Development and Social Change : A Global Perspective (Sociology for a New Century Series)

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: I completely agree with Mr. Jones' review. I can name countless books that offer strong arguments and good research. I can also recommend many books that are written with such clear and graceful style that they are a pleasure to read. McMichael is one of the few authors who can manage to combine these two aspects. I thank him for making it both easy and interesting for me to learn about this field of study.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent place to start
Review: I completely agree with Mr. Jones' review. I can name countless books that offer strong arguments and good research. I can also recommend many books that are written with such clear and graceful style that they are a pleasure to read. McMichael is one of the few authors who can manage to combine these two aspects. I thank him for making it both easy and interesting for me to learn about this field of study.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond modernization and underdevelopment
Review: McMichael avoids the classic pitfall of falsely dichotomizing his development themes into modernization and/or underdevelopment theory. Nor does he leave us in the postmodern paralysis of absolute relativity. His straightforward and readable style reveals the entire postwar development project and its consequences, as well as the rise of the globalization project now under way. McMichael underscores his points with case studies and acutely observes the cultural phenomena and localized resistance of our times. Development and Social Change brings the sociology of development to the edge of modernity and the end of our century, in a vocabulary and style open to laypersons and sociologists alike.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond modernization and underdevelopment
Review: McMichael avoids the classic pitfall of falsely dichotomizing his development themes into modernization and/or underdevelopment theory. Nor does he leave us in the postmodern paralysis of absolute relativity. His straightforward and readable style reveals the entire postwar development project and its consequences, as well as the rise of the globalization project now under way. McMichael underscores his points with case studies and acutely observes the cultural phenomena and localized resistance of our times. Development and Social Change brings the sociology of development to the edge of modernity and the end of our century, in a vocabulary and style open to laypersons and sociologists alike.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: Usually professors who assign their own book for a class tend to be egotists. McMichael bucked that trend, however, by assigning his book which explained everything I ever needed or wanted to know about how the world works. The structure of the book makes it easy for anyone to understand and explains the state of the world today using historical context, which I found fascinating. However cheesy this may be, I honestly think the world would be a better place if more people read this book.