Page 4 - Lessonnote_ Cultural Change
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➢ This included the sub culture of Indian intellectuals who not only
adopted many cognitive patterns, or ways of thinking, and styles of life,
but supported its expansion. Many of the early 19th century reformers
were of this kind.
➢ There were, therefore, small sections of people who adopted western
life styles or were affected by western ways of thinking.
➢ There has been also the general spread of Western cultural traits, such
as the use of new technology, dress, food, and changes in the habits and
styles of people in general.
➢ Across the country a very wide section of middle class homes have a
television set, a fridge, some kind of sofa set, a dining table and chair in
the living room.
➢ Westernisation does involve the imitation of external forms of culture. It
does not necessarily mean that people adopt modern values of
democracy and equality.
Modernisation
➢ It is a process which indicates the adoption of the modern ways of life
and values.
➢ It indicates a change in people’s food habits, dress habits, speaking
styles, tastes, choices preferences, ideas, values, recreational facilities
and so on.
➢ The scientific and technological inventions have brought about
remarkable changes in the whole system of social relationships and
installed new ideologies in the place of traditional ones.
➢ The key to understand Modernisation lies in thinking of it as a set of
change that affect the whole society.
➢ Modernisation involves a transformation of social, political and
economic organisations.
➢ Traditional religious systems tend to lose influence.
➢ Sociologist have tried to define what exactly constitutes the
modernisation process:
“Modernity assumes that local ties and parochial perspective give way
to universal commitments and cosmopolitan attitudes; that the truths
of utility, calculation and science take precedence over those of the
emotions, the sacred and the non-rational ; that the individual rather
than the group be the primary unit of society and politics; that the
