 Dear students, in this module, we are going to understand the cyclical approach to social change. Cyclical approaches to social change suggest that societies follow a determined cycle of growth and decline. Traditionally, we were trying to understand the social change through a linear model. However, the linear model was insufficient to help us understand that why certain actions, certain events or certain incidents are repeated in the history. So, this is where cyclical theory of social change helps us understand that these events are repeated in the history because we see that societies are going through the process of growth and decline. So, these theories believe that social processes are not linear or progressive, but instead rotate through a series of changes or series of stages over time. Philosopher and sociologist Auguste Combs' law of three stages is a classic example of a cyclical theory. According to him, societies pass through three phases. Number one, theological, number two, metaphysical and number three, positive. Each phase is characterized by a particular way of thinking about the knowledge and social order. In the theological stage, people used to believe in different theologies and they used to have their concepts mostly derived from the religion or different religious ideologies. But at the second stage, they began to see that the metaphysical aspects or the nature perhaps is the driving force behind whatever is occurring in their lives. So, all these historical processes they would consider were the natural processes through which the history is repeating itself. However, when we see at the positive stage which is called the scientific stage, Auguste Combs would consider the social change being understood more rationally, more logically as well as more scientifically. And he would see that science can help such understand these different changes not only within the societies but also within our larger environment. So, application of Combs' theory to Pakistan could be its development from primarily theological society, heavily influenced by religion, to metaphysical phase where abstract forces or ideologies like nationalism or democracy begin to influence our society. When we see the positive stage, it's also making its inroads through our scientific thinking. As we can see that more and more people are now believing that perhaps science can be a better mechanism to help us understand what's going on around us. Ibn Khaldun, a very famous Islamic scholar of 14th century, proposed a cyclical model of this societal change. He suggests that societies pass through stages of development, growth, stagnation and decay and only to be replaced by a new society. So, although it's a growth and decline but in four stages. So, this cyclical process is driven by his concept of social cohesion. If we look at the Pakistan society and its history, we see certain periods of social cohesion followed by conflict as reflected by the Ibn Khaldun's theory. Post-independence, there was strong social cohesion that gradually decayed as particularly by the fall of Dhaka. We see that there was a gradual decay of social cohesion leading to the periods of conflict and political instability. However, these conflicts often led to the resurgence of social cohesion reflecting that cyclical nature of societal change. The famous sociologist Petrim Sorokin's cyclical theory of cultural change suggests that societies oscillate between two cultural extremes. Number one, sensate and number two, ideational cultures. An ideational culture prioritizes the spiritual life whereas a sensate culture values the material and sensual aspects. If you observe the Pakistan's socio-cultural dynamics, one could argue that the nation experiences a continual tug of war between these two extremes reflecting Sorokin's cyclical theory. Traditional values are emphasizing spirituality which are often in clash with the more materialistic and sensory driven aspects by the or reflected or represented by modernity and globalization. So, cyclical approaches offer a very valuable insight into the ebb and flow of this societal change. However, these models can be critiqued for their deterministic approach as they often do not account for the unpredictable and complex nature of societal transformation.