Chawdhury 1

Moumita Chawdhury

Mrs. williams

AP Language and Composition

June 12, 2019

Evolution for Social Reformation

By the rule of nature, nothing in this universe is meant to stay constant. The world is

constantly changing as the people around it. This cycle of change has continued on since the

origin of human and society. While many changes that take place may be noticeable, others may

not be. Without realizing, those changes become a crucial part of life and it can be difficult to

exclude them out of life. Since the origin of society, changes took place among groups and those

changes really helped to give birth to new ideas and traditions. The society has evolved

tremendously and it is very difficult to really identify where and how those changes took place

because changes don’t occur in a short period of time. Changes have given the society a new

outlook and characteristics and those can be understood by studying theories developed by

philosophers over the course of centuries, historical movements, and the effect it has on

individuals and society.

Over the course of the century, theorists around the world examined the evolution and

developed their own point of view. Evolutionary theorist really helped to understand the change

from both social and anthropology lens. Some of those well-known theorists include Charles

Darwin, Lewis Henry Morgan, Edward Burnett, Herbert Spencer, and William Graham Sumner.

The theory developed by many theorists had to go through rejection and criticism. From the

1930s to 1950s, works of scientists like Julian Steward, Leslie Whites, and Gordon Childe
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rejuvenated the idea of evolutionism (Humpty 2018). Julian Steward who was a 20th-century

scientist who certainly produced a theory that has long been ignored by scientists. Julian theory

developed around the concept of neoevolutionism. He believed that evolution pattern of different

cultures has a distinct relationship with the natural world. He explained his theory by tracing

back to civilizations like China, Egypt, and Mesopotamia who developed similar ways to

function their region due to their arid environments (Steward 2019). Whites and Chile took built

on to Steward theory by focusing the technological side of the cultural evolution where

efficiency and energy that helps one civilization to advance over others. The efficiency can only

be achieved by advances in technology and resources and through this, a society advances from

traditional beliefs.

Another important contribution to the social evolution was developed by Marvin Harris

who tied in theories of others and created his own called Cultural Materialism. His theory

developed around the concept of scarcity as a result of growth in population which fuels more

resources in order to serve the large population (Britannica 2016). In another, as a population

increase in a society, the competition for resources increases which decline the standard living.

In order to survive, people advance into technology by replacing traditional techniques with

modern ones to increase productivity. This eventually leads to the greater population so the

demand for goods increases as well. This ongoing cycle explains how economic factors have

contributed to evolutionism.

People often assume that the only factor that contributes to evolution is through cultural

diffusion or through human interaction. Those factors are one of the most important ones that

help to understand evolution but contributing factors of evolution can go beyond that. Evolution
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theorists really helped to uncover factors that people may not even consider. Who know that

civilization like Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt that are often mentioned on textbooks for their

evolutionary history is due to their environmental factors. Essentially, evolution theories help

people understand the underlying factors that contributed to evolution.

One of the most popular ways of bringing change can be seen through social movements.

Social movements are always thought to be effective in making a difference. While some

movements did achieve its goal by creating, others just created moderate to no change. One of

the memorable moments that helped to achieve its goal is the Civil Rights movement. Also,

movements like the American Federation of Labor, Women’s rights, etc. Social movements can

emerge from many factors at a certain time period. To help answer such question, people should

consider viewing theorists like Zald and McCarthy who closely analyzed social movements.

Both theorists build onto their theory on the concept of “resource mobilization.” This is a

process where a group of use numerous mechanism to achieve its plan by the resources provided.

(Jenkins 2014). Resource mechanism ensures that resources are received on time and sued at the

right time. According to Aldon Morris, the civil rights movement didn’t just take place because

African Americans wanted to rebel but how Rosa Parks and MLK worked with groups like

NAACP, SCLC, and other unions to organize the movement. This mobilization of resources

available at the time helped achieve success.

The same concept can be seen happening in the book by Khaled Hosseini called A

Thousand splendid sun Mariam who was married to a guy who tortured her for not being able to

become a mother. He later married Layla and ended up behaving the same way due to her past

relationship with a guy. Mariam later revolt by seeing Laila in pain. This wasn’t because she
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wanted to take revenge but because she had the support of Laila. This form of support was

Morris concept of mobilizing the resources at a given time to make a difference.

Evolution has a distinct effect on people and society. Many of the historical events are

not always told from the point of view of the victims but from the oppressor. Often times people

believe things without evaluation of the sources. Colonization is a major factor that contributed

to evolution. For being under a certain group of people, many adapt to each other's action and

that can result in risking their own culture and tradition. Also, evolution can also help a society

receive rights and privileges that they have acquired through movements and protests. That can

help elevate the lifestyle of those groups of individuals. A less direct conduit for societal impacts

occurs when humans influence the evolution of our ‘ neighbors’, which can thereby influence

our appreciation of nature or provide a mechanism for emerging enemies or friends. Importantly,

all of the contexts for human-induced evolution have the potential for feedback to influence

human societies through—for example—biodiversity, nutrient cycling, and productivity. This

further suggests that societal impacts will be strongly shaped by the nature and strength of

feedbacks such as when humans cause the evolution of organisms in ways that have societal

impacts, which then induces humans to further modify the evolution of those organisms

(Svensson 2017). From the increasing knowledge of how humans influence evolution comes the

opportunity, perhaps even the responsibility, for humans to do something about it and, indeed,

people already are in a number of areas.

Evolution really shaped our society in a way that gave the society a new perspective and

those changes really helped to shape the society we live in today. Because took place over a long

period of time so it's different to identify where those changes took place. The characteristics that
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form the society can be understood by studying the theories developed by theorists for years,

social movements and how those have an effect on humans and society.
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Work Cited

Hendry, Andrew. “Human Influences on Evolution, and the Ecological and Societal

Consequences.” ​Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences,​ 2017,

royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2016.0028.

Andrew, Mathew. “Research Paper.” ​Research Paper,​

research-paper.essayempire.com/examples/sociology/social-change-research-paper/.

humptyD. “Anthropological Theory: Neo – Evolutionism(Childe, White, Steward,

Sahlins and Service).” ​Thewaddler​, 20 Sept. 2018,

thewaddler.com/anthropological-theory-neo-evolutionismchilde-white-steward-sahlins-and-servi

ce/.

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. “Julian Steward.” ​Encyclopædia Britannica,​

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2 Feb. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Julian-Steward.

Jenkins, J. “Resource Mobilization Theory and the Study of Social Movements.” ​Annual

Reviews,​ 2014, www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.so.09.080183.002523.

“A Thousand Splendid Suns.” ​CliffsNotes​,

www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/t/a-thousand-splendid-suns/book-summary.