Contemporary Changes

• Today's societies face three essential challenges - global warming and climate change, migration, and conflicts
• Global warming and climate change

  • Direct threats to our survival
  • Significantly affect the lives of millions of people worldwide
• Migration


  • Gives way to substantial societal changes
  • Could also spark conflicts and social problems
• Religious and ethnic conflict


  • Gives way to war
  • Resulting in deaths
  • Displacement of communities
  • Other humanitarian crises
• Understanding these threats can help us identify measures to address them effectively and direct social change toward mitigating the factors contributing to these threats' emergence
• Global warming


  The rise in the global average temperature near the Earth's surface
• Climate change


  Extreme or drastic changes in climate patterns worldwide
• Natural causes of climate change

  • The earth has gone through warming and cooling phases in the past, long before humans were around
  • The sun's intensity
  • Volcanic eruptions
  • Changes in greenhouse gas concentrations
• Change has been happening at a much faster rate than ever before, which cannot be explained by natural causes alone
• Anthropogenic causes of climate change

  • Burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas for electricity, heat and transportation
  • Deforestation – logging, clearcutting, fires
  • Fertilizer use
  • Livestock production
  • Agricultural and road construction
• Effects of climate change

  • Melting of ice caps
  • Increase in strong storms or cyclones
  • Drastic change in weather patterns
  • Torrential rainfall resulting in flooding
  • Long and intense droughts
  • Loss of crops and livestock
  • Adverse effects on water resources and access to drinking water
  • Displacement of people in low-lying areas (climate refugees)
• How to mitigate the effects of climate change

  • Realization of the grave impact of climate change on societies
  • Calls for immediate action to mitigate climate change
  • Sustainable energy resources
  • Awareness campaigns on the effects of climate change
  • Inclusion of climate change discussions to basic education curriculums
• Migration


  The movement of people from one place to another for temporary or permanent residence
• Types of migrants


  • Permanent migrants
  • Temporary migrants
  • Irregular migrants
• Reasons for migration


  • Students studying abroad
  • Refugees displaced by wars, political persecution, or natural disasters
• Not all migrants are welcomed in their destination countries
• Ethnic and cultural differences contribute to the ill-treatment of migrants
• Migration is a controversial political issue, particularly in Western nations, which have the highest populations of migrants
• The Philippine economy greatly benefits from Filipino migrant workers, as their financial remittances are among the country's largest income sources
• Temporary and irregular migrants sometimes work in precarious conditions
• OFWs also face the threat of abuse, human trafficking, and exploitation
• Inclusive citizenship


  Marginalized groups and individuals should be empowered and included in political processes
• Filipino citizens are guaranteed rights stipulated in the 1987 Constitution and more specifically, Article III or the Bill of Rights
• RA 8044 or the Youth in Nation Building Act encourages the youth, ages 15 to 30, to participate in nation building activities
• The Philippine government must establish programs where the youth can participate and inculcate love for their country
• Social stratification ranks and categorizes individuals in a hierarchy
• Social classes are groups of individuals who share a common status in society.
• Class mobility is the ability of an individual to move from one social class to another over time
• Social stratification can be present from birth
• When culture is passed to generations, stratification goes with it
• Stratification is based on culture and contexts
• Climate refugees - individuals forced to leave their homes due to climate change disasters
• Emigrate: to leave; Immigrate: to reside
• Internal migration: within a country
• Permanent migrants: acquired citizenship
• Temporary migrant: for study or work visa
• Irregular migrants: do not possess legal documents
• Refugees: forced to move due to wars
• Citizenship is the legal status of a person in a state, which allows them to enjoy certain rights
• Inclusive citizenship - marginalized groups and youth should be included in political processes