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Unit 12: Processes of Change

work for wages and do not own the means of production or the goods they produce, (iv) by a great Notes
increase in the proportion of the population engaged in non-agricultural occupations, and (v) by the
growth of numerous large cities. Industrialization provides a vast quantity of material goods never
before available to the majority of the population. Modernization, on the other hand, is a long process
with the end result being a scientific attitude of mind.
An analysis of the modernization process has been divided into three aspects by James O’ Connell
(1965: 554): (i) inventive outlook, that is, the scientific spirit for a continuing, systematic and inventive
search for knowledge pertaining to the cause and effect of the phenomenon, (ii) invention of new tools
and techniques, that is, search for varied inquiry methods that facilitate research and finding out new
machines that make a different pattern of life necessary. The conviction of explanation given by the
modern science makes religious rituals in-nocuous and unnecessary, and (iii) flexibility of social structures
and continuing identity, that is, a willingness to accept continuous change on the plane of both individual
and social structures together with a capacity to preserve individual and social identity. For example,
in the polygynous traditional society, the marital customs were centered around the older men, but
with the introduction of the wage system and labour mobility, the economic achievement of the
younger men enabled them to compete for wives.
The changes that occur with the transition from a traditional to a modern society, according to James
O’ Conell (1965: 549) are:
• Economic growth increases and it becomes self-sustaining.
• Occupations become more skilled and specialized.
• Number of people engaged in primary occupations reduces while that of people engaged in
secondary and tertiary occupations increases.
• Age-old agricultural implements and methods give way to use of tractors, fertilizers, etc.
• Barter system is replaced by the money system.
• An interdependence comes into being between communities that previously were separated
from and independent of one another.
• The process of urbanization increases.
• Ascriptive status gives way to achieved status.
• Equality gradually replaces hierarchy.
• With better medical care and improved health, the longevity of life or survival rate increases.
• Geographical distances are shortened with the use of new methods of transport and
communication.
• Hereditary leadership gives way to elected leadership.
In this connection, it is necessary to understand the terms tradition, traditionalism, and traditional society.
‘Tradition’ refers to the beliefs and practices handed down from the past. ‘Traditionalism’ is the
psychic attitude that glorifies past beliefs and practices as immutable (which cannot be changed). It is
antithetical to change and development. Traditionalists see tradition as static. They urge that the
traditional values and practices have to be adopted and preserved because they were found useful in
the past. They are thus hostile to innovations that violate previous practices.
According to Edward Shils Is (“Tradition and Liberty” in Ethics, 1965: 160-161), tradition or
traditionalistically-oriented action is a “self-conscious deliberate affirmation of traditional norms, in
full awareness of their traditional nature.” The traditional norms derive their merit from a sacred
origin. If traditional norms are believed related to a sacred object in the past, these norms will be
more opposed to alteration than if the norms were not grounded on some sacred object.
The traditionally transmitted norms are accepted because (i) their non-observance involves sanctions,
(2) they fill the need to have rules in a given situation and thus perform a stabilizing function in
society, (3) they have a sacred orientation, (4) they have been transmitted from the past, and
(5) because of fear and ignorance also, people revere the past and resist change.

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