Review of “Making Social Change: Engaging a Desire for Social Change” Chapter 9

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One should note that Chapter 9 explains some concepts and ideas about the future and progress of society and the state as a whole. Garth Morgan Massey in his book claim, that most modern people are confident in their abilities to control situations and change events and phenomena for the better (p.321). However, only the power of reason harnessed to the inquiry can change persons’ “disadvantage” in the best light (p. 321). Thus, the writer calls this aspect a kind of progress and lists several essential concepts regarding this phenomenon.

First of all, he states that different people, groups, and societies may have other thoughts, ideas, and beliefs about progress. Some see such improvements in more global events, and some do not expect drastic changes at all but want to live “well.” Further, as evidence to these words, Massey attaches the thoughts and ideas of some famous personalities. Hence, according to David Harvey, people strive to accumulate and increase material goods and abundance to improve life (p.321-322). Supporters of postmodernism reflect on these issues and assure that the contemporary world is the self-referential world, and modern times is a “tangle of myths.” Especially in the age of consumerism, people tend to accumulate in a flow of multiple events, but they are not as happy as they would like.

Lester B. Brown claims that a modern world is a mess; previous experience dictates further human actions, such as future changes in climate, population, amount of water, product prices, and states (p. 322-323). Additionally, technologies “absorb” a person’s soul, depriving it of authentic, natural human qualities. Tim Jackson believes that one can achieve benefits without economic and financial growth because many other elements are necessary for humankind (p. 323). Moreover, some famous writers see dystopia only at the point of returning to the remnants and legacy of the past and in unity with nature (p. 323).

Secondly, the author expresses the following concepts regarding the future of humanity. By their character and essence, people strive to learn as much as possible about themselves and others, about the environment and the future (p. 324). As a rule, the probability of assessing the future is high if we evaluate the actual, objective factors and prerequisites. For example, George Orwell could “look into” the world of the future in the book “1984” or Herman Kahn in the book “The Year 2000” (p. 325). They were right because they predicted the moments such as high technology, control, instant data transfer, and more. Massey also agrees with the statements of these creative personalities and is sure that a modern man has so overloaded with information that only a tiny proportion of them are beneficial and essential (p. 325). Even in the files of the government of some countries and some large companies, such a vast amount of data is stored that it seems very real to construct a picture of future events (p. 325).

Thirdly, the writer states that progress and social change are a natural process and the course of things, influenced by globalization and trends in corporate behavior and thinking (p. 326-329). Moreover, the source of social change does not matter much since the human factor is one of the most basic and vital (p. 327-328). Moreover, teachers also influence changes, and their work is significant for the development of the new generations (p. 331). For example, many other nongovernmental organizations help younger people develop skills and abilities that influence problem-solving, such as Teach for America or AmeriCorps (p. 331). Changes and shifts are a necessary process that the Government and the people should work on together, considering each party’s voice. Social change activity implies responsibility for decisions, and even the slightest action, could entail inevitable consequences. However, ethical and moral concepts should also not be neglected in this regard (p. 333-334). No changes take place without human participation, and everyone can make a valuable contribution to the future and progress development (p. 338).

Reference

Massey, G.M. (2015). Chapter 9. Making social change: Actively engaging a desire for social change. In G.M. Massey (Ed.), Ways of social change: Making sense of modern times (2^nd ed.) (pp. 320-338). SAGE Publications.

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