The Status and Significance of the Theory of Social and Cultural Pluralism

1987 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 63-80
Author(s):  
James A. Monsonis
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Third World ◽  
Cultural Pluralism ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Class Interest ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
Sense Of Reality ◽  
The Third World

This is a paper tracing the history of an ideology, in the classical Marxist sense of the term: a framework of thought which purports to make sense of reality but which in fact masks its real dynamics, and which is developed in the service of class interest (Marx, 1970). The ideology in question here has to do with the ways in which social scientists conceptualize and analyse the dynamics of those societies usually described as the Third World. In recent years, following the failure of functionalism and such developmentalist schemas as Rostow's stages of economic growth, there has begun to emerge an interest in thinking about Third World societies in terms of social and cultural pluralism. It is this framework of thought which is to be examined here.

Social Science and Health Policy in Preindustrial Society

1974 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joyce Leeson
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Rational Solutions ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Republic Of China ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Status ◽  
Preindustrial Society ◽  
The One ◽  
The Third World

In spite of unfortunate legacies from colonial days, social scientists in the health field in the Third World could make an important contribution by examining why “rational solutions” are not applied to the multitude of problems that exist. This would require an historical analysis of the status and roles of health personnel, and a recognition of the contradictions between the interests of the metropolitan countries and the urban elites of the Third World, on the one hand, and the rural masses on the other. The principles guiding the health services of the People's Republic of China have led to very different and apparently more appropriate services, but it seems unlikely that these will be applied elsewhere under present circumstances.

Amiya Kumar Bagchi. The Political Economy of Underdevelopment. London: Cambridge University Press. 1982. Reprint 1983. pp.viii+276. List of books for further reading; Index. Price: £ 8.50 (paperback edition).

1985 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-82
Author(s):  
Zia Ul Haq
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Third World ◽  
Social Process ◽  
Growth Strategies ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Third World

Amiya Kumar Bagchi, an eminent economist of the modern Cambridge tradition, has produced a timely treatise, in a condensed form, on the development problems of the Third World countries. The author's general thesis is that economic development in the developing societies necessarily requires a radical transformation in the economic, social and political structures. As economic development is actually a social process, economic growth should not be narrowly defined as the growth of the stock of rich capitalists. Neither can their savings be equated to capital formation whose impact on income will presumably 'trickle down' to the working classes. Economic growth strategies must not aim at creating rich elites, because, according to the author, "maximizing the surplus in the hands of the rich in the Third World is not, however, necessarily a way of maximizing the rate of growth".

Economic Development and Traditional Social Structures: Some Theoretical Considerations

1988 ◽  
Vol 27 (4II) ◽  
pp. 501-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soofia Mumtaz
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Industrial System ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Third ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Functional Logic ◽  
The Third World ◽  
Theoretical Considerations

This paper discusses some issues currently preoccupying social scientists with respect to the process of development and its implications for Third World countries. These issues have become highly significant considering the momentum and nature of the development process being launched in the so-called "underdeveloped" world, within the context of modern nation-states. Therefore, in this paper, we seek to identify: (a) What is meant by development; (b) How the encounter between this process and traditional social structures (with their own functional logic, based on earlier forms of production and social existence) takes place; (c) What the implications of this encounter are; and (d) What lessons we can learn in this regard from history and anthropology. Development as a planned and organized process, the prime issue concerning both local and Western experts in Third World countries, is a recent phenomenon in comparison to the exposure of Third World countries to the Western Industrial system. The former gained momentum subsequent to the decolonization of the bulk of the Third World in the last half of this century, whereas the latter dates to at least the beginning of this century, if not earlier, when the repercussions of colonization, and later the two World Wars, became manifest in these countries.

Teaching and Researching the History of Sexual Politics at San Francisco State, 1969–1970

2021 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 2-29
Author(s):  
Marc Stein
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Third World ◽  
Sexual Politics ◽  
History Teachers ◽  
Lgbt History ◽  
The Third ◽  
Collaborative Authorship ◽  
Lgbt Activism ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Third World

This essay summarizes the methods and results of a collaborative student-faculty research project on the history of sexual politics at San Francisco State University. The collaborators collected and analyzed 160 mainstream, alternative, student, and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans) media stories. After describing the project parameters and process, the essay discusses six themes: (1) LGBT history; (2) the Third World Liberation Front strike; (3) feminist sexual politics; (4) the history of heterosexuality; (5) sex businesses, commerce, and entrepreneurship; and (6) sexual arts and culture. The conclusion discusses project ethics and collaborative authorship. The essay’s most significant contributions are pedagogical, providing a model for history teachers interested in working with their students on research skills, digital methodologies, and collaborative projects. The essay also makes original contributions to historical scholarship, most notably in relation to the Third World Liberation Front strike. More generally, the essay provides examples of the growing visibility of LGBT activism, the intersectional character of race, gender, and sexual politics, the complicated nature of gender and sexual politics in the “movement of movements,” the commercialization of sex, and the construction of normative and transgressive heterosexualities in this period.

“Solidarity is Something you can Hold in your Hand”

2022 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Torkil Lauesen
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
Detailed Account ◽  
Popular Front ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Third World ◽  
Support Work

Abstract This article tells the story of an organization based in Copenhagen, Denmark, which supported the Liberation struggle in the Third World from 1969 until April 1989. It focus on the support to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (pflp). The story is told in a historical and global context. The text explains the strategy and tactic behind the support-work. It explains how the different forms of solidarity work developed over two decades (for a more detailed account of the history of the group, see Kuhn, 2014). Finally, the article offers an evaluation of the past and a perspective on the future struggle for a socialist Palestine.

The “Resource Curse”: Lessons of the Third World

2015 ◽  
pp. 28-39
Author(s):  
V. Shmat
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Third World ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
The Third ◽  
National Institutions ◽  
Resource Nationalism ◽  
The Third World ◽  
First World

According to the hypothesis known as the “resource curse”, natural resources abundance is a brake on economic growth of many Third World countries. But is it really so? The author believes there are deeper reasons why the Third World in general – regardless of the amount of raw material resources available in each country – cannot achieve the same level of welfare as the First World. The “resource curse” theory looks for the origins of the resourceful countries’ economic problems in the institutional sphere. But this seems misleading because of excessively narrow “here and now” approach. The economic and socio-political institutions of individual countries are regarded in short periods of time when “curse” declared itself. Its typical manifestations, such as rent-seeking, stagnation or degradation of the institutions, authoritarian power, snowballing public debt and symptoms of Dutch disease, were seen in many Third World countries long before the development of the major sources of raw materials and regardless of the availability or absence of them. Therefore, it seems appropriate to speak of a kind of “three-fold institutional curse” as an explanation of continuing underdevelopment of many countries and territories. Poor national institutions in the Third World countries are not actually caused by the presence or absence of concentrated natural resources. This is the result of prior historical development with series of discrete transitions from one condition to another: from colonial status – to independent statehood; from poverty – to unexpected wealth mostly based on the exploitation of the natural resources. Qualitative transformation of national institutions usually lags far behind. As a consequence, institutional development enters into a state of stagnation (inhibiting or destabilizing economic growth) that can stretch for very long periods of time. The author concludes that the presence or absence of resources, in fact, has no fundamental impact on the nature of socio-economic development of Third World countries. The major reason hindering institutional progress has external nature, that is heavy economic dependence on the First World (coupled with informal political subordination). This circumstance begets the “resource nationalism” by the developing countries – exporters of raw materials and fuel. History of “resource nationalism” provides a useful lesson for Russia whose economy is features by growing dependency on resources. Acknowledgement. The article has been supported by a grant of the Russian Science Foundation. Project № 14-18-02345.

Wanted: A Comparative History of the Modern Mediterranean

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-53
Author(s):  
Edmund Burke
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Third World ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
The West ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Third World

There is something seriously flawed about models of social change that posit the dominant role of in-built civilizational motors. While “the rise of the West” makes great ideology, it is poor history. Like Jared Diamond, I believe that we need to situate the fate of nations in a long-term ecohistorical context. Unlike Diamond, I believe that the ways (and the sequences) in which things happened mattered deeply to what came next. The Mediterranean is a particularly useful case in this light. No longer a center of progress after the sixteenth century, the decline of the Mediterranean is usually ascribed to its inherent cultural deficiencies. While the specific cultural infirmity varies with the historian (amoral familism, patron/clientalism, and religion are some of the favorites) its civilizationalist presuppositions are clear. In this respect the search for “what went wrong” typifies national histories across the region and prefigures the fate of the Third World.

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