Can We Affect Social Change? Social Sciences Essay

Can We Affect Social Change?
Name
Institution
Can We Affect Social Change?
Introduction
Humanity has come a long way in overcoming both individual and societal differences across the social, cultural, political, and economic constructs to coexist without any form of animosity. Civilization, for instance, brought various changes to the society amidst resistance from the conservative or traditional individuals and entities whose way of life was perceivably threatened by its principles. Despite the valuable input of civilization, humanity remains divided along factors such as the values, beliefs, practices, and cultural orientations that remain distinct to individuals and the societies or organization to which they belong. Identities formed across the outlined factors limit the people’s ability to interact and integrate amongst themselves without any form of indignation. However, human beings have the ability to overcome their social, cultural, economic, and political differences for a peaceful coexistence devoid of problematic social practices. Nevertheless, overcoming differences across the outlined parameters require the development of positive social habits through integration and the ability of human beings to establish common grounds for their distinct values through inclusive conversations. Human beings can effect social change by rising above their ideological differences by forming common grounds on the same and embracing integration as the key to form positive social habits, which form the basis for eradicating problematic social practices.
The people’s integration and interaction across the social, economic, political, and cultural divides existing within the society serve to develop responsible behavior towards one another. The sense of responsibility towards another human being based on the social connections or networks formed among the members of the society thus serve as an effective tool for affecting social change. According to Charles Duhigg’s human beings have the ability of advocating for and affecting change in social practices through both the strong and weak ties of individuals when faced with a particular social problem CITATION Duh12 \l 2057 (Duhigg, 2012). Duhigg writes, “There’s a natural instinct embedded in friendship, a sympathy that makes us willing to fight for someone we like when they are treated unjustly.” The author shares his strong belief in a person’s existing strong ties with close friends and the weaker ties in the network of friends created with a community as being instrumental in impacting the desired change towards a prevailing unjust social practice. Duhigg develops his argument on the unfolding events of Rosa Parks’ arrest in 1955 following her refusal to give up her bus seat for a white passenger at the height of racial segregation in Montgomery, Alabama CITATION Duh12 \l 2057 (Duhigg, 2012).
The interaction and integration of members of a given community forms the basis for the formation of weak and strong ties through which positive social habits develop. The social habits arising from the network of weak and social ties binding the community together can be an effective tool for affecting social change or eradicating t...