CHAPTER 6

MAKING SOCIETY BETTER

Focus Question:

 1. Why do societies change?

 2. How does society cope with change?
 3. How can we respond to these changes?
What is Social Change?
Characteristics of social
change
The process of social change has four
major characteristics:
 1. Social change happens all the time.Everything in our social world are
subject to change, although some societies change faster than others. As
Macionis points out, hunting and gathering societies change quite slowly,
whereas members of today’s high-income societies experience
significant change within a single lifetime. Some elements of culture
also change faster than others.
 Macionis thus cites William Ogburn’s theory of cultural lag, which states
that material culture (things) usually changes faster than nonmaterial
culture (ideas and attitudes).
 For instance, advances in genetic technology have developed more
rapidly than ethical standards on the use of the technology.
The process of social change has four
major characteristics:
 2. Social change is sometimes intentional but is often unplanned. Today’s
high-income societies generate many kinds of change.
 Yet, it would be impossible to envision all the consequences of the changes
that are set in motion.
 For example, telephones (invented in 1876) have taken on different forms
and uses over time.
The process of social change has four
major characteristics:
 3. Social change is controversial. Social change brings both good and bad
 consequences, and thus could be welcomed by some and opposed by others.
 Karl Marx and Max Weber have chronicled the transformations brought about
 by the Industrial Revolution. The capitalists welcomed the Industrial
 Revolution because new technology meant increased productivity and profits.
 However, workers opposed it as they suffered alienation and the
 dehumanization brought about by newer techniques and social relations of
 production.
The process of social change has four
major characteristics:
 4. Some changes matter more than others.Some changes such as fashion fads
 only have passing significance, while others such as major medical
 discoveries and inventions may change the world.
Causes of social change
Social change has many causes.
 There are three important sources of cultural change (Macionis 2012: 565–566).
First is invention, or the creation of something new by usually by putting things
together. Inventions can range from the seemingly complex technological objects
such as the spacecraft or even the lightbulb to the seemingly simple such as
kitchen gadgets (like can openers).
 Second is discovery, or finding something that has existed but previously not
known. Chapter 2 provides various examples of the discovery of material and
fossil remains of prehistoric societies that changed our understanding of
biophysical and cultural evolution.
 Third is diffusion, or the spread of cultural attributes from one culture to
another through contact between different cultural groups. Change happens as
products, people, and information spread from one society to another. An
example of cultural change is the wide variety of cuisine from other lands that is
made available to us. Fast-food courts and restaurants in major Philippine cities
offer food from around the country and the world that is usually not part of a
person’s everyday meal. Filipino overseas workers have also been known to
introduce balut and other Filipino foods to their host societies. Another example
is the evolving ideals of beauty as people come in greater contact with others.
B. Conflict and change
 Inequality and conflict in a society also produce change.
Karl Marx foresaw that “social conflict arising from
inequality (involving not just class but also race and
gender) would force changes in every society to
improve the lives of working people” (Macionis 2012:
566).
 In the Philippines, the rising inequalities and human
rights violations during the Martial Law period caused
mass uprisings that culminated in the 1986 People
Power Revolt.
 The Philippines was considered to be the first in the
world to have challenged authoritarian rule through a
non-violent process.
C. Ideas and change
 Weber, like Marx, also saw that conflict could bring
about change.
 However, he traced the roots of most social change to
ideas (Macionis 2012: 566).
 For example, charismatic people such as Mahatma
Gandhi or Jose Rizal had political ideas that change
society.
D. Demographic change
 Population patterns such as population growth, shifts in
the composition of a population, or migration also play
a part in social change (Macionis 2012:566).
 An increasing population may encourage the
development of new products and services, but it can
also have ecological and social implications such the
conversion of more agricultural land to residential
subdivisions.
 In other societies, lower fertility rates (women are
having fewer children), an aging population, and the
influx of migrants from other societies are changing
many aspects of social life.
Modernity
 A central concept in the study of social change
is modernity.
 Modernity refers to social patterns resulting
from industrialization. These social patterns
were set in motion by the Industrial
Revolution, which began in Western Europe in
the 1750s.
 Related to the discussion of modernity is
modernization, or the process of social change
begun by industrialization (Ibid).
 For Emile Durkheim, modernization is defined
by an increasing division of labor. The division
of labor refers to the degree to which tasks or
responsibilities are specialized.
 Durkheim defines a society according to type of
solidarity. Mechanical solidarity is based on
shared activities and beliefs while organic
solidarity is characterized by specialization
makes people interdependent. As societies
become industrialized, mechanical solidarity is
gradually replaced by organic solidarity.
 For Emile Durkheim, modernization is defined
by an increasing division of labor. The division
of labor refers to the degree to which tasks or
responsibilities are specialized.
 Durkheim defines a society according to type of
solidarity.
 Mechanical solidarity is based on shared
activities and beliefs while organic solidarity is
characterized by specialization makes people
interdependent. As societies become
industrialized, mechanical solidarity is gradually
replaced by organic solidarity.
 For Weber, modernity meant replacing a
traditional worldview with a rational way of
thinking characterized by goal-oriented
calculation and efficiency. He focused on the
dehumanizing effects of modern rational
organization, especially the bureaucracy which
is the ultimate form of rationalization.
 Marx saw modernity as the triumph of
capitalism over feudalism. Capitalism creates
social conflict, which Marx claimed would bring
about revolutionary change leading to an
egalitarian socialist society.

 George Ritzer introduces the concept of

McDonaldization of society while Randolf David
explores the Philippine experience of
modernity.
New challenges to human adaptation and
social change

 1. Global warming and climate change: Discuss

Garrett Hardin’s Tragedy of the commons.
 2. Transnational migration and Overseas Filipino
Workers (OFWs): Discuss F. Landa Jocano’s
“Culture Shock” and Rhacel Parreñas’s,
“Mothering from a Distance”.
Responding to social, political, and
cultural change
 1. Inclusive citizenship and participatory
governance
 2. New forms of media and social networking
 3. Social movements (e.g., environmentalism,
feminism, religious fundamentalism)