Page 508 - Essencials of Sociology

Theories and Processes of Social Change 481

Invention. Ogburn defined invention as a combining of existing elements and dialectical process (of history)
materials to form new ones. We usually think of inventions only as material items, such each arrangement of power (a the-
as computers, but there also are social inventions. We have considered many social sis) contains contradictions (antith-
inventions in this text, including democracy and citizenship (pages 337–338), capitalism eses) which make the arrangement
(pages 352–353), socialism (pages 353–354), bureaucracy (pages 136–142), the corpo- unstable and which must be
ration (pages 142–144, and, in Chapter 10, gender equality. We saw how these social resolved; the new arrangement of
inventions had far-reaching consequences for people’s lives. Material inventions can also power (a synthesis) contains its own
contradictions; this process of bal-
affect social life deeply, and in this chapter, we will examine how the automobile and the ancing and unbalancing continues
microchip have transformed society. throughout history as groups strug-
gle for power and other resources
Discovery. Ogburn identified discovery, a new way of seeing reality, as a second
process of change. The reality is already present, but people see it for the first time. invention the combination of
An example is Columbus’ “discovery” of North America, which had consequences so existing elements and materials to
huge that they altered the course of human history. This example also illustrates another form new ones; identified by
William Ogburn as one of three
principle: A discovery brings extensive change only when it comes at the right time. processes of social change
Other groups, such as the Vikings, had already “discovered” North America in the sense
of learning that a new land existed—obviously no discovery to the Native Americans discovery a new way of seeing
already living there. Viking settlements disappeared into history, however, and Norse reality; identified by William Ogburn
as one of three processes of social
culture was untouched by the discovery. change
Diffusion. Ogburn stressed how diffusion, the spread of an invention or discovery diffusion the spread of an inven-
from one area to another, can deeply affect people’s lives. Consider an object as simple as tion or a discovery from one area
the axe. When missionaries introduced steel axes to the Aborigines of Australia, it upset to another; identified by William
Ogburn as one of three processes
their whole society. Before this, the men controlled axe-making. They used a special stone
of social change
that was available only in a remote region, and fathers passed axe-making skills on to their
sons. Women had to request permission to use the axe. When steel axes became common, cultural lag Ogburn’s term for
women also possessed them, and the men lost both status and power (Sharp 1995). human behavior lagging behind
technological innovations
Diffusion also includes the spread of social inventions and ideas. As we saw in
Chapter 11, the idea of citizenship changed political structures around the world.
It swept away monarchs as an unquestioned source of authority. The idea of gender
equality is now circling the globe. To those who live where this concept is taken for
granted, it is surprising to think that opposition to withholding rights on the basis
Diffusion is the spread of an invention
of someone’s sex can be revolutionary. Like citizenship, gender equality is destined or discovery from one group or
to transform human relationships and entire societies. area to another. The technological
revolution based on the microchip has
Cultural Lag. Ogburn coined the term cultural lag to refer to how some elements become global, changing behaviors,
of culture lag behind the changes that come from invention, discovery, and diffusion. relationships, and ideas. To register to
Technology, he suggested, usually changes first, with culture lagging behind. In other vote, this Maasai woman in a remote
words, we play catch-up with changing technology, adapting our customs and ways of area of Kenya is having her fingerprints
taken by biometric equipment.
life to meet its needs.
Evaluation of Ogburn’s Theory. Some find Ogburn’s analysis too one-directional,
saying that it makes technology the cause of almost all social change. They point out that
people also take control over technology, developing or adapting the technology they
need, and then selectively using it. You read about the Amish on page 109, an example
of people who reject technology that they perceive as threatening to their culture.
Technology and social change are certainly not one-directional. Rather, they are like
a two-way street: Just as technology stimulates social change, so social change stimulates
technology. The Nazi armies that marched across Europe last century and the Japanese
atrocities across the Pacific stimulated the United States to build the atomic bomb.
Today, the growing number of elderly is spurring the development of new medical tech-
nologies, such as treatments for Alzheimer’s disease. Similarly, ideas about people with
disabilities are changing—that instead of being shunted aside, they should participate
in society’s mainstream. This, in turn, has triggered the development of new types of
wheelchairs and prosthetic devices that allow people who cannot move their legs to play
basketball, participate in the Paralympics, and even compete in downhill wheelchair
races. The street is so two-way that this greater visibility and participation, in turn, is
changing attitudes toward people with disabilities.