The sociological study of social change is multifaceted, allowing sociologists to study it from many angles. We can apply the frameworks of sociology: sociological imagination, social constructionism, and the debunking motif. We can examine social change through the organization of society, focusing generally on social structures, institutions, or systems. We can analyze change through elements of social life: systems, culture, social facts, social networks, and socialization. We can also explore change by identifying its patterns and processes driven by influences such as culture, technology, population growth, conflict, and social movements.

Like the social movement and ideals of Buen Vivir, introduced at the beginning of this chapter, social change often reflects radical transformations in how we shape society and interact within it. Buen Vivir is a human response to find new ways of relating to each other and the natural world. It is also a good example of how we are better realizing our experiences are integrally linked to environmental changes. This realization will undoubtedly shape much of the social change we experience in the future. With that in mind, we’ll continue to explore how society and the environment intersect alongside other themes of social change in the following chapters.

Review of Learning Outcomes

This chapter has offered you the opportunity to:

• Explain how the sociological perspective is applied to social change.
• Describe the structure and organization of society as it relates to social change.
• Discuss the patterns and process of social change.
• Explain how sociology views environmental change and issues as social topics.

Key Terms

agents of socialization: the significant individuals, groups, or institutions that influence our sense of self and the behaviors, norms, and values that help us function in society.

Buen Vivir: a set of ethics that balance quality of life, democracy, giving inherent value to all living things, and collective well-being.

civil society: the communities, groups, and organizations that function outside of government to provide support and advocacy for certain people or issues in society.

cultural lag: the period of time between the introduction of new technological developments into a culture or society and the acceptance of the developments by institutions.

environmental sociology: the study of the interaction between human behavior and the natural and physical environment.

equilibrium model of social change: the observation that society is always in a natural state of equilibrium, defined as a state of equal balance among opposing forces.

modernization: a complex set of changes that take place in societies that move from traditional to modern practices as their economies become industrialized.

roles: patterns of behavior that we recognize in each other that are representative of a person’s social status.

social movements: the mobilization of large numbers of people to work together to achieve a social goal or address a social problem.

social facts: the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and cultural rules that govern social life.

socialization: the lifelong process of an individual or group learning the expected norms and customs of a group or society through social interaction.

social structure: the complex and stable framework of society that influences all individuals. This influence occurs through the relationship between institutions and social practices.

system: a group of related parts that interact over time to form a whole that has a purpose, function, or behavior.

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.