Further, there are added security risks: the loss of privacy, the risk of total system failure (like the Y2K panic at the turn of the millennium), and the added vulnerability created by technological dependence. The increasing gap between the technological haves and have-nots––sometimes called the digital divide––occurs both locally and globally.
From the way we educate children in the classroom to the way we grow the food we eat, technology has impacted all aspects of modern life. Advances in agricultural technology have allowed us to genetically alter and patent food products, which changes our environment in innumerable ways. Advances in medical technology allow otherwise infertile women to bear children, which indirectly leads to an increase in population. In this period of globalization, change is driven by technology, particularly the Internet (Friedman 2005).īut also consider that technology can create change in the other three forces social scientists link to social change. Finally, Friedman brings us to the post-millennial era. Steam and rail power were the guiding forces of social change and globalization in this period. The second shorter period from approximately 1800 C.E. The countries best able to take advantage of these power sources expanded the most, and exert control over the politics of the globe from the late fifteenth century to around the year 1800. First, globalization was driven by military expansion, powered by horsepower and wind power. He suggests that we can view globalization as occurring in three distinct periods. In The World Is Flat, Thomas Friedman (2005) argues that technology is a driving force behind globalization, while the other forces of social change (social institutions, population, environment) play comparatively minor roles. Imagine what your day would be like without the Internet, the automobile, or electricity.
Some would say that improving technology has made our lives easier. We will focus on four agents of change that social scientists recognize: technology, social institutions, population, and the environment. Below, we will discuss how these act as agents of social change, and we’ll examine real-world examples. Causes of Social ChangeĬhanges to technology, social institutions, population, and the environment, alone or in some combination, create change. Essentially, any disruptive shift in the status quo, be it intentional or random, human-caused or natural, can lead to social change. Discuss the importance of modernization in relation to social changeĬollective behavior and social movements are just two of the forces driving social change, which is the change in society created through social movements as well as external factors like environmental shifts or technological innovations.Explain how technology, social institutions, population, and the environment can bring about social change.By the end of this section, you will be able to: