Theories of Social

Change
 Theory
a network of interrelated hypotheses or

propositions concerning a

phenomenon
 I. EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES
Charles Darwin:
Theory of biological evolution/ natural selection

Auguste Comte:
Social evolution
Law of progress (progress toward a perfect society)
A perfect society comes not by political revolution but by the proper application
of moral science which he termed “sociology”

Phases of a perfect society

 Theological stage: people thought that inanimate objects are alive

 Metaphysical stage: causality is explained in terms of abstract

forces and nature is the great entity
 Positive stage: period when society is guided by evidence-based
scientific laws
 Lewis Henry Morgan
:

saw society as evolving through a number of 7 technological stages

7 technological stages
 Lower status of savagery (from infancy of the human race to the
commencement of the next period)

 Middle status of savagery (from the acquisition of a fish subsistence and

knowledge of the use of fire,etc.)

 Upper status of savagery (invention of bow and arrow)

 Lower status of barbarism (invention of
the art of pottery)

 Middle status of barbarism (domestication of animals, cultivation of

maize by irrigation, use of bricks & stones
 Upper status of barbarism (invention of
the process of smelting iron ore, use of iron tools)
 Status of civilization (invention of phonetic alphabet, use of writing)
 Walt Rostow
Five stages of development

 Traditional stage
 Preconditions for take-off
 Take off stage
 Drive toward maturity
 High mass consumption
 II. CONFLICT THEORIES
 Conflict theorists consider
change, rather than order, as the essential
element of social life.

 change is an intrinsic process in society,

not merely an outcome of an unbalanced
part of a social system
 Karl Marx
:
 Conflict is a normal condition in social life
 Conflict and change are inseparable
 History is the story of conflict between the
exploiting and the exploited classes
 This conflict repeats itself again and again
until capitalism is overthrown by the
workers and a socialist state is created
 Lewis Coser

 Conflict is a part of the socialization

process; no social group can be
completely harmonious.

 Conflict in society is inevitable

 Conflict encourages “in group” cohesion

 Ralf Dahrendorf

 Social conflict has a structural origin

 Conflict is a problem of unequal authority in all

sectors of society

 The more the subordinate interest group

becomes organized, the more likely they will be
in conflict with the dominant group
 III. STRUCTURAL-
FUNCTIONAL THEORIES
 structure- a set of relatively stable &
patterned relationships of social units (e.g.
family, government, religion, economic
system, education)
 functions-consequence of any social
activity that make for the adaptation or
adjustment of a given structure or its
component parts
 Functionalists accept
 change as a constant which does not need
to be explained

 Changes disrupt the equilibrium of society

until the change has been integrated into
the culture
 Changes which prove to be useful
(functional) are accepted & those which
are useless or dysfunctional are rejected
 IV. SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL
THEORIES
 In a changing society, it is important to
remember that it is ,in fact, people who
change

 Societies develop as a result of the

workings of certain psychological factors
 Everett Hagen
 Change from a traditional to a modern
society will not come about without a
change in personality
 Modern society is a product of what he
calls “innovational” personality
characterized by attributes as creativity,
curiosity, openness to experience
 People without a role in society becomes
alienated and frustrated
 David McClelland
 For rapid economic development, he stressed
that “investment in man is as important as
investment in plans”

 His concern was on a specific change-economic

development
 He asserts that eco. devt. results from a
preceding development –achievement.
 “A society with a generally high level of
achievement will produce more rapid economic
development”
achievement – individual economic achievement
that produces economic growth
Achievement motivation could be inculcated in
 training of self-reliance
 high praise for hard work
 persistence in goal attainment
 interest in excellence for its own sake
 Max Weber

In his work The Protestant Ethic & the Spirit of Capitalism:

 The theme – the development . of capitalism was due to
specific psychological states due
to the spread of the Protestant
ethic.
 Modern western civilization is a product of the Protestant
ethic.
 There is a strong attitude of respect for work in the
Protestant ethic
 By embracing the Protestant ethic, people began acting
in ways that made them more successful
 V. SYSTEMS THEORIES
System- an organized whole or unit that includes the interactions of its
interdependent component parts and its relationship to the
environment
 The theory emphasizes information & communication because the
relations of parts of society involve information exchange (which
involves feedback, or information return)

This theory promises to see

 the causes of phenomena
 the possible consequences of the phenomena
 the mutual interactions of these factors
 the total emergent processes as a function of possible positive
and/or negative feedbacks mediated by the choices of the individual
 This theory promises to provide a better understanding of the
intricacies of social change