Economic Sociology of Development

Andrew Schrank is the Olive C. Watson Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs at Brown University

“Conventional economic and sociological explanations portray development as a struggle pitting people and countries against one another. Schrank pushes them aside to craft a fresh analysis of the structure and dynamics of the international economy and national development strategies. This accessible, erudite book stresses that development is both a sociocultural process and an economic and political one, showing students and scholars how future prospects for development can be viewed differently. An exciting contribution.”Woody Powell, Stanford University“Andrew Schrank surveys a kaleidoscope of influential concepts and theories while persuasively arguing for a distinctive economic sociology of development. This thorough, accessible book will be a valuable addition to both graduate and undergraduate courses, generating many stimulating class discussions.”Sarah Babb, Boston College

• Acknowledgments Preface: The Scope of this BookNotes1 IntroductionThe classical sociology of developmentBeyond single-bullet theories of development and underdevelopmentInterdisciplinary development studies in the mid-twentieth centuryThe birth of the Washington Consensus and the rise of “DIY sociology”Notes2 What Do We Mean by “Development?”The traditional approach to development: the production of commoditiesBeyond the traditional approach: development as freedomReactivity in Rwanda: the social construction of development indicatorsAre GDP per capita and the HDI redundant?From cross-national inequality to interpersonal inequality in global contextWhat is middle about the “global” middle class?The nature of international inequalityA classification of development conceptsConclusionNotes3 Is International Inequality Gradational or Relational?Modernization theoryThe neo-Marxist alternativeToward a resolution?ConclusionNotes4 Explaining National Mobility in the Cold War EraFrom agrarian to industrial societyIndustrialization via central planningIndustrialization through infant industry protectionThe East Asian debate in the late twentieth centuryFrom the World Bank to Weber and beyondThe developmental state in Northeast AsiaPopulist societies in the developing worldThe high human developers: exceptions that prove the rule?A typology of late developing societiesConclusionNotes5 The Diffusion and Demise of Free-Market Reform in the Post-Cold War EraThe Washington Consensus revisitedEconomic rationality and beyondDrivers of isomorphismThe limits to neoliberalismThe origin of institutionsToward a contrarian alternativeConclusionNotes6 What If Sociologists Were in Charge?From grand theory to the middle rangeBeyond the middle rangeMoving toward the futureNotesReferencesIndex