Most studies of 20th-century social theory still view historical development through the lens of the Cold War. This important study challenges the prevailing ahistorical Cold War paradigm by looking at theoretical traditions formulated by Marx, Durkheim and Weber that have shaped discussions about change and development for nearly a century. The author explores how these perspectives were formed, how later ideas were incorporated, and the relevance of these theories to national and international structures of power. In providing a new window through which to analyze social change, this accessible book tackles a wide range of subjects, including: · the rise of industrial capitalist society · imperialism · regimes and territories on the edges of states · the resurgence of the idea of progress and cultural revolution in the US · decolonization and modernization theory · social revolution · rituals of rebellion · postcolonial discourse · the collapse of the socialist block and the resurgence of nationalism. This stimulating book will be of interest to anyone studying social and cultural change, development, the history of anthropological theory, or the history of social thought.

Eve E. Buckley’s study of twentieth-century Brazil examines the nation’s hard social realities through the history of science, focusing on the use of technology and engineering as vexed instruments of reform and economic development. Nowhere was the tension between technocratic optimism and entrenched inequality more evident than in the drought-ridden Northeast sertão, plagued by chronic poverty, recurrent famine, and mass migrations. Buckley reveals how the physicians, engineers, agronomists, and mid-level technocrats working for federal agencies to combat drought were pressured by politicians to seek out a technological magic bullet that would both end poverty and obviate the need for land redistribution to redress long-standing injustices.

Social conditions and expectations have significantly improved for the majority of British citizens since 1900; similarly, economic performance today compares favourably with our past (though less so with our European competitors). Yet we are burdened with a sense of failure and uncertainty, convinced that society has become more violent and less cohesive, that the economic situation has deteriorated, and that the quality of national life is in decline. What justification is there for this pervasive view? An impressive team of contributors (assembled in association with the Economic History Society) examines the historical record to provide objective answers in this vigorous and searching introduction - designed for students, teachers and general readers - to the economic, social and cultural development of Britain this century.

Offers cutting-edge perspectives on how international development has shaped the global history of the modern world.

This book picks up where Karl Polanyi's study of economic and political change left off. Building upon Polanyi's conception of the double movement, Blyth analyzes the two periods of deep seated institutional change that characterized the twentieth century: the 1930s and the 1970s. Blyth views both sets of changes as part of the same dynamic. In the 1930s labor reacted against the exigencies of the market and demanded state action to mitigate the market's effects by 'embedding liberalism.' In the 1970s, those who benefited least from such 'embedding' institutions, namely business, reacted against these constraints and sought to overturn that institutional order. Blyth demonstrates the critical role economic ideas played in making institutional change possible. Great Transformations rethinks the relationship between uncertainty, ideas, and interests, achieving profound new insights on how, and under what conditions, institutional change takes place.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of Beijing’s urban structure in the 20th century, analyzing essential social and economic changes in the housing sector. Focusing on the urban changes that took place under the market economy after 1978 and beyond, the book addresses the demolition of courtyard houses in Beijing’s old city, the relocation of low-income families from the old city, the government’s role regarding housing in the city, and residential segregation in Beijing. Expanding on the author’s PhD thesis at the University of Cambridge, it is illustrated with a wealth of historic photos and maps of Beijing. Presenting relevant descriptions, extensive literature and case studies, the book offers a valuable resource for students and scholars of architecture, urban studies and Chinese studies. First published in 2013 by Pace in Hong Kong, it has since been added to the libraries of many distinguished universities, including Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Columbia, Yale, Stanford, Cornell, U Penn, NYU, UC Berkeley, Hong Kong University, UBC in Canada and the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

When asked to compare the practice of medicine today to that of a hundred years ago, most people will respond with a story of therapeutic revolution: Back then we had few effective remedies, but now we have more (and more powerful) tools to fight disease, from antibiotics to psychotropics to steroids to anticancer agents. This collection challenges the historical accuracy of this revolutionary narrative and offers instead a more nuanced account of the process of therapeutic innovation and the relationships between the development of medicines and social change. These assembled histories and ethnographies span three continents and use the lived experiences of physicians and patients, consumers and providers, and marketers and regulators to reveal the tensions between universal claims of therapeutic knowledge and the actual ways these claims have been used and understood in specific sites, from postwar West Germany pharmacies to twenty-first century Nigerian street markets. By asking us to rethink a story we thought we knew, Therapeutic Revolutions offers invaluable insights to historians, anthropologists, and social scientists of medicine.

This inquiry into the technical advances that shaped the 20th century follows the evolutions of all the principal innovations introduced before 1913 (as detailed in the first volume) as well as the origins and elaborations of all fundamental 20th century advances. The history of the 20th century is rooted in amazing technical advances of 1871-1913, but the century differs so remarkably from the preceding 100 years because of several unprecedented combinations. The 20th century had followed on the path defined during the half century preceding the beginning of World War I, but it has traveled along that path at a very different pace, with different ambitions and intents. The new century's developments elevated both the magnitudes of output and the spatial distribution of mass industrial production and to new and, in many ways, virtually incomparable levels. Twentieth century science and engineering conquered and perfected a number of fundamental challenges which remained unresolved before 1913, and which to many critics appeared insoluble. This book is organized in topical chapters dealing with electricity, engines, materials and syntheses, and information techniques. It concludes with an extended examination of contradictory consequences of our admirable technical progress by confronting the accomplishments and perils of systems that brought liberating simplicity as well as overwhelming complexity, that created unprecedented affluence and equally unprecedented economic gaps, that greatly increased both our security and fears as well as our understanding and ignorance, and that provided the means for greater protection of the biosphere while concurrently undermining some of the key biophysical foundations of life on Earth. Transforming the Twentieth Century will offer a wide-ranging interdisciplinary appreciation of the undeniable technical foundations of the modern world as well as a multitude of welcome and worrisome consequences of these developments. It will combine scientific rigor with accessible writing, thoroughly illustrated by a large number of appropriate images that will include historical photographs and revealing charts of long-term trends.

Of Limits and Growth offers new perspectives on environmentalism, post-1945 international history, and the origins of sustainability.

Pt. 1. The agrarian transformation -- pt. 2. Business and industrial transformations -- pt. 3. Transformations in the stat -- pt. 4. Transforming culture and ideology -- pt. 5. Social transformations: labor, women, and the family.