Social Change And Modernization

Nothing ever stays the same and this is what we call social change. Social change is the transition of culture and social institutions over time. Key features of social change are some societies grow faster than others. Sometimes social change is intentional but is often unplanned. Social change is often controversial and some change matters more than others.

One example of social movement would be the industrial revolution, which was a radical change for everyone. It increased productivity/profits and brought fear among people of outsourcing. The civil rights movement is a social movement. It aimed for change for a group of individuals but changed society. Fair trade is a social movement, which aims to help producers in poorer countries get better trading conditions. The Woman's liberation movement is a social movement aimed for the same rights men and women.

The process of social change brought on by industrialization is called Modernization. Key features or characteristics as found by Peter Berger (1977) are the decline of small traditional communities and the expansion of one's personal choice. Social diversity increasing, and orientation of time with a growing awareness related to it.

Some examples of modernization are automobile/planes, cell phones, Internet, and DVD players. Automobiles and planes allow society to move easily to where they want to go over a short period of time. Cell phones allow society to stay in contact with one another. It does not require wires plugged into a wall and thus providing freedom of movement. The Internet provides a broad spectrum of services to anyone with a computer. Whether it be ordering pizza or dating services. Its also provides an alternative to snail mail. DVD players are an upgrade to old-fashioned VCR players. You no longer have to rewind your tapes and the discs are magnet proof.