Religion and Social Change in West Africa - Assignment Example

Research Essay Introduction Social change refers to changes in the way individuals in a community interact with theirimmediate environment and factors that challenge their being. Technology refers to the innovations and inventions that make work easier and productivity more sustainable. Literature can mean any written or spoken communication presented to an audience that is both well-versed in the language used as well as discourse of the literature. Literature in the sense of comprehension affects the manner in which the society adapts to social change. Some negative impacts of social change include technology which has been has been used in committing major crimes among them violence, identify theft, and in promotion of the pornography industry. However, one way to measure how much social change has impacted societies is through the extent content writers have been able to integrate their writing with the expectations of the society. In terms of productivity, companies and writers use technology as a means of ensuring that written content can be accessed by different levels of customers requiring different formats. Body Social change refers to changes in the way individuals in a community interact with their immediate environment and factors that challenge their being. In this sense, social change takes into account the manner in which people co-exist with one another taking into consideration factors that shape how these individuals survive within the society. For instance, the 21st century has invited social change that is driven by a number of factors among them new education systems, use of virtual intelligence for surveillance reasons, organized governance, and trading of ideas amongst communities. However, while social change depends on factors that influence social ties such as family trees, immediate environment, or input from the society in general; it has been documented that social change is not all-round positive. In some instances, community members have been observed learning from one other but applying that knowledge in unethical sense. Contemporary society requires community members to use technology partly as a way of making processes quicker and increasing individual output both in academic and commercial sense. However, as part of the negative impact of social change, technology has been used in committing major crimes among them violence, identify theft, and in promotion of the pornography industry (Glewwe, Hanushek, & Humpage pp. 11-17). With reference to social change in the sense of how people communicate, it is through the use of technology that people from different parts of the world can communicate. The virtual world of internet and devices that can access the internet has driven the society to adapt cultural transformation. Cultural transformation and social change link with one another in the 20th century. Within the social change context, the number of transformations in any given culture is influenced by the fact that communication is easier, faster, and targeting global citizens. In order for writers to communicate with their audience, the social change making use of technology allows them to target a global audience rather than the local audiences. Thus, one way to measure how much social change has impacted societies is through the extend writers have to integrate their writing with the expectations of the global society. Technology refers to the innovations and inventions that make work easier and productivity more sustainable. In the social change context, technology has affected societies in different ways depending on the factors under consideration. Reflecting on use, technology has been used by literature writers and companies all over the world. Companies need technology to print literature and/or organize content. Content writers make use of technology to present different formats of their work to different target markets. In this case, literature or content writers would like to target and reach as many customers or readers as possible. Through this need, technology does not end at the writers and company levels. Readers and writers have to be connected in order to ensure that target audience is reached sustainably. From traditional methods of writing and reading, technology has helped in changing the manner in which the society interacts with literature. For instance, traditional methods of content illustration involved the use of printed material requiring the reader to acquire a hard copy of the material. As an effect of technology on social change, contemporary writers have to target contemporary readers who use technology as a means of making access to content easier, faster, and reusable. In terms of productivity, companies and writers use technology as a means of ensuring that written content can be accessed by different levels of customers requiring different formats. Printing companies and writers make use of technology to compare ideas, promote literature, educate the society, and ensure that as much audience as possible gets the opportunity to read the content. Through printing services or companies, literature from different writers is published on hard copy books or online through different formats that users of different reading platforms can access. However, to writers, technology has negatively changed the manner in which literature is shared with customers in terms of commercial writing. Through reproducible formats such as online versions of literature, one individual with a soft copy of any literature content can share it with a set of friends or anyone else in the community. To writers or commercial content writers, reproduction of their work cuts back on returns but also plays a small positive role of giving the writers increased publicity. However, as technology may serve different purposes in the support of social change and literature, it has far worse impacts on how literature is used in the society and how it supports moral decay. The social impact of technology is discussed under technological impacts. Literature Literature can mean any written or spoken communication presented to an audience that is both well-versed in the language used as well as discourse of the literature. Discourse in literature refers to the way a group of individuals treat language by developing norms and patterns of communication. In literature, making sense of communication largely depends on how target audience relates to the discourse of the content and in this case, some literature is not usable in some social settings as it does not cover language patterns comprehensible to the set or group of readers. Language patterns involve the use of language elements such as the spoken or written language. English writers as well as other language writers adhere to language patterns to ensure that readers or listeners can make sense of the literature presented. On the other hand, the use of language understandable to readers and listeners does not mean that audiences get the point the literature writers and narrators. Literature in the sense of comprehension affects the manner in which the society adapts to social change (Assimeng, pp. 34-56). Social change occurs as a gradual process that affects the manner in which literature is presented to audiences as well as how much the audiences are capable of integrating their norms with the perspectives of the writers or narrators. In the contemporary 20th century era, changes in the social settings have influenced how literature is presented and how is it fathomed in the society. Based on the sensitivity of matters, literature targeting different audiences has influenced the manner in which language patterns are employed in presentation and writing. Additionally, members of the society develop interests in different types, genres, and styles of language presentation. Under the consideration of input as a method of developing and sustaining social ties, literature exposure influences the language patterns that the society develops under any given setting. The developed language patterns have to integrate with ethical considerations that make the society’s norms (Assimeng, pp. 34-56). Technological Impact A society’s set of norms can be assessed by considering the differences among communities that make up the society (Kelly, 202). However, 20th century era allows communities in different parts of the globe to connect and communicate with each other. The once separated society in traditional settings has changed to a small virtual society which communicates with each other on virtual basis. As a result, the society that has to communicate has various uses for literature. Social movements aim at communicating different social messages that influence or affect social changes within the local and the international sphere. In this case, technology has been used by content writers and producers to communicate their agenda with select audiences. This approach has been emulated by socialists whose intentions involve making the social environment as comfortable as possible and as balanced as possible. This means that the number of social movements using literature aim at influencing the society to adapt a certain style of living as well as passing social proposals to current and future generations (Kelly, 202). On the other hand, social change has been negatively impacted by technology used by social movements to communicate their ideas. For instance, due to internet connection by different age groups, it has been observed that youthful generations grow up in a society where literature is available and free in some cases. Free and accessible literature means that themes made for adult audiences are available to all age groups provided that users can locate it. Without age restrictions and censorship of online content, it is observed that ethical obligations tied down to traditional norms are slowly and gradually changing. Social change in the context of how individuals in the society interact has led to influx of information presented as written or spoken language. Literature composed and designed for adult audiences but made available to every member in the society has influenced negative development of the society’s ethical order. Groups supporting social changes such as acceptance of gay people in the community influence the manner in which young generations view relationships. Under religious concerns, social movements supporting non-religious mentalities have influenced the manner in which young members of the society interact with social issues happening around them. The conflict between religion and social movements is paramount as technology gives young generations the freedom to access information of any type at any given moment (Arnold, p. 35-47). Social groups Social groups are sets of individuals who are connected with one another in terms of shared interests, practices, beliefs, political ambitions, and economic needs. However, based on social networks and social environments, social groups form based on literal understanding and appreciation of language patterns. In this case, through the consideration that social groups form with respect to the norms of their language use, literature plays an important role in dictating the manner with which social groups connect with each other. Through shared experiences in the literal sense, social groups form to balance how people sharing different aspects connect, communicate, and influence one another. Conclusion As technology may serve different purposes in the support of social change and literature, it has far worse impacts on how literature is used in the society and how it supports moral decay. The social impact of technology is discussed under technological impacts. Literature, on the other hand, in the sense of comprehension affects the manner in which the society adapts to social change. Social change occurs as a gradual process that affects the manner in which literature is presented to audiences as well as how much the audiences are capable of integrating their norms with the perspectives of the writers or narrators. Technology has been used by content writers and producers to communicate their agenda with select audiences. This approach has been emulated by socialists whose intentions involve making the social environment as comfortable as possible and as balanced as possible. Literature composed and designed for adult audiences but made available to every member in the society has influenced negative development of the society’s ethical order. The conflict between religion and social movements is paramount as technology gives young generations the freedom to access information of any type at any given moment. Through shared experiences in the literal sense, social groups form to balance how people share different aspects, connect, communicate, and influence one another (Morris, para. 2-5). Works Cited Arnold, Matthew. Culture and Anarchy. The Complete Prose Works of Matthew Arnold. Ed. R. H. Super, Vol. 5. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1960. Print. Assimeng, Max. "Religion and social change in West Africa: An introduction to the sociology of religion. Accra: Ghana Universities Press, 1989. Glewwe, Paul., Hanushek, Erick., and Humpage, Sarah. School resources and educational outcomes in developing countries: A review of the literature from 1990 to 2010. No. w17554. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2011. Kelly Garrett, R. "Protest in an information society: A review of literature on social movements and new ICTs." Information, communication & society 9.02 (2006): 202-224. Morris, William. How I became a socialist.www.marxists.org, and. Web. 19 March 2015. . Read More