CHANGE IN SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

Chapter # 6

How does new technology change people’s lives & their society in social institutions?

What changes are occurring in the institutions of work, policing, & prisons?

Anthropologists believe that hunting & gathering societies were close to being classless societies (no income differences among people)

Why might this be so?

Anthropologists speculate that the shift to income differences among people really began with the development of agriculture

How can this be explained?

Social Revolutions

Human societies have experienced several major transformations to their ways of life as a result of new inventions being introduced

Agricultural Revolution

The first time that technology played such a pivotal role was in the agricultural revolution that occurred about 5000 years ago in various locations around the world

The invention of the plough enabled humans to move from foraging to farming (domestication of plants & animals)

Extended families, which were the only social institution of these foraging bands, moved into small agricultural villages

As the populations increased in the rich river valleys (the Nile, Yangtze, Indus), cities & states were formed

As these cities grew in size and complexity, these societies required new social institutions to enable them to function smoothly: government, military, law, religion

Still, the extended family remained the centre of people’s lives, as they worked together on the land, socialized children & cared for the health of family members

How did the introduction of the plough change the way people obtained food?

How would this affect their society?

Preindustrial Britain

Most people lived in or near small villages that were often composed of related families, or kinship groups

Agricultural work alternated between periods of intense activity at planting & harvest times, and long periods of slower, routine work such as tending animals, gathering fuel, preparing meals

Local craftspeople produced simple furniture & tools needed by villagers

Other villagers were organized by merchants to work at home weaving wool cloth that was sold internationally (cottage industry)

Life was slow to change, most people looked toward the past for guidance, & formal education was minimal

Horse drawn water pumpOx driven grist mill

Industrial Revolution

The second social revolution occurred about 200 years ago when the steam engine helped to change society from an agricultural basis to an industrial one

This began first in Britain where the steam engine was invented

DSBN Industrial Revolution streaming (11 min)

Industrialization

Many farmers became factory workers as fewer workers were needed on the farm

There was a significant movement of people into the cities to work in the new factories

Old kinship ties were severed as families uprooted themselves

The factories, often textile mills, employed men, women & children

Often they found themselves performing 1 routine, mechanical task repeatedly

Division of labour occurred as owners demanded discipline & obedience from their employees, often enforced by physical punishment

The factories became efficient & profitable

Industrial workers were paid wages according to a predetermined pay scale (not much left over after workers had paid for their food, clothing & lodging)

Often lodging was only a couple of rooms in huge tenements that were built around the factories

Workers worked 10-12 hours per day, 6 days/week

Layoffs & unemployment were common

Families were the first social institution affected by industrialization

How?

Family members no longer worked together as they once had (farming or earning a livelihood)

Work in factories, mills, or mines became a distinct institution with its own status levels, roles & expectations that became separated from family life

The kinship ties of the agricultural village were replaced by more impersonal relationships among bosses, co-workers, & neighbours

Formation of New Institutions

As thousands of workers crowded into the poor working-class sections of the city, the need for efficient system of policing became evident

1829 – the first permanent police force was established in London to control the rising crime rate

As urban conditions deteriorated, the need for public health facilities grew, & hospitals were established

As people began to speak out against child labour, schools were established

So, these new social institutions (police, health & education) were direct responses to the perceived needs of the times

The Influence of Technology

3 Types of Technology

1. Primitive Technology Natural things that people have adapted

for use to make such items as bows & arrows, spears, clubs, hoes & ploughs pulled by draft animals

2. Industrial Technology Machines such as the steam engine &

electrical- and fuel-powered motors to run machinery

3. Post-industrial or Informational Technology

Machines that use a micro-chip or computer to retrieve, store, & work with information

A new technology has the power to radically change a society & its social institutions in 3 ways:

1. It displaces an existing technology i.e. steam engines replaced water power Other examples?

2. It creates new social organizations i.e. – harnessing steam power resulted in

the creation of large factories because it was more efficient to bring a group of people together to work

i.e. – the creation of day-care facilities for children as both mothers & fathers began to go out to work

3. It creates new values & social relationships

Industrial work required workers to be on time, work to the clock & to predetermined schedules, & obey managers & supervisors (requirements that were not part of agricultural life)

Punctuality & obedience are highly prized values in industrial societies

The IBM Corporation made one of the worst and most famous predictions in history when, in 1943, it forecast that the total world demand for computers would be five! That’s it – just 5 computers would be all that would sell.

Ooops!

The Information Revolution

The third great social revolution! In the mid-twentieth century, Daniel Bell

noticed that the numbers of people working in industries associated with the Industrial Age, such as manufacturing & natural resource extraction, was decreasing

The numbers of people working in the service industries was increasing (doctors, accountants, finance, education, social work, communication, entertainment – occupations dealing with other people)

Alienation

Karl Marx believed that workers in the Industrial Revolution did not like their jobs

‘alienation’ is a lack of job satisfaction resulting from little or no control over working conditions & little social interaction

Alienation is caused by: The worker has no power to control working

conditions or management decisions The worker feels isolated from co-workers &

has difficulty maintaining friendships The workers feels that his/her potential is not

being utilized on the job The worker feels he/she is treated as an

employee, not as a person The work is, meaningless, repetitive, or

boring

Marx believed that alienation would persist as long as business owners or capitalists owned factories & tools used to manufacture the goods that brought them so much profit

Although Marx also predicted a world wide revolution as workers revolted, his ideas about alienation are still supported

Let’s Talk …

Do you think that most people like their work?

Do you expect to work at a job you enjoy?

Are you going to want to have a job that you enjoy that may not pay well OR a job that pays well that you may not like?

You tube – What if money didn’t matter?

According to Marx, why did workers become alienated from their work when they moved from agricultural work to industrial jobs?

Do you think that workers continue to be alienated from their work in the Information Age? Why or why not?

A futurist named Frank Ogden states, “I think we’re going to split into two species. Instead of the haves and have-nots, it will be knows and know-nots.”

What does Ogden mean by haves and have-nots, and knows and know-nots?

What demands are made on people if they want to stay in the know group?

Not all jobs in the In formation Age require high-tech knowledge. Which ones do not?

Is formal education as necessary in an industrial economy as it is in a post-industrial or information economy? Why/why not?

Do you think that society values school & education more today than in the past because of the growth of the information economy?