Showing papers on "Modernization theory published in 2003"

Rising Tide: Gender Equality and Cultural Change Around the World

Abstract: The twentieth century gave rise to profound changes in traditional sex roles. However, the force of this 'rising tide' has varied among rich and poor societies around the globe, as well as among younger and older generations. Rising Tide sets out to understand how modernization has changed cultural attitudes towards gender equality and to analyze the political consequences of this process. The core argument suggests that women and men's lives have been altered in a two-stage modernization process consisting of (i) the shift from agrarian to industrialized societies and (ii) the move from industrial towards post industrial societies. This book is the first to systematically compare attitudes towards gender equality worldwide, comparing almost 70 nations that run the gamut from rich to poor, agrarian to postindustrial. Rising Tide is essential reading for those interested in understanding issues of comparative politics, public opinion, political behavior, political development, and political sociology.

Late Victorian holocausts : El Niño famines and the making of the Third World

Abstract: "Late Victorian Holocausts" focuses on three zones of drought and subsequent famine: India, Northern China and North-Eastern Brazil. All of these countries were effected by the same global climatic factors that caused massive crop failures, and all experienced brutal famines that decimated the populations. The effects of drought were magnified in each case because of singularly destructive policies promulgated by different ruling elites. The author, Mike Davis, argues that the seeds of underdevelopment in what later became known as "The Third World" were sown in this era of high imperialism, as the price for Capitalist modernization was paid in the currency of millions of peasants' lives.

Footprints on the earth: the environmental consequences of modernity.

Abstract: Growing evidence demonstrating clear threats to the sustainability of the ecosystems supporting human societies has given rise to a variety of sociological theories of human-environment interactions. These environmental impact theories fall into three general perspectives: human ecology modernization and political economy. These theories however have not been empirically tested in a common analytic framework. Here a framework that relies on ecological principles is adopted and modified. Using a revised stochastic formulation of that framework and the most comprehensive measure of environmental impact to date-the ecological footprint-the factors driving the environmental impacts of societies are assessed. The overall findings support the claims of human ecologists partially support the claims of political economists and contradict the claims of modernization theorists. Basic material conditions such as population economic production urbanization and geographical factors all affect the environment and explain the vast majority of cross-national variation in environmental impact. Factors derived from neo-liberal modernization theory such as political freedom civil liberties and state environmentalism have no effect on impacts. Taken together these findings suggest societies cannot be sanguine about achieving sustainability via a continuation of current trends in economic growth and institutional change. (authors)

Key Challenges to Ecological Modernization Theory Institutional Efficacy, Case Study Evidence, Units of Analysis, and the Pace of Eco-Efficiency

Abstract: We raise four challenges to the claim of ecological modernization theory (EMT) that continued modernization is necessary for ecological sustainability. First, EMT needs to go beyond merely demonstr...

Globalization and Environmental Reform: The Ecological Modernization of the Global Economy

Abstract: Many writers either glorify globalization or vilify it, particularly for its destructive environmental effects. In this book environmental sociologist Arthur Mol provides a more balanced understanding of the relationship between globalization and environmental quality. Mol bases his arguments on his theory of ecological modernization, which holds that although processes of modernization and globalization often result in environmental degradation, they also can encourage policies and programs designed to arrest degradation and improve environmental quality. Building on earlier ecological modernization studies that focused on Europe, North America, and East and Southeast Asia, Mol takes here a more global perspective. He also addresses the increasing roles of nonstate actors, especially international institutions, nongovernmental organizations, popular movements, and transnational corporations. After examining the confusion created by the failure to distinguish among globalization, global capitalism, and neoliberalism, Mol analyzes both globalization's destructive environmental consequences and its contribution to global environmental reform. Elaborating on the subject of reform, he focuses on three case studies, one involving the economic triad of the European Union, the NAFTA region, and Japan; one involving the relationship between the triad and developing countries; and one involving three developing countries: Vietnam, the Netherlands Antilles, and Kenya.

Multifunctionality and rural development: the actual situation in Europe

Abstract: Rural development is regarded as a reaction on the modernization paradigm that has dominated agricultural development in the last decades The farm income basis can be diversified by broadening, deepening and regrounding the farm enterprise What this exactly means and in how far European farmers are already engaged in the rural development paradigm is analyzed in this chapter

Is Re-modernization Occurring - And If So, How to Prove It? A Commentary on Ulrich Beck

Abstract: On the face of it, there is no connection between the social theory developed by Ulrich Beck under the name of `second modernization' and the post-ethnomethodological argument developed by Bruno Latour and his colleagues under the name of actor-network theory. Yet they are both concerned with empirical evidence of a major shift in modernity. Hence the idea of elaborating an empirical test to probe the extent to which `second modernization' is a real phenomenon, or rather, as is suggested here, a shift in our interpretation of what modernity has always been about.

The secular revolution : power, interests, and conflict in the secularization of American public life

Abstract: Sociologists, historians, and other social observers have long considered the secularization of American public life over the past hundred and thirty years to be an inevitable and natural outcome of modernization. This groundbreaking work rejects this view and fundamentally rethinks the historical and theoretical causes of the secularization of American public life between 1870 and 1930. Christian Smith and his team of contributors boldly argue that the declining authority of religion was not the by-product of modernization, but rather the intentional achievement of cultural and intellectual elites, including scientists, academics, and literary intellectuals, seeking to gain control of social institutions and increase their own cultural authority. Writing with vigor and a broad intellectual grasp, the contributors examine power struggles and ideological shifts in various social sectors where the public authority of religion has diminished, in particular education, science, law, and journalism. Together the essays depict a cultural and institutional revolution that is best understood in terms of individual agency, conflicts of interest, resource mobilization, and struggles for authority. Engaging both sociological and historical literature, The Secular Revolution offers a new theoretical framework and original empirical research that will inform our understanding of American society from the nineteenth to the twenty-first centuries. The ramifications of its provocative and cogent thesis will be felt throughout sociology, religious studies, and our general thinking about society for years to come.

Globalization, Urbanization and Municipal Solid Waste Management in Africa

Abstract: Introduction Globalization, which according to Horst et al. (2001), implies a strong cultural, technological and especially economic interconnection between people and countries, has been widely promoted as a process, which will improve the well being of both the developed and developing worlds. For the developing world in particular, globalization is seen as an economic transformation, a break through to poverty alleviation, and inflation reduction thus expected to help narrow the gap between the two worlds as well as between and within individual nations. It is rightfully argued that globalization brings opportunities for many cities, especially those that can be key centres for production, distribution and services for liberalizing economies. However, increasing evidence suggests that globalization is also creating an increasingly unequal world in terms of distribution of incomes, assets and economic power. While some few countries and their cities are incorporated into it, others are bypassed or excluded. Some are incorporated but at huge social costs. Globalization has raised some troubling concerns for the developing world, including Africa. One such concern is its impact on urbanization and the ramifications that go with it. Cities are traditionally engines of social modernization and economic growth and at the same time the theatres in which globalization stages its actions. For Africa this has meant fueling the already unprecedented urban growth phenomenon and increasing the challenges that go with it. One key challenge is the management of municipal solid waste. Globalization has been identified as playing a negative role in solid waste management in African cities. Impacts include the transfer of globalized or internationalized waste management methods and ideologies together with an increased volume and variety of waste, resulting from increased flows of goods and services, and changed life style and consumption patterns; conflicting involvement of multi-national companies with local initiative groups, city and national government in waste management matters and other issues which directly or indirectly affect the waste sector. The paper attempts to examine how globalization and increasing urbanization have impacted on the management of municipal solid waste sector in Africa and more particularly in Cameroon using the cases of Bamenda and Yaounde cities. After defining globalization and situating Africa in the global scene, the urbanization process is reviewed as the theatre of globalization. The globalized African cities and waste management are then examined, trailing the stages of waste management. In conclusion, the paper suggests some solutions to current waste management problems.

Human values and social change : findings from the values surveys

Abstract: Notes on contributors Introduction, Ronald Inglehart Islamic Culture and Democracy: Testing the 'Clash of Civilizations' Thesis, Pippa Norriss and Ronald Inglehart Is there an Islamic Civilization? Yilmaz Esmer The Worldviews of Islamic Publics: The Cases pf Egypt, Iran and Jordan, Mansoor Moaddel and Taqhi Azadarmaki Gender Equality and Democracy, Ronald Inglehart, Pippa Norris and Christian Welzel Value Priorities in Israeli Society: An Examination of Inglehart's Theory of Modernization and Cultural Variation, Ephraim Yuchtman-Ya'ar Social Relations and Social Capital in Vietnam: Findings from the 2001 World Values Survey, Russel J Dalton, Pham Minh Hac, Pham Thanh Nghi and Nhu-Ngoc T Ong Authority Orientations and Political Support: A Cross-national Analysis of Satisfaction with Governments and Democracy, Neil Nevitte and Mebs Kanji Revising the Value Shift Hypothesis: A Descriptive Analysis of South Africa's Value Priorities between 1990 and 2001, Hennie Kotze and Karin Lombard Individual Values and Global Governance: A Comparative Analysis of Orientations towards the United Nations, Thorleif Petterson Two contradictory Hyptheses on Globalization: Societal Convergence or Civilization Differentiation and Clash, Juan Diez-Nicholas Corruption and Democracy: A Cultural Assessment, Alejandro Moreno Index

Dependency, Democracy, and Infant Mortality: A Quantitative, Cross-National Analysis of Less Developed Countries - eScholarship

Abstract: This study presents quantitative, sociological models designed to account for cross-national variation in infant mortality rates. We consider variables linked to four different theoretical perspectives: the economic modernization, the social modernization, the political modernization, and the dependency perspectives. The study is based on a panel regression analysis of a sample of fifty-nine developing countries. Our preliminary analysis based on additive models replicates prior studies to the extent that we find that indicators linked to economic and social modernization have beneficial effects on infant mortality. We also find support for hypotheses derived from the dependency perspective suggesting that multinational corporate penetration fosters higher levels of infant mortality. Subsequent analysis incorporating interaction effects suggest that the level of political democracy conditions the effects of dependency relationships based upon exports, investments from multinational corporations, and international lending institutions. Transnational economic linkages associated with exports, multinational corporations, and international lending institutions adversely affect infant mortality more strongly at lower levels of democracy than at higher levels of democracy; that is intranational, political factors interact with the international, economic forces to affect infant mortality. We conclude with some brief policy recommendations and suggestions for the direction of future research.

The Islamic Commercial Crisis: Institutional Roots of Economic Underdevelopment in the Middle East

Abstract: During the second millennium, the Middle East's commerce with Western Europe fell increasingly under European domination. Two factors played critical roles. First, the Islamic inheritance system, by raising the costs of dissolving a partnership following a partner's death, kept Middle Eastern commercial enterprises small and ephemeral. Second, certain European inheritance systems facilitated large and durable partnerships by reducing the likelihood of premature dissolution. The upshot is that European enterprises grew larger than those of the Islamic world. Moreover, while ever larger enterprises propelled further organizational transformations in Europe, persistently small enterprises inhibited economic modernization in the Middle East. f one challenge of the social sciences is to account for the rise of the West,I another is to explain how the Islamic Middle East2 became an underdeveloped region.3 A major symptom of this decline was that Muslim merchants lost ground to Westerners, and eventually also to religious minorities living in their midst. By the nineteenth century, when much of the Middle East fell prey to European colonialism, the Muslim role in the region's trade with Western Europe had slipped to insignificance.4 Moreover, many lucrative components of the Middle East's internal commerce had come to be dominated by local Christians and Jews.5 Although these patterns were not uniform across places or sectors, there is no serious disagreement over the general trends of interest here.

Intergenerational Transfers in the Family: What Motivates Giving?

Abstract: Martin Kohli and Harald Kunemund INTRODUCTION Private transfers between adult generations in the family are an important part of the intergenerational link in modern societies. The sociological imagination was long truncated by the emphasis of classical modernization theory on the emergence of the nuclear family. This restrictive view has first been transcended by research on the emotional and support relations between adult family generations. But it is only during the last decade that sociology has discovered again the full extent of the family as a kinship and especially a generational system beyond the nuclear household (Bengtson, 2001), which includes massive monetary relations and flows as well. In the meantime we have become aware of the salience of intergenera-tional transfers not only for the family as such–how the family distributes its resources among and assures the well-being of its members–but also for the broader issues of social policy, social inequality, and social integration (Attias-Donfut, 1995; Szydlik, 2000). Of special interest is the articula- tion between the private transfers in the family and the public transfers in the welfare state. In the conventional story of modernization, the emer-gence of the nuclear family and of the public old-age security system were seen as parallel and mutually reinforcing processes. The basic assumption was that the development of the welfare state would crowd out the private support within families. Recent evidence, however, points to the opposite

Foot Soldiers of Modernity: The Dialectics of Cultural Consumption and the 21st-Century School

Abstract: Drawing on more than twenty-five years of experience researching and theorizing about culture, youth, and society, Paul Willis presents a broad theoretical argument that positions the school as the site and instrument through which cultural responses to material conditions are played out. Willis distinguishes between three "waves of modernization" that stem from radical shifts in technological and material production and that are accompanied by specific cultural forms, particularly forms of youth culture. He argues that it is from these specific cultural forms that an effective struggle for social change can emerge.

State Feminism, Modernization, and the Turkish Republican Woman

Abstract: As part of a social experiment designed to create a modern, Westernized society out of a mostly rural, conservative population, the Turkish state, founded in 1923, gave women rights still radical for the time. However, these reforms by the "feminist" state did not evolve as a result of demands originating within society, but were imposed from above. The state's ideal of the modern Republican woman left out the majority of women beyond a small urbanized elite. Furthermore, state feminism did not concern itself with what happened behind closed doors, but focused on expanding women's public roles. Nevertheless, these dramatic reforms have expanded the realm of possibilities for Turkish women of all classes and allowed development of a more individualist feminism. The debates continue, but Turkey is one of the most important success stories of women's empowerment in the early twentieth century.

Environmental co-operatives as a new mode of rural governance

Abstract: The modernization paradigm, which for many decades dominated agricultural practices, policies and science, is gradually being replaced by a rural development paradigm. The emerging rural development paradigm calls, amongst other things, for a new approach to policy-making, steering and control, in other words, for a new approach to rural governance. The need for new forms of rural governance is embedded in current political and scientific debates on shifts in multi-level governance that occur in a variety of socio-economic domains. Within the domain of agriculture and rural development, self-organization and self-regulation emerge as a new mode of rural governance. Environmental co-operatives are a promising expression of this, They are characterized by new institutional relations between state agencies and the agricultural community, new social networks of trust at local level and the re-embedding of farming in its local social and ecological context. In the Frisian Woodlands, the environmental co-operatives VEL and VANLA succeeded in building new local social networks of trust and in re-integrating dairy farming, nature conservation and landscape management. However, further development towards self-regulation is hampered by a lack of institutional support, particularly from national government authorities.

Metrópole, legislação e desigualdade

Abstract: The brazilian urbanization process happened in practical terms in the XX century. Nevertless, contrary to the expectation of many, the urban universe didn't overcome some characteristics of the colonial and imperial periods marked by land, income and power concentration, by the action of "colonels" or the policy of favoritism and by an arbitrary law deployment. This paper has the objective to address the Brazilian metropolis by the end of the XX century making evident the relationship about social inequality, territorial segregation and environment, having as a reference some authors whose work reflected the Brazilian society "building", specially the mark of modernization with the development of the tardiness. In doing so, a great relevance is given to the role of the law in keeping concentrated power and privileges in the cities, which reflects - and at the same time enhances - the urban territory social inequality.

Deliberative Democracy, Ecological Representation and Risk: Towards a Democracy of the Affected

Abstract: The intensification of economic globalization has generated a growing disjuncture between those who enjoy the benefits of economic modernization and those who suffer the negative ecological and social ‘side-effects’.* While Ulrich Beck has suggested that ‘. . . poverty is hierarchical, while smog is democratic’ (Beck 1995: 60, his italics), the environmental justice movement and Third World political ecologists have pointed to the many ways in which racial minorities, the poor, and heavily indebted developing countries tend to suffer a disproportionate share of the ecological and social problems generated by economic modernization. Accordingly, the green political challenge raised by the ecological crisis involves the double challenge of not only finding ways of reducing ecological and social risks wherever possible but also finding ways of minimizing the unfair externalization and displacement of risks onto innocent third parties in space and time.

Operational Research in War and Peace : The British Experience from the 1930s to 1970

Abstract: This invaluable book provides an account of Operational Research in Britain, the country of its inception, from the late 1930s to 1970. Originating in response to the country's air defence needs against the Luftwaffe, Operational Research had outstanding achievements as part of the 'secret war' against Nazi Germany. After 1945, the discipline began to be adopted in an increasing range of industries and services. In the 1960s — by which time it was being incorporated in to university curricula — the discipline began to penetrate into civil government departments. The history of Operational Research provides unique insights into the conduct of modern warfare, the professionalisation of business management and the modernisation of the civil service. The chronological coverage, from the late 1930s to 1970, coincides with 'golden age' of Operational Research, when the discipline was presented as a means of achieving optimum solutions to complex managerial problems. The book will be of interest to military and business historians, as well as to historians of public administration and higher education.

Dialogue Among Civilizations: Some Exemplary Voices

Abstract: Introduction PART 1: TOWARD A DIALOGUE AMONG CIVILIZATIONS Dialogue Among Civilizations Conversations Across Boundaries The Ambivalence of Europe Globalization and Inequality Global Modernization Memory and Imagination PART 2: SOME EXEMPLARY VOICES Reason, Faith, and Politics West-Eastern Divan Islam and Democracy Rethinking Secularism Freedom East and West What is Self-Rule? Appendix

Globalisation in Education: Process and Discourse:

Abstract: The article draws on comparative analyses meant to investigate both the degree and the dimensions of the 'internationalisation' of educational knowledge in societies that differ considerably in terms of civilisational background and modernisation path. In so doing, the article seeks to put forward two essential ideas. These refer, first, to the importance that educational discourse plays in shaping the educational reality of the present-day world. In this sense, in educational research as in social science in general, the (increasingly numerous) analyses of the socio-economic processes bringing about world society have to be complemented by (hitherto under-represented) research into the semantic construction of world society. Secondly, taking the above analyses and their conceptual design as an example, the article is meant to underscore the theory- dependency of our observations on, and of the resultant knowledge of, phenomena and processes of globalisation.

The Relationship between Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Evolving Cultures, and Wilderness Protection in the Circumpolar North

Abstract: There are many unique issues associated with natural resource management in the far north as a result of legislative direction, historic settlement and occupation patterns, northern cultural traditions, ecotourism, economic depression, pressures for energy development, and globalization and modernization effects. Wilderness designation in Canada, the USA, and Finland is aimed at preserving and restoring many human and ecological values, as are the long-established, strictly enforced, nature reserves in Russia. In Alaska and Finland, and in some provinces of Canada, there is a variety of values associated with protecting relatively intact relationships between indigenous people and relatively pristine, vast ecosystems. These values are often described as "traditional means of livelihood," "traditional means of access," "traditional relationships with nature," or "traditional lifestyles." Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) forms part of these relationships and has been acknowledged as a contributor to understanding the effects of management decisions and human-use impacts on long-term ecological composition, structure, and function. Wilderness protection can help maintain opportunities to continue traditional relationships with nature. As cultures continue to evolve in customs, attitudes, knowledge, and technological uses, values associated with both TEK and relationships with relatively pristine ecosystems will also evolve. Understanding these relationships and how to consider them in wilderness protection and restoration decision making is potentially one of the most contentious, widespread natural resource management issues in the circumpolar north.

Social dynamics of the life course : transitions, institutions, and interrelations

Abstract: In the last two decades, research on the life course has successfully combined and integrated different and rather isolated fields of social concerns such as: the labor market, family solidarity, education, employment, retirement, and social policy. It has also developed a special focus on crucial problems of sociological research, which includes the understanding of micromacro phenomena, the dynamics of social change, and international comparisons. Contributors to this volume take an international, comparative approach in applying the life course theoretical framework to issues of work and career. Life course research focuses on the relationship between institutions and individuals across the life span and illuminates the impact of modernization on the shaping of biographies. Industrial service societies are characterized by historically new contingencies of living arrangements and biographies. These contingencies differ according to the extent to which life course patterns are regulated by social institutions. In the continental European context, institutional frameworks continue to define the timing and sequencing of transitions across the life course. In less regulated market societies, like the United States and Great Britain, biographies and living arrangements are shaped more by the interaction of markets, social networks, and individual decisions. In active welfare states, institutional resources and rules continue to mediate the effects of social change on the life course. What the editors and contributors to this fine compendium anticipate is a change on the cultural level toward more equality. This trend supports young people, and women in particular, in their expectations concerning an egalitarian relationship. This expectation is not taken for granted from the point of view of the male partner, but has to be negotiated in decisionmaking processes as an issue that concerns the couple as a unit. Thus, the way in which people interact is profoundly impacted by the values and goals of equity demands. "Walter R. Heinz" is professor of sociology and social psychology, and director, Graduate School of Social Sciences, University of Bremen. "Victor W. Marshall" is professor of sociology, and director of the Institute on Aging, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Carolina.

Experiences with Fisheries Co-management in Africa

Abstract: Since the 1950s when the wave of de-colonization began to sweep through Africa, the continent has gone through several changing perspectives of ‘development’ approaches. Hyden (1993) characterises the discourse on development as having passed through four cycles; modernization (1955–65), dependency (1965–75), popular participation (1975–85) and enabling environment (1985-onwards). This moved the paradigm from development being measured purely in terms of economic stages of development to the wholesome term of human development (Hyden, 1993) specifically, development should imply improving the readiness and ability of societies to ‘problematise’ issues. In other words development becomes meaningful to people when they have a chance to wrestle with end/means relations in ways that are relevant to their own predicament. It was symptomatic of this shift that by the end of the 1980s terms such as people centred development (The World Commission on Environment and Development — WCED, 1987), sustainable development (Hyden, 1993) and sustainable livelihoods (Chambers and Conway, 1992) became increasingly common in development language1.

Modernity, Modernization and the Deinstitutionalization of Incremental Budgeting in Local Government

Abstract: Governmental reform programs in the UK have a long history of failed attempts to end incrementalism in local government budgeting. Drawing on structuration theory, incrementalism is presented as institutionalized organizational behaviour. From this perspective, the recent New Labour reform agenda may be interpreted via a theory of de-institutionalization. The approach is illustrated through an analysis of recent developments in a large UK metropolitan authority where new political structures, inspection regimes and regulatory pressures are beginning to challenge incrementalism. A new belief in the measurability of public sector performance seems to be legitimized by a post-bureaucratic modernity rather than any significant technical innovations.

Socioeconomic Metabolism and Colonization of Natural Processes in SangSaeng Village: Material and Energy Flows, Land Use, and Cultural Change in Northeast Thailand

Abstract: Conceptualizing environmental problems as sustainability problems contributing to local and global environmental change requires an understanding of how societies cope with their natural environment. Indicators for society–nature interactions are fairly well developed for national-level analyses. This study adapts some of these indicators to the local level and relates them to a qualitative assessment of economic and cultural change in a single community. Indicators are derived from material and energy flow accounting methods and address two major objectives: Firstly, to identify mutual influences between the global and the local level. Secondly, to assess future potentials of environmental pressures and impacts that can be expected to occur as such communities follow a path of further modernization. This study of a small rice-farming community in Northeast Thailand deals with physical as well as sociocultural aspects in order to produce a broad picture of society–nature relations. The indicators developed portray a society in the midst of transition and rapid modernization. This becomes apparent when comparing the results to those of similar studies in traditional and industrial societies. What we see is a community struggling to adapt to global influences, while at the same time maintaining subsistence with traditional coping mechanisms.

Turkish Foreign Policy And Turkish Identity A Constructivist Approach

Abstract: 1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 3 Modernization and the Construction of Official Identity in the First Turkish Republic 4 Turkey and the West 5 Identity Crisis and Turkey's Search for Alternatives 6 Turkey and the Muslim Middle East 7 Turkey and Israel: The 'Outsiders' in the Middle East 8 Conclusion

Modern Iran since 1921 : the Pahlavis and after

Abstract: Acknowledgements Glossary Chronology of Modern Iran Map 1. Introduction 2. Reza Khan and the Establishment of the Pahlavi State 3. Reza Shah: Modernisation and Tradition, 1926-41 4. Political Pluralism and the Ascendancy of Nationalism, 1941-53 5. The Consolidation of Power, 1953-60 6. The 'White Revolution' 7. Towards the Great Civilisation 8. Revolution, War and 'Islamic Republic' 9. Conclusion: A Century of Reform and Revolution Guide to Further Research Select Bibliography Index

Modernity, Modernization and the Deinstitutionalization of Incremental Budgeting in Local Government

Abstract: Governmental reform programs in the UK have a long history of failed attempts to end incrementalism in local government budgeting. Drawing on structuration theory, incrementalism is presented as institutionalized organizational behaviour. From this perspective, the recent New Labour reform agenda may be interpreted via a theory of de-institutionalization. The approach is illustrated through an analysis of recent developments in a large UK metropolitan authority where new political structures, inspection regimes and regulatory pressures are beginning to challenge incrementalism. A new belief in the measurability of public sector performance seems to be legitimized by a post-bureaucratic modernity rather than any significant technical innovations.