SOC Readings Week of 11

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University of Toronto *

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SOC100

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Sociology

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Jan 9, 2024

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TEXTBOOK – CHAPTER 14: Social Change: Technology, the Environment, and Social Movements What is Social Change? - Social change refers to the alteration of social structures and cultures - Sociological theorists have characterized large-scale social change in three main ways o Technology-driven progress o A series of responses to environmental challenges o The product of large-scale conflict Technology: Saviour or Frankenstein? - Technology is the practical application of scientific principles (to the improvement of human life) o Seemed to be driving humanity toward progress, picking up speed as time went on o The bombing of Hiroshima divided humanity into two periods, pre-Hiroshima being the era of naïve optimism - Technology’s detailed workings rested on scientific principles that were mysterious to the general public o People started to have a pessimistic view on technology post-Hiroshima - The term normal accident is a term coined by Charles Perrow, meaning an accident that occurs inevitably although unpredictably because of the complexity of modern technologies o A large computer program contains thousands of conditional statements, and when in use, the program activates many billions of combinations of conditional statements o As a result, complex programs cannot be tested for all possible eventualities, so when rare combinations of conditions occur, they may have unforeseen consequences that are usually minor, occasionally amusing, sometimes expensive, and too often dangerous - Ulrich Beck coined the term risk society , meaning a society in which technology distributes environmental dangers among all categories of the population, although to varying degrees o Danger does not result from technological accidents alone: increased risk is due to mounting environmental threats that are more widespread, chronic, and ambiguous than technological accidents, and therefore more stressful o New and frightening terms, such as climate change, global warming, acid rain, ozone depletion, endangered species, have entered our vocabulary - To many people, technology seems to be spinning out of control o From this POV, it enables the production of more goods/services, but at the cost of air, water, sunlight, plant/animal diversity, and normal weather patterns - These raise two questions: o Is technology the great driving force of social change? o If some people control technology, then exactly who they are they? Technology and People Cause Social Change

- Technological determinism is the belief that technology is the main factor shaping human society o Technology is definitely a part of this, but is it the main one? - Technologies do not become engines of economic growth until social conditions allow them to do so - Scientific discoveries, once adopted on a wide scale, often transform societies, but they are turned into useful technologies only when society needs it How High Tech Became Big Tech - Technological advantages often result in big profits for businesses and military superiority for countries - In the 19 th century, it was inexpensive to gain technological advantages, taking only modest capital investment, a little knowledge about the best way to organize work, and some highly trained workers o Mass car production, sending people to outer space - It was clear by the last quarter of the 19th century that turning scientific principles into technological innovations was going to require not just genius, but also substantial resources, especially money and organization o E.g. the photograph and the lightbulb - As the 20th century progressed more money seemed to be spent on capital investment and on technology - Economic lures, increasingly provided by the military and big corporations, have generated moral and political qualms among some researchers Global Warming - Global warming Is the gradual worldwide increase in average surface temperatures o All aspects of the environment are on the rise, including surface air temperature, water evaporation, more rainfall, etc. The Social Construction of Environmental Problems - Environmental problems do not become social issues spontaneously o Before they can enter public consciousness, scientists must discover them and promote them - The controversy over global warming is a good example of how people create and contest definitions of environmental problems o People question the reliability and legitimacy of the sources and if it actually requires human intervention - In the 80s, “bad scientific reporting, bad economics, and bad judgment” is how the Fraser Institute summarized the analysis of those who regarded global warming as a serious issue requiring immediate action o Because of this statement, public concern about global warming began to falter, even though the evidence toward it was substantial, dangerous, and caused by human activity The Social Distribution of Risk - Whenever disaster strikes, economically and politically disadvantage people almost always suffer most, as their circumstances render them the most vulnerable

- Environmental racism is the tendency to heap environmental dangers on the disadvantage, and especially disadvantaged racial minorities The Canadian Case - Environmental racism is evident in Canada o The uranium used to construct the atom bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki came from the Northwest Territories o Both the American and Canadian governments had known about the dangers of exposure to uranium, yet they withheld this information from the workers, who were completely unprotected from the ore's deadly radiation o Many workers develop cancer, specifically lung o Broadly similar stories of environmental racism are Legion, for instance, a strong correlation exists between the location of black and indigenous communities, and the placement of toxic waste sites The Less Developed Countries - What is true in Canada is also true for less developed countries, the underprivileged facing more environmental dangers than the privileged - Countries such as Mexico, Brazil, China, and India are industrializing rapidly, putting a massive strain on their natural resources o Because there is a rising demand for these, smog-blanketed megacities continued to sprawl, causing many health issues for those living in them - On average, people in less developed countries are more concerned about the environment than people in rich counties are - However, the developing countries cannot afford much in the way of pollution control, so anti-pollution regulations are lax by North American, western European, and Japanese standards - For the time being, the rich countries do most of the world's environmental damage, as their inhabitants earn and consume much more than the inhabitants of less developed countries consume Market vs. High-Tech Solutions to the Environmental Crisis - Some people endorse the theory that the environmental crisis will resolve itself, believing we already have two weapons that will end it: the market and high technology o Case of oil illustrates how these weapons combine forces. If oil reserves drop or oil is withheld from the market for political reasons, the price of oil will go up. This makes it worthwhile for oil exploration companies to develop new technologies to recover more oil. When they discover more oil and bring it to market, prices fall back to where they were o Some believe that global warming will be dealt with similarly, human inventiveness in the profit motive will combine to create the new technologies we need to survive and prosper - However, three factors suggest that market forces and technological fixes cannot solve environmental problems on their own: 1. Imperfect price signals. The prices of many commodities do not reflect their actual cost to society. In Winnipeg, gasoline costs about $1.02 a litre at the time of this

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