Resistance to social-cultural change

Resistance to Social-Cultural Change 

Social-Cultural changes are a continuous action not able to be prevented but human nature in a specific past of age has been desirous of experiencing no change. Therefore, such people oppose the changes because they want to keep the emotional attachment of their youth period and are afraid that the new inventions will
finish their romance attached with the past. Similarly, some reformers also oppose these changes thinking them harmful and by rejecting these want to keep the young people safe from them. That is why, a society is always selected in the acceptance of the changes. It accepts these on the basis ‘as it is’ and some of them
accept by delay and some totally reject.
The following acts present a hindrance in accepting these social and cultural changes:

1. Specific Attitude and Values :
Specific attitudes and values of a society resist change because of its special structure and stability. Apodaca proved from his research that the Spanish accepted the Hybrid Corn maize because of its productive capability but rejected it after three years because the articles prepared from it were of bad taste. Indian approved the use of pressure cooker because of fast cooking but rejected it later because the vegetables cooked were less delicious than those that cooked without pressure cooker.
Specific dresses and manners of interactions are considered cultural values and any change is resisted strongly. Use of pant shirts for Muslim women in Pakistan is against Islamic values and cultural pressure is used in resisting it. Similarly, co-education is against cultural values. Some marriage ceremonies are considered useless but cultural pressure resists and individuals are afraid of losing respect in the eyes of the society by going against these values. Specific tendency and importance of values create a resistance force in the socio-cultural changes and reduce the spread of adopting them.

2. Vested Interests :
Vested interests mean the interests of those individuals who can be affected by social change and this class resists change. In Karachi, circular railing work is resisted by the local transporters because of their fear of loss in business. Heads of tribes ’of Balochistan resist construction of Gawadar Port because people will get employment and their slave people in villages will go to Gawadar and their leadership and monopoly will come to an end because poverty, illiteracy and backwardness is the secret of their rule. Economic factors play an important role in change. For example, restrictions on marriage feast were a pleasant change but
poultry industry, hotels and owners of marriage halls resisted it strongly.

3. Incompatibility with Existing Culture :
The decrease in harmony between inventions and cultural values resists change. Vander Zanden says that Islam‘and Christianity could not be popular in India because both hated idols that it was the ancient religious value of Hindus. Cow is sacred to Hindus but Muslims slay it and because of this new religion could not be acceptable to the society.
When an invention conflicts any value or manner of a culture, three types of consequences are produced:

i. It is rejected rightly just as socialism was rejected by America and Britain.

ii. It is accepted and adapted with the conflicting characteristics of culture just as T.V. was accepted and was adapted with cultural values.

iii. It is accepted as a need and its harmony is created obligingly with cultural values just as internet was accepted because of its information and knowledge source though it spreads obscenity and wastes the time
of people. Similar is the case with cable network.

4. Illiteracy :
Illiteracy is a great resistance to desired or undesired socio-cultural changes and resistance is made without thinking and reason. Lewis A. Caser explains this with detail in his theory of social change. The causes of resistance are given below:

i. Technical difficulties of change :
There are very few inventions and discoveries that are accepted easily because they are simple and. do not affect culture seriously, whereas most of the inventions require some understanding and skill just as to accept decimal system of currency, Pakistani society had to face difficulties and hindrances. Similarly, mechanical ways of agriculture could not be popular in Pakistan because of illiteracy of the farmers.

ii. Demonstrability of inventions :
Because of illiteracy, it takes time to understand the benefit of these. Illiterate people reject it in the very beginning. Then they show resistance of attitude and are stubborn just as the education for women is not accepted, whereas religion and modern age demand this as a serious need but because of illiteracy people do not understand its benefits and explain their resistance correct by their stubbornness.

iii. Hesitation in adoption :
Illiteracy or semi-literacy creates a serious resistance in accepting change and a hesitation in adopting a changed system or inventions and a hindrance is produced in the way of progress and change. Because of strangeness of an introduced thing people wait for the time when other people should adopt that thing before they do the same. For example, the participation of women in the departments of computer was delayed because people did not like the presence of women in these fields. Just as washing machine was considered harmful to the clothes in the beginning and electric fans were considered as blood suckers, injections for precaution were considered to be attached with family planning and people felt hesitation to use these.

5. Costs of Change :
A change is always costly. Not only it affect culture but also tramples values and feelings and one has to pay its cost. The excess of poverty becomes a hindrance in the way of change because to purchase inventions, money is needed and because of its shortage, many changes become difficult to be affected. A poor man cannot purchase a TV, computer, telephone because of no money in spite of the fact that he knows its advantages. As a result, that change is limited to specific class of people. In Pakistan, the backwardness in agriculture and decrease in production is due to the fact that poor farmers cannot afford tractor, thresher,
tube-well, better seeds and fertilizers. Therefore, they are obliged to resist these changes and are adopting old backward methods of agriculture and thus their poverty to purchase modern implements is a hindrance in the way of change.