St.

Anthony’s College

San Jose, Antique

FIRST QUARTER

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Learning Competencies

Analyze the concept, aspects and changes in/of culture and society.

Lesson 2: Social, Political, and Cultural Change

INTRODUCTION

Social, cultural and Political changes are triggered either by new ideas and technologies
or by new people and cultures. People have dysfunctional ways of responding to these changes.
There are also new challenges that human communities face that require new ways of
responding.

SOCIETY- is a community or group joined because of sustained bond and interaction.

POLITICS-

CULTURE- is a way of life of a group of people. Its subjects include people's symbols,
language, values, and norms.

SOCIAL CHANGE- the change in a society created through social movements as well as
through external factors like environmental shifts or technological innovations

Causes of Social Change

 Technology
 Population
 Social Institutions
 The Environment
 Modernization

Technology- Some would say that improving technology has made our lives easier. Imagine
what your day would be like without the Internet, the automobile, or electricity. In The World Is
Flat, Thomas Friedman (2005) argues that technology is a driving force behind globalization;
while the other forces of social change (social institutions, population, and environment) play
comparatively minor roles.
But also consider that technology can create change in the other three forces social scientists link
to social change. Advances in medical technology allow otherwise infertile women to bear
children, which indirectly leads to an increase in population. Advances in agricultural technology
have allowed us to genetically alter and patent food products, which changes our environment in
innumerable ways. From the way we educate children in the classroom to the way we grow the
food we eat, technology has impacted all aspects of modern life.

The Darker Side of Technology: Electronic Aggression in the Information Age

The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) uses the term “electronic aggression” to describe
“any type of harassment or bullying that occurs through e-mail, a chat room, instant messaging, a
website (including blogs), or text messaging” (CDC, n.d.) We generally think of this as
cyberbullying. 

Population- Population composition is changing at every level of society. Births increase in one
nation and decrease in another. Some families delay childbirth while others start bringing
children into their folds early. Population changes can be due to random external forces, like an
epidemic, or shifts in other social institutions, as described above. But regardless of why and
how it happens, population trends have a tremendous interrelated impact on all other aspects of
society.

Social Institutions- Each change in a single social institution leads to changes in all social
institutions. For example, the industrialization of society meant that there was no longer a need
for large families to produce enough manual labor to run a farm. Further, new job opportunities
were in close proximity to urban centers where living space was at a premium. The result is that
the average family size shrunk significantly.

The Environment- Turning to human ecology, we know that individuals and the environment
affect each other. As human populations move into more vulnerable areas, we see an increase in
the number of people affected by natural disasters, and we see that human interaction with the
environment increases the impact of those disasters. Part of this is simply the numbers: the more
people there are on the planet, the more likely it is that some will be affected by a natural
disaster.

Modernization - describes the processes that increase the amount of specialization and
differentiation of structure in societies resulting in the move from an undeveloped society to
developed, technologically driven society (Irwin 1975). By this definition, the level of modernity
within a society is judged by the sophistication of its technology, particularly as it relates to
infrastructure, industry, and the like.

POLITICAL CHANGE- occurs when the rulers in a country lose power or the type of
governance in the country changes. Governance is the type of system used to rule a country.
Examples of types of governance would be democracy and monarchy.

Political change is a normal function of internal and external politics. Rulers will be voted out,
retire, or die while in power, and the new leader will make changes. The more powerful
countries will anticipate political change and make the process clear and smooth. Countries that
appear more prone to in-fighting and/or civil wars are likely led by a person or group that refuses
to allow political change or lacks a clear understand of how political change is to occur.
Types of Political Change
 Internally
 Externally

Internal political change is initiated by citizens of the country. It can be done through regular
events, such as elections and rulers choosing to hand power over, or through irregular events,
such as a coup d'etat or a rebellion.

* A coup d'etat is an illegal overthrow of the government that almost always involves the
country's military. It differs from a rebellion by the personnel involved. Coups usually involve
top political and/or military figures leading the overthrow while rebellions could be started by
individuals with little to no power. Coups are also more likely to keep the style of governance or
make minor changes while rebellions would be more likely to want major changes in
governance.

External political change is initiated by other countries. It is usually achieved through military
threats or action but could occur through embargoes and/or withholding foreign aid. If it is
achieved by the military, then a new leader will be placed in charge by the victorious, foreign
power. The victorious country may also choose to change the style of governance as well.

Political changes can also occur when political, military, or rebellion leaders in a country receive
support from a foreign country. The foreign country will likely talk to the leaders to ensure that
the next leaders and/or style of governance is preferable. If it is, then the foreign power will
supply weapons and other kinds of aid, such as money, naval blockades, military leadership
training, and, as seen recently, airstrikes, to the leaders attempting to take power. This would be
preferable to an external political change to a foreign country because it is usually less expensive
in terms of money and lives lost.

CULTURAL CHANGE- Cultural change is a concept that denotes some internal and external
factors leading to change in the cultural pattern of societies.
It can be material as well as non-material in nature. Cultural change may come from many
sources but most of them come through contact with other culture, inventions and internal
adjustment of culture.

Factors of Cultural Change:

1 .Contact
2. Technology Evolution
3. The geographical and ecological factor

Contact- The contact between two societies will obviously change the culture of both the
societies through the process of cultural diffusion, assimilation and acculturation.

*Cultural diffusion-This is the spread of culture including aspects such as clothing and food,
from one group to another, typically as a result of making contact with new group for the first
time. When one culture begins to adopt elements of another, be it in manner, religion, food,
clothing or agricultural practice, cultural diffusion happens.
Example: People in Moscow experienced cultural diffusion when McDonalds was first
introduced in that region. The concept of fast food restaurant serving hamburgers was exotic and
new to them at that time.

*Assimilation-This refers to the process where some of the majority community’s cultural
aspects are absorbed and the home or minority’s cultural aspects get mitigated or lost.
Assimilation is a process whereby people of a culture learn to adapt to the ways of the majority
culture. There is loss of one’s culture as more value is given to the cultural aspects of the
majority community. This has been the case in the United States which attracts immigrants from
many different countries.

*Acculturation- is a process where a minority adopts the cultural aspects of the majority without
losing its own traditions and customs. Meeting of cultures is never a one sided process as many
believe and though a person belonging to a minority culture begin to dress and speak like to
those belonging to the majority culture, he/she can still retain the beliefs and custom of his /her
own culture, thus reflecting the process of acculturation.

Technology  Evolution- Any technological evolution in the country will bring a change their
culture also. For example, changes in production technology, changes in the means of
communication, changes in the means of transportation, etc.

The geographical and ecological factor- The geographical and ecological factor is a natural or a
physical factor. The climate or rainfall, attitude of the place, closeness to the sea decides the
culture and lifestyle of the people. Any change in the physical features will automatically lead to
a change in their culture, habits and way of living.

Causes of Cultural Changes

David Dressier and Donald Carns have made the following observations with regard to the
causes of cultural changes:

1. Sometimes members of a society are often confronted by customs that differ from those which
they have learnt to accept. In such a situation they adopt some of the new customs, reject
others,and follow modified versions of still others. This might be called cultural eclecticism.

2. New customs and practices are likely to be more readily adopted under two conditions
(i) If they represent what is viewed as socially desirable and useful and
(ii) If they do not clash with re-existed and still valued customs and practices.

3. Changes in culture are always super imposed on existing culture especially during cultural
contact.

4. All the cultural changes are not equally important. Some changes are introduced to culture
because they are considered necessary for human survival. Some other changes are accepted in
order to satisfy socially acquired needs not essential for survival.

5. It is a fact of common observation that crisis tends to produce or accelerate cultural changes. If
the changes are accepted once due to the crisis, they tend to persist. For example, women were
included in military during the Second World War, and even now they continue to be there.
6. Cultural change is cumulative in its total effect. Much is added and little is lost. It’s growth is
like the growth of a tree that ever expands but only loses it leaves, Sometimes its limbs from
time to time, as long as it survives.

7. Cultural change leads to chain reaction, whenever a change is incorporated into the culture and
becomes defined as a ‘social necessity’, new needs emerge, generating the desire for still further
changes to complement or supplement the original change.