It is common knowledge that very rapid change is taking place in the southern region of the United States. The important question is, then, how can sociology make a contribution to the understanding of the maze of changes which are occurring in every sphere of life activity? Two basic assumptions, which at first may appear to be contradictory, form the general framework of the analysis: the stresses and strains toward change are taking place within the context of cultural continuity of the region; and the sectional south is disappearing—the new direction is the American way as an ideal.At a more specific level, an effort is made to understand these changes in terms of a series of social movements. Four such movements are abstracted for analysis: (1) mass movement of populations; (2) adult education movement; (3) internal struggle for political power and representation; and (4) the movement toward American ideals in intergroup relations. The analysis points up the strength of the social movement concept as an appropriate tool for systematizing—for understanding and predicting—the changes which are under way in the southern region.