Table of Contents
Definition of Social Change
(noun) Alterations which occur within a society to its culture and institutions over time.
Examples of Social Change
- automation
- cancer clusters
- cohort effect
- crime rate shifts
- discoveries
- environmental disasters
- food scarcity
- globalization
- innovations
- McDonaldization
- mobility
- modernization
- redistribution of wealth
- social movements
- technological shifts
Social Change Pronunciation
Syllabification: so·cial change
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /sOH-shuhl chAYnj/
- British English – /sOH-shuhl chAYnj/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈsoʊʃəl ʧeɪnʤ/
- British English – /ˈsəʊʃəl ʧeɪnʤ/
Usage Note
- Plural: social changes
Additional Information
- Word origin of “social” and “change” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Carson, Rachel, Lois Darling, and Louis Darling. 1962. Silent Spring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
- Gibbs, Lois Marie, and Murray Levine. 1982. Love Canal: My Story. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
- Noble, Trevor. 2000. Social Theory and Social Change. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
- Reed, Jennifer. 2002. Love Canal. Philadelphia: Chelsea House.
- Sanderson, Stephen K. 2010. Revolutions: A Worldwide Introduction to Political and Social Change. 2nd ed. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.
- Schelkle, Waltraud, and Elwert Kohli, eds. 2000. Paradigms of Social Change: Modernization, Development, Transformation, Evolution. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag.
- Spengler, Oswald. 1928. The Decline of the West. New York: A. A. Knopf.
- Vago, Steven. 2004. Social Change. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Related Terms
- alternative movement
- new social movement theory
- prognostic framing
- reform movement
- religious movement
- resistance movement
- resource mobilization theory
- social action
- social movement
- technology
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Cite the Definition of Social Change
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “social change.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved September 17, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/social-change/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
social change. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/social-change/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “social change.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed September 17, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/social-change/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“social change.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 17 Sep. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/social-change/>.