Social Change
- Social change: basic concepts
Social change can be defined as the transformations of the living conditions of human groups, of their structure and of their value system. Within the processes of social change, several concepts must be distinguished: development, progress, social evolution and revolution.
change-in-the-technology-of-communicationsWhat is the subject of the change?
History, humanity, civilizations, societies or social systems, institutions and organizations, groups, relationships or individuals?
- Development: means an increase in the dimension and complexity of a social or economic phenomenon. It is closely linked to a quantitative process. Progress: it is closely linked to a qualitative process. It is an increase in the qualitative wealth of social life, in the improvement of the living conditions of a society. Thus, there could be development and no progress. Social evolution: set of transformations that a society knows over a long period of time. It is associated with slow change. Eg: the evolution of family or work from prehistoric times until today. Revolution:is associated with rapid change. It is the violent and rapid break with the established situation. From the political point of view, it will be a violent break with the current political and social order (eg, the French Revolution). Bloodless revolutions can occur, others can be scientific, technical, religious, etc., when knowledge, innovations and beliefs produce a radical change in the different spaces where it operates (eg, science and the revolution that supposed the theory of relativity).
Technology as a Factor for Change
Among the technological innovations, is computing, supported by communication networks. The one that predicts a radical change in the model of social relations.
Information as a new economic factor
- The information economy:
–T&SI and its high-tech products are the products and symbols of the new economy
- The information economy = digital economy
–Economic Theory of Information:
Information constitutes not only a vehicle with a high market value, due to its real intervention in the mechanisms of distribution and allocation of resources, but also manifests itself as an effective and important element of economic regulation.
The 7 Cyber Trends (according to Chuck Martin)
1. Cyber economy is on the right track: New ways of buying and selling will create a new species of online consumer who will expect faster deliveries, easier transactions and more real information.
2. The online workforce is growing stronger: the Intranet will put more information at the service of employees and create virtual work communities that irreversibly alter the dynamics of the work environment for both individuals and the company.
3. The Open Book Corporation Emerges : The boundaries between the corporation and the outside world, including suppliers and consumers, will disappear. Power will pass from the hands of the suppliers of products, information and services to the recipients of said products, information and services.
4. Products become commodities like comfort: New dynamics of interaction will definitely change the way in which the value of products is established, which will mean something even more important: a change towards flexible price in real time, as a value that is set moment to moment.
5. The customer becomes data: The new technologies used to analyze and predict consumer behavior in real time will require companies to organize themselves differently to move towards a new version of Customer-oriented Network.
6. Communities of experience emerge: People will take advantage of instant communications, adding knowledge in real time. Collective experience will play a critical role in information gathering and decision making.
7. LEARNING takes place in real time, all the time: New networking will create a new generation of empowered and independent learners who will require self-motivation and information sharing to be successful.
- Social Implications of S&T Do computers make our lives better? Are they improving or eroding the values that we consider clearer? Are they preventing or facilitating democracy? Are they increasing security or increasing risks? Are they making some people “better” at the expense of others? Do humans lose control as computers assume decision-making?
