Modernization (1)

modernization modernization is a general term that social scientists use to describe the way societies change in specific ways I put a little one here because there's another term modernization theory which has a lot of the same characteristics and ideas but it's more specific and it's devoted to an area of globalization and the focus on developing nations there's a lot of overlap here but I won't really be talking about that the number one simply indicates that I may make another video about the other in the future modernization the definition is rather obvious and a little bit useless it simply states that modernization is the the change in a society the process by which a society changes to a more modern society to really understand what that means if you look at these other videos this video modernization is really meant to work together with these other four videos types of society pre-modern modern and postmodern the basic idea in all of these videos in this concept is that there are different kinds of societies that can be classified based on a particular set of characteristics some of the most important characteristics that define a society and more importantly that influenced the experience of a person within that society are these population size living arrangements the division of labour technological development diversity social solidarity and rationality these ideas are explaining a little more depth than some of the other videos we're gonna look at a few of the traits of these different kinds of societies and how they change in the modernization process so we got three columns we got pre-modern society and characteristics modern society in a postmodern society if we start at the top mechanical solidarity there's a video about this but mechanical solidarity just basically says that a pre-modern society is held together because everyone within it is the same the society is held or made solid because people are the same everyone does the same job they have the same beliefs and so on as the society gets larger people tend to become different one from another different jobs develop they do different things there's more different religions and so on and so forth and so as population changes people become more diverse they need to be held together they need to identify as members of a society for different reasons Durkheim argues that it's organic solidarity that holds people together in a modern society there's another video about that but the idea here is that it's interdependence it's the need people have one for another that makes the society what it is and holds it together in a postmodern society solidarity tends to break down people become so different one from another they no longer relate to each other those modern societies are relatively new and social scientists we don't really know what's going to happen to them in the long run we see increased conflicts we see polarization in politics some of these are symptoms and problems associated with post-modernism that we're not sure how to solve I'm not sure what's going to happen in any case back to the pre-modern society the next idea here premotor since societies tend to be collective in their orientation this means that the needs of the many are more important than the needs of the few so it means if you're one person living in a society that is collective in nature you're going to think more about what everyone else needs then what about you then what you need yourself this changes as a society it's larger as it modernizes modern societies are characterized by very strong individualism individual rights freedoms and desires tend to become more important than the needs of the collective whole in postmodern societies this can be some become so dramatic some have called it the cult of the self where we're not only individualistic but we're extremely selfish and narcissistic even meaning that we think primarily about our own needs to the detriment of others pre-modern societies tend to focus on tradition and history they tend to look backwards for reference about what to do and how to think modern societies focus on progress and the future scientific development scientific change there tends to be a forward focus focused culture in postmodern societies there tends to be a bevel it's about both past and the future there's a lack of concern or a lack of hope if you will there's a focus on the present most of all pre-modern societies tend to be dominated by religious truths modern society societies tend to focus more on scientific truths in most modern societies truths become relative and we see this a lot with the idea of fake media or fake news arguments about what it's true in a postmodern society people tend to believe or accept the truths or the ideas that reinforce what they already believe rather than new evidence and new ideas truth and the idea of truth becomes fractured people no longer believe that it's even possible to know the truth pre-modern societies the economy is dominated by usually hunter-gatherer type activities or agriculture as industry and manufacturing developed and it's the economy shifts towards these activities video influences the modernization process postmodern societies are dominated by information and technology things like the internet or news media and the development of technology smartphones for example dominate the postmodern economy right this process so as these things change we can say that a society is modernizing now I will say that modernization usually refers to this change here between pre-modern and modern societies and this change in Western European history in the United States history we really mark from about the 1500s the Renaissance enlightenment this is the time period that really marked a change in the beginning of the shift from this kind of society to this kind and it was that change that influenced the classical sociological theorist sociology really came about because of these changes in society the postmodern shift in my opinion really began after World War two so 1950s 60s and particularly the 70s I think the most important thing this is my personal opinion the most important item that really affected that change was the development of the television and of course eventually the computer and social media has really brought about the postmodern era that information and technology really made this shift and contemporary sociological theorists the first real dramatic theorist since the classical theorists really got their start if you will or began trying to grapple with this shift anyway modernization is simply the process by which a society changes from this kind of a thing into this kind of thing and of course the experience is within of individuals and groups living within societies change as well modernization is caused by changes in the population changes in technology changes in the way people work and an increase in diversity these are the the primary characteristics in my view that mark the modernization process thanks for watching

Channel: Sociological Dictionary

Views: 31,337

Rating: 4.7609563 out of 5

Keywords: pre-modern, modern, post modern, anthropology, modernization, secularization, rationalization, industrialization, renaissance, enlightenment, primitive society, modern society, industrial revolution, specialization, division of labor, modernization theory, modern sensibility, modernism, classic sociological theory

Id: Uc3PMzJ1SPE

Length: 8min 3sec (483 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 31 2017