with responsibilities
Our society should halt the expanding “culture of rights” by which we put our own interests
Ahead of social responsibility
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40. Modernization and the Future
All rights involve responsibilities. For society to work, we must all play a part
The well-being of everyone might require limiting our individual rights
No one can ignore key responsibilities such as upholding law & responding to cry for help
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