Activism
Any activity intended to bring about social change (page 497)
Collective behavior
That follows from the formation of a group or crowd of people who take action together toward a shared goal (page 485)
Contagion theory
One of the earliest theories of collective action; suggested that individuals who joined a crowd could become "infected" by a mob mentality and lose the ability to reason (page 485)
Crowd
A temporary gathering of individuals, whether spontaneous or planned, who share a common focus (page 486)
Cultural diffusion
The dissemination of beliefs and practices from one group to another (page 502)
Cultural imperialism
Cultural influence caused by adopting another culture's products (page 502)
Cultural lag
The time between changes in material culture or technology and the resulting changes in the broader culture's relevant norms, values, meanings, and laws (page 498)
Cultural leveling
The process by which societies lose their uniqueness, becoming increasingly similar (page 503)
Elative deprivation theory
A theory of social movements that focuses on the actions of oppressed groups who seek rights or opportunities already enjoyed by others in the society (page 492)
Emergent norm theory
A theory of collective behavior that assumes individual members of a crowd make their own decisions about behavior and that norms are created through others' acceptance or rejection of these behaviors (page 486)
Fads
Interests or practices followed enthusiastically for a relatively short period of time (page 487)
Fashion
The widespread custom or style of behavior and appearance at a particular time or in a particular place (page 487)
Global village
Marshall McLuhan's term describing the way that new communication technologies override barriers of space and time, joining together people all over the globe (page 501)
Globalization
The increasing connections between economic, social, and political systems all over the globe (page 502)
Mass behavior
Large groups of people engaging in similar behaviors without necessarily being in the same place (page 487)
Mass society theory
A theory of social movements that assumes people join not because of the movements' ideals, but to satisfy a psychological need to belong to something larger than themselves (page 492)
Modernity
A term encompassing the forms of social organization that characterize industrialized societies, including the decline of tradition, an increase in individualism, and a belief in progress, technology, and science (page 503)
Postmodernity
A term encompassing the forms of social organization characteristic of postindustrial societies, including a focus on the production and management of information and skepticism of science and technology (page 503)
Progressive
Term describing efforts to promote forward-thinking social change (page 498)
Public goods dilemma
A type of social dilemma in which individuals incur the cost to contribute to a collective resource, though they may never benefit from that resource (page 489)
Regressive
Term describing resistance to particular social changes, efforts to maintain the status quo, or attempts to reestablish an earlier form of social order (page 497)
Resource mobilization theory
A theory of social movements that focuses on the practical constraints that help or hinder social movements' action (page 492)
Riot
Continuous disorderly behavior by a group of people that disturbs the peace and is directed toward other people and/or property (page 487)
Social change
The transformation of a culture over time (page 484)
Social dilemma
A situation in which behavior that is rational for the individual can, when practiced by many people, lead to collective disaster (page 487)
Social movement
Any social groups with leadership, organization, and an ideological commitment to promote or resist social change (page 489)
Technological determinism
A theory of social change that assumes changes in technology drive changes in society, rather than vice versa (page 498)
Tragedy of the commons
A particular type of social dilemma in which many individuals' overexploitation of a public resource depletes or degrades that common resource (page 488)
Virtual community
A community of people linked by their consumption of the same digital media (page 500)