Social Change and Social Order in Rural and Urban Society — Class 11 Sociology

Change is the only unchanging feature of modern society, yet constant, rapid change is historically very recent, accelerating only in the last few centuries and especially the last hundred years. Social change means alterations in the underlying structures and relationships of society, distinguished from superficial change. Evolutionary change is slow and gradual, made famous by Darwin, while revolutionary change is quick, sudden and total, as in the French and Russian revolutions; change also varies in scope, direction and the visibility of its sources. The main sources of change discussed are the environment (nature, ecology and natural disasters that can transform or destroy societies), technology and the economy (the steam engine, industrialisation, migration and their vast social ripples) and cultural factors. Against change stands social order — the active maintenance and reproduction of social relationships so that society functions smoothly. Order is secured partly through domination, authority and law: domination can be non-confrontational, and authority, defined by Weber as legitimate power, makes people comply without force, supported by sanctions and law. Because the objective conditions of villages and cities differ, social order and social change take different forms in each. Rural society is shaped by land, agriculture and dominant landowning castes, while urban society is marked by the city as a distinctive way of life, dense and impersonal living, urbanisation, migration, slums, gated communities and gentrification. Both rural and urban orders constantly change, and both contain inequality, contestation and resistance.