This document discusses theories of social change and social movements. It covers evolutionary and revolutionary views of social change, as well as early social evolutionary theories from the 19th century and more modern resource mobilization and new social movement theories. Key figures discussed include Marx, Weber, Bell, and Castells. The document also defines key terms like social change, cultural lag, and globalization and provides discussion questions about different aspects of social change and social movement theories.

1. Social Change, Collective Action,
and Social Movements

2. Evolutionary social change
An evolutionary view of social change
implies a gradual transformation
through a series of stages of
increasing complexity (as distinct
from the revolutionary view of social
change, which assumes that a
revolution is necessary for social
change to occur).

3. Social Revolution
A social revolution involves a
fundamental change in social
practices (as distinct from a political
revolution, which involves the
overthrow of one type of political
regime by another).

4. Toffler’s Three Waves of Social
Development
Agricultural age (began about 10,000 years ago)—
Social Significance: people moved away from
nomadic wandering/hunting to villages and
cultures.
Industrial age (began in the eighteenth century)—
Social Significance: People began to leave the
peasant culture of farming to work in city factories
with machinery.
Information age (current era)—Social Significance:
Wealth is increasingly contingent on the
possession of knowledge/information.

5. Table 18.2 Access to Information and
Communications Technology (ICT)

6. Figure 18.1 Number of Stations Owned by
Top Five Companies

7. Social Change
As defined by Wilbert Moore, social
change is the “significant alteration of
social structures” where social
structures means “patterns of social
action and interaction” (Moore 1967:
3)

8. Cultural Lag
The phenomenon whereby cultural
elements, such as religious beliefs,
change more slowly than structural
elements, such as technological
innovations.
(The term cultural lag was coined by
William Ogburn.)

9. Attempts to explain social change
In the nineteenth century, attempts to
explain social change were prompted
by increased information and curiosity
about so-called “primitive” societies,
which raised questions about the
nature of “modernity” and the
direction of human development

10. Social evolutionary theories
Viewed social change as advancing
gradually through certain basic
stages of development, such as from
“military society” to “industrial
society,” and from simple agrarian
forms to more complex industrialurban ones
Developed in the nineteenth century
by Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer,
and Emile Durkheim

11. Theories of revolutionary change
Emphasized increasing conflict
among different parts of society—
particularly different economic groups
(classes)—as the fundamental source
of social change
Mainly associated with Karl Marx

12. Criticism of early theories
Twentieth century sociologists
criticized the early theories for
attempting to explain too much—to
be claiming to have discovered a kind
of universal pattern of development
Max Weber, for example, warned
against generalizations of this sort

13. Modern industrial society
Both Karl Marx and Max Weber
viewed modern industrial society as a
socioeconomic system in which the
manufacturing firm was central.

14. Karl Marx
For Marx, the factory was important
as a prime example of the methods
used by capitalists to make a profit
out of combining machinery and
workers to produce goods for sale; it
was a means of concentrating and
organizing labor

15. Max Weber
For Weber, the manufacturing firm
typified the modern form of
organization, which was highly
rational and bureaucratic

16. Post-industrial Society
Daniel Bell popularized the concept of
post-industrial society in the early
1970s
The term signifies an intermediate
stage between industrial society and
a future form of society, the precise
nature of which was still to be
established

17. Bell’s three social spheres
Social (or techno-economic) structure
Polity, i.e. the state and political
institutions
Culture

18. The axial principles of each sphere
Social (or techno-economic) structure
 efficiency
Polity, i.e. the state and political
institutions  equality
Culture  self-realization

19. Daniel Bell
Bell’s main concern is with the conflict
between the techno-economic and
cultural realms
Bell discerned the emergence of a
postmodern culture based on
consumerism, “concerned with play,
fun, display and pleasure” (Bell 1976:
70)

20. Manuel Castells
Three types of social movements and
identities that can be generated in
response to the globalization of
information flows:
Legitimizing
Resistance
Project

21. Legitimizing movements and
identities
As described by Castells, social
movements that are generated
through institutions of civil society that
are outside of the state, yet have
legitimate access to state power

22. Resistance movements and
identities
As described by Castells, social
movements that are based on the
identity of excluded groups (i.e. racial
and ethnic minorities) and are the
product of resentment toward
dominant institutions and alienation
from mainstream ideologies

23. Project movements and identities
As described by Castells, social
movements that use available cultural
resources to create new identities
that redefine one’s position in society
and try to change the overall social
structure (e.g. the women’s
movement and environmental
movement)

24. Key Characteristics of
Social Movements
An informal network of interactions
among activist groups, individuals,
and organizations
A sense of collective identity
Engagement in political or cultural
conflict over social change

25. Collective Behavior
As defined by Neil Smelser,
“mobilization on the basis of a belief
which redefines social action” (1962:
8)

26. Resource Mobilization Theory
Developed by John D. McCarthy and
Mayer N. Zald
Assumes that social movements and
individuals always operate on a
rational basis and make rational
choices
Treats social movements as if they
were companies in search of
investors

27. New Social Movements Theory
New Social Movements theory is
interested in the analysis of culture
and meaning in social movements

28. Globalization
As defined by David Held,
“Globalization may be thought of
initially as the widening, deepening
and speeding up of worldwide
interconnectedness in all aspects of
contemporary social life, from the
cultural to the criminal, the financial to
the spiritual” (Held et al. 1999: 2).

29. Study Questions
What is the difference between
evolutionary and revolutionary social
change? Are they mutually exclusive? How
is social revolution different from political
revolution?
What are Alvin Toffler’s three “waves” of
social development? Briefly describe each
of these stages by identifying its dominant
form of economic production, its basis of
wealth, and its social significance. Which
stage are we in now?

30. Study Questions (continued)
What is Wilbert Moore’s definition of
social change? What are the
advantages and disadvantages of this
definition? Why is social change so
difficult to define?

31. Study Questions (continued)
What two types of theories of social
change emerged during the
nineteenth century? Who are the
major theorists associated with each
theory? Which one describes
development in terms of evolution,
and which one in terms of revolution?

32. Study Questions (continued)
What events prompted the first
attempts to explain social change in
the nineteenth century? How were the
first theories of social change
criticized by sociologists of the
twentieth century?

33. Study Questions (continued)
How did Karl Marx understand the
role of the factory in modern
capitalism? How did Max Weber
understand the role of the
manufacturing firm? Does the
information society constitute a
radical break from the modern society
that these two theorists describe?

34. Study Questions (continued)
Name the three social spheres
described by Daniel Bell. What is the
axial principle of each sphere?
According to Bell, what conflict
characterized the transition to
postmodernism?

35. Study Questions (continued)
Briefly describe Manual Castells’s
three types of social movements and
the corresponding identities
generated in response to the
globalization of information flows.
Which one is he most optimistic about
in terms of its ability to bring about
substantial changes in the information
society?

36. Study Questions (continued)
What are the key characteristics of a
social movement? What is the
difference between social movements
and collective behavior?
What is the central insight of resource
mobilization theory? Why is it
considered a form of rational choice
theory? What is the major problem
with resource mobilization theory?

37. Study Questions (continued)
What is David Held’s definition of
globalization? What are the main
criticisms of this definition ad of
globalization in general?