Ch. 4 Society
Social change –
Shift Happens

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM
cfrLYDm2U
What factors cause social
change?
The Lenski’s discussed how
technology from hunting and
gathering to industrialization changed
the world.
 What are other examples of how
technology is currently changing the
world and this culture?

What creates sociocultural
evolution?

Technology

As technology changes, society
changes
• Examples – Good or bad?

Ideas
Can society change faster
than our ability to adjust?

If this was happening, what symptoms
would we see in people?
What things are stabilizing
factors in society?

Why?
How does technology
change society?
Business
 Economics
 Leisure
 Family

How does conflict change
society?
Your response
 Women’s movement
 Race relations
 Global economic conflict and
competition

Karl Marx – Have vs. Have
not’s
Owner’s vs. workers
 False consciousness
 Class consciousness
 Alienation
 Marx’s solution: The worker revolt

How do ideas change
society?

Ideas, beliefs, values
What creates “sociocultural
evolution”?
Technology
 As technology changes, society
changes.
 Examples


Good – Bad?
Example of sociocultural evolution

Nightline program – Tropical paradise

Movie – Disk 3
Critical thinking question
What technologies are involved here?
 What parts of society did it change?
 Family?
 Moral values?
 Economics?
 Individuals?

Critical thinking question
Freedom of speech & press?
 Who decides?

What are questions that sociologists
could not study scientifically?

Value judgments?
Critical thinking question

To what extent does contemporary
U.S. society still reflect the industrial
model and in what ways are we now
fully postindustrial?
Critical thinking question
Have you or your friends or family
worked in jobs which were alienating?
 How accurately does Marx describe
the characteristics of these jobs?

Critical thinking question

What have we gained and what have
we lost as our society has moved from
mechanical to organic solidarity?
What is the effect of Marx’s concept of
alienation on the individuals, corporations,
and the society?
How can Marx’s idea of social conflict be
applied to future increased costs of
Medicare, social security?
Groups
#1 = 3,4,5
#2 = 6,7,8
#3 = 9,10,11
#4 = 12, 13,14
#5 = 15,16,17
#6 = 18,19,20