Page 238 - DSOC201_SOCIAL_STRUCTURE_AND_SOCIAL_CHANGE_ENGLISH

Unit 10: Social Change

knowledge, technology and ideologies. This refusal is because people consider their traditions as Notes
sacred. They allege that the merit of traditions derives from transmission from a sacred orientation.
Traditionally transmitted norms are accepted not because they exist, but because they fill the need to
have rules in a given situation. They perform a stabilizing function in society. So, the role which
traditional norms are likely to play in an economically and technically changing society depends at
least in part, on the place which tradition-oriented behaviour holds in the society. And here we can
draw a division on the continuum of tradition and modernity. For, in traditional society, traditional
values are given importance because they have been transmitted from the past. But in modern society,
the conditions for change are welcomed because they offer solutions to present problems.
Caste System
The caste system has been a great obstacle in achieving both justice and prosperity. Kingsley Davis
(1951: 216) was correct when he said that the conception of hereditary occupation is exactly the
opposite of the idea of open opportunities, free competition, increasing specialization and individual
mobility associated with a dynamic industrial economy.
Factionalism is an important factor in the failure of development projects, particularly in rural areas.
Caste and sub-caste membership is one basis of the formation of factions. In many areas where farmers
belong to one caste amongst many, other castes do not wish to cooperate as it will be of no direct
benefit to them. In areas where farmers are the ruling group, the development programme likewise
fails to gain widespread acceptance. Any project that apparently aids one caste is opposed by all
other castes who are jealous of their position in society or eager to defend their own position at every
one else’s expense. Like caste factions, the intra-caste factions also act as barrier in social change.
Earlier the restrictions of the caste system on interaction with people of other castes did not permit
mobility and industrialization, and today its use in politics has presented rulers to function in
constructive ways. William Kapp has also pointed out that Hindu culture and Hindu social
organization are determining factors in India’s low rate of development. Milton Singer, however,
does not accept this viewpoint. His contention is that there is no considerable evidence to indicate
that Hindu culture and caste system have had any dampening effect on India’s development. He
describes Kapp’s conclusions as largely speculative extrapolations derived from misunderstood
scriptual concepts.
Illiteracy, Ignorance and Fear
Ignorance caused by illiteracy creates fear which resists social change. The customary ways of doing
things are considered safe because they have been tried. Opinion about trial in villages or in simple—
societies is not so rationalistic. New is unknown and therefore must be avoided. If inventions, which
are in part determined by the existing material culture, are frequent, a people become accustomed to
change and the hostility to change tends to break down. Conversely, if material culture inventions
are frequent change, may be rare and feared. When illiteracy promotes hierarchy, education insists
on the idea of equality. It encourages rationality too. The educated people generate all kinds of new
desires, inventions, etc. and also develop means for achieving them.
The Values

The role played by values in social change is a subject of much controversy. For example, Hegel felt
that social change was a result of the unfolding of ideas. Marx felt that values had no effect on long
term social change. He felt that social change was exclusively a result of the interplay of economic
forces and was manifested in the class struggle. Most of the Indian sociologists agree that values do
influence both individual and collective behaviour thereby influencing social processes. Many also
feel that values are the result of change and therefore should not always be considered as primary
factors in social change. The values of the caste system (hierarchy, pollution, endogamy, etc.) were a
great barrier in changing Indian society. It was only when technology and industrialization were
accepted by the common people that geographical mobility and consequently the social mobility was
made possible. Fatalism also prevented hard work and social change. Famines, floods, earthquakes,
poverty, unemployment were all considered to be the result of God’s wrath. In industrial societies,
people have proved that control over nature is possible and undesirable situation is not a hopeless
block but a challenge to man’s ingenuity.

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