ABSTRACT
Although the causes of social change have long intrigued man, there is no agreement on why and how the process takes place. 1 Scholars differ on whether social change is good or bad, linear or cyclical, planned or spontaneous, and whether it originates with great men or with the masses, out*of material or ideal considerations. Yet there is some agreement that in Western civilization since the medieval period the concept of social progress has been dominant, with the central tenet that men through the use of reason can control his destiny.
