10.8 - Tension Between Traditional Cultures and Modernization

Tenth Grade - Tenth Social Studies - 10.8 - Tension Between Traditional Cultures and Modernization

From EngageNY

Tensions exist between traditional cultures and agents of modernization. Reactions for and against modernization depend on perspective and context.

10.8a Cultures and countries experience and view modernization differently. For some, it is a change from a traditional rural, agrarian condition to a secular, urban, industrial condition. Some see modernization as a potential threat and others as an opportunity to be met.

• Students will investigate the extent to which urbanization and industrialization have modified the roles of social institutions such as family, religion, education, and government by examining one case study in each of these regions: Africa (e.g., Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone), Latin America (e.g., Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico), and Asia (e.g., China, India, Indonesia, South Korea).

10.8b Tensions between agents of modernization and traditional cultures have resulted in ongoing debates within affected societies regarding social norms, gender roles, and the role of authorities and institutions.

• Students will investigate, compare, and contrast tensions between modernization and traditional culture in Turkey under the rule of Kemal Atatürk and in Iran under the Pahlavis and the Ayatollahs.
• Students will explore how changes in technology, such as communication and transportation, have affected interactions between people and those in authority (e.g., efforts to affect change in government policy, engage people in the political process including use of social media, control access to information, and use terrorism as a tactic).