Understanding

the
SOCIAL, CULTURAL,
AND POLITICAL
CHANGE
DEFINING Social, Cultural, and
Political Change
• Social change is the alteration in patterns of culture, social
structure, and social behavior over time.

• As observed by Heraclitus, no society can successfully prevent

change, not even those that try to do so. (Robertson, 1987).
Meanwhile, change in the cultural patterns of behavior and values
is called cultural change.

• Changes in tangible or material aspects of culture and intangible or

non-material aspects of people’s lives are also part of cultural
change.
DEFINING Social, Cultural, and
Political Change
• Another aspect of change is called political change.

• It is the change in political patterns of behavior and values of

individuals as well as political institutions that hold power and
control society.
 Self-control
Kindness
Goodness
Peace

INNOVATION Love

Gentleness Joy
Faithfulness Forbearance
 It is defined as an “independent to
creatively find solutions to problem”
(Kottak,2000).
 TWO TYPES OF
INNOVATION

I O N
N O VAT
RY I N
N D A
SECO I O N
VAT
Y I N NO
I M A R
PR
 TWO TYPES OF
INNOVATION

N Occurs when an individual or a group

ATI O
N O V comes up with a completely new idea,
RY I N
RI M A method, or device (Haviland, Prins,
P
Walrath, and McBride, 2008).
 EXAMPLE

• The invention of photography, for

example, has altered how people view
reality as it allowed individual to
capture moments and, later on, record
events through video cameras.
 TWO TYPES OF
INNOVATION

Occurs when an individual or a group

further develops or improves on an
already existing idea, method, or device
I O N
N O VAT (Haviland, Prins, Walrath, and McBride,
RY I N
N D A 2008).
SE C O
 EXAMPLE

• Smart phones and other forms of

wireless communication are
improvised versions of the
telephone.
 Self-control
Kindness
Goodness
Peace

DIFFUSION Love

Gentleness Joy
Faithfulness Forbearance
 It is the act of spreading culture,
tradition, objects, and ideas to other
societies.
 DIRECT TWO TYPES OF
DIFFUSION

DIFFUSION
• Occurs through trade, marriage, and war
(Kottak, 2000).

Example: The use of silk cloth was introduced by

the Chinese to the Filipinos through trade.
 INDIRECT TWO TYPES OF
DIFFUSION

DIFFUSION
• Occurs when a group comes in contact with another group indirectly
through third party.

Example: When merchants bring new products, languages, customs, and

beliefs that originated from a certain area and carry those things to another
place. In this case, the two places have no direct contact, but influences are
shared to the arrival of the merchants.
 Self-control
Kindness
Goodness
Peace

ACCULTURATION Love

Gentleness Joy
Faithfulness Forbearance
 ACCULTURATION

• Is the third source of social, cultural, and political change.

• Acculturation is a product of a massive cultural change.

• It entails a show force by one party over another (Haviland, Prins,

Walrath, and McBride, 2008).

Example: In the Philippine setting, Filipinos became accustomed to

Spanish penchant for fiestas and merriment rhat such celebrations
assumed a local flavor.
 Self-control
Kindness
Goodness
Peace

ASSIMILATION Love

Gentleness Joy
Faithfulness Forbearance
 ASSIMILATION
• Occurs when the minority group loses its distinctive cultural traits
and adopts or absorbs those of the dominant culture (Robertson,
1987).

Example: Various racial groups have also assimilated to the pluralistic

culture of the US.
CULTURAL
ASSIMILITATION
Overall, social, cultural, and political change
matter to human life, society, and progress
because they serve as barometers to the rise
and fall of civilization.
 Self-control
Kindness
Goodness
Peace

SOCIAL CONTRADICTIONS
AND TENSIONS Love

Gentleness Joy
Faithfulness Forbearance
• Social, cu ltur al, an d po litica l ch an ge are ofte n
positively se en as m ark of hu m an pr og ress .
However, so ciet al ch an ge s do no t alw ay s st art an d
ascend smoothly and peacefully.

• Revolutio ns are so m etim e wag ed to create a ju st

society.
INTER - ETHNIC CONFLICTS
• The cultural feature of a specific group of people is called ethnicity. From a
sociological viewpoint, an ethnic group is a category of people who, as a
result of their shared cultural heritage, are regarded as socially distinct.
CLASS STRUGGLE

• Tensions are contradictions significantly operate in a class system, which

is an open form of stratification based primarily on economic statuses,
which may be subject to change.

• Class membership, then, is an achieved status, one that depends to some

extent on characteristics over which the individual has some control.
ARMED CONFLICTS
• Armed conflicts happens in many parts of the world because of attempts to
settle through violence disputes over political power, territorial and ethnic
issues, and societal stresses, such as injustice and poverty (Holdstock &
Jarquin).
TERRORISM
• Terrorism is a violent and potent means of pushing social change and gaining
worldwide attention. In recent years, international terrorism is strongly
connected with radical and extremist groups that commit violent acts, such as
bombing, hijackings, assassinations, and kidnappings.
PROTESTS

• Protest is the simplest form of expressing disgust, contradiction, and tensions

through a collective manner.
• A protest can be expressed in written, verbal or non-verbal forms.
 GENDER INEQUALITY
• Gender inequalities are often the primary causes of tensions and conflicts.
• Gender is defined as the culturally learned differences between men and women as
opposed to sex which is the biological distinction. Each society expects an individual to
play his or her specific gender roles; or the behavior patterns, obligations, and
privilages that are appropriate for each sex.
NEW CHALLENGES TO HUMAN ADAPTATION
AND SOCIAL CHANGE

• Major transformations in the new world order as a result of deteriorating

environemnt and social conditions like the increase in the population and
advancement in technology create new challenges to human adaptation
and social change.
• Modernization after all, is viewed not as a series of adjustments in
indigenous economic systems but a qualitative change in the
organization of society, culture, and even in the individual self.

• These are manifested in the following phenomena: global warming and

migration.
 GLOBAL WARMING
• Global warming occurs when there is a sudden heating up of the earth’s surface brought
about by excess hydrocarbons and pollutants emitted from industries.
• These factors in turn destroy the ozone layer, which traps the sun’s ultraviolet rays from
its direct entry towards the earth.
MIGRATION
• In the Philippines, transnational migration provides a strong impetus for
reinvention of roles especially within the threshold of the family and society.
• Wives left by thier husbands who work abroad as OFWs adopt the traditional
“masculine” role as pillar of the household in the absence of a partner,
• In the same way, husbands who were left home by wives working overseas adopt
the traditional “feminine” role rearing children.
• Nonetheless, modern technology, like the existence of broadband networks, the
internet, and social media sites eases the pain and anxiety of separation through
digital simulacrum, thus turning the impersonal to the quite personal and even
political.
RESPONDING TO SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AND
CULTURAL CHANGE

• Since change is generally inevitable in

a society, people use different ways
and means to respond to change and
manage the impact it can generate
both to an individual and society.
NEW FORMS OF MEDIA AND SOCIAL
NETWORKING
• Fast and reliable internet connection gave people an
equitable access to information and ideas.

• Theoretically, this technological development is “a

great victory for democracy as popular participation
can be handily realized with one click (Magstadt,
2013).
 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
• Social movements are activities organized by groups of people intended to create
effects beyond their own group (Zurcher and Snow, 1982 in Newman, 2012).

• Social movements are often created when people are dissatisfied with their social
conditions and unable to meet their daily needs (Newman,2012).

• Undeniably many social movements in the world advocate pro-poor platforms by

ensuring that the plight of the latter are ventilated to higher authorities, especially in
countries under oppressive regimes.
Thank You
f or
l i s t e ni n
g