Stanley R.

Correos

BSCA-3

Activity #13

I. What are the four major characteristics of social change?

Answer: The four major characteristics of social change are Social change happens all the time, Social
change is sometimes intentional but often unplanned, Social change is controversial, Some changes
matter more than others.

ii. What are the exogenous sources of social change?

Answer: Some of these sources originate outside of the society; others develop from processes
occurring within the society (Farley, 1995). Among the factors that come from outside the society, or
exogenous sources of change are the physical and diffusion of technological and cultural practices.

iii. What are the endogenous sources of social change?

Answer: Internal conflict within a society, population pressure and human action are sources of change
that originate within the society or endogenous.

iv. How do technological changes and innovations affect society?

Answer: Technological changes and innovations can be an exogenous or endogenous source of change.

v. How do evolutionary theories explain social change?

Answer: Evolutionary theorists see change as a process following stages in a simple one-line progression
through which every society must pass. The direction is from simple, homogenous forms to complex,
differentiated forms. An example of these theories is Lewis Henry Morgan's sequence of savagery,
barbarism, and civilization, or Karl Marx's sequence of primitive communism, feudalism, capitalism,
socialism, and communism (Farley, 1995).

vi. What is modernity?

Answer: Berger saw modernity as a threat to the small and cohesive communities (Macionis, 2006).
Modernization breaks down cultural barriers. and brings cultures together producing a global society.
The traditional world of small communities will continue to provide people with their identity; however,
many of their practices will be influenced by the outside world.

vii. What is the difference between the two views of modernity: mass society and class society?

Answer: The Mass Society versus the Class Society. There are two views of modernity. One perspective
looks at modernity as a complex process involving many factors. Modernization creates a mass society.
A mass society is a society in which industry and expanding bureaucracy have eroded traditional social
ties
(Macionis, 2006). Two important points are emphasized in this perspective. Social life expands creating
impersonality and cultural diversity.

viii. How is the individual affected by modernity?

Answer: The two perspectives of modernity also offer insights on how the process affects individuals.
For the mass society perspective, establishing an identity is cliß ficult as hindered by social diversity,
atomization, and rapid social change which brought about by modernization. On the other hand, for
class society perspective, individual freedom is undermined by the persistence of social inequality.
Individuals experience problems of identity in a mass society, while they come into contact with
powerlessness in a class society (Macionis, 2006).

ix. What is postmodernity?

Answer: Postmodernity refers to social pattern’s characteristic of a postindustrial society. What this
precisely means is still a matter of debate.

x. What are the variations of postmodernity?

Answer: 1. In important respects, modernity has failed. Despite the advances in technology and
formation of formal organizations, there are still problems that continue to persist, such as poverty.

2. The bright promise of "progress" is fading. The optimism brought about by modernity in the 19th
century is replaced with pessimism. Most US adults believe that life is getting worse (NORC, 2003 in
Macionis, 2006).

3. Science no longer holds Che answers. Critics argued that science has failed to solve important,
problems of Che society (such as poor health) and has even created new ones (such as environmental
degradation). Postmodernists claim that science is not the singular truth, and they believe that there is
no one truth. This means that objective reality does not exist; rather, many reali!ies result from "social
construction" (Macionis,

4. Cultural debates are intensifying. Postmodernists also look at ideas as more important than material
things, since most people already have what they need. Issues like social justice, environment, and
gender equality demand more public attention. Thus, postmodernity is also postmaterialist era.