• Change is often described as the only unchanging aspect of society.

• Modern society demonstrates that constant change is a permanent feature of social life.

• Sociology emerged to understand the rapid changes in Western European society between the 17th and 19th centuries.

• Despite its apparent commonness, social change is a relatively recent phenomenon in human history.

• Humans have existed for approximately 500,000 years, but civilised existence spans only about 6,000 years.

• Constant and rapid social change has been evident primarily in the last 400 years.

• The pace of change has accelerated, especially in the last 100 years.

• In the last 50 years, change has been faster than in the preceding 50 years.

• Within the last 50 years, the world may have changed more in the last 20 years than in the first 30 years of that period.

SOCIAL CHANGE

• Social change is a broad term often used to describe any kind of change but sociologists make it specific for social theory.

• At the basic level, social change refers to significant changes that alter the underlying structure of an object or situation over time (Giddens 2005:42).

• Social change requires changes to be both intensive (big impact) and extensive (affecting large sections of society).

• Social change can be classified by sources/causes, nature/impact, or pace/speed.

• Evolutionary change occurs slowly over long periods, exemplified by Darwin’s theory of adaptation and ‘survival of the fittest’.

• Social Darwinism applies Darwin’s ideas to the social world, emphasizing adaptive change.

• Revolutionary change occurs quickly or suddenly, often politically, e.g., French Revolution (1789-93), Russian Revolution (1917).

• The term is also used for sharp transformations in other areas, e.g., Industrial Revolution, Telecommunications Revolution.

• Structural change involves transformations in society’s structure, institutions, or institutional rules.

• Example: Paper money replaced precious metals, transforming financial markets, banking, and economic organization.

• Changes in values and beliefs can also drive social change.

• Example: Changing ideas about childhood in the 19th–20th centuries led to laws against child labor and the introduction of compulsory education.

• Social change is commonly classified by causes/sources, sometimes divided into internal (endogenous) and external (exogenous).

• Five broad sources/causes of social change: environmental, technological, economic, political, and cultural.