Explain how social change and social order differs in rural and urban areas?

SOCIAL CHANGE

• The term social change is used to indicate the changes that take place in human interactions and interrelations.
• According to Morris Ginsberg social change is a change in the social structure.
• Transformations over time of the institutions and culture of society
• According to Jones “Social change is a term used to describe variations in, or modifications of any aspect of social processes, social patterns, social interaction or social organization”.
• Observable differences in any social phenomena over any period of time.
• Changes in the social organization, that is, the structure and functions of the society.

Social change is the change in society and society is a web of social relationships. Hence, social change is a change in social relationships. Social relationships are social processes, social patterns and social interactions. These include the mutual activities and relations of the various parts of the society. Thus, the term ‘social change’ is used to describe variations of any aspect of social processes, social patterns, social interaction or social organization.

Characteristics of Social Change:

• It is Social
• It isUniversal
• It isthe law of nature
• It is Continuous
• It does not attach any value judgment.
• It is neither moral nor immoral
• It is Bound by Time Factors
• The rate, tempo, speed and extent of change is not uniform.
• Definite Prediction of Social Change is Impossible
• It Shows Chain-Reaction Sequences
• It takes place due to Multi-Number of Factors
• It may be considered as modifications or replacements
• It may be Small-scale or Large-scale
• Short-term and Long-term Change
• It may be Peaceful or Violent
• It may be Planned or Unplanned
• It may be Endogenous or Exogenous

In explaining the concept of social change, sociologists from time to time used words and expressions like evolution, growth, progress, development, revolution etc. discarding one in preference to the other.

• Evolution:-Changes taking place slowly over a long period of time.
  • oTheory of Evolution –Charles Darwin
  • oDeveloped Social Darwinism (social Evolution)
  • oOrganic analogy – Herbert Spencer
• Revolution:-Changes taking place Rapidly over a short period of time.
  • oEg:- Industrialization, French revolution
• Progress:- development towards an improved or more advanced condition
• Growth is the process of increasing in size.
• Development is an event constituting a new stage in a changing situation

Classification of Social Change

• Classification based on its Nature
  • oEvolutionary Social  Change
  • oRevolutionary Social Change
• Classification based on the Sources and Causes
  • oEnvironmental
  • oTechnological
  • oEconomical
  • oPolitical
  • oCultural

Factors affecting Social Change

• Natural Factors
  • o(Natural calamities like floods, earthquakes, draughts, and famines.)

·         Geographical Factors

o    (Physical environment, natural resources, climate, temperate regions)

·         Biological Factors

o   (Structure, selection and hereditary qualities of generations)

·         Demographic Factors

o    (Population, birth-rate, Death rate, poverty, unemployment, disease,  ratio, dowry system)

·         Political Factors

o   India’s struggle for independence

o   Nepal’s rejection for Monarchy

o   Biggest political change in history: Universal adult frachise.

·         Socio-economic Factors

o   (Agriculture, Industries, feudalism, Capitalism, Urbanization)

·         Cultural Factors

o   (Beliefs, ideas, values, customs, conventions, institutions)

·         Science and Technology as factors

·         Educational Factors

·         Other factors

SOCIAL ORDER

• Social change has to be contrasted with social order. It has a tendency to resist and regulate change.
• It refers to active maintenance and reproduction of particular pattern of social relations and of values and norms.
• Some of the things that contribute to keeping societies stable called social order.
• Stability requires that people should obey the same rules, and that individuals and institutions should behave in a predictable manner.
• There are specific and concrete reasons for society resisting change.
  • oExample; Social Stratification(Rich and the powerful sections in society resist changes whereas the poor and powerless sections want to have a change for the better)
• Social order can be achieved in two ways
  • o1) When people willinglywish to a abide by the rules and norms
  • o2) When people are compelled to follow the rules and norms.

Every society uses a happy combination of these two methods to maintain social order.

Domination, Authority and Law

• Authority:-the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience.
  • oMax Weber defines authority as legitimate power. That is, power considered to be justified or proper.
  • oExample:- The authority of a judge, a police officer and a teacher.
• Domination:- influence over someone
• Law:-the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.

Contestation, crime and Violence

• Contestationrefers to broad forms of insistent disagreement.
  • oIt includes dissent or protest against laws or lawful authorities.
• Crimeis an act that violates an existing law.
• Violence is the enemy of social order,
  • oAs an extreme form of contestation
  • oThat breaks the law and social norms.
  • oIt results from social tensions which point to serious problems
  • oIt can be a challenge to the authority of the state.  

Social order and Social Change in Village, Town and City

• Villages emerged as part of the major changes in social structure
  • oChange from nomadic life to settled life
  • oInvestment in land and technological innovations in agriculture created the possibility of producing surplus.
  • oAdvanced division of labourcreated the need for occupation specialization.
  • oAll these changes together shaped the emergence of the village as a population settlement based on a particular form of social organisation.

Villages:-

• significant proportion of its population is involved in agricultural activities,
• Low density of population as compared to cities and towns.

City:-

• Majority of people engaged in non-agricultural pursuits.
• Population density i.e. (the number of persons per unit over, such as square km) is higher than villages.

Social order and Social Change in Rural Areas

• Villages are small in size
• More personalized relationship
• Village follows a traditional pattern of life
• Slow social change

Major changes

• Modern means of communication have reduced distance between villages.
• Cultural lag between Villages and Towns has come down
• Social and Land Reforms make changes
• Changes in lower class people status, roles and rights.
• Dominant Castes:Term attributed to M.N. Srinivas; refers to landowning intermediate castes that are numerically large and therefore enjoy political dominance in a given region.
• Introduction of new technologies in Agriculture
• National Rural Employment Guarantee act (NREG) 2005.

Social order and Social Change in Urban Areas

• Urbanism is a modern phenomenon
• Before the modern era, trade, religion and warfare were some of the major factors that decided the location and importance of cities.
• development of group identities — based on factors like race, religion, ethnicity, caste, region, and of course class — which are all well represented in urban life.
• High density of population
• Large number of workers
• Housing problems
• Shortage of housing for the poor leads to homelessness, and the phenomenon of ‘street people’— those who live and survive on the streets and footpaths, under bridges and flyovers, abandoned buildings and other empty spaces.

o   It is also the leading cause for the emergence of slums. Though official definitions vary, a slum is a congested, overcrowded neighbourhood with no proper civic facilities (sanitation, water supply, electricity and so on) and homes made of all kinds of building materials ranging from plastic sheets and cardboard to multi-storeyed concrete structures.

• Ghetto, Ghettoisation:Originally from the term used for the locality where Jews lived in medieval European cities, today refers to any neighbourhood with a concentration of people of a particular religion, ethnicity, caste or other common identity. Ghettoisation is the process of creation of ghettoes through the conversion of mixed composition neighbourhoods into single community neighbourhoods.
• Increasing pollution
• Enjoy all modern facilities
• Water, electricity, police, security etc.
• Gated Communities:

Urban localities (usually upper class or affluent) sealed off from its surroundings by fences, walls and gates, with controlled entry and exit.