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Slide 1

SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer

Globalization, Technology, and Social Change

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McGraw-Hill © 2007 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Slide 223. Globalization, Technology, and Social

Change• Theories of Social Change • Global Social Change• Resistance to Social Change• Technology and the Future• Social Policy and Social Change

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Slide 3

Theories of Social Change

• Evolutionary Theory– Views society as moving in a definite

direction, generally progressing to a higher state• Comte saw human societies as moving

forward in their thinking from mythology to the scientific method

• Durkheim maintained society progresses from simple to more complex forms of social organization

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Slide 4

Theories of Social Change

• Functionalist Theory– Focus on what maintains a system,

not what changes it •Equilibrium model: As changes occur in

one part of society, there must be adjustments in other parts

If adjustments are not made, society’s equilibrium will be threatened

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Slide 5

Theories of Social Change

• Functionalist Theory– Parsons’ four processes of social

change:• Differentiation• Adaptive upgrading• Inclusion• Value generalization

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Theories of Social Change

• Conflict Theory– Change is needed to correct social

injustices and inequalities– Marx argued that with societal

evolution, each successive stage is not an inevitable improvement over the previous one

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Global Social Change

• Social change does not always follow a period of internal disintegration– Dramatic time in history to consider

global social change

Hallinan noted need to move beyond restrictive models of social change

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Slide 8

Resistance to Social Change

• Economic and Cultural Factors– Efforts to promote social change are

likely to meet with resistance•Vested Interests: people or groups who

will suffer in the event of social change•Culture Lag: period of maladjustment

when nonmaterial culture is still struggling to adapt to new material conditions

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Resistance to Social Change

• Resistance to Technology

– Luddites: In response to Industrial Revolution, some groups raided factories and destroyed machinery

Just as Luddites resisted the Industrial Revolution, some people resisted postindustrial expansion of industrialization

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Slide 10

Technology and the Future

• Technology– Information about

how to use the material resources of the environment to satisfy human needs and desires

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Technology and the Future

• Computer Technology

– Last decade witnessed explosion of computer technology in U.S. and around the world

– Estimates say Internet reaches 1.1 billion people• Not everyone can get onto the

information highway, especially not the less affluent

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Slide 12

Technology and the Future

• Privacy and Censorship in a Global Village– Complex issues of privacy and

censorship can be considered examples of culture lag• Patriot Act

– Functionalists generally positive to Internet

– Conflict theorists stress that most powerful groups will use technology to violate privacy of less powerful

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Technology and the Future

• Biotechnology– Holds itself out as totally beneficial to

humans, but needs constant monitoring• Sex selection of fetuses• Cloning of sheep and cows

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Slide 14

Technology and the Future

• Biotechnology– Genetic Engineering

• Genetic engineering may make it possible to alter animal and human behavior

– Debate on genetic engineering escalated when scientists in Scotland cloned a sheep

• Controversy growing over genetically modified (GM) food

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Slide 15

Social Policy and Social Change

• Transnationals– The Issue

• Low-wage jobs in U.S. represent a $300,000 equivalent to an economic incentive to immigrants from developing countries

• Even highly skilled migrant workers enjoy far fewer rights than native workers

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Social Policy and Social Change

• Transnationals– The Setting

• Labor market increasingly global– Globalization has unified discrete national

labor markets

•Transnationals: immigrants who sustain multiple social relationships that link their societies of origin with the societies of settlement

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Social Policy and Social Change

• Transnationals– Sociological Insights

• New technologies accelerating transnational movement of workers

• Functionalists see the free flow of immigrants as way for economies to maximize use of human labor

• Conflict theorists claim globalization increase the economic gulf between developed and developing countries

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Social Policy and Social Change

• Transnationals– Sociological Insights

• Interactions interested in day-to-day relationships between transnationals and people around them

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Social Policy and Social Change

• Transnationals– Policy Initiatives

• International Labor Organization complained that globalization is unraveling the social welfare systems of many countries

• Voting eligibility depends on country• General public’s attitude toward illegal

immigrants remains hostile, especially in U.S.

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Slide 20

Social Policy and Social Change

Figure 23-1. Labor Migration

Source: National Geographic 2005:16