Modernization Development

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

The issues of modernization and development are at the very core of the development of sociology itself. The great founders (by consensus) of sociology, Karl Marx, Émile Durkheim, and Max Weber, each intellectually wrestled with the enormous social changes seen in industrializing Europe--and elsewhere as well--and out of that quest emerged their characteristic but deeply different approaches to social thought itself. The materials we consider will range widely: from deep and intense comparisons of the historical developmental experiences of multiple nations and world regions; to conceptual and theoretical and methodological issues concerning how to think about, measure, and compare experiences of development; to reading and absorbing data on changes in birth rates, GNP/capita, mortality, etc.; to absorbing the gist of sophisticated, state-of-the-art statistical studies trying to account for differences in development using routine--but scary for undergraduates--economic and sociological modeling. The course will also include deep engagements with both classic and thoroughly current theoretical approaches to development, ranging from Weberian and modernization theory to dependency and world-system theories, as well as to critiques of all those schools and new pathways beyond them. Special but by no means exclusive attention will be paid to development in Latin America. The work for the course derives from two equally weighted exams--part in-class, part take-home--contributing 75% to your final grade. The remaining 25% will be based upon class attendance and participation including one or more classroom presentations. Since the participation requires attendance, noticeable absences will lead directly to lower participation grades. Some part of the class grade may depend on a brief writing assignment or two.