Society
What causes society to change?
© Robert J. Atkins, Ph.D.
Why does society change?
Technology
 Conflict
 Rational thought
 Social Bonds

How does technology cause
social change?
Lenski’s
 “Sociocultural evolution” occurs when
society acquires new technology
 Technology = both positive and negative
effects

Hunting & Gathering societies

Bow & arrow and stone knife
Horticultural societies

Hoe & digging stick
Pastoral societies

Domesticated animals
Agrarian societies



Plow
Large scale farming
Created
 Cities (Walled cities)
 Greater specialization
 Use of money
 Great wall of China
 Pyramids of Egypt
Early walled cities – China
Top of wall
Early walled cities – China
Door to the city
Early walled cities – China
Bell to sound trouble
Walled city of Rhodes (Greece)
Walled city of Rhodes
Note dry mote between two walls protecting the city.
Pyramids of Egypt
Industrial societies

Sociology develops
Postindustrial
Computers
 Information based

Do you remember?
What four major things cause social
change?
 What stages do the Lenski’s cite as
examples of technological change causing
social change?

How does conflict create social
change?
Karl Marx
 Production of goods
Social conflict between classes
Major force that changes society

What is “false consciousness”
Beliefs that supported the capitalistic
economic system
 Individual, not society are responsible for
problems
 Substitute class consciousness

What is “class consciousness”?

Workers as a class against capitalists
What is alienation?
Worker isolation and misery resulting from
powerlessness
 Workers were alienated from:
The act of working
Products of work
Other workers
 Capitalism blamed for alienation

Do you remember?
Who started the conflict perspective?
 What is false consciousness?
 What is Class consciousness?
 What is alienation?
 How did these factors help create the
current union management relationships we
have today?

Can rational thought create
social change?
Max Weber
 Ideas, beliefs, values change society

What is the rationalization of
Society?
Rationality - Calculated most efficient way
to do anything
 Preindustrial = tradition based
 Postindustrial = Rational thought

How do social bonds create
social change?
Durkheim
 Mechanical Solidarity
Based on tradition
 Organic Solidarity
Based on specialization &
interdependence
Produces anomie (little moral guidance)

Do you remember?
Who focused on rational thought changing
society?
 How did the thinking of preindustrial and
postindustrial societies differ?
 Who focused on social bonds changing
society?
 How did the social bonds of preindustrial
and postindustrial societies differ?
