Social Change - Term Paper Example

One of the principle sources of social change, invention (5) is the one that produces new ideas, objects and social patterns. This is usually a major contributor to social change. It is true that class conflict (6) is often the impulsion for social change. The upper class is always in constant conflict with the lower class. According to Karl max, class conflict is one of the most powerful sociological explanations that are poised as a class struggle between Proletariat and the Bourgeoisie (7) in relation to capitalism.

Factors like family size, migration patterns and average age of the population are the distinctive element of demographic change (8). This is type of expected change (9) in terms of social change. In modern and post modern societies, the demographic changes are expected changes in relation to the current economic changes. They conform to the changes that that have been set in place. On the contrary, unexpected change (10) such as war is an example of an intentional disaster. Unexpected changes similar to this can distort the population of a society as it will to the sudden decrease of the population.

Sociologist use the concept of modernity (11) to refer to social patterns set in motion by the industrial revolution (12). This is an indication that the discipline of sociology (13) originated in the start of the industrial revolution. . Humans base their relationships not on their personal interest but, on the interest of the society. On the other hand, industrial societies are characterized by Gesellschaft (16) that is governed by individuals that lack human relations. The more complex a social structure becomes, the less personal relationship is evident.

Emile Durkheim, the French sociologist had the notion that pre industrialized societies were held to associated with each other through shared moral sentiments (17) or mechanical solidarity. His theory was focused on how societies would maintain their coherence (18) and integrity with regards to modernity. Being a proponent of structural functionalism (19), he perceived social science as a holistic aspect and studied the phenomena by attributing it to the society, as opposed to limiting it to the specific actions of individuals.

From a general perception, Sociologist Max Weber was instrumental regarding the cultural changes (20) that take place in the modern society. His main intellectual concern was getting to relate secularization (21) and disenchantment that were closely related to the rise of modernity and capitalism. Similarly, Karl Marx viewed capitalism (22) as being a major character of the modern society. Both their theories were deemed true in the sense that all societal progresses or advancements were through a class struggle which was based on a conflict between the ownership class which was the upper class and the labor class which was the lower class.

The concept of mass society (23) has several hallmarks which included high productivity. The most typical description of an individual in the modern mass society