Social change is a topic often discussed today. Some want to bring about social change while others fight to keep that change from becoming a reality. Sociologists explain social change and the urge to fight that change in several different ways.
Talcott Parsons, a functional sociologist, argued that societies change according to an equilibrium model. He believed that societies fought to keep a certain equilibrium. While slow, gradual change helps a society to grow, Parsons...
Social change is a topic often discussed today. Some want to bring about social change while others fight to keep that change from becoming a reality. Sociologists explain social change and the urge to fight that change in several different ways.
Talcott Parsons, a functional sociologist, argued that societies change according to an equilibrium model. He believed that societies fought to keep a certain equilibrium. While slow, gradual change helps a society to grow, Parsons argued that too much sudden change would disrupt the equilibrium in that society. The different parts of a society would adjust to keep the equilibrium steady in times of sudden social change. This would explain how some societies change at different paces: diverse societies would adjust and change at a pace specific and individual to their culture. This viewpoint views change in a somewhat negative light.
The conflict perspective would explain change in a more positive sense. The conflict perspective views the status quo in society as negative and invites sudden social change to disrupt inequality. This would explain why some societies seem to thrive and welcome great social change. Societies with large amounts of inequality would then hope for the status quo to change to bring an end to inequality.
While predicting what societies would be more receptive to social change is difficult, one could argue that both sociological viewpoints can help explain the differences in how societies respond to social change. Joining both perspectives together would mean that countries with a positive view of the status quo would be less receptive to social change. Communities with a more negative view of the status quo would welcome that change in hopes of ending social inequality.
Further reading:
http://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/20-1-understanding-social-change/
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