Cultural Conformity and Adaptation Social Change Chapter 3

Cultural Conformity and Adaptation Social Change Chapter 3, section 3 Pgs. 54 -61

Social Change • All cultures change over time. • The rate of change can also accelerate because each change brings about other changes. • There are many factors that stimulate change: values, beliefs, technology, population, diffusion, the physical environment, and wars and conquests.

Values and Beliefs • Society is a system of interrelated parts so a change in one aspect of society produces changes throughout the system. • Ideology: is a system of beliefs or ideas that justifies the social, moral, religious, political, or economic interests held by a group or by society.

Values and Beliefs • Ideologies often are spread through social movements. • A social movement is a long term conscious effort to promote or prevent social change. • Social Movements usually involve large numbers of people – Social Movements include: • • Prohibition movement Women’s rights Peace movement Civil rights movement

Civil Rights Movement • As recently as the 1950’s African Americans were forced to live as second-class citizens, particularly through the south. • The Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawed various methods that had been used to deny African Americans the vote.

Technology • Social Change also occurs when people find new ways to manipulate their environment. • Technology: the knowledge and tools that people use to manipulate their environment. • Two ways that new Technologies arise are through – Discovery – Invention What is the difference?

Technology • Discovery – Discovery occurs when people recognize new uses for existing elements in the world or begin to understand them in new ways. • Chewing gum, oil shale, and atomic fusion. • Invention – Invention occurs when people use existing knowledge to create something that did not previously exist. • Material invention: computers small enough to hold in your hand • Non-material invention: new hobbies

Population • A change in the size of the population may bring about change in the culture. • The arrival of new groups of people with their own unique cultural traits and value has influenced American culture. • Social and cultural change can result from changes in the average of the population. When fewer people are having babies, there is less need for schools, recreation centers, etc. More need for specialized services geared toward elderly people.

Diffusion • People often borrow ideas, beliefs, and material objects from other societies. – Diffusion: the process of spreading culture traits from one society to another. – The more contact a society has with other societies, the more cultures traits it will borrow. • Some culture traits spread more rapidly then others. – Societies adopt material cultures and technology more freely then ideas and beliefs. – Tools vs. religion

Diffusion • Sociologists refer to this process of adapting borrowed cultural traits as reformulation. – Diffusion is a two way process. – As a result of contact with other cultures: – Americans eat foods such as pasta from Italy or sushi from Japan. – Also American movies, music, cars, and soft drinks can be found in countries throughout the world.

The Physical Environment • 1970’s high gas prices • The introduction of – Extreme prices new foods or the – Long gas lines scarcity of a familiar – American sought alternative sources of energy and food can bring about develop smaller, more cultural change. efficient cares. – This movement slowed in • A change in the supply the 1980’s because fuel shortages eased. of natural resources – The production of large and may bring about less efficient cars increased cultural change. again.

Wars and Conquest • Wars and conquests are not as common as other social changes. • They do bring about the biggest changes though in the least amount of time. • Wars and Conquests cause – Loss of life – Destruction of property that need to be rebuilt – Changes in the economy as industry focused on war production. – Changes in government such as ruler, laws, and new political policies and rights.

Resistance to Change • Cultural change rarely occurs without some opposition. • For each change you have several groups – Those who strongly oppose it, those who accept it after time and people who will never accept it, but learn to adapt to it. – Ethnocentrism, cultural lag, and vested interest are among the reasons that people resist change.

Ethnocentrism • Change that comes from outside a society is meant with particular resistance. • People tend to believe that their own ideas and ways of doing things are best. • Extreme ethnocentrism can make cultural borrowing difficult or even impossible.

Cultural Lag • Some traits change rapidly and the transformation of others may take considerable time; this is known as cultural lag. • Can you think of examples? • Computers and the internet have led to a cultural lag. These two offer education opportunities, but because of cost and other factors some districts have yet to put this technology to effective use in the classroom.

Vested Interest • A person who is satisfied with the way things are now is likely to resist change. • They will resist any change that threatens their security or standard of living. • In other words they have a vested interest. – In 1992 the Energy Policy Act was passed by George Bush to stop rising gas prices. But the new policy did not focus enough on conservation or on the use of renewable fuels.

Vested Interest • One reason it was difficult to implement energy policies to permanently solve the energy problems was that many people in the oil industry benefited from the high prices of oil products. • To protect their vested interest oil companies and workers in the industry have lobbied the government to protect their interest. – Ex. Campaign contributions