Sociology

Sociology Study Guide

• The World-SystemModel: This theory explains social change as the handiwork of a group of core nations within the world system. The three types of countries that exist in this model include: o Core countries: those with a powerful economy and military who are highly industrialized.  These countries manufacture products from raw materials that are supplied by peripheral countries. o Peripheral countries: those with a weak economy and military who depend on the exportationof their raw materials to the core countries.  These countries are forced to follow the economic structure of the core countrieswhich keeps peripheral countries poor and weak. o Semiperiphery countries: those that are between peripheral and core because they are moving toward industrialization. Sources Cultural Influences: A society’s culture affects its processes. A subtle shift in culture can echo into the society as a whole and reverberate into social change. There are three cultural sources of social change: • Discovery: A new perception of an aspect of an already-known reality. When this new knowledge is acted on, it can induce social change. • Invention: A combination of existing and new knowledge to create something new. All inventions are dependent on past knowledge. Inventions can change society drastically. • Cultural diffusion: the spread of cultural elements from one society to another through trade, travel, migration, conquest, etc. These newly imported elements can cause changes inthoughts and processes and lead to social change. Population: Significant increases and decreases in population (especially over a relatively short time period) will impact, and possibly even disrupt, a society’s systems. On the other hand, a population that grows too slowcould face extinction. In today’s world, overpopulation is the greatest population threat. (See the previous chapter for a review of that term.) Social change occurs as the social structure and systems attempt to meet the needs of the increased or decreased population. Technology: As a major source of social change, technology is the practical application of knowledge (scientific or otherwise). Most technological innovations are derived from existing knowledge and technology. More advanced societies will produce technological change at a faster rate, and thus, social change will be ata faster rate. Technological determinism is the idea that available technology determines asociety’s culture, social structure, and history. This may be true in many societies, if not all. Once technology is used and society becomes used to its advantages, it is easily and quickly adopted. Another aspect of technological influence is cultural lag, the delay that exists between a technological development and the cultivation of an adequate cultural understanding and interaction with it.

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