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Social Change and Social Order in Rural and Urban Society – Class 11 Sociology notes, important questions and MCQs

NCERT Class 11 Sociology, chapter 7. Notes, key terms, important questions with answers and MCQs.

Chapter overview

Social change refers to significant alterations in social structure and relationships over time. Change may be caused by environmental, technological, economic, political and cultural factors. Social order refers to the stability and predictability of social life, maintained through consensus, values and norms, and through domination and power. Rural and urban societies experience change and order in different ways.

Social change

Change may be evolutionary (gradual) or revolutionary (rapid and fundamental); Charles Darwin's ideas influenced theories of social evolution.
Causes include environmental change (such as the 2004 tsunami), technology (the steam engine, computers), economy (plantation agriculture), politics (universal adult franchise) and culture (changes in religious beliefs and the status of women).
Change may be planned or unplanned and may affect some groups more than others.

Social order and rural–urban contexts

Social order is maintained by shared values and norms, by sanctions, and by power and authority; crime and deviance challenge order.
In villages, change is slower, social ties are personal, and caste and land relations shape order; land reforms, the Green Revolution and migration have changed rural society.
In cities, life is more impersonal, diverse and fast-changing; problems include housing shortages, slums, transport and segregation into gated communities and ghettos; urbanisation is linked to industrialisation and migration.

Key terms

Social change: significant alteration of social structure over time
Social order: stability and predictability of social life
Evolutionary change: slow, gradual change over a long period
Revolutionary change: rapid and fundamental change
Gentrification: the conversion of a low-income area into a middle- or upper-class area

Important questions with answers

What is social order?2 marks

Social order is the relatively stable, predictable pattern of social life in which people follow shared norms and values. It is maintained through consensus on values, through sanctions that reward and punish behaviour, and through power and authority.

What are the main causes of social change?3 marks

Social change can be caused by environmental factors such as disasters, technological innovations such as the steam engine and the internet, economic changes such as industrialisation, political changes such as democracy and universal franchise, and cultural changes in ideas, beliefs and values.

Describe social change in rural and urban India.5 marks

Rural and urban India have both experienced major social change, though in different ways. In villages, social relations were traditionally personal and based on caste, kinship and land ownership, and change was relatively slow. After independence, land reforms such as the abolition of zamindari and tenancy reforms altered land relations; the Green Revolution introduced new technology, increased production and commercialised agriculture, but also increased inequalities; the spread of education, roads, electricity, mobile phones and government programmes has connected villages to wider society; and migration to cities for work has changed families and the rural economy. Panchayati raj has given new political power to marginalised groups. Urban areas have grown rapidly through industrialisation, migration and the expansion of services. City life is more impersonal, diverse and anonymous, with greater occupational and social mobility, and caste and community identities take new forms. However, cities face problems such as housing shortages, the growth of slums, inadequate transport and sanitation, pollution, crime and segregation, with the rich living in gated communities and some groups confined to ghettos. Gentrification and redevelopment also displace poorer residents.

Quick revision

Social change: evolutionary and revolutionary.
Causes: environment, technology, economy, politics, culture.
Social order: values, sanctions, power.
Rural and urban change; slums, gated communities.

Exam tips

Give one example each of environmental, technological, economic, political and cultural causes of change.
Compare social order in villages and cities.

Practice MCQs

Slow and gradual change is called
1. revolutionary change
2. evolutionary change
3. no change
4. sudden change
Show answer
Answer: (b) evolutionary change. It takes place over a long time.
The stability and predictability of social life is called
1. social change
2. social mobility
3. social order
4. deviance
Show answer
Answer: (c) social order. Norms and values maintain it.
The steam engine is an example of a
1. political cause of change
2. technological cause of change
3. cultural cause only
4. environmental cause
Show answer
Answer: (b) technological cause of change. It transformed industry and transport.
Universal adult franchise is an example of
1. economic change
2. technological change
3. environmental change
4. political change
Show answer
Answer: (d) political change. It changed power relations.
Large walled residential complexes for the rich in cities are called
1. ghettos
2. slums
3. gated communities
4. villages
Show answer
Answer: (c) gated communities. They separate residents from others.
Which factor changed agrarian relations in rural India after independence
1. land reforms
2. colonial conquest
3. ice ages
4. printing press
Show answer
Answer: (a) land reforms. They affected ownership and tenancy.
Which statement about social order is most accurate
1. it is maintained only by force
2. it is maintained by shared values, sanctions and power together
3. it never changes
4. it exists only in villages
Show answer
Answer: (b) it is maintained by shared values, sanctions and power together. Consensus and domination both matter.
Urban life is often described as
1. impersonal, diverse and fast-changing
2. personal and homogeneous
3. unchanging
4. based only on kinship
Show answer
Answer: (a) impersonal, diverse and fast-changing. Cities bring together many groups.

All chapters of Class 11 Sociology

Written by Kundali IQ from standard, well-established facts to help with revision. This is not an official NCERT publication; always read your textbook too.