1. Social Change

2. Social Change Alterations in various aspects of a society over time
Values, norms, traditions, religion, etc
Social Change
Cyclical Theory
Evolutionary Theory
Equilibrium Theory
Conflict Theory
Functionalist Perspective
Change occurs to maintain order and stability
Conflict Perspective
Change occurs due to conflict within a society

3. Cyclical Theory FUNCTIONALIST
Historical view of social change in which societies are seen as rising and then falling or as continuously moving back and forth between stages of development.
Like a human life - childhood, youth, adulthood, old age  gives way for new societies
Critics – doesn’t explain WHY societies change

4. Evolutionary Theory FUCTIONALIST
Views change as a process that moves in one direction – tending toward increasing complexity
Change = additive process
Attempts to explain WHY societies change  because of changing economic base and technological advances
Critics – not all societies change for future progress

5. Other Parts of Society Adjust
Equilibrium Theory
FUNCTIONALIST
Society is like a living organism in which change in one part of the social system produces change in all other parts as the system attempts to regain balance, or equilibrium.
Critics – always assumes equilibrium can be met again, some societies constantly have disruptions without social change
Disrupted Stability
Other Parts of Society Adjust
Equilibrium Restored
Social Change!

6. Conflict Theory CONFLICT
Social change results from conflicts between groups with opposing interests.
Mostly conflicts over power and wealth
Conflict is natural  change is inevitable
Societies are in a state of constant change
Violent and Nonviolent
Class conflicts – French Revolution, Occupy Movement
Racial conflicts – Civil Rights Movement
Gender conflicts – Women’s Liberation Movement
Political – Rise of the Tea Party
Critics – too narrow, conflict doesn’t always cause social change (ex: technological change)

7. But What CAUSES Social Change?
We have our theories… but what contributes to the shifts, conflicts, and cycles that cause social change to occur?
Population shifts
Urbanization and modernization
Collective behavior
Social movements

8. Population Shifts
Demography – the scientific study of human populations
Shifts in Population
Birth Rate
Death Rate
Migration Rate

9. Population Shifts
Migration rate – annual difference between in- migration and out-migration in a society
City, town
State
Country
Push and pull factors
Pushed out – loss of job, religious persecution
Pulled in – opportunity for job, religious freedom

10. Population Shifts Birth rate = (# live births/total population) X 1000
For every 1000 people, how many live births occurred in a year?
Death rate = (# deaths/total population) X 1000
For every 1000 people, how many died in a year?
Infant Mortality Rate – indicates the overall health of a society = (# infant deaths/total live births) X 1000
For every 1000 live births, how many infants died in a year?

11. The Wealth and Health of Nations
Population Shifts
Countries with a…
Low birth rate
Low death rate
Low infant mortality rate
… have generally a higher life expectancy
average # of years a person in a particular society can expect to live
How are population shifts related to social change?
More/less people in a society can lead to social change because more or less needs need to be met.
Ex: baby boom era after WWII – immediately more childcare programs, teachers, and schools were needed. As they got older, there was more competition for jobs, less social mobility. As baby boomers enter old age, problems concerning health care and social security arise. More older people are staying in the work force, which creates issues concerning longer working hours, retraining programs, and reeducation programs. As they live longer, new retirement/old age facilities will need to be created, as well as more doctors focusing on geriatric medicine, and more media will be developed to target the aging elderly population.
Also, societies with relatively low population shifts are generally not undergoing massive social change movements. To stabilize a population, social change needs to occur.
Gapminder
The Wealth and Health of Nations
Video
Website

12. Urbanization and Modernization
Urbanization – the concentration of population in cities
Modernization – process by which a society becomes increasingly complex as the society moves towards industrialization
URBANIZATION
MODERNIZATION

13. US Urbanization Periods of growth in US cities…
Colonial settlements –
Urban expansion –
Metropolitan era –
Metropolis – large city that politically, economically, and socially controls an urban area
Urban decentralization – present

14. Modernization Urbanization leads to modernization
How are urbanization and modernization connected to social change?
As societies start to urbanize and modernize, this requires people to come into close interaction with one another  clashing of ideas/thoughts/opinions which creates conflict and can induce social change.
Technological advances (new jobs, ways of life, religion loses some authority as scientific knowledge increases)
Increased production (pollution, environmental issues)
Longer life expectancy (healthcare for aging people, jobs for older people)
Increased communication (more ideas being shared)
Educational institutions (train professionals to work in urban jobs like banks, government, companies, etc)

15. Collective Behavior
Collectivity - a gathering of people who do not normally interact and who do not share clearly defined norms.  exhibit collective behavior
Collective behavior - The relatively spontaneous social behavior that occurs when people respond to similar stimuli.
Crowds
Fashion
Public opinion

16. Crowds Casual Crowd Conventional Crowd Expressive Crowd Acting Crowd
Temporary gathering of people who are in close enough proximity to interact.
Least interaction, least organized, most temporary
Ex: people in line for movie tickets, people observing the aftermath of an accident
Casual Crowd
Little interaction, but highly structured, rules for behavior, usually gathered for a common purpose
Ex: funeral, watching a film in a theater, baseball game
Conventional Crowd
Forms around emotionally charged activities, behaviors would be considered inappropriate in other times
Ex: rock concert, New Years Eve in Times Square
Expressive Crowd
Violent, emotions are more intense (hostile, destructive), particular target, violates established norms
Ex: violence that breaks out at sporting events towards officials, riots, mobs
Acting Crowd

17. Fashion
Enthusiastic attachments among large numbers of people for particular styles of appearance or behavior
Present in industrialized societies
Change is valued and desired
Get the newest and improved fashion!
Social mobility is valued
Can be demonstrated by having fashionable clothes, car, home, etc.
Fashion can represent desired social change.

18. Public Opinion
Public – a group of geographically scattered people who are concerned with or engaged in a particular issue.
A different publics for different issues – changes depending on who gains/loses interest in an issue
Public opinion - Refers to the collection of differing attitudes that members of a public have about a particular issue
Important because the public has a great deal of “sway” in a society – politics, laws, businesses, advertising, etc

19. Propaganda to Sway Public Opinion
Technique
Description
Testimonials
Endorsements by famous people to transfer the public’s admiration for the celebrity to the social movement
Transfer
Attempt to associate the social movement with something the public already approves of or respects
Bandwagon
Appeals to the public’s desire to conform by promoting the social movement as already popular with the public
Testimonial - Gun Violence and Control Celebrity PSA
Transfer – Dodge Challenger “Freedom” Commercial

20. Propaganda to Sway Public Opinion
Anti-Obama Ad – name calling
Name Calling
Uses negative labels or images in order to make opponents of the social movement appear unfavorable
Plain-Folks Appeal
Attempts to sway public opinion by appealing to the “average citizen” with whom everyone can identity
Glittering Generalities
Uses words that sound positive but have little real meaning – portrays social movement in positive light but provides little actual information
Card-Stacking
Presents facts in a way that puts the social movement in a favorable light – presents stats or survey results in a particular way

21. Collective Behavior How can crowds cause social change?
How can fashion cause social change?
How can public opinion cause social change?
BECAUSE COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR CREATES SOCIAL MOVEMENTS!!!

22. Social Movements
A long-term deliberate effort to promote or prevent social change.
Long-lasting
Highly structured with formally recognized leaders
Deliberate attempt to block or institute societal change
How many famous social movements can you identify?

23. Reactionary Movements
MAIN GOAL: to reverse current social trends
Suspicious of and hostile to social change
Return society to some version of the past that is seen as “ideal” or “better”
Neo-Nazism
Anti-feminism

24. Conservative Movements
MAIN GOAL: to protect what they see as society’s prevailing values from change that they consider to be a threat to those values.
Early 20th Century
Temperance Movement
Christian Right Movement, began in 1940s
Anti Same-Sex Marriage Groups

25. Revisionary Movements
MAIN GOAL: to improve, or revise, some part of society through social change.
Usually seek legal means
Typically focuses on a certain issue
Left: Civil Rights Movement
Above: Pro Same-Sex Marriage
Right: Women’s Suffrage Movement

26. Revolutionary Movement
MAIN GOAL: a total and radical change of the existing social structure and government
American Revolution
Arab Spring