Modernization theory

About: Modernization theory is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 14641 publications have been published within this topic receiving 232469 citations.

An analysis of the impact of traditional Chinese culture on Chinese education

Abstract: The educational tradition of China has developed from traditional Chinese culture. Without an understanding of the cultural impact on traditional education, it is impossible to comprehend the educational tradition of China and to change its traditional educational ideas. There are fine traditions and feudal remains in Chinese culture which ought to be examined from the historical materialism perspective in order to tell the essence from the dross and to facilitate educational modernization in today’s China.

The Chinese Army After Mao

Abstract: Ellis Joffe has drawn on a lifetime of experience as an analyst of Chinese military affairs in this authoritative assessment of a highly elusive subject: military modernization and the politics of civilian-military relations in the post-Mao period. He has sifted vast amounts of evidence, primary and secondary, to show that during the past few years the Chinese army has been transformed into a relatively modern and professional force that will be the basis for future growth of China s military power. The author begins by describing the development of the People s Liberation Army in the Maoist era and explains the reasons for its decline. He analyzes the political changes and the shifts in strategic outlook of Mao s successors that have made possible a new policy of military modernization: a policy of raising the combat capability of the PLA through slow improvements of technology including buying some material abroad and a thorough upgrading of the nontechnological components of military power. Joffe examines all aspects of the PLA s modernization, focusing on the wide-ranging changes in doctrine, weapons, organization, structure, and modes of operation, and concludes with an analysis of the PLA s political role and the state of civil military relations. There is a particularly perspicacious chapter dissecting Deng s maneuvers to remove the military influence in politics that had burgeoned during and after the Cultural Revolution."

Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia: The Reformist Intellectuals of the Early Twentieth Century

Abstract: Bahru Zewde. Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia: The Reformist Intellectuals of the Early Twentieth Century. Athens: Ohio University Press/Oxford: James Currey, 2002. xii + 228 pp. Photographs. Bibliography. Index. $49.95. Cloth. Between the end of the nineteenth century, when Ethiopia affirmed its independent statehood in the face of European imperialism, and the outbreak of World War II, when Italy colonized it, a good number of Ethiopians received secular education in various fields and in different parts of the world. Through their education and exposure to industrial societies they became painfully aware of the technical backwardness of their own society. Like their counterparts in other preindustrial countries, some of the new intellectuals passionately sought a new understanding of the domestic and external forces that facilitated or hindered Ethiopia's entry into the modern age. As advocates of "modernization," they wrote extensively, thoughtfully, and often incisively in the hope that they would persuade a reactionary and xenophobic traditional polity that political independence without social, economic, and technological progress was no guarantor of freedom and state viability in a dynamic and fast-changing world. Their impact was apparently quite limited, and the creative and vibrant intellectual life they set in motion was cut short when, in a state of frenzy, the fascist government decimated the intelligentsia in 1937. Pioneers of Change in Ethiopia is the fascinating story of the lives, ideas, and legacies of these extraordinary men of purpose and vitality. By drawing on a vast range of documentary sources and direct interviews, Bahru Zwede has written a slender but substantial book with admirable concision, clarity, and even-handedness. Bahru divides the "pioneers" into first and second generations mainly on the basis of their formative periods. The first group was educated at home and abroad during the reign of Emperor Menilek II (1889-1913). A few of them owed their schooling to foreign guardians or benefactors following their fortuitous migration to such far-flung places as Austria and India; others were sponsored by the emperor and his cousin, Ras Makonnen. The majority, however, were self-taught, often with the help of Catholic and Protestant missionaries. Nearly all the notable "reformist intellectuals," including Warqenah Eshate, Gabru Dasta, Gabra-Heywat Baykedan, Afawarq Gabra-Iyyasus, Takla-Hawaryat Takla-Maryam, Heruy Walda-Sellasse, Atsme-Giorgis Gabra-Masih, Gabra-Egziabher Gila-Maryam, and Deressa Amante, belonged to this generation. The members of the second generation, educated abroad (mostly in France) through state and/or royal patronage in the 1920s and 1930s, were of lesser stature; they wrote precious little and their reformist vision was much less visible. This group occupies just about half the space allotted to the first in the book and does not seem to be worthy of even that much attention. Overall, though, the narrative of the pioneers' lives, with all their vicissitudes, is compelling. The individual portraits, which vary from one to seven pages, are full of evocative detail and illuminating anecdotes. The intellectual stalwarts of the early twentieth century were writers of great merit, although it is not certain that they were all reformist. Still, the author's judgment that "the intellectuals as a group had an output that puts subsequent generations to shame" (188) is probably accurate. They wrote with erudition, foresight, and eloquence on nearly all aspects of Ethiopian society, ranging from ethnography and historiography to slavery and political economy, and they called for reforms in the social, economic, cultural, educational, and administrative spheres. For example, GabraHeywat's and Afawarq's depressing portrayals of the peasantry and the militia's predatory activities in the countryside could not have been more vivid and captivating. Takla-Hawaryat's anecdotal remarks on a variety of issues were revealing and stimulating, just as Atsma-Giorgia's perspective on the history of the Oromo was refreshingly innovative. …

Everyday Things in Premodern Japan: The Hidden Legacy of Material Culture

Abstract: Japan was the only non-Western nation to industrialize before 1900 and its leap into the modern era has stimulated vigorous debates among historians and social scientists. In an innovative discussion that posits the importance of physical well-being as a key indicator of living standards, Susan B. Hanley considers daily life in the three centuries leading up to the modern era in Japan. She concludes that people lived much better than has been previously understood - at levels equal or superior to their Western contemporaries. She goes on to illustrate how this high level of physical well-being had important consequences for Japan's ability to industrialize rapidly and for the comparatively smooth transition to a modern, industrial society. While others have used income levels to conclude that the Japanese household was relatively poor in those centuries, Hanley examines the material culture - food, sanitation, housing, and transportation. How did ordinary people conserve the limited resources available in this small island country? What foods made up the daily diet and how were they prepared? How were human wastes disposed of? How long did people live? Hanley answers all these questions and more in an accessible style and with frequent comparisons with Western lifestyles. Her methods allow for cross-cultural comparisons between Japan and the West as well as Japan and the rest of Asia. They will be useful to anyone interested in the effects of modernization on daily life.