Page 526 - Essencials of Sociology

Summary and Review 499

MySocLab Study and Review on MySocLab

CHAPTER 15 Summary and Review

How Social Change Transforms What is Ogburn’s theory of social change?
Social Life William Ogburn identified technology as the basic cause of
social change, which comes through three processes: inven-
tion, discovery, and diffusion. The term cultural lag refers
Summarize how social change transforms society; include
15.1 to symbolic culture lagging behind changes in technology.
the four social revolutions, Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft, Pp. 480–482.
capitalism, social movements, and global politics.
How Technology Is Changing Society
What major trends have transformed the course
of human history?
The primary changes in human history are the four social 15.3 Use the examples of the automobile and the microchip
revolutions (domestication, agriculture, industrialization, and to illustrate the sociological significance of technology; include
changes in ideology, norms, human relationships, education, work,
information); the change from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft
societies; capitalism and industrialization; and global strati- business, war, and social inequality.
fication. Social movements indicate cutting edges of social How does new technology affect society?
change. Ethnic conflicts and power rivalries threaten the
global divisions that the Most Industrialized Nations have Because technology is an organizing force of social life,
worked out. We may also be on the cutting edge of a new changes in technology can bring profound effects. The auto-
biotech society. Pp. 474–478. mobile and the microchip were used as extended examples.
The computer is changing the ways we interact with one an-
other, learn, work, do business, and fight wars. We don’t yet
Theories and Processes of Social know whether information technologies will help to perpetu-
Change ate or to reduce social inequalities on national and global
levels. Pp. 482–490.
Summarize theories of social change: social evolution,
15.2 The Growth Machine versus the Earth
natural cycles, conflict over power and resources, and Ogburn’s
theory.
Explain how industrialization is related to environmental
15.4
What are the main theories of social change? problems; contrast the environmental movement and environmental
Evolutionary theories hold that societies move from the same sociology; discuss the goal of harmony.
starting point to some similar ending point. Unilinear theo-
ries assume that every society follows the same evolutionary What are the environmental problems of the Most
path, while multilinear theories conclude that different paths Industrialized Nations?
lead to the same stage of development. Cyclical theories view Among the most serious of the environmental problems of
civilizations as going through a process of birth, youth, ma- the most industrialized nations is global warming, which
turity, decline, and death. Conflict theorists see social change is likely to have severe consequences for the world. Burning
as inevitable, because each thesis (basically an arrangement of fossil fuels in internal combustion engines lies at the root of
power) contains antitheses (contradictions). A new synthesis many environmental problems. The location of factories and
develops to resolve these contradictions, but it, too, con- hazardous waste sites creates environmental injustice, en-
tains contradictions that must be resolved, and so on. This is vironmental problems having a greater impact on minorities
called a dialectical process. Pp. 479–480. and the poor. Pp. 490–491.