Last Updated on December 28, 2022 by Team TSW

Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher, is quoted as saying “change is the only constant in life.” Change means visible alteration in anything between two different times. Social change is a significant alteration over time in behavior patterns, cultural values and norms of a society. By significant alteration we mean changes that have a wide social impact on a large part of a specific society or community. Some of the most recognized examples of social changes are  industrial revolution, the abolition of slavery, and the feminist movement. This is now an established fact that social movements play an inspiring role to bring changes in society. Social Action is one of the methods which brings in social changes.

Definitions of social change

Pace of social changes is different at different geographical locations and these varied experiences of social scientists bring in the different dimensions in social change definitions. Some of the widely accepted definitions are:

☰    Ginsberg

“By social change I understand a change in the social structure.”

☰    Jones

“Social change is a term used to describe variations in or modification of any aspect of social process, social patterns, social interaction or social organization.”

☰    M.D.Jenson

“Modification in ways of doing & thinking of people.”

☰    Gillin & Gillin

“Social changes are variations from the accepted mode of life, whether due to alteration in geographical condition, in cultural equipment, composition of the population. Or ideologies & whether brought about by diffusion or inventions within the group.”

☰    Kingsley Davis

“Leaving a thing or an attitude and adopting another by a society is called social change.”

☰    Maciver

“Simply refers to a change in the human relationships”

☰    J.J. Macionis

“Social change refers to an alteration in the social order of a society”

Characteristics of Social Change

1. Social change is unavoidable and it is part of nature.
2. Degree of changes may be different in different geographical settings and also time taken for changes varies from one place to other.
3. Changes are often unpredictable. Plans are made and certain process takes place but changes are not easily predictable.
4.  It is controversial as it changes the established order of society and not easily acceptable to some.
5. Social changes never stop, it is a continuous process.
6. Consequences of social changes are not always known as they present a whole new phenomena to society, something never seen before.

Aspects of Social Change

Social scientists study the process of changes in society in following aspects:-

Rate of Social Change

Changes in societies are not similar everywhere and time taken to bring that change is also not the same. Rate of change can be classified as slow, moderate, fast. Some advanced economies welcome the positive change at a faster rate while poor countries in the absence of knowledge and resources are slow in adapting changes.

Economy is not the only reason for change. Faith, religions sometimes also play its part. Equal status for women can be achieved at a faster rate in western countries while in middle east women are still struggling to get even the basic rights though changes are taking place but the rate is slow. Saudi Arab recently allowed women to drive, contest elections etc.

Direction of Social Change

Changes are not always soothing, sometimes changes are not really great. Based on outcome, changes can be defined as positive and negative.

Positive changes

Changes which are good for societies in the long run, are considered as positive changes. Changes such as elimination of discrimination on the basis of class, sex, religion, castes is certainly a positive changes. Equal pay for equal work is one such example of positive social change.

Negative changes

Changes which are not good for societies in general are negative changes. Elimination of discrimination on the basis of religion is good but at the same time changes to bring in class system in society is bad. Class system discriminate and look at poor as person of lower class which perpetuate the discrimination of poor in society. 

Controllability of Social Change

Change is only permanent, its law of nature. Changes can’t be stopped however changes can be controlled up to some extent. There are many examples where change is being controlled:-

1. In India and neighboring countries, wanting a son is not new. Son is welcomed and a girl is considered a burden. With the advent of technologies like ultrasound, female infanticide increased to sky. This practice disturbed the sex ratio in many pockets. To control this government banned the sex determination test and made it illegal and punishable offence. Even after strict provision tests are still taking place but certainly governments have controlled the change.
2. The Malthusian theory of population says that every country goes through four stages of population growth and rapid growth of population is one such stage. Growth of population then naturally dies down. Population of China in the 90’s was increasing at a rapid rate. China didn’t wait for the natural process and slapped strict provisions to control the population. This is one more example of controlling the changes.

Sources of Social change

Major source of changes are:

1. Demography
2. Political
3. Cultural
4. Technology
5. Education
6. Economic

All these sources of changes are explained in next section under factors responsible for changes.

Factors responsible for Social Change

Social change occurs due to various factors. Some of these factors are internal and some external. Social change occurs due to interaction between two different groups having differential values, the literate and the illiterate, the urban and the rural folk are internal factors. External factors are those factors which are beyond the control of humans like natural disasters and unexpected developments in technology. Following are the main factors which causes social changes:-

Demography

Demography includes numbers, composition, selection and the hereditary quality of successive generations.

When population grow or decline, the size and composition of a population changes. Change in the size of a population may bring about a change in the economic, political, and social life of the people. Phenomenal increase in population gives rise to a variety of social problems like unemployment, child labor, growth of slums, increased crime rate and social tensions.

The swift and steady decline of both birth rate and death rate has led to a situation where the population has more older people and less younger. This creates skilled labor shortage and calls for relaxed immigration policy like in Japan, Sweden, Canada and other countries. With more immigrants, the composition of the population changes and triggers further changes in social strata.

Imbalance in sex ratio also greatly influences social order. When women are more than men, the custom of polygamy sets in, dowry system becomes common. On the contrary, if there are more men than women, it often sets way to polyandry, custom of bride valuation starts.

Political

Politics play an important role in bringing transformation to society. Legislators identify the issues bothering society and make laws to make the lives of people better than before. 

Laws made by politicians are an effective way to bring social change. Role of law is instrumental but law alone can not bring social transformation. Public opinion is a stronger means of change. This explains why laws prohibiting evils like child marriage, dowry, untouchability are not enough as these practices still persist. 

Laws certainly have some limitations but they still are effective tools to bring about socio-economic and political transformation in society.

Cultural

Way the social system works is actually the reflection of cultural values of that system. Any change in values or belief, affects social institutions directly. To understand this we can take an example of nuclear families. Now the joint family system has vanished and this has not only altered external but internal relationships within the family.

New social values and beliefs produce social change. Development of a new value system replaces the existing value system gradually. Cultural factors which affect the values system are new ideas, knowledge, values, beliefs, inventions and exchange. These factors often pave the way to inventions and discoveries. Intermixing of two languages gives birth to a new language altogether. Teaching of one religion sometimes influenced the people of other faiths and eventually became practice in that religion too. 

Religious practices and conduct not only affects the way of life of people but also affects the economic system. Interest income is not welcomed in Islam and is considered bad, this practice affects the Islamic banking system. Capitalism is not in the moral code of Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam. As opposed to this, the moral code of Protestantism emphasized on an aspect, i.e. the individuals should work hard, accumulate wealth, invest, value their time and be focused on achievement-oriented goals. These cultural values of Protestant ethics led to capitalism in Western Europe. Globalization is bringing this aspect to the other part of the world as well.

Technology

Development and change in social institutions have been linked with development and change in technology. Social Scientists say “Technology changes society by changing our environment to which we, in turn, adapt. This change is usually in the material environment and the adjustments we make to these changes often modifies customs and social institutions.”

In ancient times, society was characterized by manual labor and production was dependent on the size of family and animal power. Production was restricted to domestic consumption only. There was no want of extra production and resources were limited too. After the middle of the nineteenth century, the industrial revolution changed the whole system and gave birth to the market. New system was about controlling the environment rather than being influenced and controlled by it. Large companies and corporations came into being, some of which with the passage of time have presence in many countries.

With the advent of Information technology society has changed drastically. Way of communication is now faster than ever before. Markets are available on one click. Nature of jobs have changed and now machines are working in place of humans and at the same time jobs are available in fields which never were thought of. Sharing of knowledge is not limited to just books, like I am writing in one corner of the world and can spread my thoughts to the world in no time and at no cost.

Education

Education works as an important factor to bring in social change. While, on the one hand, it is responsible for transferring traditions, culture, knowledge and skills from one generation to another, on the other, it acts as an agent of social change. New ideas and values are the fruits of it which influences the present and future as well. 

Durkheim, a French educational sociologist has explained the role of education in socialization of child as “Education is the influence exercised by adult generation on those that are not yet ready for social life .Its object is to arouse and to develop in the child a certain number of physical ,intellectual and moral traits that are demanded of him by the society. More briefly education is a socialization of the young generation.”

Types of education

Before we dive deep into the role of education in social change, it is important to learn about the two main types of education system-formal and informal. 

Education which is imparted in a well-defined institutional setting like in school and colleges, is formal and that which an individual acquires in the course of his daily activities and interactions in the family and in society at large is informal.

In tribal and agrarian societies where the formal schooling system is under developed, informal education dominates. In these systems societies, children learn the language, traditional practices, folk lore, and productive skills like cattle rearing and sowing, etc., through observation and interaction.

Informal education is not limited to underdeveloped societies only. People in advanced societies also receive informal education like manners, etiquette and social skills from family and surroundings. 

Impact of education in social change can be seen in following:

i) Preparing the child for the society and inhibiting in him the socially acceptable traits, manners and etiquette. 

ii) Formal and informal education provides much needed human resources which are important for nation building. Different skill sets create experts of different domains.

iii) Education also makes political leaders. They make foreign policy, set tunes for social policies, social security schemes, education policy, 

Economic

There have been some striking economic activities of the past which initiated the social changes and the process is still going. Some of the notable economic events are: 

1. Rise of capitalism
2. Industrial Revolution
3. Green Revolution

Rise of Capitalism

Karl Marx is the biggest propounder of the economic theory of social change. He was of the view that economic factors are above all in bringing social change. It is the mode of production which dominates the social, cultural, religious and the political aspect of society

Marx traced the development of society from agricultural to feudalism to capitalism and finally, to socialism. Capitalism emerged because of the inherent problems in feudalism. Socialism emerged from capitalism as a result of the contradictions in capitalism. Capitalism created the concept of classes and the rich class with its domination creating further problems and this situation will further lead to true socialism. A socialist society is an ideal society as there would be no classes and hence no struggle.

Some evidence of what Marx espouses is seen when one studies the process and impact of industrialisation

Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution started in the late 17 century in Europe slowly found its way across the globe. Rate of growth of revolution varied from place to place, but the end results were quite similar. The following changes were noticeable in society:

1. Production of consumables were not limited to households but moved out of to factories. Production required large capital and not everyone could enter into production.
2. Occupation of people changed from agrarian to industrial workforce.
3. There was no barrier on the basis of religion, sex, race. Gradually women also became part of the workforce.
4. With the further advancement, people moved out of villages and started living around the factories and that way urbanisation took place swiftly.
5. Mode of transport and communication changed and evolved.
6. Revolution changed old strata of social structure and new demarcation in the form classes evolved.
7. Social relations started to take place between the people of the same class rather than religion or race.
8. Skills became criteria of employment replacing loyalty. 
9. Facilities like hospitals, schools, smaller houses all  decreased the dependency on family. This gave birth to the nuclear family concept.
10. A large influx of wage earners and self-employed people to urban centres gave rise to a large and powerful middle class in society.

Green Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was restricted to manufacturing industries. The Green Revolution is responsible for changing the game in the field of agriculture. The Green revolution provided an agricultural surplus which made the industrial revolution possible-both by releasing men and capital. 

Story of these revolutions has not been the same in every block of the world. In Europe and most of the west they had the money but in other parts like India these revolutions were the result of government policies. Inspired by Russian development, India provided huge capital and incentives for development of industries. 

WIth the increase in population India found itself in a position where it was hugely dependent on imported grains. This situation forced India to look for the options to improve the agriculture output. The Green revolution in India was started with government efforts and in specific areas where conditions for agriculture were suitable. Efforts helped India achieve food self-sufficiency. We’ll now focus on how green revolution transformed the society:-

1. People having access to land and resources became rich and moneylenders. 
2. Areas where the green revolution was launched became developed and raced ahead of deprived areas.
3. Large scale urbanisation around the benefited areas can be attributed to the green revolution.
4. Areas were thronged with industries dependent on agricultural products.

Conclusion

Social change is a perpetual process. It has its own aspect like the rate of change is different at different places. Social change can be positive or even negative. Changes in Social strata can’t be controlled completely. Major factors responsible for changes are demography, education, economic activities, cultural, technology, and political factors. No factor is more dominant than others all play their part and bring social transformation.