Fundamental social change erupts when progress is blocked by anachronistic institutions

Evidence

Even the most sympathetic reader will understandably ask what view of the dynamics of historical change leads us to believe such a period might be at hand. In a word, we are impressed by Karl Marx’s observation that funda­ mental social change occurs only when evident possibilities for progress are held in check by a set of anachronistic social arrangements. In such peri­ ods, basic social institutions lose their appearance of normality and in­ evitability; they take on the air of increasing irrationality and dispcnsibility. In these conditions individuals, and especially those groups and classes most likely to benefit from progress, consciously seek alternative social arrangements. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 251

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sets out Marx’s criterion for when basic institutions lose their taken-for-granted status and become consciously remodelable.
• XREF: connects to: American economic institutions are an anachronistic barrier to achievable liberation — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 256; Decelerating society is self-contradictory because progress entails dynamization — Hartmut Rosa, Social Acceleration: A New Theory of…, 848; Social change requires confronting entrenched interests invested in preserving outdated practices. (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Social change requires confronting entrenched interests invested in preserving outdated practices. #expands (0.85)
• Rapid modernization triggers revolution when political institutions cannot process new demands #corroborates (0.80) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4294