JAMIAMILLIA

ISLAMIA

Name-Arbaz khan
Rollno.-74
Subject-Sociology
Submittedto-
Rasheedsir
Introduction:

Changeistheinternallaw.Historyandsciencebearampletestimonytothefactthat

changeisthelawoflife.Stagnationisdeath.Theytellusstoriesofman’sriseand

growthfromthePaleolithicagetotheNeolithicage,thentotheStoneAgeandnext

tothecopperageetc.Onthestageoftheworld,scenesfollowscenes,actsfollowacts,and

dramafollowsdrama.Nothingstandsstill.

Thewheeloftimemovesonandon.Theolddiesandtheyoungstepsintotheworld.

Weringouttheoldandringinthenew.Achildchangesintoaboy,aboyintoayouth

andthenintoaman.Thebudchangesintoaflower.Thedawnturnsintomorning,mornin

gintonoon,noonintoafternoonandafternoonintonight.

Itissaid,“Todayisnotyesterday,weourselveschange.Nochangeispermanent,itis

subjecttochange.Thisisobservedinallsparesofactivity.Changeindeedispainful,

yetneedful”.Flowingwateriswholesome,andstagnantwaterispoisonous.Only

whenitflowsthroughandalterswithchanges,itisabletorefreshandrecreate.

Changeisanever-presentphenomenon.Itisthelawofnature.Societyisnotatalla

staticphenomenon,butitisadynamicentity.Itisanongoingprocess.Thesocial

structureissubjecttoincessantchanges.Individualsmaystriveforstability,yetthe
factremainsthatsocietyisaneverychangingphenomenon;growing,decaying,rene

wingandaccommodatingitselftochangingconditions.

Thehumancompositionofsocietieschangesovertime,technologiesexpand,

ideologiesandvaluestakeonnewcomponents;institutionalfunctionsandstructures

undergoreshaping.Hence,nosocietyremainscompletestatic.Incessantchangeabilityisver

yinherentnatureofhumansociety.

Asocialstructureisanexusofpresentrelationships.Itexistsbecausesocialbeings
seektomaintainit.Itcontinuestoexistbecausemendemanditscontinuance.Butthe

existingsocialstructureisinfluencedbymanyfactorsandforcesthatinevitablycauseittoch

ange.Societyisthussubjecttocontinuouschange.

Thechangeofmanandsocietyhasbeenthecentralandquitedominantconcernof

sociologyrightfromthetimewhenitemergedasbranchoflearning.Theconcernfor

socialchangeisofgreatimportancenotonlyinstudyingpastchangesbutalsoininvestig

ating‘future’
developments.

MeaningofSocialChange

Changeimpliesallvariationsinhumansocieties.Whenchangesoccurinthemodesof

livingofindividualsandsocialrelationgetsinfluenced,suchchangesarecalledsocialchanges.

Socialchangereferstothemodificationswhichtakeplaceinlifepatternofpeople.Itoccursb

ecauseallsocietiesareinaconstantstateofdisequilibrium.

Theword‘change’
denotesadifferenceinanythingobservedoversomeperiodof

time.Hence,socialchangewouldmeanobservabledifferencesinanysocialphen

omenaoveranyperiodoftime.

Socialchangeisthechangeinsocietyandsocietyisawebofsocialrelationships.

Hence,socialchangeisachangeinsocialrelationships.Socialrelationshipsaresocial
processes,socialpatternsandsocialinteractions.Theseincludethemutualactivities

andrelationsofthevariouspartsofthesociety.Thus,theterm‘socialchange’
isused

todescribevariationsofanyaspectofsocialprocesses,socialpatterns,socialintera

ctionorsocialorganization.
Socialchangemaybedefinedaschangesinthesocialorganization,thatis,thestructu
reandfunctionsofthesociety.

Wheneveronefindsthatalargenumberofpersonsareengagedinactivitiesthat

differfromthosewhichtheirimmediateforefatherswereengagedinsometimebefor

e,onefindsasocialchange.

Wheneverhumanbehaviourisintheprocessofmodification,onefindsthatsocial

changeisoccurring.Humansocietyisconstitutedofhumanbeings.Socialchange

meanshumanchange,sincemenarehumanbeings.Tochangesociety,assaysDavis,istocha

ngeman.

Theoristsofsocialchangeagreethatinmostconcretesenseoftheword‘change’,

everysocialsystemischangingallthetime.Thecompositionofthepopulation

changesthroughthelifecycleandthustheoccupationorroleschanges;themembers

ofsocietyundergophysiologicalchanges;thecontinuinginteractionsamongmember

modifyattitudesandexpectations;newknowledgeisconstanlybeinggainedandtrans

mitted.

DefiningChange:

Thequestiontowhatsocialchangeactuallymeansisperhapsthemostdifficultone
withinthescientificstudyofchange.Itinvolvestheoftenneglectedqueryofwhat‘kind’
a

nddegreeofchangeinwhatistobeconsideredsocialchange.

Mostanalystsofsocialchangedealwiththisquestionimplicitlysomewhereintheir

theoreticalsystemorinthecontextofthelatter’sapplicationtosomeempiricalcase.

Forthepresentpurposeitshouldsufficetoexaminedefinitionsthatarefrequentlyusedto

conceptualisechange.
AccordingtoJones“Socialchangeisatermusedtodescribevariationsin,or

modificationsofanyaspectofsocialprocesses,socialpatterns,socialinteractionorsocial

organization”.

AsKingsleyDavissays,“BySocialchangeismeantonlysuchalternationsasoccurinsocialor

ganization–thatis,thestructureandfunctionsofsociety”.

AccordingtoMaclverandPage,“Socialchangereferstoaprocessresponsivetomany

typesofchanges;tochangesthemaninmadeconditionoflife;tochangesinthe

attitudesandbeliefsofmen,andtothechangesthatgobeyondthehumancontroltothebiolo

gicalandthephysicalnatureofthings”.

MorrisGinsbergdefines,“Bysocialchange,Iunderstandachangeinsocialstructure,

e.g.,thesizeofthesociety,thecompositionorthebalanceofitspartsorthetypeofitsorgani

zation”.

P.Fairchilddefinessocialchangeas“variationsormodificationsinanyaspectsofsocial

process,patternorform.

Byanalyzingallthedefinitionsmentionedabove,wereachattheconclusionthatthe

twotypeofchangesshouldbetreatedastwofactsofthesamesocialphenomenon.

Twotypeofchangesaree.g.(i)changesinthestructureofsociety,(ii)changesinthe
valuesandsocialnormswhichbindthepeopletogetherandhelptomaintainsocial

order.Thesetwotypeofchangesshouldnot,however,betreatedseparatelybecauseachan

geinoneautomaticallyinduceschangesintheother.

Forexample,achangeintheattitudeofthepeoplemaybringaboutchangesinthe

socialstructure.Towardsthecloseofthe19century,therewasatendencyinthe

countriesofWesternEuropeforfamiliestogrowsmallerinsize.Thereisageneral
agreementthatthishasbeenbroughtaboutmainlybyvoluntaryrestrictionofbirths”.

Inthiscase,achangeintheattitudeofthepeopleismainlyresponsibleforchangein

thesocialstructure.Ontheotherhand,achangeinthesocialstructuremaybring

aboutattitudinalchangeamongthemembersofthesociety.Transformationofrural

societyintoindustrialsocietyisnotsimplyachangeinthestructureofsociety.Forexampl

e,industrialisationhasdestroyeddomesticsystemofproduction.

Thedestructionofdomesticsystemofproductionhasbroughtwomenfromhometo

factoryandoffice.Theemploymentofwomengavethemanewindependentoutlook.

Theattitudeofindependenceinsteadofdependenceuponmenhasbecomethetrait

ofwomen’spersonally.Hence,thesetwotypeofchangesshouldnotbetreatedsepara

telybutbothofthemshouldbestudiedtogether.

Theproblemofsocialchangeisoneofthecentralfociofsociologicalinquiry.Itisso

complexandsosignificantinthelifeofindividualandofsocietythatwehavetoexploret

he‘why’
and‘how’
ofsocialchangeinallitsramifications.

CharacteristicsofSocialChange:

Thefactofsocialchangehasfascinatedthekeenestmindsandstillposessomeofthe
greatunsolvedproblemsinsocialsciences.Thephenomenonofsocialchangeisnot

simplebutcomplex.Itisdifficulttounderstandthisinitsentirety.Theunsolved

problemsarealwayspressurisingustofindanappropriateanswer.Tounderstand

socialchangewell,wehavetoanalysethenatureofsocialchangewhichareasfollows

:
1.SocialChangeisSocial:

Societyisa“webofsocialrelationships”
andhencesocialchangeobviouslymeansa

changeinthesystemofsocialrelationships.Socialrelationshipsareunderstoodinterms

ofsocialprocessesandsocialinteractionsandsocialorganizations.

Thus,thetermsocialchangeisusedtodescribevariationinsocialinteractions,

processesandsocialorganizations.Onlythatchangecanbecalledsocialchange

whoseinfluencecanbefeltinacommunityform.Thechangesthathavesignificanceforallo

rconsiderablesegmentofpopulationcanbeconsideredassocialchange.

2.SocialChangeisUniversal:

Changeistheuniversallawofnature.Thesocialstructure,socialorganizationand

socialinstitutionsarealldynamic.Socialchangeoccursinallsocietiesandatalltimes.No soci

etyremainscompletelystatic.

Eachsociety,nomatterhowtraditionalandconservative,isconstantlyundergoing

change.Justasman’slifecannotremainstatic,sodoessocietyofallplacesandtimes.

Hereadjustmenttakeplaceandhereconflictbreaksdownadjustment.Herethereis

revolutionandhereconsent.Heremendesireforachievingnewgoals,andheretheyreturnt

ooldones.

3.SocialChangeoccursasanEssentiallaw:
Changeisthelawofnature.Socialchangeisalsonatural.Changeisanunavoidable

andunchangeablelawofnature.Bynaturewedesirechange.Ourneedskeepon

changingtosatisfyourdesireforchangeandtosatisfytheseneeds,socialchange

becomesanecessity.Thetruthisthatweareanxiouslywaitingforachange.

AccordingtoGreen,“Theenthusiasticresponseofchangehasbecomealmostwayoflife.
4.SocialChangeisContinuous:

Societyisanever-changingphenomenon.Itisundergoingendlesschanges.Itisan

“ongoingprocess”.Thesechangescannotbestopped.Societyissubjecttocontinuous

change.Hereitgrowsanddecays,thereitfindsrenewal,accommodatesitselftovariou

schangingconditions.

Societyisasystemofsocialrelationship.Butthesesocialrelationshipsarenever

permanent.Theyaresubjecttochange.Societycannotbepreservedinamuseumto

saveitfromtheravagesoftime.Fromthedawnofhistory,downtothisday,societyhasbeeni

nflux.

Socialchangemanifestsitselfindifferentstagesofhumanhistory.Inancienttimes

whenlifewasconfinedtocaves(StoneAge),thesocialsystemwasdifferentfromthat

ofthecomputeragetoday.Thereisnofixityinhumanrelationships.Circumstancesbringa

boutmanyachangeinthebehaviourpatterns.

5.SocialChangeInvolvesNo-ValueJudgement:

Socialchangedoesnotattachanyvaluejudgement.Itisneithermoralnorimmoral,it

isamoral.Thequestionof“whatoughttobe”
isbeyondthenatureofsocialchange.

Thestudyofsocialchangeinvolvesno-valuejudgement.Itisethicallyneutral.A
correctdecisiononwhatisempiricallytrueisnotthesameascorrectdecisiononwhatou

ghttobe.

6.SocialChangeisBoundbyTimeFactors:

Socialchangeistemporal.Ithappensthroughtime,becausesocietyexistsonlyasa

time-sequences.Weknowitsmeaningfullyonlybyunderstandingitthroughtime

factors.Forexample,thecastesystemwhichwasapillarofstabilityintraditionalIndians

ociety,isnowundergoingconsiderablechangesinthemodernIndia.
TherewaslessindustrialisationinIndiaduring50s.Butin90s,Indiahasbecomemore

industrialized.Thus,thespeedofsocialchangediffersfromagetoage.Thereasonis

thatthefactorswhichcausesocialchangedonotremainuniformwiththechangesintime.

7.RateandTempoofSocialChangeisUneven:

Thoughsocialchangeisamustforeachandeverysociety,therate,tempo,speedand

extentofchangeisnotuniform.Itdiffersfromsocietytosociety.Insomesocieties,its

speedisrapid;inanotheritmaybeslow.Andinsomeothersocietiesitoccursso

slowlythatitmaynotbenoticedbythosewholiveinthem.Forexample,inthe

modern,industrialurbansocietythespeedandextentofchangeisfasterthantraditi

onal,agriculturalandruralsociety.

8.DefinitePredictionofSocialChangeisImpossible:

Itisverymuchdifficulttomakeoutanypredictionontheexactformsofsocial

change.AthousandyearsagoinAsia,EuropeandLatinAmericathefaceofsociety

wasvastlydifferentfromthatwhatexiststoday.Butwhatthesocietywillbeinthousa

ndyearsfromnow,noonecantell.

Butachangetherewillbe.Forexample,industrialisationandurbanisationhas

broughtaboutaseriesofinterrelatedchangesinourfamilyandmarriagesystem.But
wecannotpredicttheexactformswhichsocialrelationshipswillassumeinfuture.Similar

ly,whatshallbeourideas,attitudesandvalueinfuture,itisunpredictable.

9.SocialChangeShowsChain-ReactionSequences:

Societyisadynamicsystemofinterrelatedparts.Changesinoneaspectoflifemay

induceaseriesofchangesinotheraspects.Forexample,withtheemancipationof

women,educatedyoungwomenfindthetraditionaltypeoffamilyandmarriagenot
quitefittotheirliking.

Theyfinditdifficulttolivewiththeirparents-in-law,obeyingthemother-in-lawat

everypoint.Theydesireseparatehomes.Thestabilityofmarriagescannolongerbe

takenforgranted.Thechangingvaluesofwomenforcementochangetheirvalues

also.Therefore,societyisasystemofinterrelatedparts.Changeinitsoneaspectmayleadtoa

seriesofchangesinotheraspectsofthesociety.

10.SocialChangetakesplaceduetoMulti-NumberofFactors:

Socialchangeistheconsequenceofanumberoffactors.Aspecialfactormaytriggera

changebutitisalwaysassociatedwithotherfactorsthatmakethetriggeringpossible.

Socialchangecannotbeexplainedintermsofoneortwofactorsonlyandthat

variousfactorsactuallycombineandbecomethe’cause’
ofthechange.M.Ginsberg

observes:“Acauseisanassemblageoffactorswhich,ininteractionwitheachother,

undergoachange”.Thereisnosinglemasterkeybywhichwecanunlockallthedoors

leadingtosocialchange.Asamatteroffact,socialchangeistheconsequenceofanumber

offactors.