1. Social Change
Unit II: Culture

2. Social Change All cultures change over time
Some cultures change faster than others
The more cultural traits there are, the faster the culture can change (more possibilities for change exist)

3. What Causes Social Change?
Values and Beliefs
Technology
Population
Diffusion
Physical Environment
Wars and Conquest

4. 1.Values and Beliefs
A change in one aspect of society produces change throughout the system
Changes in values and beliefs can have far- reaching consequences for society
This is especially true when new values and beliefs are part of a larger system of ideology

5. 1.Values and Beliefs Ideology:
A system of beliefs or ideas that justifies some social, moral, religious, political, or economic interests held by a social group of society
Ideologies often are spread through social movements

6. 1.Values and Beliefs Social Movement:
A long-term conscious effort to promote or prevent social change
What are some influential historical social movements? Modern?

7. 2. Technology Technology:
The knowledge and tools that people use to manipulate their environment for practical purposes
Two ways in which new technologies arise: discovery and invention

8. 2.Technology
Discovery occurs when people recognize new uses for existing elements in the world or begin to understand them in new ways
Invention occurs when people use existing knowledge to create something that did not previously exist

9. 3. Population
A change in the size of population may bring changes in the culture
Population increases and decreases affect the economy

10. 3. Population
People also bring about changes by moving from one place to another
Changes in the age structure of a population also brings about social and cultural changes

11. 4. Diffusion
People often borrow ideas, acts, beliefs, and material objects from other societies
Diffusion:
The process of spreading culture traits from one society to another
The more contact a society has with other societies, the more ideas it will borrow

12. 5. Physical Environment
Environment provides conditions that may encourage or discourage cultural change
Resources, natural disasters, weather, natural resources all contribute to physical environment

13. 6. Wars and Conquest Not a common source of cultural change
However, they bring about the greatest change in a society in the least amount of time
War and conquest affect all aspects of life: family, property, industry, economy, ect.
Brings about both positive and negative changes

14. Resistance to Change Almost always two opposing forces
Most change is a result of compromise

15. 1. Ethnocentrism
The tendency to view one’s own culture or group as superior
Change from outside of a group is often met with strong resistance
Extreme ethnocentrism can make compromise or borrowing between individuals/groups difficult or impossible

16. 2. Cultural Lag
A situation in which some aspects of the culture change less rapidly, or lag behind, other aspects of the same culture
People tend to accept changes in material culture traits much more readily that changes in non-material cultural traits

17. 3. Vested Interests
People who are satisfied with how things are currently are more likely to resist change
The known present is better than the unknown future
They are invested in the present