"The highest praise that most historical sociologists can give is that a book is in the same league as Barrington Moore's Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. This book may well be in that league with its grand comparative sweep, its subtle attention to methodological issues, and its command of the literature. Postmodern it is not. It offers theory, it grapples with evidence, it comes to strong conclusions that point forward as well as backward." --Leslie Sklair, Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics

• Preface; 1. An introduction to middle classes, discipline and development; 2. Middle classes and development theory; 3. Discipline and reward: rural middle classes and the South Korean development miracle; 4. Disciplinary development as rural middle class formation: proletarian peasants and farmer-workers in Argentina and Taiwan; 5. From victors to victims? Rural middle classes, revolutionary legacies, and the unfulfilled promise of disciplinary development in Mexico; 6. Disciplinary development in a new millennium: the global context of past gains and future prospects; Appendix A. Cases, comparisons, and a note on methodology and sources; Appendix B. Defining the middle class: notes on boundaries and epistemology; Appendix C. Tables; Bibliography; Index.

"The highest praise that most historical sociologists can give is that a book is in the same league as Barrington Moore's Social Origins of Dictatorship and Democracy. This book may well be in that league with its grand comparative sweep, its subtle attention to methodological issues, and its command of the literature. Postmodern it is not. It offers theory, it grapples with evidence, it comes to strong conclusions that point forward as well as backward." --Leslie Sklair, Professor of Sociology, London School of Economics

• Preface; 1. An introduction to middle classes, discipline and development; 2. Middle classes and development theory; 3. Discipline and reward: rural middle classes and the South Korean development miracle; 4. Disciplinary development as rural middle class formation: proletarian peasants and farmer-workers in Argentina and Taiwan; 5. From victors to victims? Rural middle classes, revolutionary legacies, and the unfulfilled promise of disciplinary development in Mexico; 6. Disciplinary development in a new millennium: the global context of past gains and future prospects; Appendix A. Cases, comparisons, and a note on methodology and sources; Appendix B. Defining the middle class: notes on boundaries and epistemology; Appendix C. Tables; Bibliography; Index.