Amongst the sociologists, Sorokin’s contribution to the theory of change is regarded as significant. Handling the theme at the macro level, Sorokin attempted to explain the rise and fall of cultures in terms of cultural mentalities. He claims that his theory can account for all types of change occurring in a society, be they (a) changes that are unique in time and space, (b) changes that are recurring, (c) changes in a single direction, (d) oscillating changes, (e) spiraling changes, or (f) changes in the form of branching. Sorokin classified all cultures into three main categories:
- Sensate Cultures. In them, things that are easily accessible to the senses are emphasized.
- Ideational Cultures. In them, a certain abstraction of ideas occur, things available to the ‘spirit’ are emphasized.
- Idealistic Cultures. These cultures represent a combination of both sensate and ideational cultures.
Sorokin suggested that several combinations of these types are possible in actual societies. But more than that, he suggested that any given society alternates between these types in a cyclical fashion, with one of them dominating over the others in each stage. The sensate and ideational extremes are temporary phases and are intervened by the idealistic phase. He demonstrated these fluctuations and cycles by analysing various aspects of social life, such as music, art, philosophy, war, and even revolution.
This was obviously a grand design. Scholars experienced difficulties in employing the scheme in some concrete societies because many facts and elements do not fit into it and cause considerable inconvenience.
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