Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy: The Human Development Sequence

by Ronald Inglehart, Christian Welzel

This book demonstrates that people's basic values and beliefs are changing, in ways that affect their political, sexual, economic, and religious behavior. These changes are roughly predictable because they can be interpreted on the basis of a revised version of modernization theory presented here. Drawing on a massive body of evidence from societies containing 85% of the world's population, the authors demonstrate that modernization is a process of human development, in which economic development triggers cultural changes that make individual autonomy, gender equality, and democracy increasingly likely.

Genres: Politics, Sociology, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Political Science, History, Social Science

344 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2004

About the author

Ronald F. Inglehart (born September 5, 1934) was a political scientist at the University of Michigan. He was director of the World Values Survey, a global network of social scientists who have carried out representative national surveys of the publics of over 80 societies on all six inhabited continents, containing 90 percent of the world's population. The first wave of surveys for this project was carried out in 1981 and the latest wave was completed in 2014. Since 2010 Inglehart was co-director of the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research at the National Research University - Higher School of Economics in Moscow and St Petersburg. This laboratory has carried out surveys in Russia and eight ex-Soviet countries and is training Phd.-level students in quantitative cross-national research methods.

In the seventies Inglehart began developing an influential theory of Generational Replacement causing intergenerational value change from materialist to postmaterialist values that helped shape the Eurobarometer Surveys, the World Values Surveys and other cross-national survey projects. Building on this work, he subsequently developed a revised version of Modernization theory, Evolutionary Modernization Theory, which argues that economic development, welfare state institutions and the long peace between major powers since 1945, are reshaping human motivations in ways that have important implications concerning gender roles, sexual norms, the role of religion, economic behavior and the spread of democracy.

Reviews

[Samuel Kalergis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Antes de dar mi opinión, resumo la tesis de los autores. Ellos argumentan que existe una cadena causal entre desarrollo socioeconómico y desarrollo democrático. Básicamente, mayores niveles de desarrollo socioeconómico causan en la población mayores niveles de seguridad, y estos niveles de seguridad, a la vez, causan, en generaciones que están en su momento de socialización, mayores niveles de actitudes auto-expresivas y autónomas. Luego, estas actitudes, mediante presiones a las élites políticas e intercambio generacional, causaban desarrollo democrático. Este proceso los autores lo denominaban: human development sequence.

Ahora, a mi opinión. Salgo con sentimientos mezclados. Por un lado, admiro (y un poco contagiado) por la esperanza de los 2000s. No solo los autores apuntaban a un desarrollo profundo en los próximos años de la publicación (¡China sería una democracia!), sino que también, entregaban evidencia que apuntaba a que los valores y opiniones de la ciudadanía causaban el tipo de régimen político. Por otro, la evidencia era bastante pobre. La selección de casos era bastante excepcional, si bien eran la mayoría de los países en la WVS, fue en un momento histórico peculiar 1990-2000 (fin de la Guerra Fría, retorno a la democracia, etc.). En adición, los métodos utilizados no eran los óptimos, si bien corregían por auto-correlación, todavía faltaba controlar por efectos fijos – pero igual esto es difícil con pocos casos (menos de 100 y a veces menos de 30) y solo dos observaciones en el tiempo.

Tengo que buscar si alguien ha intentado hacer esto con las nuevas olas de WVS (tipo Arellano-Bond o ecuaciones estructurales). Estaría interesante (sobre todo cuando hay autores que han hecho algo similar pero con otras variables: Claassen, 2020)

[Rachel Cheeseman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me want to go to graduate school, and I actually mean that. Like, I registered for the GRE because of this book.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ronald Inglehart goes to meticulous lengths to set out his modernization theory, which holds that as societies develop from an economic standpoint there will be a greater emphasis on individual rights and freedoms. It is impressively convincing, but the downside to how well supported his argument is is that you sift through a ton of data. I'd still recommend it though.

[Leonardo]

Citado en el artículo de Alkire en Capabilities and Happiness.

[Darci]

i could only read some of this on google books, but it was quite interesting. i am working on this fulbright thingy, and want to incorporate some modernization theories-- thinking about organic agriculture and the modern society (cue angels rising, bright light, and a choir "ahhhhh!"). super-expensive book, tho, and the closest one is in stanford.

[Stephen Cranney · Rating 3 out of 5]

He bites off a pretty big piece for chewing here; addressing a myriad of claims and pretty much trying to develop a grand theory of everything social. However, his overall position seems to make sense even if I take issue with some of the methodological particulars.

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book makes its point by chapter two and then goes in a continuous circle.SNORE!