Sociological Theories of Social Change (Advanced & Contemporary): Part 2

This part covers: Cyclical/Civilisational (Sorokin, Toynbee), Modernisation & Diffusion (Lerner, Rostow, Inkeles–Smith, Ogburn, Rogers), a note on Dependency & World-Systems (detailed separately), Late-modern/Post- perspectives (Beck, Giddens, Bauman, Castells, Harvey, Bourdieu, Foucault, Touraine, Melucci), Feminist & Intersectional (Hartmann, Crenshaw), and Indian anchors (Srinivas, Y. Singh, Béteille, reforms & movements).

1) Cyclical / Civilisational Theories

1.1 Pitirim Sorokin — Cultural Mentality Cycles

• Ideational culture: transcendental truth, ascetic values; low material emphasis.
• Idealistic (mixed): synthesis of spiritual + empirical.
• Sensate culture: empirical, hedonistic, materialist orientation; art/science flourish but moral cohesion can wane.
• Mechanism of change: saturation → cultural fatigue → swing to the opposite pole; long civilisational waves.

1.2 Arnold Toynbee — Challenge–Response

• Societies face challenges (ecological, military, economic); creative minorities craft responses, which masses mimesis (imitate).
• Breakdown occurs when elites become dominant (not creative), losing legitimacy; universal states & churches arise in decline phases.

2) Modernisation & Diffusion

2.1 Lerner, Rostow, Inkeles & Smith — Modernisation

• Lerner: media exposure → empathy/“psychic mobility” → urbanisation, participation.
• Rostow: five stages (traditional → preconditions → take-off → drive to maturity → high mass consumption); growth-centric path.
• Inkeles & Smith: “modern man” syndrome — openness to new ideas, time discipline, efficacy, universalism; education as key.
• Critiques: ethnocentrism, linearity, neglect of power/dependency, environment, and cultural plurality.

2.2 William F. Ogburn — Cultural Lag

• Technological change outpaces social institutions (law, morals), generating lag and strain until norms adjust.

2.3 Everett Rogers — Diffusion of Innovations

• Adopter categories: innovators → early adopters → early majority → late majority → laggards.
• Key variables: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, observability; networks & opinion leaders.

3) Dependency & World-Systems — Covered in a Separate Post (Module 10B)

To be covered fully in Module 10(B): Andre Gunder Frank (metropolis–satellite dependency), Cardoso & Faletto (dependent development), Samir Amin (unequal exchange), Immanuel Wallerstein (core–semi-periphery–periphery world-system).

4) Late-Modern / Post- / Post-Structural Perspectives

4.1 Risk, Reflexivity & Liquid Modernity

• Ulrich Beck (Risk Society): manufactured risks (ecological, technological); reflexive modernisation—institutions forced to re-examine themselves.
• Anthony Giddens (Reflexive Modernity): disembedding (time–space distanciation), re-embedding via expert systems; high-modernity is reflexive, not “post”.
• Zygmunt Bauman (Liquid Modernity): erosion of stable patterns; identities, jobs, ties become fluid—precarity and anxiety rise.

4.2 Networks, Space–Time & Capital

• Manuel Castells (Network Society): informational capitalism; flows, networks, and “space of flows” reshape power and work.
• David Harvey (Time–Space Compression): flexible accumulation; rapid turnover compresses distances and cycles; uneven development.

4.3 Culture, Power & Reproduction

• Pierre Bourdieu: habitus, field, capitals (economic, cultural, social, symbolic) reproduce inequality yet allow strategic change via capital conversion.
• Michel Foucault: power/knowledge; disciplinary and biopower reshape bodies, populations; change via micro-practices, discourse.
• Alain Touraine & Alberto Melucci: social movements as historic action and collective identity production—post-materialist, cultural conflicts.

5) Feminist & Intersectional Perspectives

• Heidi Hartmann: capitalism + patriarchy = “dual systems” shaping labour, family, and the state; change requires both class and gender transformations.
• Kimberlé Crenshaw: intersectionality — race/caste/gender/class interlock; policies must address overlapping disadvantages.

6) Indian Anchors — Endogenous Pathways of Change

• M. N. Srinivas: Sanskritisation, Westernisation; endogenous cultural mobility vs institutional/colonial influences.
• Yogendra Singh: Modernisation of Indian tradition — selective adaptation; synthesis of tradition and modernity.
• André Béteille: inequality, class–status interplay; how constitutionalism, markets, and democracy reshape hierarchies.
• Agents: state reforms (rights, reservations, welfare), markets (growth, migration), civil society (movements, NGOs), education & media, judiciary (PILs).

UPSC Answer Toolkit — Part 2

• Frame your lens first: cyclical (Sorokin/Toynbee), modernisation/diffusion (Lerner–Rostow–Rogers), late-modern/post- (Beck–Giddens–Bauman–Castells–Harvey), reproduction/change (Bourdieu/Foucault), feminist/intersectional (Hartmann/Crenshaw), Indian anchors (Srinivas/Y. Singh/Béteille).
• Two-layer write-up: (i) driver (values, technology, risk, networks, power), (ii) mechanism (diffusion, reflexivity, capital conversion, discourse, identity work).
• Contrast & combine: modernisation vs dependency (point to separate 10B), diffusion vs structure (Rogers × Bourdieu), risk vs capability (Beck × Sen if needed).
• Indianise: tradition–modernity synthesis; constitutional remedies; movements; education/media; urbanisation & migration.
• Visual hooks: Sorokin’s oscillation; Ogburn’s lag stack; Rogers adoption curve; Beck→Giddens→Bauman chain; Castells networks; Indian change spine.

Reminder: Dependency & World-Systems (Frank, Cardoso–Faletto, Amin, Wallerstein) will be covered in detail in **Module 10(B)** as a separate post.

Thinkers in this part: Sorokin, Toynbee, Lerner, Rostow, Inkeles & Smith, Ogburn, Rogers, Beck, Giddens, Bauman, Castells, Harvey, Bourdieu, Foucault, Touraine, Melucci, Hartmann, Crenshaw, plus Indian anchors: M. N. Srinivas, Yogendra Singh, André Béteille.