What is Social Change and Why Should We Care?
Sociologists define social change as changes in human interactions and relationships that transform cultural and social institutions. These changes occur over time and often have profound and long-term consequences for society.
Social change is the transformation of the social order in the community by making adjustments and variations to social institutions, behavior, and relations. It involves social evolution where the society makes amendments to traditional societal norms leading to the necessary change.
Most children have a keen sense of justice (as you’ll find out if you serve a bunch of kids different amounts of cake, yes?). Adults around them can help to show them that injustice is something they can tackle, at any age, and it does make a difference.
As Matilda sings:
Most children have a keen sense of justice (as you’ll find out if you serve a bunch of kids different amounts of cake, yes?). Adults around them can help to show them that injustice is something they can tackle, at any age, and it does make a difference.
As Matilda sings:
Just because you find that life’s not fair it
Doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it
If you always take it on the chin and wear it
Nothing will change.Even if you’re little, you can do a lot, you
Mustn’t let a little thing like ‘little’ stop you
If you sit around and let them get on top, you
Might as well be saying
You think that it’s okay
And that’s not right!
And if it’s not right
You have to put it right.
Doesn’t mean that you just have to grin and bear it
If you always take it on the chin and wear it
Nothing will change.Even if you’re little, you can do a lot, you
Mustn’t let a little thing like ‘little’ stop you
If you sit around and let them get on top, you
Might as well be saying
You think that it’s okay
And that’s not right!
And if it’s not right
You have to put it right.
Terminology
The Cycle of Social Change
Social change is seen by some as a four-stage process that must repeat itself over and over again as we evolve through our life.
The four stages are:
Conversation -For anyone to even consider the idea of social change, they must first be willing to converse about the opportunity or option of change. When we do not converse about change, change simple will not happen. It is, therefore, important that there be a space to converse about these changes as a possiblity. A space where people can actually talk about change and have a safe environment where they can express their opinions that they think are important for their lives, and for people that are important to them.
Awareness - With conversation comes the option to have more awareness about the different aspects of life. The more people talk, the more they hear, and subsequently have more awareness. We can never underestimate the power of people and how their knowledge could impact the world around them.
Effect - This brings us to the ‘effect’ stage of the cycle of social change. From the awareness that a person has recently gained, he or she can then start to effect the world first in his or her own life. This means that they are convinced about the idea being a ‘no brainer’ from the awareness they have aquired from the conversations they have had.
Change - The outcome of this is that a awareness once it effects the individual will have to spread. As social animals we love to spread the information that we have access to; that means one person’s knowledge leads to multiple conversations with other individuals that instigates further change.
The four stages are:
Conversation -For anyone to even consider the idea of social change, they must first be willing to converse about the opportunity or option of change. When we do not converse about change, change simple will not happen. It is, therefore, important that there be a space to converse about these changes as a possiblity. A space where people can actually talk about change and have a safe environment where they can express their opinions that they think are important for their lives, and for people that are important to them.
Awareness - With conversation comes the option to have more awareness about the different aspects of life. The more people talk, the more they hear, and subsequently have more awareness. We can never underestimate the power of people and how their knowledge could impact the world around them.
Effect - This brings us to the ‘effect’ stage of the cycle of social change. From the awareness that a person has recently gained, he or she can then start to effect the world first in his or her own life. This means that they are convinced about the idea being a ‘no brainer’ from the awareness they have aquired from the conversations they have had.
Change - The outcome of this is that a awareness once it effects the individual will have to spread. As social animals we love to spread the information that we have access to; that means one person’s knowledge leads to multiple conversations with other individuals that instigates further change.
Questions to Consider
History of Social Change in Canada
What Role do YOU play in Social Change?
According to some there are four role which include advocate, helper, organizer, and rebel.
The advocate or reformer role - The advocate focuses on communication with “the powerholders,” who can change a policy or practice.
The helper or "citizen" role - The helper is drawn to direct service, personally doing what they can to remedy the situation. They might intervene when someone is being picked on or bring a band-aid when little brother falls off the bike.
The organizer or "change-agents" role - The organizer experiences joy from collecting people who may not even know each other and turning them into a well-oiled team. They are the ones who revived the celebration of Martin Luther King Day at school, or boosted the flagging morale of the drill team.
The rebel role - The rebel who sees a problem or injustice prefers to make a commotion of some kind to force powerholders to make a change. Martin Luther King Jr. explained that a campaign must create a crisis. Gandhi made so much trouble that he made India ungovernable by the British. True, some famous rebels needed organizing skills to scale up their commotion to the crisis point. But rebels look at numbers not for their own sake but to determine “how many people will it take to create what degree of crisis?”
The advocate or reformer role - The advocate focuses on communication with “the powerholders,” who can change a policy or practice.
The helper or "citizen" role - The helper is drawn to direct service, personally doing what they can to remedy the situation. They might intervene when someone is being picked on or bring a band-aid when little brother falls off the bike.
The organizer or "change-agents" role - The organizer experiences joy from collecting people who may not even know each other and turning them into a well-oiled team. They are the ones who revived the celebration of Martin Luther King Day at school, or boosted the flagging morale of the drill team.
The rebel role - The rebel who sees a problem or injustice prefers to make a commotion of some kind to force powerholders to make a change. Martin Luther King Jr. explained that a campaign must create a crisis. Gandhi made so much trouble that he made India ungovernable by the British. True, some famous rebels needed organizing skills to scale up their commotion to the crisis point. But rebels look at numbers not for their own sake but to determine “how many people will it take to create what degree of crisis?”
What type of role are you most comfortable in?
