Hughes-Kroehler-Vander Zander: Sociology - The I ;3. Social Change l ~c~r~w-Hill Companies, 2001 Core, Sixth Edition Social Change 10 o I Hughes-Kroehler-Vander Zander: Sociology - The I 13, Social Change ! Text © The McGraw-Hili l Companies, 2001 Core, Sixth Edition A World of Change Sourcesof SocialChange Perspectiveson SocialChange SocialChange in the United States SocialChange in DevelopingNations Collective Behavior Varietiesof CollectiveBehaviQr Preconditionsfor CollectiveBehavior Explanationsof Crowd Behavior Social Movements Causesof SocialMovements Types of SocialMovements SocialRevolution Terrorism Looking to the Future Box 13,1 Students Doing Sociology: The Un- TV Experiment Box 13.2 Issues in Focus: What KeepsPeople Involved it! Social Movements? Box 13.3 Doing Social Research: Social Change: Can We Predict the Future? hen the World's Columbian Exposition opened in Chicago in 1893, 74 prominent Americans tried their hands at forecasting the future. What would the world be like in 1993? One expressed the prevailing view that in 1993 the railroad would still be the fastest means of travel. Another was convinced that mail in 1993 would still travel by stagecoach and horseback rider. A few forecasters enthused about air travel-or, more precisely, "balloon travel." None of the 1893 forecasters apparently anticipated the automobile, let alone the cell phone, the Internet, a world of 6 billion people, the publication of a map of the human genome, or the globalization of both our economy and our environmental problems. Then, as now, forecasters fell victim to two fundamental problems in attempting to predict the future. First, change is so much a part of our lives that we take it for granted, oblivious to or unimpressed by much of it; during the 1880s a number of Europeans had already produced experimental gasoline-powered cars, but the 1893 forecasters either did not know about the primitive "horseless carriages" or else did not deem them to be important. Second, a "rearview-mirror effect" operates in which recent events color and dominate our thinking about the future; the railroads were developing feverishly in the 1880s and 1890s, so it took little imagination to predict that they would become faster and more widespread in the future (Cornish,1993). The study of social change is an attempt to understand and predict changes in the world. In this chapter, we will look at sources of social change and at social change in both the United States and developing countries. We will consider collective behavior, including explanations of crowd behavior. We will examine types and causes of social movements, and we will end with a look into the future. r-~ughes-Kroehl:r-vander -, 13. Social Change Text Zander: SociologV - The © The McGraw-Hili Companies, 2001 Core, Sixth Edition 436 Sociologists refer to fundamental alterations in the patterns of culture, structure, and social behavior over time as social change. It is a process by which society becomes something different while remaining in some respects the same. Consider the enormous transformations that have taken place across American life over the past 60 years. We have restyled many of our most basic values and norms: racial upheaval, a sexual revolution, computer and communications breakthroughs, and a new national identity as a world power have remolded our national life (Manchester, 1993). In the early 1930s, the U,S. population was less than half its present size. Rural America lacked electricity, and its roads were dirt. In foreign affairs we were an insular, second-class power, although Americans themselves were an ardently patriotic people. Welfare and divorce were shameful. Pregnancy made even married women uncomfortably selfconscious, and maternity clothes were designed to "keep your secret." Manliness was prized, and patriarchal authority was vested in men as heads of families, Had there been a watchword then, it would have been "duty." Today that watchword would more likely be "rights": civil rights, women's rights, gay rights, welfare rights, children's rights, animal rights, the right to life, the right to choose, the right to protect, and the rights of the disabled. Social change has a tremendous impact on our lives. Let us begin our discussion of it by examining some of its sources. We will go on to consider perspectives on social change and to describe social change in the United States and developing nations. Sources of Social Change Social change confronts people with new situations and compels them to fashion new forms of action. Many factors interact to generate changes in people's behavior and in the culture and structure of their society. Sociologists identify a number of particularly critical factors, the impact of which differs with the situation and the time and place. In this section we will consider the physical environment, population, conflict over resources and values, supporting norms and values, innovation, diffusion, and the mass media. ,6 Physical Environment If humans are to survive, they must achieve a working relationship with their environment. Among the chief adaptive mechanisms available to a population are social organization and technology. Hunting and gathering, horticultural, agricultural, and industrial societies all present different types of adaptations. Should the environment change for any reason, those who have evolved a given type of adaptation must respond by making appropriate institutional changes, fashioning new forms of social organization and new technologies. Droughts, floods, epidemics, earthquakes, and other forces of nature are among the ever-present realities that alter people's lives. as we noted in Chapter 12, human beings have a tremendous impact on ical environment. ,6 Population Changes in the size, composition, and distribution of a population also affect culture and social structure. In Chapter 12 we discussed the implications of population growth. Nearly all such growth will occur in developing nations in the coming decades, with resource use in those parts of the world also increasing astronomically. The graying of the population is a principle factor in the United States, with Social Security, Medicaid, and health care costs soaring; those 85 and over are the fastest-growing part of the population. G I Hughes-Kroehler-Vander Zander: Sociology - The I 13. Social Change ! Text © The McGraw-Hili Companies, 2001 Core. Sixth Edition A 'world of A Clashes over Resources and Values Innovations-both discoveries and inven- tell today the ultimate form of the societies that arose in eastern Europe and the former Soviet empire following the collapse of communism? Old orders continually erode and new ones arise. tions-are not single acts but combinations of existing elements plus new elements. The greater the number of cultural elements from which innovators may draw, the greater the frequency of discovery and invention. For example, glass gave birth to lenses, costume jewelry, drinking goblets, windowpanes, and many other products. Lenses in turn gave birth to eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, telescopes, cameras, searchlights, and so on. Such developments reflect the exponential principle-as the cultural base increases, its possible uses tend to grow exponentially. A Supporting Values and Norms A Diffusion A society's values and norms act as "watchdogs" or "censors" permitting, stimulating, or inhibiting certain innovations. It is interesting to compare our readiness to accept technological innovations with our resistance to changes in religion or the family. For example, we continuously debate changes in sexual behavior norms, while resistance to the lightbulb, the automobile, and the airplane disappeared almost immediately. Our use of the word "inventor" reflects this cultural bias. The inventor is one who innovates in mate- Diffusion is the process by which cultural traits Conflict is a basic source of social change. The end result of conflict is not a simple quantitative mixing of the groups in contlict, but a completely new entity. Who could have foretold in 1870 the South that eventually emerged from the contest between the Reconstructionists and their opponents? Who could have foretold in 1965 the nation that would emerge 35 years later after a decade of social turbulence? And who can fore- rial things, whereas the inventor of intangible ideas is often called a "revolutionary" or "radical," words with sometimes odious connotations. A Innovation A discovery represents an addition to knowledge, whereas an invention uses existing knowledge in some novel form. Thus, a discovery constitutes the perception of a relationship or fact that had not previously been recognized or understood. Einstein's theory of relativity and Mendel's theory of heredity were discoveries. In contrast, the automobile-an invention-was composed of six old elements in a new combination: a liquid gas engine, a liquid gas receptacle, a running-gear mechanism, an intermediate clutch, a driving shaft, and a carriage body. spread from one social unit to another. Diffusion is a people process and hence is expedited or hindered by the social environment. Simply because a trait is functionally superior does not necessarily ensure that individuals will adopt it. Much depends on the network of relationships that tie people together in patterns of meaningful communication and influence (Strang and Tuma,1993). Diffusion is often overlooked. We point with pride to what other societies have acquired from us, but we often neglect to note what we have gained from them. Yet a global economy combined with the fact that our society is composed almost entirely of immigrant groups means that everything we use and do can be traced to other societies or cultures. As an illustration, consider the following now classic account of the cultural content in the life of a "100 percent" American written as satire by anthropologist Ralph Linton (1937:427-29): [D Jawn finds the unsuspecting patriot garbed in pajamas, a garment of East Indian origin; and lying in a bed built on a pattern which originated in either Persia or Asia Minor. He is muffled to the ears in un-American materials: cotton, first I HugheS-Kr~ehler-vande:~~1 Change ~- Zander: Sociology - The Core, Sixth Edition ~e'~CGraw-Hill Companies, 2001 Sodal domesticated in India; linen, domesticated in the Near East; wool from an animal native to Asia Minor; or silk whose uses were first discovered by the Chinese. . . . If our patriot is old-fashioned enough to adhere to the so-called American breakfast, his coffee will be accompanied by an orange, domesticated in the Mediterranean region. He will follow this with a bowl of cereal made from grain domesticated in the Near East .... As a side dish he may have the egg of a bird domesticated in Southeastern Asia or strips of the flesh of an animal domesticated in the same region. . . . "" The Mass Media Diffusion is facilitated by the instant flooding of information across national, class, ethnic, and economic boundaries by means of the mass media. According to one view, the media functions as a kind of giant hypodermic needle, discharging endless propaganda into the passive body of the population. Another view depicts the media as affording a "marketplace of ideas" in which an enlightened public carefully and rationally sifts and winnows a variety of attitudes and behaviors. Yet the media is not nearly as simple as the proponents of either view would have us believe. Most efforts at mass communication merely confirm the beliefs that people already hold. People typically expose themselves to mass communications that arc congenial or favorable to their existing opinions and interests. Selective perception also operates so that people tend to misperceive and misinterpret persuasive communications in accordance with their existing opinions. Nevertheless, the mass media have not-sominimal effects. We typically think of news coverage as the media bringing to public attention the "important" happenings of the day by reporting on an objective reality "out there." But as symbolic interactionists point out, "news" is constructed-some selected occurrences come to be translated into "public events" for a mass constituency while others are ignored (Epstein, 1973). For instance, "news" about women is on the increase in U.S. news media, but men continue to receive more attention from the nation's news organizations; a 1994 survey found that men received some 75 percent of front-page references, as against 25 percent for women (Glaberson, 1994). The media also perform other functions, including what social scientists call "agenda setting." The media sets the agenda of issues and concerns we spend our time thinking about and discussing with others. Some communications experts argue that fictional media presentations have a "cultivation effect" in which im- -10 8 1 Hughes-Kroehler-Vander Zander: Sociology - The I 13. Social Change Text © The McGraw-Hili Companies, 2001 Core, Sixth Edition A World of ages are provided that influence public attitudes and behavior about such social policies as crime, violence, and welfare (Gerbner et aI., 1978), though it is not always clear exactly what television and other media are cultivating in the minds of viewers (Hughes, 1980). Box 13.1 describes what happens to students who watch TV critically. Perspectives on Social Change The founders of sociology, particularly Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer, looked to the grand sweep of history, searching for an understanding of how and why societies change. Many contemporary sociologists continue to be intrigued by these "big questions." The major sociological perspectives on social change, which we will consider in this section, fall within four broad categories: evolutionary perspectives, cyclical perspectives, functionalist perspectives, and conflict perspectives. "" Evolutionary Perspectives The doctrine of social progress and a search for underlying evolutionary laws dominated much sociological thinking during the 19th century. According to Social Darwinists like Spencer, social evolution resembles biological evolution and results in the world's growing progressively better. In his theory of unilinear evolution, Spencer contended that change has persistently moved society from homogeneous and simple units toward progressively heterogeneous and interdependent units. He viewed the "struggle for existence" and "the survival of the fittest" as basic natural laws. Spencer equated this struggle with "free competition." If unimpeded by outside intervention, particularly government, those individuals and social institutions that are "fit" will survive and proliferate, while those that are "unfit" will in time die out. As we pointed out in Chapter 1, Spencer's Social Darwinism mirrored the tation of laissez-faire capitalism. Social Darwin- 439 ism was a doctrine well suited to imperialism and provided a justification for Western colonialism. The white race and its cultures were extolled as the highest forms of humanity and civilization. Other peoples and cultures were "lower" in evolutionary development, and so it was only proper that Europeans, being "fitter," should triumph in the struggle for existence. However, such blatant ethnocentrism did not stand the test of scientific research. Anthropologists demonstrated that non-Western societiesand many European nations as well-did not pass through the same sequence of stages. In brief, there is no one scenario, but many scenarios of social change. Contemporary approaches take a multilinear view of evolution. Their proponents recognize that change does not necessarily imply progress, that change occurs in quite different ways, and that change proceeds in many different directions. Talcott Parsons (1966, 1977), a leading structure-function sociologist, suggested that societies tend to become increasingly differentiated in their structures and functions, leading to adaptive upgrading. Sociologist Gerhard Lenski (1966; Lenski and Lenski, 1987) held that evolution depends largely on changes in a society's level of technology and its mode of economic production. These changes in turn have consequences for other aspects of social life, including stratification systems, the organization of power, and family structures. According to Lenski, there is an underlying continuum in terms of which all societies can be ranked: hunting and gathering societies, simple horticultural societies, advanced horticultural societies, agrarian societies, and industrial societies. More specialized evolutionary bypaths include herding societies and hybrid societies such as fishing and maritime societies. "" Cyclical Perspectives Cyclical theorists look at the rise and fall of civilizations. Their objective is to predict the I HUghes-~roehler-va~~o:ial Change " I Text Zander: Sociology - The Core. Sixth Edition course of a civilization or society, including its demise. Cyclical theorists compare societies in a search for generalizations regarding their stages of growth and decline. The 19th century was a time of faith in evolution and human progress, but the catastrophe of World War I and the periodic economic crises that have plagued industrial nations led some scholars to express doubt about the course of human history. One of these was © The McGraw-Hili Companies, 2001 the German scholar Oswald Spengler (1880-1936), whose Decline of the West (1918/1926) became a best-seller. He contended that culture passes through the same stages of growth and decline as individuals: a period of development, followed by maturity, eventual decline, and death. Based on his examination of eight cultures, Spengler said that each culture possesses a life span of approximately 1,000 years. Western culture, he held, 8 I Hughes-Kroehler-Vander Zander: Sociology - The I 13. Social Change Text © The McGraw-Hili Companies, 2001 Core, Sixth Edition A World of emerged about A.D. 900, and therefore its end is close at hand (hence the title of his book and the interest it provoked). English historian Arnold J. Toynbee (1934/ 1954) also sought to depict uniformities in the growth and decline of civilization and to identify the principles that underlie this development. Toynbee said that civilizations arise in response to some challenge. A challenge may derive from natural forces, such as severe climate, or from human factors, such as warlike neighbors. A civilization grows and flourishes when the challenge is not too severe and when a creative minority (an intelligent elite) finds an adequate response to the challenge. When the creative minority fails to find a response adequate to a challenge, the civilization breaks down and disintegrates. In the course of disintegrating, the minority transforms itself into a ruling elite and imposes its will by force. This development hastens the decline because it intensifies internal strife. '" Functionalist Perspectives As saw in is Chapter ceptwe of system central 1, to the the c:;(o~n~-;t::J~~! st model of society. A system is a set of elements or components related in a more-or-less stable fashion over a period of time. One of the features of a system stressed by structure-function theorists is its tendency toward equilibrium. As we pointed out earlier in the chapter, structure- function sociologists like Parsons (1966, 1977) have introduced the notion of evolution to the perspective to broaden the concept of equilibrium to include both developing and self-maintaining properties. The social group is portrayed as living in a state of dynamic or moving equilibrium. The equilibrated social system adjusts itself to disturbances that occur, accommodating them within the functioning structure and establishing a new level of equilibrium. Hence, even though society changes, it remains stable through new forms of social integration. 441 Sociologist William F. Ogburn (1922) drew upon evolutionary models to fashion a functionalist approach to social change. He distinguished between material and nonmaterial culture and located the source of change in material invention-tools, weapons, and technical processes. Nonmaterial culture-values, norms, beliefs, and institutions-must adapt or respond to changes in material culture, resulting in an adjustment gap Ogburn called cultural lag. Although the notion of cultural lag contains a valuable insight, it vastly oversimplifies matters. No single factor is capable of explaining social change; in real-life situations a vast array of forces converge in complex interaction with one another to give society its dynamic properties. Social life abounds with examples of an uneven rate of change resulting in social dislocation. For instance, the automobile fostered a whole host of changes. It spurred tremendous growth in the oil, tire, glass, and accident insurance industries. It promoted suburban development, degradation of the natural environment, and an exodus of the central city's aft1uent population. Cultural lag is evident today in the many problems associated with the use of the Internet, including hacking, the spread of computer viruses, Internet pornography, Internet scams, and the Napster controversy. We can expect that our society also will require a significant amount of cultural adjustment as a result of the sequencing of the human genome (Jeffords and Daschle, 2001). '" Conflict Perspectives Conflict theorists hold that tensions between competing groups are the basic source of social change. Nowhere does one find a clearer exposition of the conflict perspective than that provided by Karl Marx, particularly as it finds expression in his notion of the dialectic. As we saw in Chapter 1, the dialectic depicts the world in dynamic terms as a coming rather than being. According to Marxian r-~UgheS-~roehler-va~~I' Zander: Sociology - The Core, Sixth Edition 13.Social Change---T--;':~'-- --T---~-- ~raw-Hilll Companies,2001 442 dialectical materialism, cvery cconomic ordcr grows to a statc of maximum cfficiency, at the same timc developing internal contradictions or wcaknesscs that contribute to its decay. Class conflict is a particularly powcrful source of change, and Marx saw it as the key to understanding human history. Marx said that all change is the product of a constant connict between opposites. All development-social, economic, or human-proceeds through the resolution of existing contradictions and the eventual emergence of new contradictions. The outcome of the clash between opposing forces is not a compromise (an averaging out of the differences among them), but an entirely new product, one born of struggle. In this manner both individuals and societies change. It is a dynamic process of complex interchanges betwecn all facets of social life. As Marx (1867/1906) observed, "By acting on the external world and changing it, he [the individual] at the same time changes his own nature." Not all contlict thcorists agree with Marx that "all history is the history of class contlict." Other types of conflict may be equally or in some instances more important than class contlict, including conflict between nations, ethnic groups, religions, and cconomic interest groups (Coser, 1956, 1957; Dahrendorf, 1958). Social Change in the United States In this section we will examine one aspect of change, that associated with the rapid introduction of technology into American life. Sociological models depict technological innovations as a reweaving of the social fabric-a reshaping of the norms, roles, relationships, groups, and institutions that make up society. Today we hear a good deal about the construction of "information highways" and "information infrastructures." The building of another highway system~the interstate system-reminds us of the vast impact that changes can have. The sys- tcm was inspircd by a wish to improvc commerce, foster physical and social mobility, and bolster national defense. But thc interstate system also had many unanticipated conscquenccs that permanently changed the nation's social landscape. It fostcred thc rapid growth of strip and edge cities and magnified the split between outlying communities and inner cities. Arc "information highways" having both positive and negative effects? A. The Information Revolution The Industrial Revolution was a revolution because the steam engine, the cotton gin, the locomotive and rails, and the power loom were agents for great social change. They took people out of the fields and brought them into factories. They gave rise to mass production and, through mass production, to a society in which wealth was not confined to the few. In a similar fashion, computers are revolutionizing the structure of American life-what some have termed thc information revolution (see Figure 13.1). In 1998 alone, Internetrelated industries created more than 1 million jobs and generated over $330 billion (Wiseman, 2000). More than half of U.S. households had computers in 2000, and 41.5 percent had Internct access (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2000). We can read the newspaper, access government data, order books and CDs and groceries, check on class assignments, read lectures, and exchange messages with friends or strangers in virtually any part of thc worldall on the Internet. At the end of 1999 there were nearly 5 million commercial websites, with 500,000 more per month being added (Wiseman, 2000). A number of issues have been rcpeatedly raised about the social impact of computers. First, the computer automates workplace activities that have been performed by people. The Industrial Revolution ccntered on the supplementation and ultimate replacement of the museles of humans and animals by introducing 8 e I Hughes-Kroehler-Vander Zander: Sociology - The 13. Social Change I Text © The l McGraw-Hili Companies, 2001 Core, Sixth Edition A c Q) Information Technology Leads Investment ... ... While Information Jobs Proliferate ... 50% .2 1,000 Q) -ell_ E > (/) 40 Jo ~ 30 '0 c -0_ _ c .;:: 0... C Q) Q) E 2Q) D.. .- (/) "0 C 20 ell ~ o 10 0...6- ill of 250 ..c I- o 1975 1975 1993 1993 ... and Consumers Join ... and Boosts Exports ... ~ 14.0% 3.5 '0 tri 10.5 Q) C (/) ~ '5 •... C 7.0 3.3 the Information Age D.. Q) 3.1 ell 0... ~ Q) :2i: 2.9 3.5 0 2.7 1980 The Information 1993 1980 1993 Revolution Most of the readers of this book have grown up in a world that is much changed from that of their parents, as this set of figures shows. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Morgan Stanley & Co. Adapted from May 18, 1994 issue of Business Week by special permission. Copyright © 1994 by McGraw-Hill, Inc. mechanical methods. The information revolution goes beyond this to supplement and replace some aspects of the minds of human beings by electronic methods. But it seems that job creation accompanies job destruction, with the highest rates of both occurring in the most technologically advanced sectors of the economy where overall employment is increasing (International Labor Organization, 2001). Second, information is a source of power, and computers mean information. The centralized accumulation of data permits the concentration of considerable power in those who have access to computers. These are most likely to be people who already have more power and advantages than others. While recent increases have occurred in all economic, racial, and ethnic groups, and the gender gap in Internet use has disappeared, important differences remain (see Figure 13.2). For example, people with disabilities are only half as likely to have Internet access as others; African Americans and Hispanics have the lowest household Internet access rates in the nation; female-headed households are half as likely to have Internet access as two-parent households; and individuals 50 years of age or older are among the least likely to use the Internet (Hoffman and Novak, Hughes-~roehler-van~'soCial Chan~e I Text Zander: SociologV - The '--~e MCGraw-Hill~ Companies, 2001 Core, Sixth Edition 444 Social From The New Yorker (7/5/93). Copyright© 1993 The New YorkerCollection.Peter Steinerfrom cartoonbank.com.All Rights Reserved. 1998; U.S. Department of Commerce, 2000). And although in the Western world many of us take Internet access for granted, only 6 percent of the world's population has ever logged on (International Labor Organization, 2001). Third, computers alter the way people relate to one another. On a telephone, we hear the other person's voice. In face-to-face contact, ,,','Lc'C'C 1'iCClpk smile, frown, and nod. But computer exchanges offer no such feedback. Thus, computers may have consequences for our senseof individuality. Computer exchanges differ in other ways. People are less likely to hold back strong feelings when communicating by computer. And as with any piece of writing, how clearly ideas are communicated depends on the writer's skill. Fourth, computers have implications for individual privacy and the confidentiality of our communications and personal data. The growing use of computers to collect data and store information provides the technical capability for integrating several information files into networks of computerized data banks. With such networks, personal data that we provide for one purpose can potentially be accessed for other purposes. Thus, as people handle more and more of their activities through electronic instruments-mail, banking, shopping, entertainment, and travel plans-it becomes technically feasible to monitor these activities with unprecedented ease. Finally, computers and the Internet provide new means and opportunity for crime and deviance. People have found innovative ways to use the Internet to commit fraud, to solicit for prostitution, to prey upon the vulnerable, and to buy and sell illegal goods and pornography (e.g., Durkin and Bryant, 1995). Wc should expect more such innovation until means are developed to eliminate or reduce crime and deviance in this new medium of communication. ,., What the Information Revolution Cannot Do While the changes to come in this still-veryyoung revolution will probably be dramatic, there also are clear limits to the impact the Internet will have on our lives. First, as we have mentioned, the "digital divide" effectively excludes much of the world, and significant portions of the United States, from participating in Internet-related activities. As the number of people who routinely use the Internet rises, those who have no access are at an increasing disadvantage. Second, how the Internet changes our lives depends entirely on how we use it. In 2000, the biggest use of the Internet was for sending and receiving e-mail, with on-line shopping and bill paying the fastest-growing uses (U.S. Department of Commerce, 2000). To the extent that such activities reduce our use of paper, transportation, and other consumers of resources and energy, using the Internet can be seen as environmentally friendly. On the other hand, an assessment of energy consumption concluded that 8 percent of the electricity used 41» e I Hughes-Kroehler-Vander Zander: Sociology - The I 1 13. Social Change © The Text I McGraw-Hili Companies, 2001 Core, Sixth Edition of A Computer Ownership and Internet Access in U.S. Households, by Race and Ethnicity, 1998-2000 70 60 50 C 40 OJ ~ OJ 0... 30 20 10 o 100 ~~ 'b-~ "" ~,CJ 'b-~ ~ i..~ ~~IO 'CJ ~ ~'b-~ ~0 ·CJ'b' 10''