 Dear students, in this module, we are going to discuss global social change. Global social change refers to the transformative shifts happening across different societies due to the increasing interconnectedness and interdependence between different countries. It includes the changes in political, economic, cultural, technological, and environmental spheres that transcend national boundaries. When we talk about global social change, we see these changes on such a scale that are not limited to just one society or one community, but these changes all around the world affect many societies or many countries. There can be political changes, environmental changes, technological changes, and a significant number of populations around the world affect these changes. For example, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent reunification of Germany symbolizes the end of the Cold War era, marking a significant global shift in the political ideologies and power dynamics around the world. Similarly, we can see that after the fall of Berlin, we can see that how there was a global shift in different political aspects and the power arenas around the world. So, after the fall of Berlin, the political scenario or different power structures, different power households and power houses, they changed significantly. And in a way, different power structures were also in that contestation through which they could have different countries in their own power houses. So, on the one of the key drivers of the global social change is the technological advancement. As we can see that this word is becoming more and more technological dependent, so by the passage of time, whenever there is a significant advancement in the technology, it affects not only that particular society or particular country, but also it has a very gigantic impact on the globalized world as well. So, the rise of internet and digital technologies has dramatically transformed the societies from how we communicate and how we work or learn. So, as the world is progressing towards globalization through the means of communication, advancement of the means of communication, such as internet technology, mobile technology, we are seeing that the world has become very interconnected. This interconnection is very beneficial for us as an example. Today, we can easily communicate from anywhere as compared to the past, where from one corner to the other corner of the world, maybe it takes months to send a message. Now, in a fraction of a second, we can communicate. Similarly, learning platforms used to be available in very limited spaces. People had to move in there, had to go physically, physical presence was necessary. Now, this is not necessary. Through digital technology, we can connect with each other and convert that platform into a meaningful learning platform, in which even far away people can access that platform. So, the advent of the internet and smartphone has drastically reshaped the societies globally, enabling instant communication, increasing access to information and catalyzing the emergence of global digital economy. So, globalization, another significant force behind the global societal change has led to an increased movement of people's ideas, goals, capitals across borders, resulting in increasingly multi-cultural societies and economies. So, as we can see, today, an idea is generated in one corner of the world, and within a few minutes it can spread across around the globe, due to the internet, and an idea is now in its localized sphere, which does not exist, but it can be popularized around the globe, and different agitations can also rise on it. So, globalization can have its positive aspects, along with it, it has many negative aspects. For example, an idea may be acceptable in some society, but in some other society it may be considered as a very bad idea, or it may be that the ideas, their sacred values are hitting them, or they are generating negativity, so agitation can also occur there. So, there are also negative aspects of globalization. For example, the European Union's policy of free movement of people has reshaped the demographic and cultural landscape of the member countries, resulting in a more integrated and diverse Europe. As you can see that, European Union has the policy of like Schengen visa, where you can, after having visa for one country, you can travel almost to any country in the central, in the western Europe. So, these policies are having a positive effect on the movement of the people, they can not only have the cultural exchange, but also the economic as well as the social exchange around themselves. So, climate change and environmental issues are another major aspect of global social change. Increasing the awareness and concern about the environmental sustainability, which are leading to the shifts in different global environmental policies, industries as well as the individual behaviors around the world. For example, the global movement towards the renewable energy sources such as wind, electric, solar power, it represents a significant shift away from the traditional fossil fuels influenced by the grown awareness about the climate change. So, thanks to the globalized media, social media and that traditional media through which we are seeking information that how much it is important that we need to be much more aware about the disastrous effects of our today's use and consumption mechanisms through which we are producing more and more pollution. So, due to these awareness processes, now we are having very effective or relatively effective awareness as well as environmental policies through which we are trying to control this environmental crisis. So, the global social change perspective also highlights the influence of international institutions and agreements in shaping the global norms, policies and practices. For example, United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are the set of global targets aimed to addressing the key challenges such as poverty, inequality and climate change leading to this significant policy changes and shifts worldwide. Lastly, the global social movements have become increasingly significant in driving social change. So, these movements often facilitated by digital technologies can mobilize people across borders for the shared causes. For example, Black Lives Matter movement, it was very important movement which began after particularly began to rise after 1920s when there was the George Floyd's murder because of one police officer and by it has gained the global support as well and has ignited the global discussions on racial inequality and police violence leading to the cause for policy reforms around the world.