ABSTRACT
Social change can be described as a change in the typical characteristics of a society, such as social structures and institutions, norms, values, cultural products, and symbols (Calhoun, 1992). A number of important distinctions can be made as to the nature of the change. It may be gradual, as in the case of the demographic changes in many countries, or it may occur abruptly, as in the breakdown of socialist countries in Europe in the 1990s. Further, social change may represent an overall improvement or worsening of conditions, and it can be comprehensive or relatively narrow in focus. In many cases, however, this is not a question of either/or but, at least in a longer time perspective, a mixture of basically all common aspects. Thus, the rapid and comprehensive change of all major social institutions in former East Germany was followed by a series of more gradual transformations that not only mirror the changed institutions but also reflect other effects of major societal trends, such as the change in the international distribution of labor due to globalization, or the challenges for intergenerational solidarity due to demographic change.
