Modernization theory

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

The Forgotten Factor: The Uneasy Relationship between Religion and Development

Abstract: Religion has been ignored and sidelined in international development theory and strategy, supported by the discourse of social theory during the development era. The dominance of modernization and secularization theories has been key to this marginalization, but if, as recently asserted, we are to recognize the impact and influence of culture on development strategy, we must account for the specific role of religion in this. This article argues that religion is a defining force within culture, and asks if in a postmodern era, where religion seems to be impacting on all areas of society, religion can be addressed; and if so, how this should be managed. By exploring the roots of development and its historical avoidance of religion, the article seeks to determine a course of action that encourages the social significance of religion to be recognized and handled in a constructive manner.

Political Clientelism, Democracy, and Market Economy

Abstract: Clientelistic practices and patronage-ridden politics are found in many contemporary societies. In the 1960s and 1970s an interpretive approach dominated studies in this field. It assumed that clientelism was a vestige of early modem development and that political and economic modernization would render it obsolete and ultimately end it. Since the 1980s the systemic persistence of clientelism and patronage has been recognized. Yet only in the current third wave of research have analysts begun to investigate the institutional sequences and indicators of political clientelism, tying them in with such issues as democratic governance and interest representation. Thus, even on historical subjects and the third world scholars have brought new convictions, concerns, and tools to their studies.