Course: Social Change (541) Semester: Autumn, 2022
Level: M.Sc.
ASSIGNMENT No. 1
Q.1 Discuss the subject of Social Change. How do Social Scientists and philosophers define the term Social Change? Discuss.
Social change is a concept many of us take for granted or don’t really even understand. No society has ever remained the same. Change is always happening. We accept change as inevitable, and it is, end of story, right? Well, not exactly.
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. Well known examples of such change have resulted from social movements in civil rights, women’s rights, and LBGTQ rights, to name just a few. Relationships have changed, institutions have changed, and cultural norms have changed as a result of these social change movements. That’s pretty heady stuff. Don’t you think?
What interests me, and what I hope interests you, is our collective power to influence social change. While we accept that change is constant, we do not have to accept that we are powerless in its wake. It is the extent to which we care about the direction of social change that we can try to shape it and help to create the kind of “change we wish to see in the world.” Whether or not Gandhi actually uttered these words doesn’t matter. What matters is that the phrase begs the question, what kind of change do we wish to see in the world?
Q.2 Define the term ‘Innovation, discovery, Invention and Cultural Setting’, and explain your answer in light of Ralph Linton reading.
a. Discovery: A new increment to knowledge. In this course we consider three types of knowledge of physical, biological or social systems. Theoretical knowledge is increasingly expressed as a mathematical model. Empirical knowledge is obtained from observations of new phenomenon or observations deliberately taken to test a theoretical hypothesis. Last, but not least, is practical knowledge. An important economic example is the practical knowledge acquired by a workforce to make a new manufacturing plant operate efficiently. This knowledge is intuitive and frequently very difficult to express as equations.
b. Invention: A new device or process. To qualify for a patent an invention must pass a test of originality–that is, be sufficiently different from previous inventions. Most inventions are minor improvements on existing inventions which do not qualify for patents. Only a small percent of patented inventions have any economic value.
c. Innovation: A better way of doing things. Innovations can occur in all goal-directed behavior such as profit maximization, reelection politics and personal lifestyles. Thus an innovation improves performance in goal directed behavior as measured by a criterion. An example of a criterion would be profit maximization in business. The advanced material at the end of this section presents a deeper development of innovation. If you want to become a grader, then I advise you to read this material
Q.3 Differentiate between “Organic Growth and Growth in Social Structure” Explain this phenomenon with examples.
Organic growth is the growth a company achieves by increasing output and enhancing sales internally. This does not include profits or growth attributable to mergers and acquisitions but rather an increase in sales and expansion through the company’s own resources. Organic growth stands in contrast to inorganic growth, which is growth related to activities outside a business’s own operations.
- Organic growth refers to the growth of a business through internal processes, relying on its own resources.
- Strategies for organic growth include optimization of processes, reallocation of resources, and new product offerings.
- Measuring organic growth is done by comparing revenues year over year and comparable store sales.
- Organic growth stands in contrast to inorganic growth, which is external growth, such as through mergers and acquisitions.
Q.4 Discuss in detail Marxist theory of change and Linear theories of change and highlight its silent features.
Change is the law of nature. What is today shall be different from what it would be tomorrow. The social structure is subject to incessant change.
Forty years hence government is due to make important changes. Family and religion will not remain the same during this period because institutions are changing.
Individuals may strive for stability, societies may create the illusion of permanence, the quest for certainty may continue unabated, yet the fact remains that society is an ever-changing phenomenon, growing, decaying, renewing and accommodating itself to changing conditions and suffering vast modifications in the course of time. Our understanding of it will not be complete unless we take into consideration this changeable nature of society, study how differences emerge and discover the direction of change.
Q.5 What are exogenous factors of change? Named them and explain with examples.
Exogenous growth, a key tenet of neoclassical economic theory, states that economic growth is fueled by technological progress independent of economic forces.
- Exogenous growth, a key tenet of neoclassical economic theory, states that economic growth is fueled by technological progress independent of economic forces.
- The exogenous growth model factors in production, diminishing returns of capital, savings rates, and technological variables to determine economic growth.
- Both the exogenous and endogenous growth models stress the role of technological progress in achieving sustained economic growth.
- The endogenous growth model differs from the exogenous growth model in that it suggests that forces within the economic system result in creating the atmosphere for technological progress.