 Dear students, in this module we are going to discuss functionalism and evolutionary process of social change. Functionalism founded by Emile Durkheim views the society as a complex system of parts which are working together to promote solidarity and stability. In this perspective social change is natural and inevitable that helps the society adapt and maintain social equilibrium. For instance, the establishment of Benazir income support program in Pakistan can be seen as the functional response to societal inequality, aiming to ensure the social stability by providing financial assistance to the most vulnerable sections of society. So according to the functionalist perspective, all the system or all the parts of the system in the society are interdependent and this interdependence helps to stabilize the society and parts are always functioning in an endeavor to create equilibrium. For that equilibrium to occur if there is any change in any part of the society or any aspect of the society that would ultimately jolt the other aspects or other parts of the society. So it becomes the ultimate goal of the society to maintain the equilibrium in its relative parts. So giving the example of Benazir income support program, for example when there is a high inequality and high poverty in the society and those poor people are in need of resources, the Benazir income support program was conceived or designed to be a system through which those marginalized people or marginalized communities could be served so that at least they could get the minimal aspect through which they could come up from their extreme poverty position. From a functionalist perspective, such programs contribute to social order by addressing the elements of inequality and preventing the potential resources of social unrest thus helping society to maintain balance and stability. Evolutionary perspectives on social change influenced by theories such as of Herbert Spencer suggests that society is naturally progressed from simple to more complex. So this evolution is driven by the adaptations of challenges and changes in the social environment. Urbanization of Pakistan for example can be viewed from an evolutionary perspective. Over time, rural areas have been transformed into urban centers to accommodate the shifts in population, employment and social dynamics. This represents an adaptation to changes in the country's demographic, economic and cultural landscapes. The digital revolution in Pakistan is another example of evolutionary social change. With an increased number of Pakistanis gaining access to internet and digital technologies, society is adapting to the new era of information and communication. Bringing everything from business practices to interpersonal relationships. As we can see, in today's time and in the past, we can see a huge difference by use of information technology. Today, at least everyone has access to internet, so the flow of information is much more than our past generations. At the same time, we can see that for access to information or flow of information, the sources used in mobile phones, computers and mass media technologies are relatively abundantly available as compared to those available for the past generations. So it's a big evolutionary change which societies are currently absorbing and we can better understand it from the functionalist perspective. So gradual transition of Pakistan's economy from being predominantly agriculture to more diversified with increasing emphasis on industry and services can be seen through evolutionary lens. This shift represents an adaptation to global economic trends and move towards more complex economic structures. The functionalist perspective can be applied to examine how different parts of Pakistani society are responding and adapting to these economic shifts. So both of these perspectives are not without critique. They may downplay the role of conflict and power differentials in social change and they often assume that all changes are inherently beneficial and adaptive. However, they provide valuable insights into understanding how societies adapt and evolve over time.