introduction to sociology: concepts, theories and...

Introduction to Sociology Dirk Helbing and Research Team Zurich May 27, 2008 1 / 32

Introduction to Sociology:Concepts, Theories and Models

Dirk Helbing and Research Team

Chair of Sociology, in particular of Modeling and Simulation

May 27, 2008

Chair of Sociology, in particular of Modeling and Simulationhttp://www.soms.ethz.ch/


Chapter 12Social Movements and Social Change

Dirk [email protected]



Social Movements

Social MovementsSocial Movementis an organized activity that encourages or discourages socialchange.

1 Alterative social movements serve to help certain people toalter their lives.

2 Redemptive social movements target specific people and seekradical change.

3 Reformative social movements aim for limited social change,but target everyone.

4 Revolutionary social movements seek the basic transformationof an entire society.



Social Movements

Claims Making

Claims Making

Claims Makingis the process of trying to convince the public and public officials ofthe importance of joining a social movement to address a particularissue.

That is, some issue has to be defined as a problem that demandspublic attention.Example: Need to take public action such as medical research andsafer sex campaigns to fight HIV and AIDS.



Social Movements

Deprivation Theory

Deprivation Theory

Relative Deprivationis a perceived discadvantage arising from some specific comparison.

The worst-off people are not necessarily the most likely to organizefor change.Example: A revolution occured first in France, where peasants hadseen improvements in their lives that made them hope for morechange. German peasants, in contrast, knew nothing else but feudalservitude at the time of the French Revolution, and they learned tolive with this situation.



Social Movements

Mass-Society Theory

Mass-Society Theory

Mass-Society Theoryassumes that socially isolated people seek out social movements asa way to gain a sense of belonging and importance.

Accordingly, social movements are most likely to arise in impersonalmass societies. Flawed people rather than a flawed society areresponsible for social movements. People who are well integratedare unlikely to seek membership in a social movement.Example: Prison inmates are more likely to protest their conditions,if programs promoting social ties among them are suspended.



Social Movements

Structural-Strain Theory

Structural-Strain Theory1 Social movements begin to emerge when people come to think

their society has some serious problems (structuralconductiveness).

2 People begin to experience relative deprivation when societyfails to meet their expectations (structural strain).

3 Forming a well-organized social movement requires a clearstatement not only of the problem, but also of its causes andits solutions (growth and spread of an explanation).

4 Some specific event sparks collective action when there is ahistoric opportunity (precipitating factors).

5 A mobilization for action may cause that the rate of changebecomes faster and faster.

6 The social movement depends on the non-intervention ofpolitical officials, police, and the military (lack of social control).



Social Movements

Resource-Mobilization and Culture Theory

Resource-Mobilization and Culture TheoryResource-Mobilization TheoryThe success of a social movement depends on substantial resourcesand, therefore, often on a positive public image. It raises and fallswith how well it attracts resources, mobilizes people, and forgesalliances.

Example: Prior to the Iraq War, two individuals using theircomputers were able to get 120,000 people in 190 countries to signa petition opposing the war. Today, in principle everybody canorganize an own movement.

Culture TheoryMobilization depends not only on a sense of injustice, but also oncultural symbols.



Social Movements

Political-Economy and New Social Movements Theory

Political-Economy and New Social MovementsTheory

Political-Economy TheoryAccording to Karl Marx, social movements arise within capitalistsocieties because the economic system and institutional structuresfail to meet the needs of the majority of people.

New Social Movementsfocus on improving of our social and physical surrounding (→ globalwarming, women and gay rights, etc.). They tend to become global(using mass media and new information technology) and to drawsupport from the middle and upper-middle classes.



Social Movements

Theories of Social Movements



Stages in Social Movements

Emergence and Coalescence

Emergence and Coalescence

Stage I. Emergence of Social MovementsA social movement is triggered by the perception that something isnot ok.

Stage II. CoalescenceLeaders must determine policies, decide on tactics, build morale,recruit new members, and attract the attention of the media.




Bureaucratization

Bureaucratization

Stage III. BureaucratizationTo become a political force, a social movement must become anestablished organization. As this happens, the movement dependsless on the charisma and talents of a few leaders and relies more ona professional staff.

However, becoming more bureaucratic can also hurt a socialmovement, when neglecting the need to keep people “fired up” forchange.




Decline

Reasons of DeclineStage IV: Decline

1 The social movement may have met its goals. But winning onevictory often leads to new goals.

2 Organizational failures, e.g. poor leadership, internal conflicts,day-to-day routine, loss of interest among members,insufficient funds, or repression by authorities.

3 “Selling out” by attracting leaders by offers of money, prestige,or power from within the established system.

4 Repression by the established system, e.g. frightening awayparticipants, discouraging new recruits, imprisoning leaders.

5 The social movement may also “go mainstream”, become anaccepted part of the system rather than challenging the statusquo.




Stages in the Lives of Social Movements



Social Change

Social Change

Social Changeis the transformation of culture and social institutions over time.

Cultural LagMaterial culture (technology) usually changes faster thannonmaterial culture (ideas, attitudes, and norms).



Social Change

Culture and Change

Culture and Change

Discoveryoccurs when people notice new elements of the existing world.

Inventionproduces new objects, ideas, and social patterns.

Diffusioncreates change as products, people, and information spread.



Social Change

Other Mechanisms of Change

Other Mechanisms of Change

Conflict and ChangeKarl Marx saw class conflict as the engine that drives societies fromone historical era to another.

Ideas and ChangeMax Weber traced the roots of most social change to ideas. Forexample, people with charisma can carry a message thatsometimes changes the world.

Demographic ChangePopulation patterns and population growth also play a significantpart in social change.



Modernity

Four Dimensions of Modernization

Four Dimensions of ModernizationModernity means social patterns resulting from industrialization(from 1750).

1 Decline of small, traditional communities such as family andneighborhood. Traditional world gave each person awell-defined place offering a strong sense of identity,belonging, and purpose.

2 Expansions of personal choice (e.g. lifestyle) throughindividualization, as tradition weakens.

3 Increasing social diversity with growth of cities, expansion ofimpersonal bureaucracy, and social mix of people with diversebackgrounds.

4 Orientation toward the future and a growing awareness oftime, e.g. through introduction of clocks.



Modernity

Ferdinand Tonnies

Ferdinand Tonnies (1855–1937)

Viewed modernization as the progressive loss of Gemeinschaft, orhuman community. The Industrial Revolution weakened the socialfabric of family and tradition by introducing a business-likeemphasis on facts, efficiency, and money. Most people lived amongstrangers, and trust was hard to build up in a mobile andanonymous society. European and North American societiesgradually became rootless and impersonal, as people came toassociate mostly on the basis of self-interest rather than grouployality.Key inventions: Telephones, television, rapid transportation



Modernity

Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim (1858–1917)Defined modernization by an increasing division of labor, i.e.specialized economic activity requiring highly specific roles. Thepoint is not a loss of community, but the change from communitybased on bonds of likeness (kinship and neighborhood) to acommunity based on economic interdependence. But diversity maylead to collapse into anomie, a condition in which norms and valuesare so weak and inconsistent that society provides little moralguidance to individuals (→ increased self-suicide rate).Preindustrial societies are held together by mechanical solidarity, orshared moral sentiments. They view everybody basically alike.In industrialized societies, organic solidarity, i.e. mutual dependencybetween people engaged in specialized work takes over. All of usmust depend on others to meet most of our needs.



Modernity

Max Weber

Max Weber (1864–1920)Viewed modernity as replacement of a traditional worldview with arational way of thinking.To traditional people, “truth” is roughly the same as “what hasalways been”.To modern people, “truth” is the result of rational calculation.Weber declared modern society to be “disenchanted”. Theunquestioned truth of earlier times has been challenged by rationalthinking, i.e. modern society turns away from the gods.The capitalist, the scientist, and the bureaucrat are representativesof the new, rationalized worldview that dominates humanity duringthe era of modernity. Weber feared that rationalization, especially inbureaucracies, would erode the human spirit with endless rules andregulations (→ alienation).



Modernity

Max Weber

Karl Marx (1818–1883)

For Karl Marx, modern society was synonymous with capitalism. Hesaw the Industrial Revolution as primarily a capitalist revolution. Hetraced the emergence of the bourgeoisie in medieval Europe to theexpansion of commerce. The bourgeoisie gradually displaced thefeudal aristocracy as the Industrial Revolution gave it a powerfulnew productive system.Moreover, capitalism draws population from farms and small townsto an ever-expanding market system centered in cities.Specialization is needed for efficient factories. And rationality isexemplified by the capitalists’ endless pursuit of profit.The stifling effects of bureaucracy are as bad as, or even worse than,the dehumanizing aspects of capitalism.



Modernity

Modernity as Mass Society

Modernity as Mass SocietyA mass society is a society in which prosperity and bureaucracy haveweakened traditional social ties (→weak kinship, impersonalneighborhods, social isolation). Before, gossip was an effective wayto ensure conformity, while mass societies are spiritually weak, withmoral uncertainty about how to live. This comes with individualrights and freedom of choice, and minorities get greater freedomand influence. But the face-to-face communication of the village iseventually replaced by the impersonal mass media, creating anational culture: newspapers, radio, television, and computernetworks. Large state organizations steadily assume moreresponsibility for the daily tasks that once were carried out byfamily, friends, and neighbors. As the ever-growing centralizedbureaucracy progresses, political leaders gain a far larger powerthan even absolute monarchs had. These often unresponsivebureaucracies leave people in local communities little control overtheir lives and undermine the autonomy of families. Individuals areleft isolated, powerless, and materialistic.



Modernity

Modernity as Class Society

Modernity as Class Society

Class society is a capitalist society with pronounced socialstratification (inequality). Most people would be powerless in theface of wealthy elites and multinational corporations, and theywould suffer from alienation and uncertainty.Social conflict theory (Marx et al.) criticizes the greed unleashed bycapitalism, resting on “naked self-interest” and weakening thesocial ties. Capitalism would support science as an ideologyjustifying status quo (human well-being as a technical problem tobe solved by engineers). Marcuse (1964) believes that science causesrather than solves the world’s problems, and that modern societyfails to meet the needs of many people.



Modernity

Modernity and the Individual

Modernity and the IndividualModernity gives freedom to express individuality, but it makes itdifficult for many people to establish a coherent identity. However,the freedom of choice has little value without standards (norms)helping us make good decisions. As a result of tolerance and“relativism”, many people move from one identity to another,changing their lifestyles, relationships, and even religions in searchof a “true self” (→ identity crisis).In contrast, tradition-directed people think and act alike, as they allact on the basis of the same solid cultural foundation. This impliesrigidity, while modernity implies personal flexibility, the capacity toadapt, and the sensitivity to trends, fashions, and others, but at theprice of superficiality, inconsistency, and change.Elders as role models are replaced by members of the owngeneration.



Modernity

Modernity and Progress

Modernity and Progress

We typically link modernity to the idea of progress, while stability isseen as stagnation.But most high-income countries show a decline of happiness overthe course of the recent decades, possibly because today’s routinesare too stressful, with people often having little time to relax and tospend together. According to surveys, science “makes our way of lifechange too fast”.



Postmodernity

PostmodernityPostmodernity refers to social patterns characteristic ofpostindustrial societies, as created, for example, by the InformationRevolution. The following is criticized:

1 Modernity has failed to provide a life free from want.2 In contrast to the idea of progress in modern societies, most

adults believe that life is getting worse.3 Science no longer holds the answers, and often there is no one

truth.4 Cultural debates are intensifying.5 Social institutions are changing, e.g. families no longer

conform to a single pattern of relationship.In conclusion, postmodernity fails to successfully address humanneeds. Furthermore, the information age threatens privacy.



Postmodernity

Modernization and Our Global Future

Modernization and Our Global Future1 The world is in a desperate need of change.2 Although the Industrial Revolution enhanced human

productivity and raised living standards in many nations, globalmodernization may be difficult.

3 But the world’s rich societies help poor countries to groweconomically.

4 The entire world is developing towards one huge village, as thelives of all people are increasingly linked.

5 Many traditional people lose their cultural identity and values,they are drawn into a global “McCulture”.

6 Balancing individual freedom and personal responsibility is asocial dilemma.



Postmodernity

Traditional vs. Modern Societies



Civil Rights Movement

The Situation

The Situation before the Civil Rights Movement

Upto the 1950ies, African Americans were virtually without anypolitical power, although they amounted to about 40% of thepopulation in the South of the US. They had endured even mostterrible situations with considerable stoicism, as they believed theymust. But when they came to believe that things could becomebetter, a revolution of rising expectations occured. It was triggeredby a precipitating event, which served as a symbol of cumulatedgrievances and signallized that now was the time for resistance andaction. It all started with Mrs. Rosa Parks, who was not willing tostand up in the bus section for colored people to provide her seat toa white person, when the bus section for white people wascrowded. She was put to prison for this by the police.




How the Situation Evolved

How the Situation Evolved1 The mother of Rosa Parks called a political leader she knew.2 The social network through the local church provided support.3 A bus strike was launched, and white households lacked their

personnel. The boycott would be continued until segregatedseating was discontinued.

4 African Americans organized a massive carpool.5 Police began to stop carpool drivers and ticket them for

imaginary violations. Drivers responded by driving very slowlyand giving exaggerated turn signals.

6 Bombings occured and Martin Luther King was arrested.7 This made things a national affair, and substantial outside

support was starting to build up.8 U.S. Supreme Court ruled that laws requiring segregated buses

were unconstitutional.9 African Americans started to organize themselves in many other

communities.




Freedom Summer

Freedom Summer (Mississippi, 1964)1 Sixty-thousand armed white men organized for what amounts

to everyday terrorism against local African Americans.2 For example, African Americans trying to register to vote were

shot.3 Then, in Freedom Summer, 1,000 white volunteers recruited

from elite colleges and universities came to Mississippi withone goal: to register African American voters.

4 As several of them were shot, there were daily reports all overthe nation of idealistic white students from good familiesrisking death on behalf of African Americans.

5 This finally ended the period of race segregation.6 Most of the volunteers were idealists who continued political

activism on other subjects (Vietnam war, nuclear power,feminism, abortion, gay rights, disarmament, etc.).

7 In conclusion, social reality can be changed by individuals, bytaking specific actions at specific times. History is the story ofhuman action.



Bibliography

Bibliography

1 Slides 2-28: John J. Macionis: Sociology, 11th edition (PearsonInternational, 2007), Chap. 23+24.

2 Other slides: Rodney Stark: Sociology, 7th edition (Wadsworth,2006), Chap. 21.


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