Introduction

1980 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy S. Alitto
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
Modernization Theory ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The West ◽  
The Third ◽  
Western Influence ◽  
The Third World ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Full Maturity

A major issue in modernization theory, and in the study of the relationship between the expanding West and the “Third World,” has been the dynamism or lack of dynamism present in the indigenously idiosyncratic patterns of non-Western cultures. The concept of modernization was born and bred in the West, and seems to have reached full maturity in the late 1950s under the tender care of American social scientists. The bulk of the literature it generated assumed that modernizing cultures, following the West in their patterns of development, would become increasingly alike and eventually “converge.” Although Marxist theories of imperialism do not see Western influence as an unmitigated good, they too view the Third World nations as essentially passive.

The decline of patron-client relations in developed societies

1983 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 136-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Theobald
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Third World ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Third ◽  
Enormous Amount ◽  
The Third World ◽  
Client Relations ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Scholarly Attention

An enormous amount of scholarly attention has been devoted to the phenomenon of patron-client relations both in the form of conceptual elaboration and to the application of the patronage model to a wide variety of empirical situations. However despite the prodigious amount written on the relationship its analytical status remains equivocal: no one, for example, has been able to say with any degree of precision what patron-clientage is, and especially where patron-clientage ends and the reciprocity which pervades all social relations begins. But a certain lack of clarity has not deterred social scientists from resorting to the patron-client model and few studies of social and political change in the Third World manage to get by entirely without it.

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.

Knee Surgery and the Indian Knee: The Importance of the Preservation of Flexion

1989 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
R N Villar ◽  
V K Solomon ◽  
J Rangam
Keyword(s):  
Knee Flexion ◽  
Third World ◽  
Degenerative Disease ◽  
Knee Surgery ◽  
The West ◽  
The Third ◽  
Mission Hospital ◽  
The Third World ◽  
Indian Mission ◽  
Knee Pathology

The pattern of knee pathology seen in an Indian mission hospital following the introduction of knee clinics is described. This paper reports the results of the first 200 consecutive patients seen at these clinics, relating the findings to anticipated treatments. The occurrence of degenerative disease was high. The importance of knee flexion, in order to be able to squat, is highlighted. The necessity to adopt this position materially alters the types of treatment that can be offered to this group of people. It is concluded that treatments common to the West are not always suitable for patients in the Third World.

Globalization and the death of liberal democracy

1998 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Cammack
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Third World ◽  
Economic Globalization ◽  
Economic Liberalization ◽  
The State ◽  
The West ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Third World

It is doubtful as to whether the countries of the Third World are likely to move to the kind of liberal democracy that is regarded as characteristic of the West. In particular, parties are often remaining ‘parties of the State’ and not organizations truly competing with each other. This is in part a consequence of economic globalization, as the requirements of global economic liberalization do not fit with the requirements of democracy. In such a context, clientelism around the State may be inevitable and it contributes to ensuring that the main party in the country, and indeed all parties become ‘parties of the State’, as is the case in Mexico or Malaysia and perhaps in the Ukraine and South Africa. Thus, globalization does not mean the end of the State, but possibly the end of liberal democracy.

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.

Coups, Earthquakes and Hostages? Foreign News on Canadian Television

1989 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 809-826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Hackett
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Third World ◽  
English Language ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
The West ◽  
The Third ◽  
News Agencies ◽  
Foreign News ◽  
The Third World

AbstractForeign news coverage on Canadian national television was content analyzed in light of Third World criticisms of Western news agencies. Using a sample of CBC and CTV national English-language newscasts in 1980 and 1985, four hypotheses were considered: (1) the geographical distribution of foreign news is highly concentrated, focussing on the West and regions of violence involving Western interests; (2) news from the industrialized West and from the Third World tends to be characterized by different formats and topics; (3) differences between networks are limited; and (4) differences between the two years studied are minor. The results support these hypotheses, with the partial exception of the fourth one, to the detriment of the image of the Third World on Canadian television.

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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