Social change
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''Social development redirects here. For the aspect of [[human biological development]], see [[psychosocial development]]''
'''Social change''' (that is not quite an equivalent of '''Social [[development]]''') is a general term which refers to:
* change in the [[nature (society)|nature]], the social institutions, the social behaviour or the [[social relations]] of a [[society]], community of people, or other [[social structure]]s.
* any event or action that affects a group of individuals that have shared values or characteristics.
* acts of [[advocacy]] for the [[cause]] of changing [[society]] in a normative way (subjective).
The term is used in the study of [[history]], [[economies]], and [[politics]], and includes topics such as the success or failure of different political systems, [[globalization]], [[democratization]], development and [[economic growth]]. The term can encompass concepts as broad as [[revolution]] and [[paradigm shift]], to narrow changes such as a particular cause within small town government. The concept of social change imply measurement of some characteristics of this group of individuals. While the term is usually applied to changes that are beneficial to society, it may result in negative side-effects or consequences that undermine or eliminate existing ways of life that are considered positive.
Social change is a topic in [[sociology]] and [[community practice|social work]] , but also involves [[Political Science|political science]], [[economics]], [[history]], [[anthropology]], and many other [[social science]]s.
Among many forms of creating social change are [[theater for social change]], [[direct action]], [[protest]]ing, [[advocacy]], [[community organizing]], [[community practice]], [[revolution]], and [[political activism]].
==Theories of social change==
Some social change is almost always occurring, but many different theories have attempted to explain significant social changes in history.
These theories include (but are not limited to):
# the idea of decline or degeneration, or, in religious terms, the fall from an original state of grace, connected with [[theology]];
# the idea of cyclical change, a pattern of subsequent and recurring phases of growth and decline, and the [[social cycle]]s;
# the idea of continuous [[social progress]];
# Marx's [[historical materialism]];
# [[Evolution]]ary theories (how one social form evolves into another), including [[social Darwinism]];
# Theories of [[sociobiology]]
==See also==
* [[List of publications in sociology#Social change|Important publications in social change]]
* [[Community development]]
* [[Community practice]]
* [[Culture change]]
* [[Generative actor]]
* [[Historical institutionalism]]
* [[Social]]
* [[Decline|Social decline]]
* [[Social development theory]]
* [[Social disintegration]]
* [[Social innovation]]
* [[Social movement]]
* [[Social relations]]
* [[Social work]]
* [[Sociocultural evolution]]
* [[Societal collapse]]
* [[Union Organizer]]
==References==
Gene Shackman, Ya-Lin Liu and Xun Wang. Measuring quality of life using free and public domain data. Social Research Update, Issue 47, Autumn, 2005. Available at http://sru.soc.surrey.ac.uk/
==External links==
[[Category:Social change| ]]
[[Category:Sociology]]
[[Category:Social movements]]
[[Category:Social issues]]
[[ar:تغير اجتماعي]]
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[[de:Sozialer Wandel]]
[[es:Cambio social]]
[[fa:دگرگونی اجتماعی]]
[[it:Sviluppo sociale]]
[[nl:Sociale verandering]]
[[ja:社会変動論]]
[[pl:Zmiana społeczna]]
[[zh:社会变迁]]