Lecture Sixteen - Social Change and Social Movements
This lecture looks at social change and social movements. I focus on the major causes of social change. Then I look at the direction of social movements in the world today. Here we think about the directions that society is changing, the ways organized groups create change, and hopefully, how we can better understand ourselves in large-scale social structures. Adapting to social change is one of the most challenging aspects of living in modern society.
How human's understand social change or any event depends on the historical moment and society where they live. The plagues in Europe 700 years ago were thought to be caused by an unfavorable alignment of the planets. The local interpretation was that sin caused the plague. We now know or speculate a ship containing rats and fleas caused it. Social change is complicated. Humans live in a world that is not in harmony but operates as if it is.
I. What Is and What Do We think Causes Social Change
Social change is a significant alteration, modification, or transformation in the organization and operation of social life. Social change is normal in today's society. Change as normal is a very recent phenomenon. Humans are fixated toward certain behaviors. They fear change and use group persuasion and power as ways to repel it. We create fictions about the world to legitimate current practices and to avoid the loss of control. Habit suspends conscious thought and creates a sense security. Today, adapting to changes in society and the workforce require individuals to become innovators and understand and engage the world. As we have seen, the recent rapidity of social change in the world has altered among other things the family, livestyles, and career path of Americans.
Social Change is caused by:
1) Inventions and Innovations - Technology changes cultural practices and how human's travel, communicate, create energy, engage in war, and organize society. The current social order reflects consumerism, changing roles for the family, and information as a resource. For instance, the microchip has ushered in the information age. It means television, cell phones, and the global communications are part of our lives.
Your text in chapter 18 overviews how technology shapes our lives. Technology is defined as the application of science. We assume it improves our lives. That is not always true. We make weapons and prepare for war. (One-third of a trillion dollars worth in the U.S. a year) Americans value science. We live in the future. We live in a risk society where we actually are secure with dangerous technology. East Tennessee is a good example. Oak Ridge has or had nuclear bombs, hazardous wastes, reactors, and other dangers since WWII. Eastman Kodak and BASF (now Lenzing) are major suppliers of chemicals for products. They are extremely dangerous plants. BASF is a superfund site. We have cheap electricity rates yet the Smoky Mountains are the nations most polluted due to TVA's out-of-date power plants. The list is endless.
We live is a technopoly where technology shapes our consumer culture. We invent and distribute good and services at a rapid rate in our society (Brym and Lie 2002:521).
2) Diffusion - Humans share ideas and materials with each other through culture. Immigrants take on and bring new ideas. The recent global economy and communications revolution is accelerating social change. Products and cultural practices from the U.S. are having an impact on Asia and South America, and Europe. McDonalds is in Russia and China. We eat immigrant and ethnic food in America. It is the only true American food.
3) Movement in the economy creates social change. The boom and bust cycles generated in the search for profit create disturbances in the social order. Unemployment creates poverty and conflict. A crisis in the system creates major breaks in the system. Poverty can lead to wealth redistribution or revolution. The depression in the 1930s and recessions in the 70s and 80s led to social changes we all experience today. Social Security and unemployment insurance date to the insecurity created by the crash in the economy in the 1930s.
4) Cultural clashes create social change. Conflict over religious and political ideas generate violence, war, and oppression. The current global climate is characterized by a clash of cultures. Islam and Christian and Catholic and Protestant are in continuous conflicts in several locations throughout the world. The strive for control over resources, wealth, and power often fall along cultural lines. We will go to war over oil and political ideas again soon.
5) Environmental change can be caused by human interaction. Alterations in weather or shifts in the earth creates social change. An example is California which is currently experiencing severe problems with a shortage of energy and water. The rest of the country will also probably feel the effects of the shortage. California does not have enough water and the draught is leading to less energy. The crisis is causing social change. People are experiencing high energy costs, blackouts, and small businesses are going out of business due to costs.
Human activities have created massive change to natural systems in the 20th century. We have accelerated timbering, fishing, create land-use around human disposable waste products, exterminated animals, and over used water and other resources. Air pollution has accelerated since World War Two covering the globe.
The 20th century is different because of the intensification of environmental destruction. We have created basic changes in natural systems on earth. One important aspect is the reality that we have destroyed buffer zones in nature. We are losing green spaces, formerly vast areas of unused water, and biodiversity. In the short time we have water shortages and fewer species. In the long term we may not have enough space and basic water supplies.
We know that our current way of treating nature will not last. We do not know what will happen in the future. But we know it will cause social change. More and more we know that the environmental changes will create future social changes.
6) Change in political systems also changes society. The global movement toward democracy is part of the struggle for human rights and participation which characterizes conflict within societies. Cultural differences create differing ideas on human rights and participation.
II. Social Movements
Social movements are purposeful and organized attempts to change or preserve some aspect of society. Social movements vary by the goals of each group. Social movements are situations where groups come together to change the way the world works. Every aspect of our lives have been impacted by social movements in the 20th century.
The labor movement created worker's rights to bargain, shortened hours, and improved conditions. These movements are called the old movements. They focused on labor rights and economic and political issues. They led to mass protest where people participated in issues they believed in. The old movements were based on big organizations such as the union movement.
The new movements are characterized by a different set of characteristics. New social movements are based on participation to defend lifestyles and operate within communities. The idea that the political and the personal are the same characterizes the new social movements. Quality of private life is an important aspect of the new social movements. Examples include people fighting for rights for the disabled, gay lifestyles, neighborhoods, child workers, the environment, peace, or against big government. NIMBYS or not in my backyard movements are a main way people participate in social movements. Groups organized to defend community against polluters or encroachment is a common NIMBY. Issues debated in public often then become political battles. NIMTOOS (not in my term of office) happens when politicians perceive an issue as important to their survival.
The origins of the new social movements are the rights movements in the 1960s. The Civil Rights movement led to rights for minorities and integrated society. The women's movement led to a woman's right to vote and laws against harassment and rape.
Backyard issues such as farm preservation, toxic dumping, or school reform and funding are hot topics for people defending lifestyles or with children in schools. These movements often want to create consciousness of the individual's right to exist. Participation in these movements is important to the individual and they connect people in their everyday lives. They are not large organizations but individuals in their community, on the internet, and in common social situations. People often use the idea of thinking globally and acting locally in the new social movements.
Question:
1) What changes in society listed here do you think are the most important and why?
2) What types of social movement have you participated in? What type of political activity do you envision in your life?
3) What is the difference between the old and new social movements?