20

Social Change

1. INTRODUCTION

Social change is an ever-present phenomenon everywhere. Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher, hinted at this fact in an emphatic way; he said that it is impossible for a man to step into the same river twice. It is impossible because in the interval of time between the first and the second stepping, both the river and the man have changed. Neither the river nor the man remains the same. This is the central theme of the Heraclitean philosophy—the reality of change, the impermanence of being, and the inconstancy of everything but change itself. Social change is a reality. Incessant changeability is the inherent nature of human society. It does not mean that society is always on its toes to welcome any kind of society.

The word change indicates a difference in anything seen over some period of time. The difference may be great or negligible. Social change is the change in society, and society is a web of social relationships. Hence, social change is a change in social relationships. R.M. MacIver and C.H. Page have correctly observed that it is the change in these relationships, which alone we shall regard as social change. Society is not a static phenomenon but a dynamic entity. Social change has occurred in all societies and at all times. Society passes through various stages. It is an ever-changing phenomenon, which includes growing, decaying, renewing, and accommodating itself to the changing conditions.

2. MEANING OF SOCIAL CHANGE

The term social change is used to indicate the changes that take place in human interactions and interrelations. Society is a web of social relationships, and hence, social change means change in the system of social relationships. These are understood in terms of social processes and social interactions and social organization. Auguste Comte, the father of Sociology, has posed two problems—the question of social statics and the question of social dynamics, what is and how it changes. The sociologists not only outline the structure of the society but also seek to know its causes also. According to Morris Ginsberg, social change is a change in the social structure.

3. NATURE OF SOCIAL CHANGE

1. Universal phenomenon: Social change occurs in all societies. A change from pastoral to tribal system, from agriculture to industrial, or from semi-urban to commercial type of economy may effect deep structural changes.
2. Speed of social change is not uniform: The speed of social change differs from society to society. In most of the societies, change occurs slowly, but in some, it is fast.
3. Social change is community change: Social change occurs in the life of the entire community. It is social and not individual.
4. Unpredictable: It is difficult to make any prediction about the exact forms of social change. There is no inherent law of social change according to which it would assume definite forms.
5. Neutral process: Change means just alteration or shifting from one pattern of life to another. It does not mean progress, modification, decline, or evolution. It only suggests a difference through time in the object to which it is applied.
6. Inevitable: Change is the law of nature. No society from primitive to modern has ever remained stable. Change may occur in a natural way or man may try to change society in a particular direction.
   

   Figure 20.1 Nature of Social Change

7. Shows chain reaction sequence: A society is a functional whole in which all the units are functionally correlated with one another.
8. Focus of replacement: Bullock carts have been replaced by automobiles. Similarly, old ideas have been replaced by new ones. Democracy has replaced aristocracy.
9. Nature and speed of social change are related to time factor: The nature and speed of social change are not uniform in each age or period in the same society. It differs from time to time and from place to place.

4. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SOCIAL CHANGE AND CULTURAL CHANGE

William Ogburn uses the term culture to indicate the material as well as the non-material achievements of man in society. From this point of view, cultural change will indicate change in material elements (e.g., tools, buildings, machines, and so on) as well as in relations, values, and behaviour patterns. Most of the sociologists use the term social change to imply changes in social life including non-material cultural aspects of man.

George Shanker explains that social change refers to whatever happens in the course of time to the patterned ways in which individuals react. For example, changing patterns of race relations as a result of the judicial decisions declaring segregation illegal are social change. Cultural change refers to new forms of learning, new technological instruments, new forms of artistic expression, new religious dogmas, and new philosophies. An example of this is the use of automobiles to replace other modes of transportation. Shanker says that social changes are part of the larger picture of social change.

Alfred L. Kroeber and Talcott Parsons suggest that society refers to the patterned systems of interactions among the individuals and groups, whereas culture refers to the patterns of values, ideas, and other symbolic meaningful systems that direct human behaviour. It follows that changes in society involve the structures through which human beings interact and the form that interactions take place. Changes in culture involve the learned, symbolic, and meaningful behavioural changes that arise from past interactions and direct further interactions.

5. FACTORS INVOLVED IN SOCIAL CHANGE

Social change is brought about by a number of factors such as technological, industrial, economic, ideological, and religious factors. Geographical and biological changes too result in sociocultural changes. The rate of social change varies from place to place and from time to time.

1. Geographical factors: Changes in the geographical environment create changes in social life. The geographical factors comprise all those inorganic phenomena that extort an influence on human life. They include climatic changes and those factors in the outer crust of the earth’s surface that condition man’s livelihood. The climatic influences include temperature, sunshine, rainfall, relative humidity, prevailing winds, tornadoes and cyclones, and electromagnetic atmospherics of the atmosphere. Geographical changes also affect food supply, leading to new dietary habits. The new diet forces physiological adjustments, which in turn modify temperament and behaviour.
2. Biological factors: The biological environment affects the human cultural pattern much in the same way as the geographical environment. Man utilizes the available plant and animal life in ways determined by his culture, and he wards off enemies (bacteria, poisonous plants, insects, pests, dangerous animals, and so on) with the best means he has been able to invent. Furthermore, the biological environment is constantly changing as one animal species gains ground at the expense of some other, while the struggle for existence goes on.
3. Demographic factors: The relationship between human population, density, environment, and culture is a fundamental one in relation to social change, and we must subject it to further analysis. Population increase or decrease determines social institutions and social relations very much. Population explosion creates problems of low standards of life, unemployment, higher density, and so on. Modern techniques of family planning, family welfare, and population control have brought about changes in the size of the family, sex education, attitude towards sex, morals, and social values. The quality of the population is also an important factor in social change. People are endowed with certain hereditary characteristics, which are the limiting factors in personality development and in the achievements the individual will be able to make.
   

   Figure 20.2 Factors Involved in Social Change

4. Technological factors: Technology refers to the body of knowledge about how to adopt or make use of and act upon physical environment and their material resources in order to satisfy the human needs. It includes our knowledge and artefacts. It is the most important factor of social change in modern times. Every new invention brings along with it a number of changes in social life. Scientific discoveries and inventions are very important for social change. The motorcar, telephone, railway, steam engine, radio, and so on have had a great impact on society and its institutions. The radio and television influence entertainment, education, politics, transportation, and many other types of activities.
5. Cultural factors: Edward B. Tylor has defined culture as a complex that includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of the society. Culture is the unique possession of human society and it is transmitted from generation to generation. These beliefs, customs, values, and traditions exert great influence on human society and also the extent to which a society can accept new patterns. The possibility of innovations depends to a great extent on the existing culture. Diffusion of culture within a society and also from one society to another is an important factor in cultural and social changes. Culture also plays an indirect role in social change. A very good example is how man’s economic activities are influenced by his religious principles. Besides, social change is influenced by social inventions, for example, social legislations like untouchability act, marriage act, act against prostitution, anti-dowry act, child marriage act, restraints act, and so on.
6. Psychological factors: Social change is much facilitated and promoted by new ambitions, aspirations, and attitudes of people. These in turn are helped by several factors including education; dissatisfaction with the existing conditions and facilities is common in these modern days. The revolt, unrest, and indiscipline among the contemporary youth in India are due to such dissatisfaction or frustration.
7. Others factors: There are several other factors that influence social change. When a wave of new thoughts sweeps across the society, it causes massive upheaval. These waves led to the abolition of sati and child marriage. Caste system is not what it was only a few decades ago. Apart from opinion makers, belligerence and war also lead to social change. The world would have been much different if Hitler had not been overwhelmed with his Nazi pride.

6. FACTORS OF SOCIAL CHANGE IN INDIA

1. Natural, physical, or geographical factors: Examples of the above factors are floods, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, vagaries of climate, and changes in planets. Man has no control over such factors at all. The consequences of these changes are really a threat to the Indian society.
2. Demographic factors: These include population explosion, rural–urban migration, inter-caste marriages, fertility, mortality, and life expectancy. Life span in India has increased much owing to public health facilities.
3. Technological factors: India has borrowed the technological inventions that have taken place in other countries of the world, especially those of the West, and has also produced its own.
4. Social inventions: We have passed a number of social legislations to bring about changes in the life of the people with the help of governmental and non-governmental programmes. The Constitution of India, which was adopted in 1950, is one of the greatest social inventions for us in India. Decentralization of administration through Panchayati Raj has effected many changes in rural communities in India. Direct programmes of the government such as community development projects, national extension service blocks, and several other activities as envisaged in the five-year plans of India are also effecting changes in the Indian society.
5. Western education: Western education with its emphasis on democracy, modernism, secularism, and individualism is also responsible for a number of changes in India.
6. Psychological factors: The traditional people of India started measuring themselves in relation to the people of other countries, their education, and their standard of life. Thus, new ambitions, aspirations, and attitudes developed.

7. CULTURAL LAG AND SOCIAL CHANGE

According to W.F. Ogburn, material culture changes faster than non-material culture. Hence, one part of culture changes more rapidly than another. The result is that the non-material culture lags behind material culture. Such a kind of lag between material and non-material culture is called cultural lag. Consequent to such a kind of lag, certain maladjustments occur, leading to a loss in equilibrium. The term cultural lag refers only to certain failures of adjustments within the processes of social change. Examples of cultural lag can easily be observed in the Indian society. Our villages have adopted a lot of modern technology in farming, transportation, and so on, but they have not been able to come out of customs like child marriage.

8. THEORIES OF SOCIAL CHANGE

The theories of social change are closely connected with the philosophy of history. These theories are generally classified into learners’ and cyclical theories, but various other classifications exist as well.

1. Learners’ theories: Learners’ theories assert that all the aspects of society change continually in a certain direction and they never repeat themselves. These theories assure that there is a cumulative change in social history. Different scholars have put forth their views regarding social change (Table 20.1).

    

   TABLE 20.1 Learner’s Theories of Social Change

   Contributors	Description
   Auguste Comte	He has explained social change as a result of man’s intellectual development in three stages, namely, theological, metaphysical, and positive.
   Herbert Spencer	He saw that societies changed from simple to complex form.
   Leonard T. Hobhouse	He explains social change through mental development and moral ideas.
   Karl Marx	He traced historical change through the development of productive forces that change the relations between classes. He has emphasized that economic conditions and techniques of production have great influence in social activities.
   Thorstein Veblen	He tries to give a technological explanation of social change by emphasizing that social conditions are directly responsible for technological conditions.

2. Cyclic theories: Cyclical theories are as old as human history. These theories assume that social phenomena recur again and again exactly as they were before (Table 20.2). For example, day and night, the seasons of the year, and the birth, growth, death, and decay of the individual organism.

    

   TABLE 20.2 Cyclical Theories of Social Change

   Contributors	Description
   Vilfredo Pareto	He presents the theory of circulation of elites. According to him, social change occurs by the struggle between groups for political power. He illustrates the circulation on elites in Rome but has ignored the development of democratic government in modern times.
   P. Sorokin	He has recognized the cyclical process by making a distinction between three broader types of culture, namely, ideational, idealist, and sensate. These types of culture succeed each other in cycles in the history of societies.
   Arnold Toynbee	He explains the cyclical character of the growth, arrest, and decay of civilization.

   

   Figure 20.3 Theories of Social Change

3. Evolutionary theories: Evolutionary theories are based on the assumption that societies gradually change from a simple beginning into ever more complex forms (Table 20.3).

    

   TABLE 20.3 Evolutionary Theories of Social Change

   Contributors	Description
   L.H. Morgan	He believed that there were three basic stages in the process, namely, savagery, barbarian, and civilization.
   Auguste Comte	He explained social change as a result of man’s intellectual development in three stages, namely, theological, metaphysical, and scientific.
   Charles Darwin	Those who were influenced by Darwin’s theory of organic evolution applied it to the human society and argued that societies must have evolved from the too simple and primitive to too complex and advanced such as the western society.
   Herbert Spencer	He argued that society itself is an organism. He said that society has been gradually progressing towards a better state. He argued that it has evolved from a military society to an industrial one.
   Emile Durkheim	He advocated that societies have evolved from relatively undifferentiated social science with minimum division of labour and with a kind of solidarity called mechanical solidarity to a more differentiated social structure with maximum division of labour, thereby giving rise to a kind of solidarity called organic solidarity.

4. Conflict theories or deterministic theories: Among contemporary sociologists, the deterministic theories of social change are probably the most widely accepted one (Table 20.4). According to this view, social change takes place because of certain forces.

    

   TABLE 20.4 Deterministic Theories of Social Change

   Contributors	Description
   Karl Marx	According to his view, individuals and groups with opposing interests are bound to be at conflict. As the two major social classes, that is, the rich and the poor or the capitalists and the labourers, have mutually hostile interests, they are at conflict. This conflict repeats itself off and on until capitalism is overthrown by the workers and a socialistic state is created. What is to be stressed here is that Marx and other conflict theorists deem society as basically dynamic and not static.
   Georg Simmel	Conflict is a permanent feature of society and not just a temporary event. It is a process that binds people together by interaction. Furthermore, conflict encourages people of similar interests to unite together to achieve their objectives. Continuous conflict in this way keeps society dynamic and ever changing.

5. Functional or dynamic theories: Some scholars have supported functional theories of change (Table 20.5).

    

   TABLE 20.5 Functional Theories of Change

   Contributors	Description
   Talcott Parsons	He considers change not as something that disturbs the social equilibrium but as something that alters the state of equilibrium so that a qualitatively new equilibrium results.
   Robert K. Merton	The strain, tension, contribution, and discrepancy between the component parts of social structure may lead to change. Thus, in order to accommodate the concept of change within the functional model, he has borrowed concepts from conflict theories of the change.

9. CONCEPTS OF EVOLUTION, DEVELOPMENT, AND PROGRESS

9.1. Evolution

The term evolution comes from the Latin word evolvere, which means to develop or to unfold. It is equivalent to the Sanskrit word vikas. It means more than growth. The word growth connotes a direction of change but only of a quantitative character, for example, we say population grows. Evolution involves something more intrinsic—a change not merely in size but at least in structure also. For example, when we speak of biological evolution, we refer to the emergence of certain organisms from others in a kind of succession.

9.1.1. Principles of Evolution

Herbert Spencer prescribes four principles of evolution.

1. Social evolution is a cultural or human aspect of the law of cosmic evolution.
2. It takes place in the same way in which cosmic evolution takes place.
3. It is gradual.
4. It is progressive.

9.1.2. Characteristics of Evolution

According to R.M. MacIver and C.H. Page, for any change to be described as evolution, it must exhibit the following characteristics:

• Change must occur within the changing unit as the manifestation of internal forces and not merely by the action of forces external to it. It should constitute a fuller revelation through time of its own latent capacities.
• The entire structure of the object should undergo modification to some extent.
• The distinctive character of organic evolution is differentiation in structure as well as function.

10. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

The term social development refers to the process of historical change. L.T. Hobhouse seems to have used the terms evolution and development as synonyms in most of his writings. However, the term development is more precise than evolution in its application to social phenomenon. In ordinary sense, development means a gradual unfolding of future, working out the details of anything. In his Social Development, Hobhouse proposed the following criteria of development:

• Increase in scale
• Efficiency
• Mutuality
• Freedom

The term development can be applied to particular aspects of society and not to the whole of society. It is clear that the development of a child is related to some known features of the adult human being. In the case of social phenomenon, we cannot relate the development of knowledge and that of control over nature to such things as population size. The development of society cannot be related to the prospective condition of society except in terms of a moral idea.

The concept of development carries a different meaning in the recent sociological writings. It is also used to indicate the process of individualization or modernization. Development can be represented in a simple historical model, which passes through three important stages: (a) traditional society; (b) transitional society; and (c) modern society.

11. SOCIAL PROGRESS

The idea of progress always reveals change. The concepts of development and evolution are intimately connected with the idea of progress. Although social evolutionists of the 19th century used evolution and progress synonymously, the later sociologists have made a distinction between the two. Human society has evolved into a demonstrable certainty. However, we can demonstrate with less certainty that society has progressed; we may only believe in progress, but we cannot show it to others unless they are ready to accept our evaluations.

11.1. Features of Social Progress

1. Progress is change: There is change in progress. Progress is a change or movement in some direction. There cannot be progress without change. Hence, change is the first important feature of progress.
2. Achievement of desired aim: Mere change is not progress. It means a step forward, and hence, it is a change in the direction of a desired goal.
3. Progress is social: Progress, in sociology, does not mean individual advancement towards a goal. Sociologists are not interested in individual progress. Progress means social progress, and in that case, the entire group moves ahead in some desired direction.
4. Progress is volitional: Progress is not natural and hence does not come about involuntarily. Desire and volition are needed for progress.
5. Concept of progress is variable: The concept of progress is relative. Its understanding differs from society to society and from time to time. The concept of progress in a group may change over a period of time.
6. Human progress is limitless: There are no limits to human progress. One cannot think of a point at which human groups will not have any goals to realize and any need to step forward. Progress is related to social values. In a sense, it is determined by social values. The concept of progress agrees with the social values of the time and place to which it belongs. Apart from that, the conditions conducive to social process also vary from society to society, and within a society, there may be differences in progress in different spheres.

12. IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE

12.1. Industrialization

Technology has contributed to the growth of industries or to the process of industrialization. Industrialization is a term covering, in general terms, the growth in a society hitherto mainly agrarian of modern industry with all its circumstances and problems, that is, economic and social problems. It describes, in general term, the growth of a society in which a major role is played by manufacturing industry. The industry is characterized by heavy, fixed capital investment in plant and building by the application of science to industrial techniques and by mainly large-scale standardized production. The Industrial Revolution of 18th century led to the unprecedented growth of industries. Industrialization is associated with the factory system of production. The family has lost its economic importance. The factories have brought down the prices of commodities, improved their quality, and maximized their output. The whole process of production is mechanized. Consequently, the traditional skills have declined and good number of artisans has lost their work. Huge factories could provide employment opportunities to thousands of people. Hence, men have become workers in a very large number. The process of industrialization has affected the nature, character, and the growth of economy. It has contributed to the growth of cities or to the process of urbanization.

12.2. Urbanization

In many countries, the growth of industries has contributed to the growth of cities. Urbanization denotes a diffusion of the influence of urban centres to a rural hinterland. Urbanization can be described as a process of becoming urban, moving to cities, changing from agriculture to other pursuits common to cities, and corresponding change of behaviour patterns. Hence, only when a large proportion of inhabitants in an area come to cities, urbanization is said to occur. Urbanization has become a world phenomenon today. An unprecedented growth has taken place not only in the number of great cities but also in their size. As a result of industrialization, people have started moving towards the industrial areas in search of employment. Due to this, the industrial areas developed into towns and cities.

12.3. Modernization

Modernization is a process that indicates the adoption of the modern ways of life and values. It refers to an attempt on the part of the people particularly those who are custom-bound to adapt themselves to the present time, conditions, needs, styles, and ways in general. It indicates a change in people’s food habits, dress habits, speaking styles, tastes, choices, preferences, ideas, values, recreational activities, and so on. People in the process of getting them modernized give more importance to science and technology. The scientific and technological inventions have modernized societies in various countries. They have brought about remarkable changes in the whole system of social relationship and installed new ideologies in the place of traditional ones.

12.4. Development of the Means of Transport and Communication

Development of transport and communication has led to the national and international trade on a large scale. The road transport, the train service, the ships, and the aeroplanes have eased the movement of people and material goods. Post and telegraph, radio and television, newspapers and magazines, telephone and wireless devices, and the like have developed a great deal. The space research and the launching of the satellites for communication purposes have further added to these developments. They have helped the people belonging to different corners of the nation or the world to have regular contacts.

12.5. Transformation in the Economy and the Evolution of the New Social Classes

The introduction of the factory system of production has turned the agricultural economy into industrial economy. 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.

12.6. Unemployment

The problem of unemployment is a concomitant feature of the rapid technological advancement. Machines not only provide employment opportunities for people but also take away the jobs of men through labour-saving devices. This results in technological unemployment.

12.7. Technology and War

The dangerous effect of technology is evident through the modern mode of warfare. The weaponry has brought fears and anxieties to the mankind. They can easily destroy the entire human race. It only reveals how technology could be misused. Thus, greater the technological advancement the more risk for the mankind.

12.8. Changes in Social Institutions

Technology has profoundly altered our modes of life. Technology has not spared the social institutions of its effects. The institutions of family, religion, morality, marriage, state, and property have been altered. Modern technology in taking away the industry from the household has radically changed the family organization. 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. Marriages are becoming more and more unstable. Instances of divorce, desertion, and separation are increasing. 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. 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. The function of the state or the field of state activity has been widened. Modern technologies have made the states to perform functions such as the protection of the aged, the weaker section, and the minorities, thereby making provision for education, healthcare, and so on. 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.

12.9. Cultural Lag

To provide a law of social change comparable with the laws of physics and biology, William F. Ogburn in 1922 advanced his theory of social lag. Ogburn pointed out that social changes always originate from the invention of doing something new in a new way by some individual. So far, Ogburn was following the tradition established by Gabriel Tarde, but then he began to wander in the tracks of Marx. Historically, he argued that inventions occur most often in the field of material technology, if only because the advantages of an improvement in technology are self-evident. With each development in technology, there comes, however, some disturbance to the effective working of the existing social order. A strain or stress is set up between the new technique and various organizational aspects of the social system. Changes in social system arise gradually if at all changes happen, and the result, that is, the disequilibrium between new technology and old social organization, is the social lag. The core of Ogburn’s theory is the idea that change occurs first in the material technology.

12.10. Social Movements

Social movement is one of the major forms of collective behaviour. We hear of various kinds of social movements launched for one or the other purpose. A social movement can be defined as collectively acting with some continuity to promote or resist change in the society or group of which it is a part. Horton and Hunt have defined it as a collective effort to promote or resist change. Smelser defines it as organized group effort to generate or resist social change. M.S.A. Rao, one of the prominent Indian sociologists, has made a mention of the nature of social movements in the book Social Movements in India, edited by him. According to him, a social movement includes two characteristics about which there is considerable agreement among the sociologists. They are as follows:

1. Collective action: Social movement undoubtedly involves collective action. However, this collective action takes the form of a movement only when it is sustained for a long time. This collective action need not be formally organized. It could be an informal attempt also. However, it should be able to create an interest and awakening in relatively large number of people.
2. Oriented towards social change: A social movement is generally oriented towards bringing about social change. This change could either be partial or total. Although the movement is aimed at bringing about a change in the values, norms, and ideologies of the existing system, efforts are also made by some other forces to resist the changes and to maintain the status quo. The counter attempts are normally defensive and restorative rather than innovative and initiating change. They are normally the organized efforts of an already established order to maintain itself.

As M.S.A. Rao points out, although sociologists are almost agreeable on the above mentioned two characteristics or social movement, they differ a lot regarding other criteria such as the presence of an ideology, method of organization, and the nature of consequence.

According to Yogendra Singh, social movement is a collective mobilization of people in a society in an organized manner under an individual or collective leadership in order to realize an ideologically defined social purpose. Social movements are characterized by a specific goal which has a collective significance, an ideological interpretation of the collective goal, a rank of committed worker, and a strong leadership. Social movements have a lifecycle of their own origin, maturity, and culmination. T.K. Oommen observed that a study of social movements implies a study of social structure as movements originate from the contradictions which in turn emanate from social structure. He states that all social movements centre around three factors— locality, issues, and social categories. Anthony Wallace views social movement as an attempt by local population to change the image or the models they have of how their culture operates.

An important component of social movement that distinguishes it from the general category of collective mobilization is the presence of an ideology. A strike by students involves collective mobilization and is oriented towards a change. However, in the absence of an ideology, the strike becomes an isolated event and not a movement. A social movement requires a minimum of organizational framework to achieve success or at least to maintain the tempo of the movement, to make the distinction clear between the leaders and the followers, to make clear the purposes of the movement, to persuade people to take part in it or to support it, and to adopt different techniques to achieve the goals—a social movement must have some amount of organizational framework. A social movement may adopt its own technique or method to achieve its goal. It may follow peaceful or conflicting, violent or non-violent, compulsive or persuasive, and democratic or undemocratic means or methods to reach its goal.

13. SOCIAL MOVEMENT TYPES

13.1. Reform Movements

Reform movements are organized to carry out reforms in some specific areas. The reformers endeavour to change elements of the system for better social welfare, for example, Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Liberation Movement, Arya Samaj Movement, and Brahmo Samaj Movement. All these movements have created great reforms in the society.

13.2. Revolutionary Movements

The revolutionary movements deny that the system will even work. These movements are deeply dissatisfied with the social order and work for radical change. They advocate replacing the entire existing structure. Their objective is the reorganization of society in accordance with their own ideological blueprint. Revolutionary movements generally become violent as they progress, for example, the Protestant Reformation Movement, the Socialist Movement, and the Communist Revolution of China.

13.3. Reactionary or Revivalist Movement

Some movements are known as reactionary or regressive movements. These aim to reverse the social change. They highlight the importance and greatness of traditional values, ideologies, and institutional arrangements. They strongly criticize the fast moving changes of the present.

13.4. Resistance Movement

These movements are formed to resist a change that is already taking place in the society. These can be directed against social and cultural changes that are already happening in the country.

13.5. Utopian Movement

These are attempts to take the society or a section of it towards a state of perfection. These are loosely structured collectivities that envision a radically changed and blissful state either on a large scale at some time in the future or on a smaller scale in the present. The utopian ideal and the means of it are often vague, but many utopian movements have quite specific programmes for social change. The Hare Krishna Movement of the seventies, the movement towards the establishment of Ram Rajya and the Sangh Parivar, and the Communists and Socialists pronouncement of a movement towards the classless and casteless society free from all kinds of exploitation are few such examples.

13.6. Peasant Movement

Peasant movement is defined by Kathleen Gough as an attempt of a group to effect change in the face of resistance and the peasant are people who are engaged in an agricultural or related production with primitive means who surrender part of their or its equivalent to landlords or to agents of change. The history of peasant movements can be traced to colonial period when repressive economic policies, the new land revenue system, the colonial administrative and judicial system, and the ruin of handicrafts leading to the overcrowding of land transformed the agrarian structure and impoverished the peasantry. In the zamindari system, peasants were left to the mercies of the Zamindars who exploited them in form of illegal dues. The British government levied heavy land revenue in the Ryotwari areas. Peasants were forced to borrow money from the moneylenders and they were reduced to the status of tenants at will, sharecroppers, and landless labourers, while their lands, crops, and cattle passed into the hands to landlords, traders, and moneylenders. When the peasants could take it no longer, they resisted against the oppression and exploitation through uprisings. Peasant Movements occupy an important place in the history of social unrest in India although the aims and objectives of these movements differ in nature and degree from region to region. It is in this sense that these movements also aimed at the unification of the peasants of a region, development of leadership, ideology, and peasant elite, and through these movements emerged a new power structure and peasant alliance. The genesis of peasant movements rests in the relationship patterns of different social categories existing within the framework of feudal and semi-feudal structure of our society. In the post-Independence period, the nature and objectives of the peasant movement have changed to getting remunerative prices for agricultural produce, to increase agricultural production, to establish parity between prices of agricultural produce and industrial goods, and to get minimum wages for the agricultural labourers.

Some of the important peasants uprising are as follows:

1770: Sannyasi rebellion

1831: Wahabi uprising

1855: Santhal uprising

1859: Indigo revolt

1890–1900: Punjab Kisan struggle

1917–1918: Champaran satyagraha

1921: Moplah rebellion

1928: Bardoli satyagarya

1946: Telangana movement

1957: Naxalbari movement

13.7. Women’s Movement

The Women’s Movement in India is a rich and vibrant movement that has taken different forms in different parts of the country. Fifty years ago when India became independent, it was widely acknowledged that the battle for freedom had been fought as much by women as by men. One of the methods M.K. Gandhi chose to undermine the authority of the British was for Indians to defy the law which made it illegal for them to make salt. At the time, salt making was a monopoly and earned considerable revenues for the British. Gandhi began his campaign by going on a march—the salt march—through many villages, leading finally to the sea, where he and others broke the law by making salt. No woman had been included by Gandhi in his chosen number of marchers. However, nationalist women protested, and they forced him to allow them to participate. The first to join was Sarojini Naidu, who went on to become the first woman President of the Indian National Congress in 1925. Her presence was a signal for hundreds of other women to join, and eventually, the salt protest was made successful by many women joining it who not only made salt but also sat openly in marketplaces selling and indeed buying it. The trajectory of this movement is usually traced from the social reform movements of the 19th century when campaigns for the betterment of the conditions of women’s lives were taken up, initially by men. By the end of the century, women had begun to organize themselves, and gradually they took up a number of causes such as education, the conditions of women’s work, and so on. It was in the early part of the 20th century that women’s organizations were formed, and many of the women who were active in these organizations later became involved in the freedom movement. Independence brought many promises and dreams for women in India—the dream of an egalitarian, just, democratic society in which both men and women would have a voice. The reality was, however, somewhat different. For all that had happened was that, despite some improvements in the status of women, patriarchy had simply taken on new and different forms. By the 1960s, it was clear that many of the promises of Independence were still unfulfilled. It was that the 1960s and 1970s saw a spate of movements in which women took part: campaigns against rising prices, movements for land rights, and peasant movements. Women, from different parts of the country, came together to form groups both inside and outside political parties. Everywhere, in the different movements that were sweeping the country, women participated in large numbers. Everywhere, their participation resulted in transforming the movements from within. One of the first issues to receive countrywide attention from women’s groups was violence against women, specifically in the form of rape and ‘dowry deaths’. This was also the beginning of a process of learning for women: most protests were directed at the State. Because women were able to mobilize support, the State responded, seemingly positively, by changing the law on rape and dowry, making both more stringent. In the early campaigns, groups learnt from day to day that targeting the State was not enough and that victims also needed support. Hence, a further level of work was needed: awareness rising so that violence against women could be prevented, rather than only dealt with after it had happened. Legal aid and counselling centres were set up, and attempts were made to establish women’s shelters. Knowledge was also recognized as an important need. The women’s activity was geared towards improving the conditions of women’s lives. In recent years, the euphoria of the 1970s and early 1980s, symbolized by street-level protests and campaigns in which groups mobilized at a national level, has been replaced by a more considered and complex response to issues. In many parts of India, women are no longer to be seen out on the streets protesting about this or that form of injustice. This apparent lack of a visible movement has led to the accusation that the women’s movement is dead or dying. While the participation of urban, middle class women is undeniable, it is not they who make up the backbone of the movement or of the many, different campaigns that are generally seen as comprising the movement. The anti-alcohol agitation in Andhra Pradesh and similar campaigns in other parts of India were started and sustained by poor, low-caste, and often working-class women. The movement to protect the environment was begun by poor women in a village called Reni in the northern hill regions of India, and only after that did it spread to other parts of the country. One of the biggest challenges women have had to face in recent years is the growing influence of the religious right in India. Right-wing groups have built much of their support on the involvement of women, thereby offering to help them with domestic problems, enabling them to enter the public space in a limited way, and ensuring all the while that the overall ideology within which they operate remains firmly patriarchal. For activists too, this has posed major problems. It has forced them to confront the fact that they cannot assume solidarity as women that cuts across class, religion, caste, and ethnic difference. It is important to recognize that for a country of India’s magnitude, change in male–female relations and the kinds of issues the women’s movement is focusing on will not come easy. For every step the movement takes forward, there will be a possible backlash or a possible regression. It is this that makes for the contradictions, and it is this that makes it possible for women to participate who can aspire to, and attain, the highest political office in the country, and to continue to have to confront patriarchy within the home, in the workplace, and throughout their lives.

13.8. Backward Caste Movement

The backward castes have been deprived of many social, economic, political, and religious privileges. These people provided manual labour and the untouchables occupied the lowest position among the caste hierarchy. They were subjected to extreme form of exploitation. The colonial power accentuated the disparities in the distribution of economic power. The atrocities united the lower castes against the upper castes. Some of the important backward caste movements that came up were Satyashodhak Samaj and Nadar Movement, which consolidated the masses along the caste lines. E.V. Ramaswamy started Self-Respect Movement against the Brahmins in South India. The SNDP movement in Kerala was more of a reformist movement. In 1950s, there was a widespread desire among the non-Brahmin castes to be categorized as Backward. Subsequently, Backward Class Commission was set up to look into the conditions and requirements of these classes. Mandal Commission submitted its report in 1980 recommending reservations for backward castes in educational institutions and government offices. However, this move resulted in anti-Mandal Commission Movement that resulted in large-scale violence and many students lost their lives.

13.9. Dalit Movement

Dalits are the suppressed people at the last rung of the caste-based hierarchy. Their inferior occupations and the low levels of ascriptive status make them vulnerable for attacks at the hands of upper-caste people. The organizational efforts made by Dalit leadership for uplifting their status are known as Dalit movement. It is a protest against untouchability, casteism, and discrimination faced by the Dalits. Dalit Movement indicates some trends of protest ideologies that entail the following: withdrawal and self-organization, high varna status and extolling of non-Aryan culture’s virtues, and abandoning of Hinduism and embracing other religions like Buddhism and Islam. Mahatma Gandhi in 1923 founded the All India Harijan Sevak Sangh to start education and schools for the Dalits. Another most important Dalit leader Dr. Ambedkar struggled to secure the basic human dignity to the Dalits. The Mahad Satyagraha for the right of water led by him was one of the outstanding movements of the Dalits to win equal social rights. All India Depressed Classes Association and All India Depressed Classes Federation were the principal organizations that initiated a movement to improve the conditions of the Dalits. These organizations aimed at improving their miserable conditions and to spread education among them. They worked to secure rights of admission to school, drawing water from the public wells, entering the temples, and to use the roads.

• Change is one of the laws of reality. There is nothing in the whole universe that does not change.
• Human society is subjected to the laws of change.
• Social change refers to various changes that are constantly taking place in the society.
• Society is dynamic. It is this dynamic nature of society that is responsible for a series of changes.
• The word change indicates a difference in anything seen over some period of time.
• The concept of social change refers to any observable difference in any aspect of social life over any period of time.
• Social change indicates alterations that occur in the structure and functions of society.

I. LONG ESSAY

• Define social change. Explain the meaning and nature of social change.
• Define social movement. Explain the social movement types in detail.

II. SHORT ESSAY

• What are the factors involved in social change?
• Explain the factors of social change in India.
• Describe the theories of social change.
• Discuss social development.
• Enumerate the characteristics of social progress.
• Explain the impact of social change.

III. SHORT ANSWERS

• Define cultural lag and social change.
• Describe deterministic theories of social change.
• What are the characteristics of evolution?
• Define social progress.

IV. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. Social relationship changes occur in ________________.
   1. social change
   2. cultural lag
   3. social problems
   4. Social control
2. Social change may be defined as modifications in the way of doing and thinking of people, said by ________________.
   1. M.E. Jones
   2. Harry M. Johnson
   3. M. Ginsberg
   4. None of them
3. Which of the following are the characteristics of social change?
   1. It is universal.
   2. Definite predication regarding the form of social change is impossible.
   3. It shows chain reaction sequence.
   4. All of these
4. Which of the following are the three stages through which evolution of every society passes?
   1. hunting, pastoral, and agricultural
   2. stone age, bronze age, and iron age
   3. savagery, barbarism, and civilization
   4. all of these
5. Which of the following are the factors of social change?
   1. geographical factor
   2. biological factors
   3. cultural factors
   4. all of these
6. Lag between the material culture and non-material culture is called as ________________.
   1. cultural lag
   2. social change
   3. culture change
   4. none of these
7. Evolutionary theory, cyclical theory, economical theory, and structural functional theory are associated with ________________.
   1. theories of social change
   2. theories of social development
   3. theories of social problems
   4. none of these
8. Which of the following are the criteria of social development?
   1. increase in scale
   2. mutuality
   3. freedom
   4. all of these
9. Which are types of beggars?
   1. able bodied adult beggar and able bodied child beggar
   2. sick and diseased beggar
   3. physically and mentally disabled
   4. all of them
10. Social progress is a movement towards an objective thought to be desirable by the general group, for the visible future, said by ________________.
    1. William F. Ogburn
    2. Frederick E. Lumley
    3. MacIver
    4. Morris Ginsberg

ANSWERS

1. a 2. b 3. d 4. c 5. d 6. a 7. a 8. e 9. d 10. a

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