Sources of change

There are several causes of social change. They include changes in:

• Size and density of population

• Changes in modes of production/technology

• Social conflicts

• Changes in physical environment

• Religious conversions or growth of new belief systems

• Economic development

• Social movements

All the above factors are covered under three models: evolutionary, diffusionist and conflict. Evolutionists believe that like biological organisms society too evolves from simple to complex stage, and they explained all the changes as part of this evolutionary process. Diffusionists give more importance to culture contact and diffusion of ideas from one (usually the advanced group) to others (the common people). Conflict theorists argue that all societies have some in-built contradictions and these contradictions are the real source of change. All three models have been used successfully in different contexts. While the structural functional sociologists accord greater importance to evolution or growth through self-sustaining process, the Marxists sociologists accord more importance to class conflicts. Diffusionists claim that society changes when it comes in contact with another society and starts borrowing certain traits from the other. According to some sociologists lag between changes in material and non-material cultures can often be a source of crisis in society. They say that material culture advances much faster than the non-material culture; ideas and beliefs are more resistant to change than adoption of new material artifacts.