Social Change in sociology as well as in law

social change as a transformation of cultures, institutions, and functions. Most change isn't instantaneous. it is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviors or social relations.

1. Chapter: 6
Social Change
Socialchangeisthechangeinsocialstructureand
relationshipsofasociety,oftenused
interchangeablywithculturalchange.Oldideas,
technology,modeofproduction,habitsand
cognizedbehaviorsarechanged.Internalneeds
andexternalforcesarepowerfulenablerstomake
thesocietychange.Culturalchangeisthechanges
inthecultureofpeopletheirattitude,behavior,
norms,values,music,dance,literature,wayof
thinkingandculturalproductions.Global-local
nexusmadethesituationsfavorablefor
quantitativeandqualitativetransformationof
society.

2. DefinitionofSocialChange
Ginsberg(BysocialchangeIunderstanda
changeinthesocialstructure).
KingsleyDavis"Bysocialchangeismeantonly
suchalternationsasoccurinsocial
organizationi.e.thestructure&functionsof
society".
Merril&Elbridge"Socialchangemeans,that
largeno.ofpersonsareengaginginactivities
thatdifferfromthosewhichtheyortheir
immediatefore-fathersengagedinsometime
before."

3. Gillin&Gillin"Socialchangesarevariationsfrom
theacceptedmodeoflife,whetherdueto
alterationingeographicalcondition,incultural
equipment,compositionofthepopulation.Or
ideologies&whetherbroughtaboutbydiffusion
orinventionswithinthegroup."
Jones'"Socialchangeisatermusedtodescribe
variationsinormodificationofanyaspectof
socialprocess,socialpatterns,socialinteraction
orsocialorganization."
M.D.Jenson–Describes–Socialchangeas
"modificationinwaysofdoing&thinkingof
people."

4. FeaturesofSocialchange:
•Socialchangeiscontinuous.
•Socialchangeisuniversal.
•Socialchangeistemporal.
•Socialchangeisenvironmental.
•Socialchangeishumanchange.
•Socialchangeisneveruniform-itaffectsdifferent
aspectsatdifferenttimesanddifferentways.
•Socialchangeresultsfrominteractionofanumberof
factors.
•Socialchangemaycreatechainreaction.
•Socialchangeisdifficulttopredictdirectionofchange.
•Socialchangemaybeplannedorunplanned.
•Socialchangeisanobjectiveterm.

5. Processesofsocialchanges:
Inventionsandculturaldiffusionsarethemajortriggering
forcesforsocialchange.Diffusionistheprocessof
spreadingtheculturaltraitsfromonesocietytoanother.
Itdiffusefromonesocietytoanotherthroughmigration,
tradelinks,meansoftransportation,meansof
communicationormassmedia,printcapitalismandother
humanrelationships.Culturallagisthetimelagbetween
achangeorinnovationandaccomplishmentofthesocial
andculturaladjustmentswhichtheinnovationsmakes
necessary.Socialplanningattemptsattheintelligent
directionofsocialchange.Discoveryisasharedhuman
perceptionofanaspectofrealitywhichalreadyexists.
Innovationisanewcombinationornewuseofexisting
knowledge.Cross-fertilizationinsocialchangemeansuse
inonefieldofdiscoveriesandinventionsfromanentirely
differentfield.Culturalbaseforinventionisthe
accumulationofknowledgeandtechniquesavailableto
theinventor.

6. Factorsofsocialchange:
•Biologicalfactors
•Physicalorgeographicalfactors
•Technologicalfactors
•Culturalfactors
•Politicalfactors
•Educationalfactors
•Demographicfactors
•Inventions,discoveriesandcultural
diffusionsasaprocessofsocialchange

7. Factorsofsocialchangecont.
Technologicalfactors,physicalforces,inventions,
discoveries,educationalbasedexplosionof
knowledge,progressiveculturaltraits,charismatic
leadershipinpoliticsandthedevelopmentinmass
mediaarethemajortriggeringforcesforsocial
changes.Newtraitsappearthroughdiscoveryand
inventionsorthroughdiffusionfromother
societies.Migrationtoanewenvironmentbring
changeinsociallife.Theperceivedneedsofa
peopleaffectthespeedanddirectionofchange.
Culturalbaseprovidesthefoundationknowledge
andskillnecessarytodevelopnewelements.
Cross-culturalcontactspromotechange.Society’s
attitudeandvaluesgreatlyencourageorretard
change.

8. Theoriesofsocialchange:
Evolutionarytheory:believesthatsocietyevolves
anddevelopsslowlyandgraduallyina
progressiveway.Itassumesthatsocietychanges
fromsimpletocomplex,fromhomogeneityto
heterogeneity,fromuniformitytomulti-formity
andmilitarystagetodemocraticstage.Society
evolvesfromtheologicalstagetometaphysical
andtheneventuallystageofpositivism.Onthe
processofsocialevolutionhumansocietyhas
passedfromsavagerystagetobarbarismand
barbarismtothestageofcivilization.From
huntinggatheringmodeofproductionto
agrarian,agrariantoindustrialmodeof
production.

9. DiffusionistTheory:
Diffusionisttheoryemphasisthatculturaltraitsare
originatedinspecifichistoricaltimeandspacethen
graduallystartdiffusingtothecorrespondingareas
throughmigration,meansoftransportation,tradelinks,
printcapitalism,audio-visualformsandothersocio-
politicalrelationships.Theareaswhichareecologically
suitablewithabundantnaturalresourcescanbecultural
coreforculturalproductions.Inordertofulfillhisbio-
psychologicalneedshecanborrowtheculturaltraits
fromdevelopedareas.Whileculturaltraitsarediffused
fromoneplacetoanotherthatbringsnumberof
changestothehostareas.Originalcultureismodified
anddifferentcultureisformed.
Fooditems,clothingpatterns,music,dance,artsandcraft,
normsandvalues,behavioralpatterns,wayofthinking
anddoingandothersocialactivitiesarebeingchanged
duetoculturaldiffusion.

10. Functionalisttheory:
Functionalistacceptchangeasaconstantwhichdoes
notneedtobeexplained.Changesdisruptthe
equilibriumofthesocietyuntilthechangehas
beenintegratedintotheculture.Changeswhich
provetobeusefulareacceptedandthosewhich
aredysfunctionalarerejected.
Conflicttheory:
Conflicttheoristsstatethatsocialchangeisthe
constantresultofconflictbetweentwoopposite
forces.Sinceconflictiscontinuoushencechangeis
continuous.Changeproducesnewinterest
groupingandclassesandconflictbetweenthese
producesfurtherchange.Anyparticularchange
representthesuccessofvictoriousgroupsof
classesinimposingtheirpreferencesuponothers.

11. Symbolicinteractiontheory:
Emphasisonuseofsymbolsinsocialinteraction.Consider
socialrealityasconstructedbythepeopleparticipatingin
it,ratherthanbyexternallaws.Symbolicinteraction
arguethatpeoplegivemeaningtoeventsandobjects,an
thereisanagreementaboutthesemeanings.Whatis
‘really’happeningbecomesirrelevantbecausethe
participantsareengagedininterpretiveprocessesitis
thesethatshapetheirperceptionsoftheworld.
Post-modernisttheory:arguethatsocialrealityand
knowledgearesociallyconstructed.Rejectcentraland
overarchingexplanationsofchangethatbelieveinthe
existenceofasingleandtotalsocialsystem.Post-
modernistsviewpowerasdispersedandlocalizedandnot
ashierarchicalanddirectedfromthetop-down.According
tothem,therearemanyknowledgeandwaysofthinking.
Theseincludemultiplesetsofmoralrulesandethicsthat
peoplemakeuseofattheirlocallevel.

12. CyclicTheory:
Cyclictheoryfocusontheriseandfallof
civilizationsattemptingtodiscoverandaccount
forthosepatternsofgrowthanddecay.It
believesthateachcivilizationislikeabiological
organismandhasasimilarlifecycle-birth,
maturity,oldageanddeath.Ontheprocessof
socialevolutionsocietychangesfromsimpleto
complex.Itevolvesanddevelopsfromsavagery
tobarbarismandfrombarbarismtothestage
ofcivilization.Itassumesthatwhencivilization
reachestothesaturatedpointthenagainit
startsdeclining.Itkeepsonchanginglikethe
wheelofcart.

13. SocialchangeinNepalesecontext:
Forlastfewyears,Nepalisbeingchanged
rapidly.Wehavegotonfrommonarchismto
republicanstateinthefieldofpolitics.New
constitutionhasdeclaredwiththeprovision
offederalism.Similarlymanyofchangeshave
comeinthefieldofreligionasitwasHindu
kingdomandnowhasbecomesecularby
constitution.Provisionofinclusion,multi
vocality,sharingofpowerandresourcesare
certainchangescameinourcontext.External
socio-politicalforcesandinternalneedsand
situationsmadethesystemchange.

14. Socialchangecont.
Migration,influenceofmassmedia,expansionof
socialmedia,educationalawareness,internal
problems,vividinterestgroupsandtheir
activitiesarethetriggeringfactorsofchange.
Inequalities,poverty,ignorance,socialstructure,
centralized development activities,
unemployment,politicalpartiesandtheirvested
interestsalsoareimportantfactorsofchanges.If
itisrationallyusedandmanagedtherearesome
positivesignals.Transparency,accountability,rule
oflaw,goodgovernance,justice,cultural
recognitionandredistributionsafetynetscan
transformthesocietyinapositivedimension.