The Real World

An Introduction to SociologyFourth Edition

Kerry Ferris and Jill Stein

Chapter 16: Social Change: Looking Toward Tomorrow

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What Is Social Change?

• Sociologists define social change as the transformation of a culture over time.

• This can be:• deliberate, intended• unplanned, unintentional

• Some changes are more controversial than others.

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What Is Social Change? (cont’d.)

• There are several ways that social change can occur:• Major physical event (hurricanes,

earthquakes, or volcanic eruptions) • Demographic factors (for example, the aging

of baby boomers)• Discoveries and innovations (fire, the wheel)

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What Is Social Change? (cont’d.)

• The most important contributions to social change have been made through collective action (like the civil rights movement).

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Collective Behavior

• Collective behavior: a group or crowd of people who form together to take action toward a shared goal.

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Theories of Collective Behavior• Contagion theory: Individuals

who join a crowd or mob become “infected” by a mob mentality and lose the ability to reason.

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Theories of Collective Behavior (cont’d.)

• Emergent norm theory states that:• Individual members of a crowd make

their own decisions about behavior. • Norms are created through others’

acceptance or rejection of these behaviors.

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Types of Collective Behavior

Collective behavior can take three different forms: • Crowd — temporary gathering of individuals (spontaneous or planned) with a common focus. • Riot — continuous disorderly behavior by a group of people that disturbs the peace and is directed toward other people or property.• Mass behavior — large groups of people engage in similar behaviors without necessarily being in the same place.

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Examples of Mass Behavior

• Fads—interests or practices followed enthusiastically for a relatively short period of time.

• Fashion—the widespread custom or style of behavior and appearance at a particular time or in a particular place.

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Examples of Mass Behavior (cont’d.)

• A social dilemma happens when a behavior is rational for an individual but it can lead to collective disaster when practiced by many people.

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Specific Social Dilemmas

• Tragedy of the commons—many individuals overexploit a public resource and deplete or degrade it.

• Public goods dilemma—individuals must contribute to a collective resource, even though they might not benefit from it.

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Collective Behavior (cont’d.)

• A social movement refers to any social group with leadership, organization, and an ideological commitment to promote or resist social change.

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Collective Behavior (cont’d.)

• Armand Mauss identified the four stages that social movements tend to go through.1. Public defines problem

2. People organize

3. Movement becomes bureaucratized

4. Movement begins to decline

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Emergent Social Movements: Promoting and Resisting Change

• Because society is constantly changing, new social movements and different opportunities for activism (any activity intended to bring about social change) are constantly emerging.

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Types of Social Movements

• Some emerging social movements are regressive (attempt to resist social changes, maintain the status quo, or go back to an earlier form of social order)

• Others are more progressive (efforts to promote forward-thinking social change)

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Technology andSocial Change

• Sociologists have developed a number of theories to explain the role of technology in social change. One common characteristic of these theories is an emphasis on technological determinism (the idea that technology plays a defining role in shaping society).

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Technology andSocial Change (cont’d.)

• Cultural lag refers to the time between changes in material culture or technology and the resulting changes in the broader culture’s relevant norms, values, meanings, and laws.

• Cultural diffusion refers to the spread of material and nonmaterial culture to new cultural groups regardless of the movement of people.

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Technology and Social Change (cont’d.)

• Cultural imperialism refers to cultural influence caused by adopting another culture’s products rather than by an imposing military force.

• Cultural leveling is the process by which societies lose their uniqueness and become increasingly similar.

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Implications for a Postmodern World

• Modernity refers to the social conditions and attitudes characteristic of industrialized societies, including the decline of tradition, an increase in individualism, and a belief in progress, technology, and science.

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Implications for a Postmodern World (cont’d.)

Postmodernity refers to the social conditions and attitudes characteristic of postindustrialized societies, including a focus on the production and management of information and skepticism of science and technology.

Have you ever been part of a group that was working toward a shared goal?

a. yes b. no

Chapter 16: Participation Questions

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Have you ever engaged in an act of activism (an activity intended to bring about social change)?

a. yes b. no

Chapter 16: Participation Questions

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Do you have a Facebook account?

a. yes b. no

Chapter 16: Participation Questions

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Have you traveled abroad? If so, did you notice any American influence on the local culture?

a. I haven’t traveled abroad.b. I have traveled abroad but didn’t see

much American influence.c. I have traveled abroad and I saw a little

American influence.d. I have traveled abroad and I saw a lot of

American influence.

Chapter 16: Participation Questions

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© 2014 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

The Real World4th Edition

AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGY

Kerry Ferrisand

Jill Stein

This concludes the Lecture PowerPoint presentation for

Chapter 16

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