Sociology Now, Census Update

established by radio. (This example also
suggests that the cultural norm of “fam-
ily time” in the evenings is also a histor-
ical product.)
Culture lag is a relatively gradual
process by which nonmaterial elements of
culture catch up with material culture. In
this instance, we can also speak of cultural
diffusion,which means the spreading of
new ideas through a society, independent
of population movement. As the impact of
the technological innovation ripples
through the rest of society, eventually a new
equilibrium will be reached (Figure 2.3).
Then all goes smoothly until the next tech-
nological breakthrough.
But sometimes, technological break-
throughs also enable groups within a
society, or an entire society, to impose its
values on others. Cultures can change dramatically and suddenly by conquest as well
as by diffusion. The impact is often stark, sudden, and potentially lethal. Sometimes
conquest can deliberately transform the culture of the colonized, as when missionar-
ies force conquered groups to convert to the religion of the conqueror or be put to
death. In those instances, the entire belief system of the culture, its foundation, is dis-
mantled and replaced by a foreign one.

CULTURAL CHANGE 63

JCultures do not change uni-

formly. Culture lag describes

how changes in material cul-

ture (like technology) outpace

the values and norms of the

traditional culture, which

attempts to incorporate them.

500–1060

0–10

10–50

50–200

200–500

No data

FIGURE 2.3 Cell Phones per 1,000 People

Source:From United Nations Environment Programme/GRID–Arendal website, http://maps.grida.no. Cartogram reproduced by permission of the authors, Vladimir
Tikunov (Department of Geography, University of Moscow) and Philippe Rekacewicz (Le Monde diplomatique, Paris).