SOCIOCULTURAL

TRANSFORMATION
“Nothing endures but change.”
– Heraclitus
SOCIAL CHANGE

Define social change.

Discuss the various sources of social change.
Explain the theories of social change.
What is Social Change?
• It is the alteration in patterns of culture,
social structure, & social behavior over
time.
Sources of Social Change

1. The Physical Environment

• Does not necessarily cause change but it may set limits on
some forms of social change

2. Population
• Any significant increase or decrease in population may
affect or even disrupt social life.
• Rapid growth mass migration, social
disorganization, conflict over scarce resources
• Very slow growth danger of extinction
Sources of Social Change
3. Ideas
• Karl Marx: ideologies arise from social conditions
• Max Weber & Emile Durkheim: ideas influence social action
• Both are correct
• Belief systems (ideologies) determine what we regard as needs,
and we take social action to bring about the changes necessary to
meet those needs.
4. Events
• Random, unpredictable happenings that affect the course of social
change
• Ex: (9/11 New York bombing that precipitated the war in Iraq)
Sources of Social Change
5. Cultural Innovation
• a) Discovery – the perception of reality that already exists.
(Ex: discovery of new continents). A discovery only
becomes a source of social change if it is put to use.

• b) Invention – the combination or new use of existing

knowledge to produce something that did not exist before;
may be material (light bulb) or social (democratic
institutions).

• c) Diffusion – spread of cultural elements—both material

artifacts & ideas—from one society to another
Sources of Social Change
6. Human Action
• Acts of powerful leaders & other individuals, and the
social movements & collective behaviors of large
numbers of people (Ex: People power; Marcos’
declaration of martial law)

7. Technology
• The practical applications of scientific or other
knowledge

Please note: Any change that takes place is likely a result

of a complex of interacting forces: environmental,
technological, personal, cultural, political, religious,
economic, and so on.
 Theories of Social Change

1. Evolutionary Theories
• Societies gradually develop from simple beginnings into even more
complex forms.
a) Unilinear Evolution
Auguste Comte: human societies evolve in “one line” of
development that recurs in every society
• Assumption: social “change” meant “progress” toward
something better

• Lewis Henry Morgan: there are three basic stages of societies—

savagery, barbarism, & civilization

• Herbert Spencer: Social Darwinism—Western societies had

survived & evolved to “higher” levels than non-Western ones
because they were better adapted to face the conditions of life
Theories of Social Change
• 1. Evolutionary Theories

b) Multilinear Evolution
Evolution of societies can take place in
many different ways; change does not
necessarily follow exactly the same
direction in every society.

Change does not necessarily mean

progress
Theories of Social Change
2. Cyclical Theories
• Civilizations rise & fall, or swing from one extreme
to another
• a) Osward Spengler: The Destiny of Civilizations
• The fate of civilizations was a matter of “destiny”
• His theory is out of fashion today because it is
unscientific.
Theories of Social Change
• 2. Cyclical Theories

• b) Arnold Toynbee: Challenge & Response

• Every society faces challenges—at first, challenges posed
by the environment; later, challenges from internal &
external enemies.

• The nature of a society’s response determines its fate.

• The achievements of a civilization consist of its successful

responses to major challenges; if it cannot successfully
respond, it dies.

• Each new civilization is able to borrow from other cultures

& learn from their mistakes.
 Theories of Social Change
3. Functionalist Theory
• Talcott Parsons: a society consists of interdependent parts,
each of w/c helps to maintain the stability of the entire
system.
• Society is constantly seeking equilibrium, or balance.
• Change is something that alters the society, with the result
that a qualitatively new equilibrium results.
• The society will have to adapt to change to maintain itself.
Theories of Social Change
• 4. Conflict Theory
• Marx: Change is caused by tensions between competing
interests in society.

• Conflict is a normal process.

• !!! No single theory can account for social change

Example of Social Change:

MODERNIZATION
What is Modernization?
• Modernization is the foremost example of social change in
the modern world.

• It is the process of economic and social change that is

brought about by the introduction of the industrial mode
of production into a preindustrial society.
 The Social Effects of Modernization
1. Culture
• It becomes a widely-shared mass culture, spreads not only within
the society but from society to society by the mass media &
through travel.

2. Personal Values
• People become more change-oriented, less fatalistic, develop a
strong sense of individualism, with a corresponding loss of loyalty
to a community.

3. Social Groups
• The small, primary group (kinship network) is replaced by
anonymous secondary groups.
• Formation of large formal organizations, bureaucratization
The Social Effects of Modernization
4. Social Stratification
• In more advanced industrial societies, the growing wealth
of society tends to be more equally shared

• Dissolution of rigid forms of stratification based on

ascribed characteristics such as race or caste

• Increased social mobility, social status achieved by

personal effort rather than on ascribed grounds

5. Social Inequalities
• Greater equality between the sexes due to more
• opportunities for women
• Power shifts from the elderly to the middle-aged
The Social Effects of Modernization
6. The Family
• The monogamous nuclear family takes center stage, and
traditional kinship ties are loosened or broken

7. Education
• Schools take over many of the family’s earlier
socialization functions.

• Greater access to education by the masses

 The Social Effects of Modernization
8. Religion
• Increasing number of people interpret the world
through secular rather than religious principles.

• The process of secularization leaves religion as a

minor social institution.

9. Science
• Emerges as a major social institution, because
industrialization relies on the technological
applications of scientific knowledge.
 The Social Effects of Modernization
10. Economics
• Economic activity based on industrial production,
w/c produces unprecedented wealth

• Division of labor becomes highly specialized;

increasing number of people work in white-collar
rather than blue-collar jobs

11. Politics
• A strong, centralized state emerges, and it regulates
more & more areas of social & economic life.
 The Social Effects of Modernization
12. Population & Health
• Death rates decline sharply because of modern medical
facilities
• Birth rates have slowly declined as well

13. Ecology
• Pollution, scarcity of nonrenewable resources (caused by
overpopulation)

14. Urbanization
• Rapid growth of cities where industries are concentrated &
people are attracted by job opportunities.
• A majority of the population now lives in urban areas
Activity Time

• In groups, the students will discuss and identify

different examples of social, cultural, changes in their
communities. Each group will then present their
findings and discuss how these changes impact the
community.