There is a long history of sociological and philosophical work that has been mesmerised by social change. In particular, the transitions from traditional society to modern society (and, thereafter, to late modern-or postmodern, as some would say-society) have attracted considerable attention. For instance, early sociology, as Tonkiss (1998, 36) remarks, “evinced a fascination with the rapid social changes brought by industrialisation and technical innovation.” In philosophy, the Hegelian dialectics celebrated the unavoidability of change, while Marxist historical materialism explored the conditions of transcending constitutive social relations, and the Darwinist concept of evolution introduced a more diachronic perspective on change.