In this chapter, we’ve introduced the art of sociology by peeking into a specific place (Lyons, France) during a historical period of time (the Belle Époque) and imagining the experiences of those who lived there and then. We also examined the importance of applying an equity lens to sociology to acknowledge the diversity of experiences in the world and related to race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. Often that means searching deeper to understand the lived experiences of members who are less likely to be acknowledged or have the chance to relay their own stories in print. We dug deeper into the colonial past of France and inquired about the lives of Algerians at that time.

Then we introduced the study of social change by exploring the experiences of three contemporary communities less entrenched in colonized and European influences. While their perspectives only offer a snapshot of the myriad of experiences with social change in the world, they are shaped by their diverse historical realities, cultural perspectives, and environmental circumstances.

As you read this book, consider the social changes that matter to you and one of the communities you belong to in a meaningful way. This might be your city, county, or region. It may also be your spiritual community, activist group, or town where you spent your childhood. What social changes have influenced you and that community the most? You might find them to be environmental, historical, or cultural, as we’ve discussed here. If so, you might ask:

• How are environmental changes shaping the life experiences of you and your community?
• How have historical social changes shaped the lived experiences of your community today?
• What cultural perspectives or worldviews shape how you and your community see social change?

Or you might find that other circumstances are more influential. What are those and how do you see them influencing lives in your community?

In the next chapter we’ll introduce how sociology explores and understands social changes focusing on the frameworks that sociologists apply to study social change, then introduce the structure and organization of society and the process and patterns of social change. We’ll continue to focus on how social changes are experienced with diversity, based on our place in the social world.

Review of Learning Outcomes

This chapter has offered you the opportunity to:

• Explain how experiences of social change are based on diverse environmental circumstances, historical realities, and cultural perspectives.
• Describe how to apply an equity lens to sociology and the study of social change.
• Discuss what social change means to you and your community according to the history, cultural perspectives, and environmental circumstances you have experienced.

Key Terms

• colonialism: the military, economic, and ideological conquest of one society by another. It results in one society settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area.
• community: a group of people that share relationships, experiences, and a sense of meaning and belonging.
• culture: the shared beliefs, values, and practices in a group or society. It includes symbols, language, and artifacts.
• cultural universal: concepts, ideas, or patterns of behavior that are common to all human cultures.
• equity lens: recognition that we do not all receive the same power and resources in society. This informs action to identify and dismantle systems of power, privilege, and oppression.
• genocide: the systematic and widespread extermination of a cultural, ethnic, political, racial, or religious group.
• Eurocentrism: a worldview, mindset, or communication that centers white European ways of knowing as sole, central, or superior to all others.
• Imperialism: the practice of a nation forcefully imposing its rule or authority over other nations.
• institutions: large-scale social arrangements that are stable and predictable, created and maintained to serve the needs of society.
• social inequality: the unequal distribution of power, resources, rewards, and positions in societies.
• social change: transformations in human interactions and relationships that happen over time and transform cultural and social institutions.
• sociology: “a science guided by the understanding that “the social matters: our lives are affected not only by our individual characteristics but by our place in the social world, not only by natural forces but by their social dimension” (The Health of Sociology 2007).
• worldview: a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world or universe held by an individual or group.

Comprehension Check

Licenses and Attributions for Conclusion

Open Content, Original

“Conclusion” by Aimee Samara Krouskop is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

“Comprehension Check” was created by Veronica Vold and Michelle Culley for Open Oregon Educational Resources and is licensed CC BY 4.0.