 Dear students, in this module, we are going to discuss a disappearing word, the pre-modern societies and their fate. Pre-modern societies often characterized by the relatively simple, technologically advanced and strong communal bonds and which are facing the extinction under the onslaught of modernity. In this module, we are going to talk about those patterns which are changing due to the effects of modernization. Our traditional societies in which a big change is being reflected are because of modernization and technological advancement. So in these societies, the social relationships were governed by tradition and direct face-to-face interaction. So when we talk about traditional societies, the relationships were also governed by the very simple processes and they did not have the modern means of communication. And because of this, the areas of traditional norms were affecting our life in our traditional relationships. But this word, this world is gradually becoming known and we are seeing that as technological advancement is taking place, modernization is also affecting and because of that modernization and means of communication and means of transportation, this change is also happening in other traditional societies. So those traditional societies are not only changing in their infrastructure, like we are seeing that houses used to be raw, now they are made of pure clay and in the future, the modern lifestyle is also changing. So these changes are not only on a structural level, but also on a big change. So a case study in the traditional rural and tribal societies in Pakistan, for centuries, they have been living in a balanced ecological system with a tradition-based tribal form of governance, often using panchayat or jerga system, like which is considered the traditional assembly of leaders. However, increased exposure to modernity and a cash economy are endangering this traditional way of life now. So when we talk about the traditional lifestyle in Pakistan, so that was traditionally led by those traditions, those norms and values which are often driven by their traditional life ideologies. Modernization's effect is that the traditional lifestyle, the value system is gradually replaced by modern values and modern lifestyle. The reason for this is modern institutionalization because the norms and values of modernization are formally institutionalized. Max Weber, a notable sociologist, provides a concept of disenchantment of the word, which is helpful in understanding the fading way of pre-modern societies. Disenchantment of the word is that the tradition of a woman, a city, which we had a feeling of belonging to, is gradually ending. And now this word, the modern word of the traditional word is breaking that city because he basically argued that the rationalization and scientific progress is actually replacing those aspects of the traditional word. Similarly, the globalization is a key aspect of modern society, which is accelerating the disappearance of these pre-modern societies. As the local cultures integrate into the global economic system, unique customs and the ways of life risk being erased, as seen in the Kalash Valley of Pakistan, where local indigenous culture is under threat due to the tourism and economic integration. So not all transformations are destructive. Some pre-modern societies adapt to modernization while preserving the elements of their traditional culture. For example, the Ainu of Japan are an extreme example who have managed to safeguard their distinct culture by integrating it into the modern Japanese tourism and lifestyle. So Ainu people, they faced the forced assimilation policies and they were having the threat to their culture, language, livelihood. However, they resisted and adapted to Japanese modern society. In 1966, there were about 300 native Ainu speakers. However, by 2008, there were only about 100. However, since 1997, the Ainu culture has been officially recognized as part of Japan's diverse cultural heritage. So today, Ainu language, music, dance and crafts are celebrated as a unique cultural expression in Japan. So despite these changes, the resilience of pre-modern societies is remarkable. As you can see that although pre-modern societies are having infrastructural changes, yet they are resisting when it comes to their non-material culture. For example, they are pretty much resistant about their life ideologies, about their traditional value system and about their religious aspects. The aboriginal communities of Australia have shown a remarkable resilience in preserving their cultural identities in the face of colonial oppression and modern societal pressures. They have maintained their traditional knowledge system, their languages, their artistic traditions, despite the centuries of their marginalization. So the concept of social evolution developed by sociologists like Herbert Spencer suggests that society is naturally progressed from simple to complex. However, this perspective can lead to an ethnocentric view, overlooking the richness and diversity of pre-modern societies. It appears that perhaps Herbert Spencer, while suggesting that societies transform from pre-modern to modern, simple to complex, he suggested that perhaps pre-modern societies were more simple in their structure, so that's why they were not better fit for the existing context as compared to the modern society. However, this is considered one of the biased views and we see that even pre-modern societies have a better fit in the modern systems by preserving their traditional cultures and traditional value system. So lastly, it is important to consider the implications of the disappearance of the pre-modern world. This is not only the representation of the loss of cultural diversity, but also an alternative way to understand and interact with the world. So the knowledge and wisdom embedded in these societies have much more to teach us in the sense of spirituality, in the sense of lifestyle, in the sense of ethics and morality.