 Dear students, in this module, we are going to discuss a very important idea of Max Weber about the social change. Before we discuss the Max Weber, we need to understand that how ideas can play their role in social change. There is a contestation between the proponents of social change and the factors through which the social change can occur. One of the group of scholars is of the view that perhaps material changes are catalytic in producing the social change. On the other hand, the other group is saying that it is not the material that leads to the significant social change, but rather it is the change in ideas which leads to social change. So Max Weber belongs to this group. A renowned sociologist, he theorized that the ideas and values, particularly those associated with the religion and ideology can have a significant impact on social change, often by influencing the economic structures and behaviors. His most famous illustration of this theory is found in his work, Protestant Ethics and Rise of Capitalism. In his work, Weber argues that the ascetic values and norms associated with Protestantism, particularly Calvinism, help foster a spirit conducive to capitalism. In this regard, the material social changes should be driven and guided by those ideas and ideologies. When the ideas and beliefs come into the system of people's values and values, they are actually a driving force for the rest of the changes. The main question was that how did capitalism become a gigantic economic system? And what was said behind this was that basically, capitalism was born out of industrialization. Max Weber's point of view was different from this. He thought that only because of industrialization, capitalism could not be produced. Until people's ideologies and ideologies change, there is no change. He thought that when it comes to Protestantism, in which John Calvin played a big role, John Calvin's idea was that success in this word is reflection of success in hereafter. In other words, success in this world is the axis of success in the hereafter. So this was considered a foundational stone of the morality of Protestantism. This greatly motivated people to realize that the biggest indicator of success in this world is the economy, finance, and economy. So if we want to achieve success in this world, then we have to achieve the biggest indicator of success in this world. That is, we have to be consistent in the society. So because of this society, there was a big change. And the big reason behind the change in capitalism was the life ideology of Calvinism and Protestantism. So according to Weber, the Protestant ethics emphasized hard work, discipline, and frugality. So that succeeded for their worldly pursuit. These values aligned with the facilitated and facilitated the rise of capitalism ideals for profit making and rationalized labor. Weber also argued that these religious values shaped the individual's behaviors, attitudes, including their work, ethics, and economic conduct. So over time, these individual behaviors, aggregated at societal level, culminated in significant social and economic transformations. So he thought that because of these material changes and industrialization, there cannot be a major factor or a major reason why people are attached to capitalism or the accumulation of wealth from this ideology. In fact, the major transformative source behind that was the Protestant ethics. So it's important to note that Weber did not argue that the Protestantism actually causes the capitalism. Rather, he suggested that certain religious ideas and values could create the conditions favorable to the emergence and development of the capitalist system. So this perspective is a departure from more deterministic theories of social change, such as Marxist theories that posit that the economic structures as the primary driving force for the social change. So Marxism's idea is that the economic structures, the material structures, basically they are a driving force for social change. This idea was that not these material structures but the changes in the ideas of the people is actually the driving force that is leading them to produce such structures or such capitalistic systems. So in some Weber's theory highlights the interplay between the ideas, economic systems and social change underscoring the complex and multidimensional nature of this societal transformation.