Law and Social Change

Introduction
• The relationship between legal and social change

• Law’s changes are either independent from social change

or depend on social change

• Law is a mirror of society. Therefore, rapid social change

requires rapid legal change as well. But there are gaps
between law and society???
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Social change = change in social structures

•What are social

structures?
Social structures
E.g.
restrict
▪Cultural structures
people’s behaviours
• Legal System
oInstitutional structure

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What causes change in social structures

•inequality •War/conflict

Scientific
advancements Free
thinking

Competition
Economic
•Politica changes
l power

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What are the results of social change?

instability

results

dislocation conflict

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 Types of social change
1. Revolutionary social change (Revolutionary social change tends to
derive from inequalities of various kinds and resulting conflicts
which spawn political action, both within and beyond the
recognized political institutions.)
2. Evolutionary social change. (Evolutionary change occurs ‘naturally’
as populations grow, societies become more complex.)
3. Social change imposed from external sources(e.g. colonization)

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 What is Social Change ? ‘Large scale transformations’
Society imposes pressure on individuals to achieve socially accepted goals
whether or not they have the means
Modifications in the
Changes associated primarily with economic way people:
conditions and market forces and have
consequences for political, social and cultural • work,
activities. • rear a family, raise
e.g. children,
• Industrialization • seek ultimate meaning
in life.
• shift from rural agrarian, feudal or
traditional societies to modern, industrial • Dress, eat,
societies • Recreation: Movies,
• emergence of capitalism, democratization, Dramas, Music ….
and most recently globalization.
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 Relationship/reciprocity between law and social
change
There are two contrasting views on this relationship:

1. Law is determined by the sense of justice and the moral

sentiments of the population, and legislation can only achieve
results by staying relatively close to the prevailing social norms.
(Abortion Law in Sri Lanka)
2. Law (especially legislation), is a vehicle through which a
programmed social evolution can be brought about. (e.g.?

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 Law acts as:
(a) an instrument of, or
(b) response to social change

• Different mechanisms by different societies / legal systems

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Social realities

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 Sri Lanka to act over adoption racket
Daily News – Sept 21, 2017

Reportedly:
• More than 11,000 babies were adopted by
Western countries from Sri Lanka in the 1980s.
• Probation Officers, Doctors, Hospital
Attendants and Nurses act as intermediaries
for Western adoption agencies;
• Women were impregnated to meet the
demand for adoptive children.

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Reform of the law and institutional mechanism – broad
framework

Individual interests
Child / adoptive parents / biological parents
/guardians/custodians

Social interests

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