Download Social Change Key Terms Handout Alterative Social Movement| a

Social Change Key Terms Handout
Alterative Social Movement| a type of social movement that seeks limited change in specific
individuals; sometimes referred to as Alternative Social Movement
Civic Dialogue| dialogue in which people explore matters of civic importance and consider the
dimensions of a civic or social issue, policy, or decisions of consequence to their lives,
communities, and society
Civic Engagement| the many ways in which people participate in civic, community, and
political life and, by doing so, express their engaged citizenship
Claims Making| the process undertaken by a social movement to persuade the public and
officials of the importance of joining the social movement in order to address a particular issue
Class-Society Theory| theory proposing that the global rise of capitalism has resulted in
structuralized social inequality
Collective Behavior| activity involving a large number of people that is unplanned, often
controversial, and sometimes dangerous
Collectivity| a large number of people whose minimal interaction occurs in the absence of welldefined and conventional norms
Community Building| the process of building relationships that helps to cohere community
members around common purpose, identity, and a sense of belonging which may lead to social
or community capital
Community Development| the development of a community where the economic, social, and
physical dimensions of community are considered
Contagion Theory| theory explaining crowd behavior that sees crowds as anonymous,
suggestible, and swayed by rising emotions; Gustave Le Bon
Convergence Theory| theory explaining crowd behavior that suggests the behavior is based on
the desires the people brought with them as they formed the crowd
Crowd| a large number of persons gathered closely together temporarily
Crowd Behavior| collective behavior among people located within close proximity of each other
Cultural Diffusion| the spreading out of culture, culture traits, or a cultural pattern from a
central point
Cultural Lag| the fact that some cultural elements change more quickly than others, disrupting a
cultural system
Culture (Social Movement) Theory| a theory that explains the advent of a social movement due
to the motivation of people using money, resources and cultural symbols
Demographic Transition Theory| a theory that connects demography with a society’s level of
technological development and argues that technological advances slow population growth
Demography| the study of population patterns using fertility, mortality, migration, population
growth and population composition
Deprivation Theory| a theory that explains the advent of a social movement due to people
feeling deprived of something
Dispersed Collectivity| a collectivity characterized by members who are not in one another’s
physical proximity but have an impact on one another’s behavior; mass behavior such as rumor,
gossip, public opinion, propaganda, fashions, fads, panic, mass hysteria, and disaster response
Emergent-Norm Theory| theory explaining crowd behavior that posits crowds develop their
own behavior as events unfold; Ralph Turner and Lewis Killian
Equilibrium Theory| social change theory that argues changes in one aspect of society require
adjustments in other aspects and when these adjustments do not occur, equilibrium disappears,
threatening social order; Talcott Parsons (Structural-Functional Perspective)
Ferdinand Tönnies| (1885-1936) a German sociologist best known for his theories on
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft that compared mindsets of rural villages and modern cities
Gemeinschaft| preindustrial society based on kinship, tradition and close social ties; Ferdinand
Tönnies
Gerhard Lenski| (1924- ) an American sociologist noted for studying social inequality and
developing the Theory of Sociocultural Evolution but also known for the Multilinear
Evolutionary Theory
Gesellschaft| industrial society characterized by weak family ties, competition and impersonal
social relationships; Ferdinand Tönnies
Globalization| the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world
views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture.
Gossip| idle talk or rumor, especially about the personal or private affairs of others
Group| people who interact with one another and think of themselves as belonging together
Gustave Le Bon| (1841-1931) a French sociologist best known for his studies on crowds and the
Contagion Theory
Herbert Spencer| (1820-1903) an English sociologist best known for coining the phrase
“survival of the fittest” in 1864 upon reading Charles Darwin’s work on evolution; a StructuralFunctionalist who compared people within a society to the parts of a human body in that all were
necessary to work properly; with regards to Social Change, Spencer helped develop the Unilinear
Evolutionary Theory
Localized Collectivity| a collectivity characterized by members within a close proximity to each
other; crowds, riots, mobs
Mass Behavior| collective behavior among people spread over a wide geographic area
Mass Hysteria| a form of dispersed collective behavior in which people react to a real or
imagined event with irrational and even frantic fear; also known as moral panic
Mass Society| a society in which wealth and government have weakened traditional social ties
Mass-Society (Social Movement) Theory| a theory that explains the advent of a social
movement due to socially isolated people uniting for a sense of identity and purpose; William
Kornhauser
Mass-Society (Modernity) Theory| theory proposing the growth of government and other
formal organizations in certain traditional areas (such as welfare) has reduced the importance of
family and community and created a mass society; Structural-Functionalist Perspective
Mechanical Solidarity| a type of social unity achieved by people doing the same type of work
and holding similar values; Émile Durkheim
Mob| a disorderly, riotous, or lawless crowd of people
Modernity| social patterns resulting from industrialization
Modernization| the process of social change derived from industrialization
Multilinear Evolutionary Theory| a Social Change theory that argues change can occur in
several ways and does not inevitably lead all societies in the same direction; Gerhard Lenski
(Theory of Sociocultural Evolution)
Neil Smelser| (1930- ) an American sociologist who focused on collective behavior and social
change and is noted for identifying six factors in the development of a social movement; Value
Added Theory
New Social Movements Theory| a theory that explains that social movements in postindustrial
societies are typically international in scope and focus on quality-of-life issues by improving
social and physical environments rather than economic ones
Organic Solidarity| a type of social unity in which society’s members’ interdependence is based
on specialized functions and statuses; Émile Durkheim
Other-Directedness| willingness to remain open to new ideas and fashions, often expressed by
imitating others
Panic| a sudden overwhelming fear that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often
spreads quickly through a group of persons
Postmodernity| social patterns of postindustrial societies
Propaganda| information or ideas methodically spread to promote or injure a cause, group,
nation, etc.
Public Opinion| widespread attitudes about controversial issues
Ralph Turner and Lewis Killian| American sociologists who developed the Emergent Norm
Theory in 1957 to explain collective behavior in the form of crowds
Redemptive Social Movement| a type of social movement that seeks radical change in specific
individuals
Reformative Social Movement| a type of social movement that seeks limited change in the
whole society
Relative Deprivation| a perceived disadvantage brought forth by making comparisons
Resource-Mobilization Theory| a theory that links the success of a social movement to its
access to money, labor and mass media
Revolutionary Social Movement| a type of social movement that seeks radical change in the
whole society
Riot| a noisy, violent public disorder caused by a group or crowd of persons
Rumor| a story or statement in general circulation without confirmation or certainty as to facts
Social Activism| refers to action to make change that ensures inclusion, equity, fairness, and
justice
Social Capital| the collective value of all “social networks” (who people know) and the
inclinations to do things for each other that arise from these networks (“norms of reciprocity”)
Social Change| the transformation of culture and social institutions over a period of time; causes
are usually identified within the realms of culture, social conflict, ideas, demographic factors
Social Institutions| the major spheres of social life, or social subsystems, organized to meet
human needs; examples include family, education, religion, government, economy, health and
welfare (the social subsystems found within all societies)
Social Movement| an organized collective behavior that encourages or discourages social
change
Social Structure| stable patterns of social relationships in a group (part of social structure is the
status a person has within a society and the role that is performed as part of that status)
Talcott Parsons| (1902-1979) an American sociologist known for his studies on social action;
equilibrium theory
Technological Determinism| social change theory that presumes that a society's technology
drives the development of its social structure and cultural values, in Ogburn’s hands, it identified
four stages of technical development: invention, accumulation, diffusion, adjustment; William F.
Ogburn
Tradition-Directedness| inflexible following of traditions
Unilinear Evolutionary Theory| social change theory that claims all societies pass through the
same sequence of stages of evolution to reach the same destiny; Herbert Spencer (StructuralFunctional Perspective)
Value Added Theory| a theory that explains the development of a social movement using six
factors (structural conduciveness, structural strain, growth and spread of explanation,
precipitating factors, mobilization for action, lack of social control) and identifies which of these
factors encourages the formation of mobs or riots versus which of these factors encourages
highly organized movements; also known as Structural Strain or Social Strain Theory; Neil
Smelser
William Fielding Ogburn| (1886-1959) an American sociologist best known for his idea of
“cultural lag” and expanding the Technological Determinism to identify four stages of technical
development within a society: invention, accumulation, diffusion, adjustment