Chapter 10 Social Change in Modern Society

Syllabus:
 Sociological theories of social change
 Development and dependency.
 Agents of social change
 Education and social change
 Science, technology and social change

Sociological theories of social change

 Evolutionary/ Linear Theories:
 Consistent in direction; when final stage reached->evolution ends. Evolution or Linear theory
believes that once society moves from one stage to another in never comes back to its previous
stage
 Herbert Spencer:Applies social Darwinism – simple to complex
 August Comte-Explains change as the outcome of man’s intellectual development. He said that
this intellectual dev is accompanied by moral dev, esp, the growing predominance of altruism
over egoism. Law of 3 stages: It is a progress from theological (connected to god and religious
beliefs) mode of thought through metaphysical (speculative philosophical, abstract reasoning or
talk) mode of thought to positive mode of thought represented by modern science. Criticism-
deterministic character and totalitarian implications
 Durkheim- Complexity & from mechanical to organic solidarity
 Karl Marx- Primitive communism-> ancient slavery-> feudal->capitalism->communism.
 LH Morgan-7 technological stages from savagery to civilization
 L. T. Hobhouse, within his conceptual framework of social change, brings in mind-social
development analogy. As such ,according to him ,the development of mind brings about
social development .The development of moral ideas ,as stressed upon by Hobhouse ,is part of
mental development and these in turn give rise to a rational ethic. Therefore, social change
at institutional level is essentially the creation of mind. In other words the governing factor for
change or /progress is the mind. He worked out five stages in the intellectual history of mankind,
beginning with the preliterate societies and ending with the development of modern scientific
thought'.
 Morgan thought of change in terms of various moral stages of society which were –
primitive, barbaric and civilized stages of development.
 Tylor also used an evolutionary perspective and according to him, principle criteria for
cultural development were growth of industrial arts, scientific knowledge, nature of social
and political organization etc. According to him, evolutionary sequence is followed by three
phases – animism, polytheism and monotheism.
 A second category for grouping classical views of evolutionary social change is the Dialectic
theories. Hegel, like the Greeks, sought for reality in the absolute idea. Every idea and all of history
through the dialectic process whereby an idea (thesis) develops, is challenged by an opposite
idea (antithesis), and merges into a new form (synthesis). The synthesis then becomes the thesis
and the process begins over again.
 Linear theories are criticized for their value bias and hence lacked objectivity, a precondition
for scientific study. Their nomenclature (‘savage’, ‘primitive’ etc referring older societies)
reflects their bias. Further, the various theorists also don’t agree upon the various stages as well.
Most of the evolutionary theories were arm chair theories which were accused of speculation
and relying on questionable secondary data.

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 Neo-evolutionary:Suggest general trend towards more elaborate form of DOL

Cyclic Theory of Social Change

 cyclic theory believes that society moves from one stage to another but finally comes back
to its previous position. This theory mainly follows the cycle of seasons or climate like winter,
summer, raining seasons move in cycle similarly the society
 Oswald Spengler believed that every society is born, matures, decays and eventually dies.
The Roman Empire rose to power and then gradually collapsed. The British Empire grew strong,
and then deteriorated. Spengler believed that social change may take the form of progress or of
decay, but that no society lives forever.
 Pareto is of the view that social change is due to political circumstances. In his work ‘ A
Treatise on General Sociology, 1963’ presented in his theory of the circulation of elites. He
feels that vigorous politicians try to capture power by disturbing the existing social order but
with the passage of time it becomes impossible to vigorously pursue the change and they try
to use their energies for maintaining status quo. This status quo is tolerated till such time when
new aristocracy does not come to the forefront to disturb the existing order. Therefore, he
believes that disturbing social order and maintaining the status quo is in a cyclical order and
thus inevitable. Long-term cyclic changes are addressed in theories on the birth, growth,
flourishing, decline, and death of civilizations
 Toynbee also saw change in cyclical terms and saw it in a cycle of ‘growth’, ‘arrest’ and ‘decline’
of civilizations.
 Pritrim Sorokin- He classified societies according to their 'Cultural Mentality'; book- ‘social and
cultural dynamics’- He identified three types of cultural mentality
1. Ideational
 Ideational Culture emphasizes those things which can be perceived only by the mind
 Ideational culture Deals with other worldly subjects like salvation, heaven, rebirth, God,
spiritualism etc
 The ideational culture is guided by supernatural beliefs and values. For example,
Ancient Vedic society of India
 This culture is in favour of sacrifice and tolerance
2. Sensate culture
 People seek knowledge through science and materialism
 The sensate culture stresses those things which can be perceived directly by the senses
 It is practical, hedonistic, sensual, and materialistic. This sensate culture believes in eat,
drink and be merry
 Sensate culture Deals with worldly subjects of physical pleasure Eg. Western culture
3. Idealistic
 This is a transitory phase in which society comes in balance and blend between
ideational and sensate culture.
 Sorokin believed that Social Change occurs in a pendulum manner. It goes from one
extreme (ideational) to another extreme (sensate) and in his process of movement
for the time being it comes between ideational and sensate and it is an ideal blend of
two extreme cultures called ‘idealistic’ society.
4. Criticism of Sorokin and other cyclical theories
 Sorokin’s theory is considered to be too speculative and impossible to test scientifically.
 Sorokin’s theory has not been accepted by the sociologists for it portrays his
prejudices and probably his disgust with the modern society.

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  His concepts of ‘sensate’ and ‘ideational’ are purely subjective. It does not provide an
explanation as to why social change should take this form.
Theory of Religion:
 There are many who refute Marx’s theory of economic determinism for social change. They
feel that no doubt economic considerations play a considerably important role but they feel
that there are many other considerations as well according to them, more than economic
consideration are religious considerations. Max Weber contributes to the idea that religion
is responsible for bringing about social change. From history, he quotes that emergence
of Hinduism, Islam, Christianity or Judaism brought considerable social changes and thus
they give more importance to religion rather than to economic aspects of life for change

STRUCTURE FUNCTIONALIST THEORY of SOCIAL CHANGE of PARSONS: Read from Tushranshu Note
 Division of Labor by Durkheim
 AGIL model by Parson
 Talcott Parson was an American Sociologist who did tremendous theoretical work on structural
functionalism and the theory of social action. According to Parsons, a function refers to a set of
activities that fulfill the needs of society. He described four functional imperatives that are
necessary for the survival of every social system:
 Adaptation: a social system needs to adapt in accordance with the emerging demands of its
environment.
 Goal attainment: a social system needs to define and accomplish its goals.
 Integration: regulation of interrelationships between all the components is essential.
 Latency: a social system needs to preserve and enhance the sense of motivation among the
masses. Maintenance of social patterns contributes to the creation of this motivation.
 Parsons had a conservative approach and his major works convey the ideas of social stability,
order, and integration that play a massive role in society.
 Any disturbance in AGIL framework & energy flow or information flow leads to social change


 Evolutionary View of Social Change – Like evolutionary theorists, he believes that societies
evolve from simple to compound societies and head from one ‘Evolutionary Universal’ to
another in five stages.
 Through the change of the system, the society changes from Archaic (primitive) to Intermediary
(with population increase) to Lead Society (due to education, Industrial Revolution, French

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 Revolution, etc.) However, this is not an evolutionary theory as a society does not necessarily
pass through all the stages. Hence, this is also known as Neo-Evolutionary Theory.
 Hence Parsons explained that society maintains an equilibrium in the process of social
change. Equilibrium is a situation in which society changes itself to meet the needs of the
individual without bringing structural changes in the system. The institution and subsystems
remain the same and do not go through the replacement but changes itself according to
the suitability of the needs of its member. Parsons called it a ‘moving equilibrium’ because
society is neither a static phenomenon, nor the needs of the individual. Hence, t he needs
and social institutions are dynamic.
 First, there is a certain amount of flux in the external situation which tends to throw system off
balance. Secondly, inside the system also, there are processes in form of actions going on
which provide an impulse for change. Thus, equilibrium is disturbed and system again restores it
making it a dynamic equilibrium
 According to him, when ‘shared values’ are institutionalized in a system, it results into an
equilibrium state. This equilibrium is dynamic equilibrium
 The evolutionary tradition is sociology primarily belongs to positivists as well as
anthropologists. Parsons followed the evolution principle which may be fit and applied for
the simple societies but it cannot explain the modern complex societies which are open for
Social Change from the multidimensional factors. Modern societies are very dynamic societies
in which state and society both want to transform society through various sponsored factors
 Criticism
 1) Parsons is a structural functionalist who does not recognize social change from external
factors like diffusion, acculturation, wars, violence, social movements, etc.
 2) This theory is not applied on “seedbed societies” (those societies who do not have
primitive history). For Example, Israel, Chandigarh
 3) Social change may occur due to planning, legislative efforts, technological revolutions,
political efforts, etc. which were not recognized by Parsons
POST MODERNIST PERSPECTIVE on SOCIAL CHANGE
 Post modernists see social change beyond integration-conflict debate. They reject grand
theories of social change as proposed by Marx, Durkheim and Parsons
 Feminist sociology is one of the strands of post-modernist sociology. It emphasizes centrality of
gender in social change. According them, social reality is viewed differently by the two sexes.
Rising awareness of rights, feminization of workforce, women’s movements are seen as new
dimension of social change.
 Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault laid foundation of ‘post structuralism’. Foucault
analyzed the emergence of modern institutions like prisons, hospitals and schools as a sign of
increasing surveillance and discipline in society. Postmodern society is not destined to socialism
as Marx had predicted, but is likely to be more multi-cultural and diverse that traditional branches
of sociology will prove insufficient to account for social change. According to French author Jean
Baudrillard, mass media has reversed the Marxist idea that society is dominated by economic
structure, rather it will be now increasingly controlled by the signs and images which are a
creation of mass media
Briefly discuss the theory of “cultural lag”.
 The term cultural lag refers to the “notion that culture takes time to catch up with
technological innovations, and that social problems and conflicts are caused by this lag”.
 Ogburn believed that material and non-material cultures change in different ways. Change in
material culture has a marked progressive character. This is because there are agreed-upon

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 standards of efficiency that are used to evaluate material inventions. To use air-planes, as
an example, we keep working to develop planes that will fly, higher and faster, and carry
more payloads on a lower unit cost. Because airplanes can be measured against these
standards, inventions in this area appear rapidly and predictably.
 In the area of non-material culture, on the other hand there often are no such generally
accepted standards. Whether one prefers a Hussain, a Picasso, or a Gainsborough, for
example, is a matter of taste, and styles of painting fluctuate unevenly. Similarly, in
institutions such as government and the economic system there are competing forms of
styles. Governments may be dictatorships, oligarchies, republics or democracies.
 Material culture tends to change faster than non-material culture. While this has been
happening in material culture, change in government, economic system, family life, education,
and religion seems to have been much slower. This difference in rates of cultural change led
Ogburn to formulate the concept of culture lag.
 Culture lag is defined as the “time between the appearance of a new material invention and the
making of appropriate adjustments in corresponding area of non-material culture”. This time is
often long. It was over fifty years, for example, after the typewriter was invented before
it was used systematically in offices. Even today, we may have a family system better adapted
to a farm economy than to an urban industrial one, and nuclear weapons exist in a diplomatic
atmosphere attuned to the nineteenth century.
 Cultural lag creates problems for a society in a multitude of ways. The issue of cultural lag
tends to permeate any discussion in which the implementation of some new technology is a
topic.
 For example, the advent of stem cell research has given rise to many new, potentially beneficial
medical technologies; however these new technologies have also raised serious ethical
questions about the use of stem cells in medicine. Cultural lag is seen as a critical ethical issue
because failure to develop broad social consensus on appropriate applications of modern
technology may lead to breakdowns in social solidarity and the rise of social conflict.

Conflict Theory of Social Change

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 Karl Marx is the pioneer of conflict perspective who believes that Social Changes occur due
to a dialect or conflict between the matters. Histheory of “ dialectical materialism ” is inspired
by Hegel’s theory of “idealistic dialectism” who believes that conflict in ideas (thesis
+antithesis = Synthesis) lead to another set of new ideas and since the world is a reflection of
ideas it brings new social order.
 According to conflict theorists, Conflict over values and scarce resources is explicitly the cause
of the social change. According to Karl Marx, the most prominent and eloquent exponent,
holds that change is caused by tensions between competing interests in the society. Marx
believed that the character of social and cultural forms is influenced by the economic base of
society specifically by the mode of production that is used and by the relationships that exist
between those who own and those who do not own the means of production. History is
the story of conflict between the exploiting and the exploited classes. This conflict repeats
itself again and again until capitalism is overthrown by the workers and a socialist state is created.
 According to the conflict thinkers, society is fundamentally dynamic and not static; they regard
conflict as a normal process. George Simmel, considered conflict as a permanent feature
of society, not just an occasional or temporary event. He states that its conflict which binds
people together in interaction. Hence it’s the continuous conflict which keeps society
dynamic and changing.
 Lewis Coser in his book “ Functions of Social Conflict ” recognized that in industrial societies
there is a clash of interest between the different classes but in this conflict in the process of
opposition to each other they recognize the problems of each other and tries to reach a
resolution
 Ralph Dahrendorf in his book “ Class and Class Conflict in Industrial Society ” believed that Social
Change occur because of unequal authority in the society. He believes that in every society
there is one group who has the authority, whereas another does not have. There is a
constant struggle between these two groups which leads to a new authority system
 However, critiques of conflict theories states that it does not account for all forms of social
change. Moreover it does not account for the direction of social change. According to
Dahrendorf, All history is history of class conflict is an unjustifiable oversimplification. Conflict
between social groups, nations, religious groups, political parties can also lead to social change.
There are many dysfunctions of conflict as well
 Functionalist theory holds that every society is relatively stable; whereas, conflict theory
holds that every society is in a process of continuous change. Secondly, functionalists hold
that every society is well integrated; conflict theory holds that every society experiences
continuous conflict and tension. Thirdly, functionalist holds that every element in society
contributes to its functioning, conflict theory holds that every element in society contributes to
its change. Moreover according to the functionalists every society is held together by the
common values of its members whereas conflict theory holds that every society is held
together by the coercion of some of its members by others.
 The reason for this paradox lies in the paradoxical nature of the society itself. Societies are stable,
enduring systems, but they do experience conflict and continuous change. These two approaches
are basically focusing on different aspects of social reality. These two theories can be integrated
to a considerable extent. For example: Merton has introduced the concepts of strain and tension
from conflict theory into functionalist’s theory. Similarly Lewis Coserhas written about the
functions of conflict in society.
DEVELOPMENT AND DEPENDENCY

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 The theory of Dependency primarily developed in the reaction of neo-liberalist perspective.
Neo-liberal believe that economic growth is important for the development of developing
societies and it is only possible when free and fair trade based on principles of ‘Laissez faire’ can
be practices. They believe that the problems of basic needs like food, health, etc. are due
to their closed economy. Hence, to ensure high economic growth they have to tackle these
basic problems of society.
 Under the influence of neo-liberals, developing societies opened up their economy but later
it has been realized that this free economy is benefitting developed societies more than the
developing societies. Hence, after analyzing economic relation between developed and
developing society a counter perspective of neo-liberalism came out known as theory of
‘Dependency’.
 ROLL PREBIS, an Argentinian economist, propounded the theory of dependency. He
identified two types of countries:
 1) Centre – mainly developed economies like US, Europe
 2) Periphery – developing societies
 Book Development of underdevelopment: Andre Gunder Frank- Metropolis-Satellite Theory
GUNDER FRANK further developed the theory of Dependency of Roll Prebis and found that
neoliberalism is a new form of colonialism. He believed that developing or underdeveloped
societies are not poor because of feudalism (as said by liberalists) rather it is because their
resources have been exploited during colonialism. Poverty, illiteracy, problem of healthcare in
the developing societies is because of their legacy ofcolonialism. He believed that modern
liberalism is a new form of ‘economic colonialism’ in which in the name of free and fair trade
they are exploiting their rich primary resources and on the other hand theythemselves are
not exploiting their resources. He believed that unless or until the developing countries will
not try on their own to develop technologies, industries and self-reliance they will remain
poor because they will be dependent on colonial countries. Frank is a Marxist who is against
economic liberalism because he believes that it is in favour of developed countries. In the
name of liberalism, they are making developing countries dependent on them which will
keep them dependent and hence lifelong exploitation.
 Eg. Britishers Conquer India and Implanted new cities in the third world. Facilited transfer of
economic surplus to western countries. Cities of India became Satellite for Wester Countries like
Hub[Metropolis] in Western country and Spoke[Stellite] model
 IMMANUEL WALLERSTEIN’S “DEPENDENCY THEORY”: He is an American Sociologist and
World System analyst, who have envisaged his theory on the basis of three thinkers –
Marx, Ferdinand, Braudell and the theory of African colonialism.
 Wallerstein studies the comparative history of colonial societies form 16th century and
believed that the European society has not prospered because of their entrepreneurship or
technological advancement rather because of exploitation of their colonies. They accumulated
wealth because of economy profit they have made out of their colonies and he believed
that only during this phase they have accumulated the capital. He also believes that the
global capitalism is a dynamic system which changes itself after sometime but the basic
principles remain the same. He believes that the modern neo- liberalization is the new form of
‘colonial capitalism’ .
 For Example, in developing societies labour are paid less than the developed societies
because they cannot sustain in the market. Hence the profit of their labour always goes to
the capitalist because these capitalists were either the members of capitalist countries or

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 their representatives. They have paid least and this way accumulated profits which led to
capitalism in the West.
 Wallerstein has given the example of the liberal developing societies he called it ‘peripheries
and semiperipheries’. Like China and Brazil who developed more than peripheries because they
were not open as like the peripheries. The rise of Brazil and China is an example that
neoliberalism is not good for the peripheries. The Dependency theory claims that the centres
are responsible for the slow development of the peripheries and hence peripheries should close
their economy so that they can develop their own technology to exploittheir economic
potential and once they come on equal platform then only the economically parallel relation
with centre can be established. China is an example which opened its economy only when it
has developed its own infrastructure and now it is a large exporter of finished goods than primary
 CRITICISMS of dependency theory
 John Goldthorpe: Colonialism benefited to LDCsGave basic infra like trasport and
communication
 Hancock:- Aid provided by Western Nations to LDCs but ends in the banks accounts of LDC elites
therefore experienced little or no economic rowth
 Neo-liberals believe that theory of dependency is one-sided view which forgets that the
countries like India and other socialist countries tried their level best to survive on their own but
collapsed because economic independence is a myth. The economy of the USSR is also an
example
 The second World countries (Socialist and Communist) remained closed for a longer period
but realized that economy dependent on mutual give and take. Economic isolation is
disastrous
 The dependency theorists only see one-sided impact of neo-liberal but the ASEAN (Association
of Southeast Asian Nations) societies are the example who just developed because of liberal
policies.
 Gunnar Myrdal contends that developmental deficit cannot be completely attributed to
dependency, but its major causes are value deficit and institutional inadequacies in third world
countries
 Dependency theorists also fail to account for the rapid economic development of many East
Asian economies and even Latin American countries like Brazil, Mexico, etc.
 Another principal criticism of dependency theories has been that the school does not provide
any substantive empirical evidence to support its arguments.
Modernization theory of development:
 Market Oriented theories recommended the adoption of modern capitalist institutions to
promote economic development arguing that countries can develop economically only if they
open their borders to trade. The best example of this species is Walt Rostow’s Modernization
theory
AGENTS OF SOCIAL CHANGE
 Agents of social change can be various. They can be from within the society i.e.
endogenous/orthogenetic or can be from external sources i.e. exogenous/heterogenetic.
Internal causes include factors like – stress and conflict in society, conflicts between ideals of
society and actual reality, charismatic leadership as in case of Gandhi, Lenin-Russian Revolution
etc. External causes may include cultural causes, environmental causes etc. Attack, war,
urbanization, industrialization.

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 Christianity and Islam also brought considerable cultural changes in India when they arrived
in India. Sorokin proposed a theory of ‘inner causes’ which said that inner linkages and conflicts
cause change in a particular society.
 Various factors of social change can be like –
 Cultural factors – A large part of change in society is caused by change in culture. Culture is a
system that constantly loses and gains components. Invention, discovery and diffusion are
considered to be the main sources of cultural change. Diffusion is a process of the spreading of
ideas, culture and objects to other societies. Change in position of women in many societies is
an example of cultural change.
 Ideas and values – New ideas and modification of old ideas in a new context bring wide-scale
changes in society. For example, Max Weber established that rationalization of religious ideas
brought about phenomenal change in Protestant world.
 Social structure – The seeds of change sometimes lie within the very social structure – the
changes arising out of tensions and conflicts. The most influential theory linking change to social
structure was by Karl Marx, who claimed that social class was the basis of conflict between
unequally positioned sections of the population – the rich and the poor. The rising tension
between the haves and have not, he held, would lead to class struggle, in which the capitalist
system, which is advantageous to the haves would be replaced by a socialist system.
 Political factors – Ruling class defines the political atmosphere of a society. For example –
in military dictatorship, resources are channelized in a different manner as compared to a
democracy. Often a redistribution of power happens due to some big political events like
revolutions, coups etc as in case of French Revolution. Gradual changes also take as a result of
far reaching political initiatives like universal adult franchise.
 Environmental and physical factors – Early civilizations were mostly situated in flood plains.
Village life is drastically changed by Tsunami. Now a days global warming also looms large which
may bring multiplicities of change.
 Economic factors – According to Karl Marx, true social change in form of communist revolution
can come only by change in economic infrastructure. Discovery of oil in Middle East, rise
of industrialization and capitalism are some of examples. Globalization of economies is the most
recent example.
 Demographic factors – Demographic change is caused by an increase in birth and decline
in death, and migration of populations. Change occurs from the demographic transition in
society.
 Religious factors – Religion can act as an agent of change as well as resistance to change. Weber
has shown how protestant ethics brought industrialization to Europe.
 Technological factors – Industrial Revolution is such an example. In Ogburn’s concept of ‘culture
lag’ technology has been an important factor in social change.
 Conflict and change – Social change is also caused by tension and conflict. Structural strain,
deprivation, cultural revitalization etc have been the major causes of conflict. Social division
based on class, caste, gender, ethnicity, estate, etc. have also been important sources of conflict
and change in society.
 Social movements and change – Social movements are organized efforts of groups of people to
bring about deliberate change in the values, norms, institutions, culture relationships and
traditions of the society. They also generate new identities and a new perspective.

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 TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIAL CHANGE: Read from ONLYIAS
“Technology is the key to understanding social change today”. Critically analyse
 Social change is the alteration in patterns of social structure, social institutions, and social behaviour over
time. No society can successfully resist change, not even those that try to do so, although some societies
are more resistant to change than others. But the rate, nature and direction of change differ greatly from
one society to another.
 There are many agents of social change like law, education, science and technology, etc. Technology is
recognised as one of the most crucial factors in social change. It is a major source of social change.
 The more advanced a society’s technology, the more rapid social change tends to be. As William Ogburn
pointed out, technological change tends to be followed by changes in other parts of the social system,
although there may be a culture lag while the other parts adjust. Technological innovations are usually
accepted quite readily if they are obviously useful, but social norms and other cultural arrangements are
more conservative and adjust much more slowly to changed material conditions.
 The social institutions of family, religion, morality, marriage, state, property have been altered by
the progress in and use of technology. The use of technology has impacted the society in the following
ways:
 Impact on social relationships
 The modern factory, means of transportation, medicine, surgery, mass media of communications, space
and computers technology etc. have affected the attitudes, values and behaviour of people across
societies. To take a simple example, automobiles and other means of modern transportation have spread
culture, by increasing interaction among people who live far away from each other. The
technological feats in the area of transport and communication have altered leisure activities, helped in
maintaining social networks, and stimulated the formation of new social relationships.
 There is a powerful interplay between a society's technology, family structure, and social values. Many
functions of the family have been taken away by other agencies. Marriage is losing its sanctity. It
is treated as a civil contract than a sacred bond. Instances of divorce, desertion and separation are
increasing.
 Transportation and communication inventions are leading to a shift of functions from local government
to the central government of the whole state. The modern inventions have also strengthened
nationalism. The modern governments which rule through the bureaucracy have further impersonalized
the human relations.
 Impact on social structure
 Like the domino effect that took place with the boom of the automobile industry, demand for consumer
goods spurred the growth of various other industries and increased demand for labour, which
consequently increased worker wages (Gordon and Gordon).
 The expansion of global markets, the mass media, the civil service, and other services such as
health care, education, and transportation led to the formation of modern families in developing

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 countries. Caldwell and Caldwell described this change in Nigeria and Ghana as "a movement toward
monogamy, a strengthening of the conjugal bond over all others, a strengthening of the parent-
child bond over all relationships external to the nuclear family, and ultimately an emphasis on what
parents owe children rather than what children owe parents. "
 Technology has elevated the status of women but it has also contributed to the stresses and strains in the
relations between men and women at home. However, according to Boserup and Schultz, women's
economic power has eroded in general, with technological changes and with improvements in the
market activities of poor rural households, which increase men's control over resources and
simultaneously undercut women's control.
 The industrial or the capitalist economy has divided the social organization into two predominant
classes-the capitalist class and the working class. These two classes are always at conflict due to mutually
opposite interest. In the course of time an intermediary class called the middle class has evolved.
 Impact on social institutions
 Modern technology in taking away industry from the household has radically changed the family
organization. Where neighbours were strangers, the modern family became a "haven in a heartless
world" (Lasch).
 Religion is losing hold over the members. People are becoming more secular, rational and scientific but
less religious in their outlook. Inventions and discoveries in science have shaken the foundations
of religion. Wilson has argued that technology has a powerful secularizing effect by reducing the
occasions on which people have recourse to religion.
 The function of the state or the field of state activity has been widened. Modern technology have made
the states to perform such functions as -the protection of the aged, the weaker section and the
minorities making provision for education, health care etc.
 Technology has allowed man to move from manual labour of the fields to cities and machines. It
has allowed huge cities to arise, because of the urban poor that have migrated to cities for improved
services and job opportunities. Technology has spawned the growth of modern society but it is also now
used to control the population.
 One major difficulty in technology as source of change is that its impact on society is not visible in short
run. Technological changes dont lead to social change so easily and often there is backlash as well. Early
use of anaesthesia, stem cell research, cloning etc were all opposed as an attempt of man playing as god.
Luddites vandalized industrial machinery as a reaction to newly introduced machines at workplace.
 Robert Blauner in his study Alienation and Freedom has also highlighted the alienating aspects of
technology at work place. Some technologies like automation lead to monotony at workplace. Marxists
also argue that technology alienates man from its labour and fruit of labour.

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 EDUCATION AND SOCIAL CHANGE: Read From ONLYIAS
 It encourages the individual to develop his or her mental, physical, emotional and spiritual talents
to the full. Hence, education and social change are linked in following way –
1. Initiate social change – Education is the most powerful instrument of social change
because education fulfils the needs of society and propagates such ideas which promote social
change in all fields of life. Education prepares ground for the advent of social change. Many
great evils like Sati, child marriage etc were largely banished from Indian society due to
education.
2. Capacity to welcome change – Education promotes capacity to welcome and accept social
change easily and gladly. Education creates a wholesome and conductive environment for the
social changes to become acceptable to all.
3. Equality of opportunity – Modern education system and schools provide equality of opportunity
to members of society to a great extent regardless of their position in the system of
stratification. It helps in creating a more open society and provides greater opportunities
of social mobility. As educational capabilities of members increase, their bargaining powers
in market also increase.
4. Moral agent – Education also plays a role in imbibing social values like empathy, rational
investigation etc. It upgrades personal skills and make members more valuable in society.
It broadens personal horizons as well. Children become in their lives what they practice at
schools and educational institutions. In Aristotle's words, ‘We become just by performing
just acts, temperate by performing temperate ones, brave by performing brave ones ’. Schools
perform the function of laying moral foundation in society.
5. Economic role – Education also has a close linkage with economic system. Mass education
began only with industrial revolution. It began as the need of economic system. Technical
education helped in scaling up the industries which heralded industrial revolution.
6. Fights orthodoxy, promotes liberal ideas – Education strives to banish social evils, blind
customs and traditions through various social reform projects. It helps in minimizing
discrimination. Schools in modern societies are designed to promote uniformity,
standardized aspirations and universalistic values. This is done through uniform textbooks,
uniform dress code and a common pedagogy.
7. Social mobility – It provides avenues for structural mobility. Mass education brings fundamental
changes in social structure. Examples of Jyotiba Phule, Brahma Samaj shows how
education heralded social change for such sections of society. It is a force that is even breaking
the moulds of rigid stratification like caste and providing opportunities in closed societies also.
It facilitates both inter-generational and intra-generational mobility. In modern society it
offers multiple avenues of livelihood and hence offers occupational mobility. Modern
societies are individual achievement oriented. Education in facilitates equality of opportunity
in future life.
8. Research role – It opens new vistas for deeper investigations and researches which brings
desirable changes in the society.
9. Evaluate change – Apart from these, education also accelerates and stimulates change and later
evaluates social change

pg. 102