The Changing World

• Social change is the transformation, over time, of the institutions and culture of a society. Three main factors that have consistently influenced social change include; 1. the physical environment2. political organization3. cultural factors.

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Influences on Social Change

The physical environment includes such factors as climate or the availability of communication routes (river, mountain passes). These are important to consider, especially as they affect early economic development, but they should not be overemphasized.

2

Influences on Social Change

• Political organization (especially military power) affects all societies, traditional and modern, with the possible exception of gathering & hunting societies.

3

Influences on Social Change

Cultural factors include religion (which can act as a brake on social change), communication systems (such as the invention of writing), and individual leadership.

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Change in the Modern Period

The modern period - from about the eighteenth century to the present day - has seen an extraordinary acceleration in 1.social change2.the transformations over time of the

institutions3.culture of a society.

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Change in the Modern Period

No single-factor theory can explain social change as a whole. Important factors accounting for social change in the modern era are

1. the expansion of industrial capitalism 2. the impact of science and technology 3. the development of centralized nation-states 4. and the emergence of "rational," or critical,

ways of thought.

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Change in the Modern Period

The most important economic influence on social change is industrial capitalism. The development of science and the secularization of thought have each contributed to the critical and innovative character of the modern outlook.

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Current Change & Future Prospects

Where is social change leading us? 1. Postindustrial society--based on knowledge

& information, & distinguished by an economy made up mostly of service occupations. The person most associated with this theory is Daniel Bell.

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Current Change and Future Prospects

• Postmodernism--the belief that society is no longer governed by history or progress.

• Postmodern society is highly pluralistic & diverse, with no “grand narrative”--overall conceptions of history--guiding its development.

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Current Change and Future Prospects

The risk society (Ulrich Beck) Globalization loosens the “social codes.”Factors contributing to globalization include; 1. explosion in global communications 2. the integration of the world economy.

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Current Change and Future Prospects

The causes of increasing globalization:1. Political changes 2. Information flows 3. The role of transnational corporations

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Current Change and Future Prospects

The “skeptics,” hyperglobalizers, and transformationalists are three schools of globalization (Held et al., 1999).Skeptics argue that the idea of globalization is overrated. They believe that the present levels of economic interdependence are not unprecedented.

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Chapter 9Global Inequality

“A world where some live in comfort and plenty, while half of the human race lives on less than $2 a day, is

neither just, nor stable.” — President Bush

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Quotes• “Almost half the world’s population lives on less than

two dollars a day, yet even this statistic fails to capture the humiliation, powerlessness and brutal hardship that is the daily lot of the world’s poor.” Koffi Anan, UN Secretary General

• “Today, across the world, 1.3 billion people live on less than one dollar a day; 3 billion live on under two dollars a day; 1.3 billion have no access to clean water; 3 billion have no access to sanitation; 2 billion have no access to electricity.” James Wolfenson, The Other Crisis, World Bank, October 1998

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Global Inequality: Differences between Countries

• Global Inequality – The systematic differences in wealth and power that exist between countries

• Indicators of Economic Development – – GDP – A country’s yearly output of goods and

services per person– Three economic classes as determined by the

World Bank -- low, middle, and high. (macro national level)

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• High Income Countries– GDP of $9,266 per person– Generally those first to industrialize– Account for only 15% of the world’s population– Lay claim to 79% of the world’s annual output of

wealth

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Global Inequality: Differences between Countries

Global Inequality: Differences between Countries

• Middle-Income Countries– GDP of $756 - $9,265 per person– Most began to industrialize late in the 20th

century.– Includes 45% of the world’s population– Only accounts for 18% of the annual output of

wealth

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Global Inequality: Differences between Countries

• Low Income Countries– GDP under $755 per person– Mostly agricultural economies that have only

recently began to industrialize– Accounts for 40% of the world’s population– Produces only 3% of the annual output of wealth

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Global Inequality: Differences between Countries

• The Rich get Richer, the Poor get Poorer– From 1988 to 1999, average GDP rose 28% in

low-income countries and 51% in high-income countries, widening the gap.

– Average person in high-income country earned $25,730, compared to $410 in a low-income country.

– 1.5 Billion People, ¼ of the world’s population lives in poverty.

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Global Inequality: Why it Matters to You

• Rapid globalization of capitalist economy could produce:– Positive Outlook

• Large, global corporations with workers everywhere competing at a global wage

• Leveling out of average income– Durkhiem

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Global Inequality

• Negative Outlook– Polarization between those who benefit from

global economy and those who don’t– Could fuel conflict between ethnic groups

and even nations• Marx• Postcolonialism studies• Critical Race studies

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Global Inequality: Why it Matters to You

• The Technology Gap– Gap continues to widen between technologically

enabled countries and those without technology

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• What can be done ?– Cost of eradicating lethal infectious disease in poor

countries would be only $10 billion a year -- less than $15 from each person living in a high-income country.

– The Singer Solution to World Poverty By PETER SINGER

15% of incomeBy his calculation, $200 in donations would help a sickly 2-

year-old transform into a healthy 6-year-old — offering safe passage through childhood's most dangerous years.

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Global Inequality: Why it Matters to You

Global Inequality: Why it Matters to You

• Increased funding from high-income countries for scientific and technological research– World Bank provides $60 million per year to

poor countries for research; major pharmaceutical company Merck spends $2.1 billion alone.

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CHAPTER 20: GLOBALIZATION IN A CHANGING WORLD

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Quiz

In the globalization debate, which position argues that while there is more contact among countries than ever before, this contact is not sufficiently integrated to represent a truly global economy?a. skepticsb. transformationalistsc. hyperglobalizersd. post-modernists

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Quiz

According to hyperglobalizers, which one of the following statements is true?

a.Internationalization depends on government acquiescence and support.

b. Globalization is making national politics more powerful.

c. Globalization means the end of the nation-state.d. Globalization has no impact on how nation-states or

governments operate.