 This is a study guide for chapter one of Sociology for Optimists by Mary Holmes published in 2015. The chapter is called change. Please note that these study guides are meant to point out some important concepts of interest to introductory students. These are not designed to be thorough or provide an in-depth discussion. Material will be skipped or barely discussed while other concepts will be given more emphasis than the chapter may have given them. Also note that the purpose of this book is to look at the ways in which sociology can provide a basis for optimism. So discussions of pessimism and optimism will be central to this guide. Of course, sociologists ask some core questions when it comes to society and social change. Since its inception, sociology has been concerned with understanding not only what a society is, but how does it get passed along to the next generation and to those who migrate to a particular place in time? To put it succinctly, how is society reproduced? The most immediate answer, and maybe one of the oldest answers, is that emerging from the ways in which groups of people behave, are patterns we have come to call social institutions. We will be covering these more in-depth later in the semester, but for now and for the author's purpose, we are referring to the things that all societies seem to have in common, government, economy, education, families, and religious belief systems. Sociologists have also answered the question by pointing out the ways in which norms are passed along to others. Society is simply reproduced because the older members of the society teach the younger members and the newer members what the rules are and provide sanctions to guide the behavior of others. Agents of socialization such as church, family, peer, school, media, etc. are formal structures through which this transfer of knowledge occurs. But sociologists also point out that some information is treated as more important than others. Privileged groups have the ability to shape the information and the agents of that information. In many ways, inequality is, at its heart, a question of whose point of view gets shared with the newcomers and whose doesn't. Thus, the inequalities of one generation are passed along to the next generation. If sociologists hold central the question of how societies are reproduced over time, they are also concerned with how a society can change. Interestingly enough, socialization and agents of socialization are a source of change as well as reproduction. Holmes points out that mothers are highly influential sources of information, especially in early life. This means that mothers have the power to affect social change. The cautionary tale here, though, is that mothers are not the only source of information and are often blamed disproportionately for how adults turn out. Nonetheless, mothers who actively raise their children in ways that are different from the previous generation are a source of social change and a proof that socialization is part of a changing society. Reflexivity is a concept that Holmes returns to a lot in this book. In this case, she is suggesting that people don't always do what they are told is right or good, and that their refusal to follow along can be seen as a source of social change. She points out that this can be hard to pull off because most people simply respond in life to the belief systems they have been taught, what some sociologists call habitus. But sociology offers a way of studying how people making different decisions than the status quo can lead to change. A final source of change that Holmes considers is the effect that new technologies have on this passing of information. As technologies change, it is often the younger generation who teach the older ones. This can be and has been a source of social change. To more fully examine these forces that reproduce and change our society, Holmes offers three case studies. The first is education. While education is often the reproduction of previous norms of society, it can also be a source of social change. Education has changed greatly in the past 70 years and most western developed nations. Holmes points out that access has been broadened with compulsory education expanded to the completion of secondary school and at least some college education becoming necessary for advancement in careers and initial entry into job markets. Education has also become more egalitarian with less inequality being passed along to the next generation. Gender equality in education is a prime example of this with racial equality making progress as well. Education has also become more accessible for lower and working classes. This is especially true of college education. As we are experiencing here at CSN, there are a number of people who are the first generation attendees and graduates of college in their families. This is a sign of more inclusion. Her second case study is media. Media is another agent of socialization that can be seen as an agent for change in developed countries. As technology has grown and the world has become more interconnected globally, media representation and participation has become more diverse. There is a long way to go to achieve true representation but there is no doubt that a wider variety of characters, actors and behind the scenes producers of media that has been present than it has in previous generations. The question of course is still debatable as to whether these representations are reproducing inequality rather than changing it. Most characters of color, for example, follow stereotypical scripts. The last area of case of change that she addresses is peers which she calls peers and friends. We might call that age cohorts as she is examining the ways in which people who group together with other people of their same age can affect social change. Often psychologists and sociologists have ignored peer groups and age cohorts as a source of social capital. Social capital is basically an established set of resources that are developed for one reason that can be called upon in the future for other unrelated reasons. For example, not in this chapter but an example that will help clarify the chapter, would be the softball team that meets weekly for gains and then socializes after. Who then organize a fundraiser in a community to help a family whose child has cancer. The social network was developed around a fun activity but the same resources make organizing a fundraiser easier quicker and more effectively. Many scholars have written about the demise of such social capital because people are not organizing themselves into multi-generational community groups as they once did. Holmes points out that while some reduction seems to be occurring, it might be a matter of where the social capital is forming for younger generations. She suggests that sociologists should consider how peer groups, especially younger age cohorts, may be organizing supporting each other more fully than a traditional look at social capital would suggest. Interestingly enough, the recent student marches and their dependency upon social media to support each other may be an excellent example of Holmes' idea here. We of course always want to finish up with asking where is the optimism? What does sociology have to offer? The sociologists' understanding of socialization can provide a key not only to how society is reproduced, which can be somewhat pessimistic, but also how these agents can affect social change and thus lead to a more optimistic view. Because social generations have a role in the creation of social change, sociologists are the best source of understanding these age cohorts. And finally, sociologists are astute at understanding how things are socially constructed, including changes and challenges to norms. This provides a stronger way to assess successful living.