Conditions & Impediments
This is one of the key conditions for social change, often embodied by a charismatic person who unifies a group.
What is Leadership?
This theory sees society moving from simple beginnings over time, usually resulting in positive progress and innovation.
What is the Evolutionary Theory of Change?
These theories take a macro-sociological approach to study how and why people and societies change by looking at similarities and differences between age cohorts.
What are Generational Theories?
A source of population change that involves the intake of people from another country.
What is Immigration?
This is a shift in patterns of interaction, culture, and institutions over time, which can be gradual or rapid.
What is Social Change?
The resistance to change due to the desire to maintain old practices, like prioritizing a traditional notion of marriage.
What are Traditional Cultural Values?
This theory suggests that change in society is like changing seasons, reaching a pinnacle and then eventually dying off, like trends falling into and out of favour.
What is the Cyclical Theory of Change?
According to Strauss-Howe, this generational Cycle is defined by a crisis, a time when society unites to defeat a threat, and a focus on collective sacrifice.
What is a Crisis?
A change in this external factor, like a drought or natural disaster, can impact a society's ability to produce food and resources.
What is the Physical Environment?
A leader who possesses a strong vision and popular support, and can influence society for better or worse.
What is a Charismatic Leader?
These people are considered "modernizing" and are a key condition for initiating major social transformations.
What are Elites (or the Role of Elites)?
Attributed to Arnold Toynbee, this theory posits that a society grows through successful responses to initial difficulties.
What is the Challenge & Response Theory of Change?
According to the Strauss-Howe theory, this generational Archetype is born in a Crisis and enters young adulthood in a High.
What is the Artist?
The close physical or social distance between societies or groups, which increases the likelihood of contact and the transmission of new ideas.
What is Proximity?
This impediment to change is defined as the distance of people from each other or from what they find meaningful, which can lead to giving up or spur activism.
What is Alienation?
This barrier to social change is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours to what individuals perceive as normal in their society, discouraging change and promoting the status quo.
What is Conformity?
This theory, represented by Talcott Parsons, views society as an interconnected system that automatically adjusts and re-stabilizes after a social change, seeking equilibrium.
What is the Functionalist (or Equilibrium) Theory of Change?
This generational Cycle is defined by the breakdown of institutions, a mood of cynicism, and the individual focus on inner life.
What is the Unraveling?
The Arab Spring is a case study illustrating the use of this external factor, specifically social media, in influencing social change.
What is Technology?
This concept describes the process by which a society evaluates a theory based on how it is limited, what it fails to take into account, or whose voice is missing.
What is Critiquing a Theory?
This factor, often balancing demands like health care and welfare, can slow social change because "change in one area often delays another."
What is Expense (or Cost)?
Ralf Dahrendorf's version of this theory states that conflict arises from the strain between a "command class" (with authority) and an "obey class" (without authority).
What is the Conflict Theory of Change?
This generational Archetype is born in a High, enters young adulthood in an Awakening, and is associated with being a visionary and principled elder.
What is the Prophet?
This external factor is defined by the overall characteristics of a population, and its changes can challenge the system to meet the needs of its members.
What are Population Changes (or Demography)?
The analysis method suggested for explaining how a leader's actions led to change, using factors such as the political, economic, environmental, and social impact.
What is the PEES Method?