Arthur H. Niehoff - Casebook of Social Change in Developing Areas

Arthur H. Niehoff
editor

First published 1966 by Transaction Publishers

Published 2017 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Copyright 1966 by Arthur H. Niehoff.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2008002925

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A casebook of social change in developing areas / [edited by] Arthur H.

Niehoff.

p. cm.

Includes index.

Originally published: Chicago : Aldine Pub. Co., [1966].

ISBN 978-0-202-36217-5

1. Social changeDeveloping countriesCase studies. I. Niehoff, Arthur H., 1921-

HN980.C354 2008
303.44091724dc22

2008002925

ISBN 13: 978-0-202-36217-5 (pbk)

Man is a unique animal. Although he shares most of his physical characteristics with the other warm-blooded mammals, he has developed a different kind of ability to cope with his environment. He has developed a system of symbolic communication called language, a complicated thinking apparatus, an upright posture, and an ability to manipulate his forelimbs with great dexterity. There are some other minor differences separating man from other animals, but these are sufficient to provide an understanding of the basis for mans very singular means of dealing with his universe. As a talking biped, man has developed the ability to learn through time. He inherits vast amounts of knowledge from his predecessors, adds to this storehouse a small amount of new knowledge, and passes it on to his descendants. Basically, this is what we call culture.

Man has progressed from being a primitive hunter and food gatherer in competition with the noncultural animals to a creature who is on the verge of leaving his home base, the planet Earth, in vehicles he has developed by means of his cultural heritage. And though the achievements of great men along the way were necessary for this progressive development, their contributions would have been nothing if the new knowledge they obtained had not been infused into the social groups of which they were a part. And once it was integrated into these groups, it was transferred in each generation by parents instructing their children and teachers instructing their students. Then it became a part of the culture of that group, the total body of knowledge and customs that is passed on from one generation to the next.

It is obvious to anyone who takes a long look at mans cultural history that change is constant. If this were not so, we would not be able to transmit ideas today by means of a cultural complex called printing, nor would we be able to go aloft in aircraft weighing many tons, nor would the majority of the citizens of the more fortunate nations be able to forget about the possibility of not having enough to eat. Even the people of less fortunate nations change, though perhaps less rapidly. The Peruvian Indian herds sheep today whereas his ancient Inca ancestor had only the llama. The more fortunate East Indian villager has a bicycle or a treadle sewing machine today whereas his ancestor of only one or two generations ago went by oxcart or sewed by hand. Thus, we accept for the purpose of this book that one constant among men is that all cultures change, even though such change may take place at different rates.

What is perhaps most obvious to those interested in cultural change is this difference in rate. It can be so varying that some who have not been too familiar with the more exotic cultures of the world have been tempted to say that such people live just as their ancestors did. Such an opinion is not acceptable to a social scientist. Cultures that do not change die out. This has happened with some cultures such as many of the American Indians. However, most cultures of the non-Western world are changing today, even though at a slower rate than their leaders wish and, of course, much slower than the industrialized nations of the Western world. The basic problem is how to induce these cultures to change faster.

We believe that this process of change will become more rapid only when it is understood better than it has been in the past. There are various influences which cause cultures to change, both internal and external. A decrease or increase in population causes a repatterning of customs. Warfare brings new stresses to a culture, as well as new ideas and technical developments. Very significant new inventions, such as the motor vehicle, cause vast changes. And there is the give and take of ideas that takes place without deliberation of either donor or receiver which is called diffusion. Such change is caused by travelers whose devices or ways of doing things impress those who see them so much that they adopt them. One constant source of change is produced by the interaction of people from different cultures. The early Euro-Americans learned from the Indians just because they came in contact with them and saw the advantages of some of their practices, particularly in agriculture. Asians and Africans have been adopting new practices continuously from the Europeans they have been in contact with during the last four hundred years.