Social Change And Social Order In Rural And Urban Society

Yes, it is true that the rapid social change is a new concept or a new phenomenon in human history. The reasons behind stating it a new phenomenon are –

a) The evidences from past show that human beings are in existence from 5,00,000 years but the civilization started only 6000 years ago; that means it took more than 4,00,000 years to introduce civilization among the human beings.

b) Even after being social socialized the changes at a constant pace started from just last 400 years.

c) The actual acceleration in the pace of changes took place in last 100 years due to advancement in technology and the industrial revolution.

d) If we see the period of previous 50 years, we can say that during first 30 years that change was slow than the pace of change in these last 20 years.

So we can say that the speed of change is increasing with every day, with every decade and the human beings are progressing towards development with every passing day, hour, and minute.

Social change means the change that takes place in the social structure and social system. The other forms of change like political changes, economical changes mayaffect the social life but not as a whole. The social changes include only those big changes with change the fundamental of the society and influence the society intensively and extensively.

Therefore the changes affecting a large section of society are called social changes.

Structural change means the transformation in the structure of the society.It changes the structure of social institutions or the rules governing these institutions.The structural changes are long-term and are permanent in nature. The structural change is the change in the values and beliefs.

Some examples of structural changes are –

• Globalisation

• Digitisation

Ecology and environment have great impact on the society. Environment has a significant influence on the social structure especially in the primitive societies because the human beings were unable to control the environment.

In past the food habits, clothing, livelihood, patterns of social interaction were largely influenced by the climatic conditions of the environment but in modern societies the influence of environment has decreased due to the increase in technological resources.

The destructive changes that are caused by the natural disasters are often irreversible and it can lead to loss of livelihoods of people of the society which is affected by the disaster, like the earthquake in Bhuj, Gujarat.

However, the new discoveries in the field of environment also create new livelihood options for people and bring social change in the society.

The changes brought by technology and economy are listed below –

a) Technology helps us to adapt, control, and resist the various environmental factors that may affect us.

b) When technology is linked with the market institution it can bring social changes at fast pace like industrial revolution.

Few examples of such changes are given below

• Globalisation is beneficial for the economy and multinational corporations but it has a negative impact on indigenous industries.

• Development of textile industry in Britain affected the Handloom industry of India negatively.

• The invention of steam engine and the development of various modes of transport hasbrought the world closer.

Social order is a link among various institutions, traditions, values, and morals that work together to keep the society moving forward.

In society, the beliefs of people are based upon the morals and values of the society. Social order is the standards of belief and behaviours which is required to keep the things stable.

In social science, social order means a systematic arrangement of social structures. Social order is maintained by the people having greatest political, economical, and social resources.

According to Karl Marx, the power is not equally distributed in the society and so there are few elite people who direct social order and the majority follows it.

The social order can be maintained in following two ways –

• By spontaneous consent – It happens when people wish to abide by a set of rules and norms and are ready to give their consent immediately, then social order can be achieved.

• By Compulsion – It happens when people are compelled to follow a set of rules and regulations to maintain social order. It applies stick and carrot rules.

Authority has been defined by Max Weber as legitimate power. It is the socially approved use of power. Social Science defines authority as the legitimate power which one person or a group holds over another. The authorities are not attached to individuals but to a social position or status that they occupy in a social system.

Domination means the exercise of power or influence over someone or something. If a person or an institution or a group is habitual of being in the position of power it is said to be dominant.

Law is the system of rules that a society or government develops in order to deal with various social relationships and other aspects of society. It is a formal body of rules which governs the society and is applicable to all the citizens. There is no discrimination on the basis of any caste, class, etc.

The basic differences between village, town, and city are –

The features of social order in rural areas are –

1. Size: The villages are small in size and so they have more personalized relationships than in urban sector. They usually know all the members of the village and talk to each other.

2. Structure: The social structure in villages are traditional and the institutions like caste, religion and other forms of customs are strong there and the change takes place at a slower pace.

3. Scope of expression: The subordinate section of rural society has a lesser scope of expressing themselves.

4. Population: Villages are small in size and are less populated.

5. Power structure: In villages a strong power structure prevails, there is a clear cut distribution of power and it cannot be changed or avoided by anyone.

Some of the challenges to social order in urban areas are listed below –

1. Management of space because it has high population density with limited space so the problem regarding accommodation and other facilities arise.

2. Inadequate facilities of housing because people migrate from villages to urban areas and the urban areas and not ready for the burden of population in terms of facilities and other means of livelihood.

3. Increasing crime rates.

4. Distance between people, due to which the urban sector lacks cooperation and the distance between places due to which people rely on private transports which results in the traffic problems and environmental issues.