TOP 10 CAUSES OF GLOBAL SOCIAL CHANGE
The causes of social change below affect or characterize every aspect of
society across the world. On a macro scale,
they shape all of our major social institutions (economics, politics, religion,
family, education, science/technology, military, legal system, and so on. On a micro scale, they shape our values,
attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. In
sum, they influence our ways of life.
a) Agricultural advancements
Examples include irrigation, the plow, cotton gin.
Lead to surplus food, which lead to population growth and urbanization. People were able to work outside of the
farm.
b) Industrialization
The process of moving from an agrarian based economy in
which the primary product is food to an industrial or post industrial economy
in which the primary product is goods, services and information
The process of changing from a manual labor force to a
technology driven labor force in which machines play a large role
Lead to changes in:
a. Work – people work outside of the home/community, which
lead to changes in gender (value of, child care, value of labor).
b. Work became centered and organized around machines. Alienation.
c. Weapons production – guns, nuclear weapons.
d. Information Society.
Information overload.
Characteristics of industrialized societies:
·
Smaller percentage of workforce employed in
agriculture
·
Increased division of labor, specialization of
occupations
·
Increase in education of workforce
·
Increase in economic organizations (businesses)
·
Stronger link between government and economy –
interdependent
·
Technological change – new goods and services
produced and new occupations result; control of environment and the need to do
so.
·
Geographical mobility
·
Occupational mobility
·
Population change:
·
Demographic transition; move from (1) high birth
rates and high death rates (with smaller population sizes) to (2) high birth
rates and low death rates (with extreme population growth) to (3) low birth
rates and low death rates (with populations maintenance).
·
People have fewer children as society industrialized because
role of family changes and technological advancements allow control of
reproduction.
·
Families change from extended to nuclear families due
to geographic and occupational mobility. Family is no longer mainly seen as an
economic unit.
All of the major causes of global social
change below are tied to changes in technology and economics.
2. Modernization: The process
of moving from an agrarian to industrial society
Characteristics of modern societies
·
Larger role of government in society and bureaucracy
to run governments
·
Large, formal organizations and division of labor
based on specialization of skills and abilities into occupations. Bureaucracy plays in again here.
·
Forming of social institutions to regulate behavior.
·
Laws and sanctions to regulate behavior.
·
Control over and management of environmental
resources: oil, water, land, animals, etc... The ability to mass produce food,
energy, etc...
·
Larger role of science in society to produce knowledge
to advance society. Larger role of
education and universities.
·
Improved quality of life – higher per capita GDP,
ability to buy good and services, more recreational time, better public health,
housing
·
Self-efficacy
·
Ability to adapt, expect,
and desire continuous change. Example: change of governments; replacing goods
and services such as cars, phone service, marriages; change in occupations and
careers.
3. Urbanization: When large populations live in urban areas
rather than rural areas
Usually results from economic opportunities: either people
move to a city for jobs, or rural areas become the sites of large businesses
which leads to population growth.
75% of the
Cities offer social benefits as well as economic
benefits: transportation, schools,
diffusion of new products and services, health care,
cultural resources
Characteristics of urban populations:
·
More diversity
·
·
Weaker social attachments – higher crime
·
Secularization
·
Mass communication systems
If urbanization occurs to fast, infrastructure can not
support population (transportation, public health issues, housing, schools,
emergency services, jobs). This can result in poverty and class conflict. Class conflict and poverty may also result if
large urban areas experience loss of jobs.
4. Bureaucratization: Process by which most formal organizations in
a society (businesses, government, non-profits) run their organizations via the
use of extreme rational and impersonal thinking, an extreme division of labor,
and record keeping
All tasks and functions broken down into small parts
which become positions in the organizational hierarchy. Roles attached to positions. Pay and benefits attached to positions not
persons.
People can rotate in and out of positions but organization survives with little
change.
Although bureaucratization allows us to be highly efficient
and effective and produce surpluses of goods and services, it also can lead to
extreme inefficiencies:
·
People in the organization become machine like – just
performing the specific aspects of their role; no more, no less. People interactions with the organizations
become machine like – example, voice systems.
·
Wasting of workforce skills
·
Inefficient transactions – have to speak to 10
different people before you get to the right person.
·
Mass amounts of paperwork –jobs
becomes largely processing paperwork.
·
Miscommunication
·
Power is held by a few at the top of the hierarchy
which can become problematic if they seek to protect their individual power in
the organization. Bureaucrats.
·
Temptation to cheat – corporate crimes. Often because of a lack of checks and
balances which gets lost in the maze of offices, departments, positions,
supervisors, managers, administrators, etc… or because of extreme
power/position in the organization and ability to exploit it.
·
Goal of departments becomes to survive in the
organization and protect their own resources, rather than work together to
provide a product.
Examples:
War: due to religion,
ethinic tensions, competition for resources
Gender and Women’s Movement: equal pay, property: Today; day
care, ocupational segregation
Race and Civil
Rights Movement: collective political power, ownership of production: Today –
prejudice. % who will
vote for black candidate. Chris
Rock.
Class: Unions – minimum wage, 40 hour work week,
overtime. Today -- health insurance,
education vouchers
Sexuality: Homosexuality becoming less stigmatized, but
still denied civil and human rights.
Positive Outcomes: solidarity, safety valve, social change, “welfare
enhancing”
Negative Outcomes: inequality, violence
a) Elected officials:
Redistribution of wealth: income and property taxes. Today: Sales tax, tax “relief”
Pass laws: affirmative action, ability to sue insurance
companies, increase minimum wage (leads to change in unemployment, part-time
employment, health insurance premiums and coverage)
b) Unelected officials
corporate power (jobs, goods and services
and cost of, culture, donations to political campaigns
interlocking directorates, inner
circle/power elite
a) Religious beliefs.
Rise of
capitalism in
Religious beliefs sometimes lead to revolution and civil wars which lead to new
countries.
b) Gender: names,
jobs, welfare
c) Ideology often legitimizes inequality.
a) religion legitimizes gender and
sexual inequality.
b) Meritocracy legitimizes
class inequality. For example, Americans
tend not to problematize social class due to idea of
meritocracy and institutionalization of meritocracy.
8. Diffusion: Rate at
which populations adopt new goods and services.
Much of the material in this chapter can be applied to
marketing (celebrity drink milk campaigns), public health (birth control in
less developed countries)
See book for more info on this cause of social change.
9. Acculturation
Examples: Asian Americans, American Indians (Lumbee vs. Cherokee)
Can prevent social change by preventing acculturation –
example,
10. Evolution: See book