The following notes cover:

1. Characteristics of social change

2. Technology as a determinant of culture
3. Exercise four

CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL CHANGE:

To understand social change well, we have to analyse its nature and characteristics. We
shall use Puja Mondal’s characterization of social change who perceives social change as
follows:

1. Social Change is Social:

(in terms of social processes, interactions, organizations. It has significance to all or

considerable proportion of society)

2. Social Change is Universal:

Change is the universal law of nature because society cannot be static. Many forces exert
on society (on different societies) and cause/necessitate change. One change leads to
another.

3. Social Change is Continuous: Society is an ever-changing phenomenon.

4. Social Change Involves No-Value Judgement: Social change does not attach any
value judgement. It is neither moral nor immoral, it is amoral.

5. Social Change is Bound by Time Factors:

Social change is temporal. It happens through time, because society exists only as a time-
sequences. We understand change mainly through time (when did this happen?)

6. Rate and Tempo of Social Change is Uneven:

Though social change is a must for each and every society, the rate, speed and extent of
change is not uniform across all societies. (e.g. transitions between stages take different
times)

7. Definite Prediction of Social Change is Impossible:

It is very much difficult to make out any prediction on the exact forms of social change.

1
8. Social Change Shows Chain-Reaction Sequences:

Society is a dynamic system of interrelated parts. Changes in one aspect of life may
induce a series of changes in other aspects. For example, with the emancipation of
women, educated young women find the traditional type of family and marriage not quite
fit to their liking.

9. Social Change takes place due to Multiple-Number of Factors: it is often difficult

to point to one factor as the cause of change. The change is due to a combination of many
factors

10. Social Changes are Chiefly Modifications or of Replacement: Social changes may
be considered as modifications or replacements. It may be modification of physical goods
or social relationships.

11. Social Change may be Small-scale or Large-scale:

Small-scale change refers to changes within groups and organizations rather than
societies, culture or civilization. Small scale may not have any immediate and major
consequences for the generalised structure (society) as such.

12. Social change may be short-term or Long-term:

Social change has a time span; it can be short or long term. Short term changes may lead
to long term changes. (e.g. the rapid population increase now may have long term
consequences)

13. Social Change may be Peaceful or Violent:

Gradual changes are usually peaceful while rapid changes are usually violent. Peaceful
changes take place by consent or acceptance, and are enforced b the normative restraints
of society.

14. Social Change may be Planned or Unplanned:

Unplanned change may result from natural calamities, such as famines and floods,
earthquakes and volcanic eruption etc (nature is never at rest).

Planned social change occurs when social changes are conditioned by human
engineering. Plans, programmes and projects are made by man in order to determine and
control the direction of social change.

2
Besides that by nature human beings desire change. The curiosity of a man never rests;
nothing checks his desire to know. There is always a curiosity about the unknown. The
needs of human beings are changing day by day. So to satisfy these needs they desire
change.

15. Social Change may be Endogenous or Exogenous:

Endogenous social change is a result of internal forces within the society. Exogenous
change is caused by factors external to the society, e.g. invasion, cultural imperialism,
famine, technology transfer, etc.

TECHOLOGY AS A DETERMINANT OF CULTURE

In this topic, we seek to develop an understanding of how technology shapes or

determines culture. In order to understand the link between the two, we need to
understand each of them.

In previous notes, we already formulated an understanding of what technology is. But as

a reminder, technology is:

 The collection of tools, including machinery, modifications, arrangements and

procedures used by humans
 A body of knowledge used to create tools, develop skills, and extract or collect
materials
 The application of science to meet an objective or solve a problem.
 Applied science

Now let’s turn to Culture. What is culture? According to Tim Curry et al: (Sociology for
the 21st century) culture is the totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts,
beliefs, institutions and all other products of human work and thought.

Culture embodies the mutually shared products, knowledge and beliefs of a human group
or society. It refers to all aspects of life within a given society.

Culture is divisible into (i) Material culture and (ii) non-material culture (the values, art,
language, world views and other symbolic representations of the social and physical
world). Material culture refers to all those tangible things that we use to satisfy our needs.

How did culture and technology evolve?

3
Andrea Thompson ( How did human culture evolve) – www.livescience.com/1761-
greatestmysteries

Thompson argues that humans evolved a culture because of their capacity to think and
create (they have intelligence, are intelligent).

Human intelligence is cumulative because it is self enhancing. This means that human
intelligence has the capacity to grow and enrich itself. (how does this compare with
animals?)

Since culture is learned and transmitted through observation and interaction, it seems to
have evolved with the innovations/inventions/discoveries of a few people. Culture seems
to have begun when people began to fabricate tools, to modify nature, hence becoming
technological. Think about how human evolved from the from the stone age to the
industrial age, with highly sophisticated science. (how does this compare with animals?)

Tim Curry et al: these authors argue that culture started at local levels, determined by the
physical environment, and therefore very diverse. With time it became more
homogeneous (similar) because of human interaction, facilitated by technology. Cultural
diversity/differences is diminishing because of cultural diffusion and the influence of
dominant relations. Traditional local societies are embracing technologies of the modern
societies, which are influencing their cultures (e.g. television, computers, cell phones –
these are making the traditional cultures exposed and vulnerable to the dominant
cultures). People begin to think globally rather than locally. Local uniqueness is
overtaken by a homogenous/dominant world culture.

Technology is closely linked to culture, and the standardization of technology and

technology products is in turn leading to standardization of culture. Products are no
longer determined by local environment, but by distribution chains and markets. This is
very much evident in globalization.

As technology crosses borders, culture also crosses borders. This is making the world
culturally smaller.

Technology and culture are therefore in a complex relationship, in which they influence
each other, and it is difficult to identify the beginning of this relationship. The two have
been closely related, changing over the years, and enriching each other. Technology
improves/changes peoples’ way of life and enriching their civilization and culture.
Sometimes civilization and culture are perceived as one and the same. In turn, the
4
improvements in culture and civilization lead to more improvements or changes in
technology, or the invention of totally new technology. The two therefore, technology
and culture, influence each other.

Exercise four

(a) Which one of the 15 characteristics of social change do you somehow disagree
with, and why. Write your answer in not more than fifty words in the table below.
(b) Choose/identify one type of technology or technological product, and very briefly
explain how it is changing our lives (causing social change). Write your answer in
the table below in not more than forty words.

Send the completed table as an email attachment to robert.kabumbuli@mak.ac.ug by

the close of Monday 7th March 2022. The attachment (the file) must bear your name
and Exercise4 (you are already familiar with this requirement from your exercise one).
Please save your files ONLY as Microsoft word files, NOT PDF.

The exercise carries a maximum of five marks. Note that after you submit this
exercise, you will have covered 20/40 coursework marks.

Exercise Three
Your name and Registration
Are you a SOC or SAN student

1 - Characteristic of Why? (not more than 50 words)

technology that you
somehow disagree with

2- Type of technology that Your brief explanation of how the technology has
you have chosen changed our lives (not more than 40 words)