The Meaning and Impact of Social Change

In the text The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology defines social change as, “the transformation of a culture over time” (Ferris, Stein 483). This can be looked at as a change in behavior, values, social organizations, and cultural symbols. It is described as a significant alteration that sociologists that result in extraordinary consequences or outcomes. It is the change in human interactions and interrelations. As there are a lot of things that tie into social change, it isn’t something that is noticed right away or that is understood completely until further along. Social change is something that occurs all the time and even at times unexpectedly. Social change is something that can happen and occur in a long-term or a short-term manner and can change throughout the term itself. 

            Some example of social changes, from Reference.com are the industrial revolution, women suffrage movement, the abolition of slavery, and the civil rights movements. As the article states, prior to the women’s suffrage movement, women were subordinate to men in the majority of aspects in society. In the perspective of a social change, women began to close the gender inequality by fighting for their rights and fighting for their right to vote. According to this article, social change and social movements typically stem from strained between those who have power of power and those who don’t. Change, in a social perspective manner, can be seen in many different concepts. It can be a process, an end, a social movement, or even a problem. The use of new ideas set new goals that are pushed to be achieved. Some types of social change, more specifically, are civilization, cultural, or the change in social relationships. Four of the main causes of social change deals with social scientists, technology, social institutions, population, and the environment. These four different aspects change and impact how society changes in a timely and exact manner. As these are all individual changes, they are in some way interrelated in some type of way. A change in one area can lead to a change in another. A significant way of understanding how society changes with working together and holding together, is the fact of being aware of how they change or fall apart. 

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