In
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...
, societal transformation refers to “a deep and sustained, nonlinear systemic change” in a
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
. Transformational changes can occur within a particular system, such as a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
, a transport or energy system. Societal transformations can also refer to changes of an entire
culture
Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
or
civilization
A civilization (or civilisation) is any complex society characterized by the development of a state, social stratification, urbanization, and symbolic systems of communication beyond natural spoken language (namely, a writing system).
Ci ...
. Such transformations often include not only social changes but cultural,
technological
Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...
,
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
, and
economic
An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...
, as well as
environmental
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
. Transformations can be seen as occurring over several centuries, such as the
Neolithic Revolution
The Neolithic Revolution, or the (First) Agricultural Revolution, was the wide-scale transition of many human cultures during the Neolithic period from a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and settlement, making an incre ...
or at a rapid pace, such as the rapid expansion of megacities in China.
Whereas
social transformation
In sociology, social transformation is a somewhat ambiguous term that has two broad definitions.
One definition of social transformation is the process by which an individual ''alters'' the socially ascribed social status of their parents into a ...
is typically used within sociology to characterize the process of change either in an individual’s ascribed
social status
Social status is the level of social value a person is considered to possess. More specifically, it refers to the relative level of respect, honour, assumed competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in a society. Stat ...
, or in
social structure
In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally rel ...
s, such as institutional relationships,
habit
A habit (or wont as a humorous and formal term) is a routine of behavior that is repeated regularly and tends to occur subconsciously. s,
norm
Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envi ...
s, and
value
Value or values may refer to:
Ethics and social
* Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them
** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...
s, societal transformation refers to a wider set of societal structural changes.
The concept of societal transformations have for some time been used in academic disciplines such as
political economy
Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...
,
development economics
Development economics is a branch of economics which deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural ...
,
history
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...
or
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
. Since 2010, the concept has been increasingly used in policy-making, research and media to point out that small adjustments of present habits, technologies and policies does not suffice to meet the environmental, climate and sustainable development goals. The Decision of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
2030 Agenda outlining the
Sustainable Development Goals
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked objectives designed to serve as a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future".United Nations (2017) R ...
bears the heading “transforming our world”. The special report on
global warming
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
of 1.5 °C by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is an intergovernmental body of the United Nations. Its job is to advance scientific knowledge about climate change caused by human activities. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) a ...
(IPCC) states that curbing global warming to 1.5 °C compared to preindustrial levels “would require transformative systemic change, integrated with sustainable development”. Similarly, the 2019 global assessment report of the
(IPBES) concludes that transformative changes in society are crucial for nature protection. The
European Green Deal, proposed by the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
, see deeply transformative policies to restructure the EU's economy as fundamental for its vision of a healthier, greener and more prosperous Europe.
Further reading
*
Björn-Ola Linnér and Victoria Wibeck (2019). ''Sustainability Transformations: Agents and Drivers across Societies''. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press
* Ian Scoones,
Melissa Leach
Melissa Leach, (born 5 January 1965) is a British geographer and social anthropologist. She studies sustainability and development concerns in policy-making and has a focus on the politics of science and technology of Africa. As of 2017 she wa ...
, Peter Newell, eds. (2015). ''The Politics of Green Transformations''. London: Routledge.
* Robin Leichenko and Karen O’Brien (2019). ''Climate and Society: Transforming the Futur''e. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
References
{{Reflist
See also
*
Social change
Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations.
Definition
Social change may not refer to the notion of social progress or sociocult ...
*
Social transformation
In sociology, social transformation is a somewhat ambiguous term that has two broad definitions.
One definition of social transformation is the process by which an individual ''alters'' the socially ascribed social status of their parents into a ...
*
Transformation of the Western Roman Empire
Sociological terminology