Volume 6, Number 8 · May 12, 1966
Absolute Beginners
By George Lichtheim
The Politics of Modernization
by David E. Apter
Chicago, 481 pp., $7.50
The Stages of Political Development
by A.F.K. Organski
Knopf, 229 pp., $5.75
The Third World
by Peter Worsley
Chicago, 317 pp., $5.50
The Economics of Developing Countries
by Hla Myint
Praeger, 192 pp., $1.95 (paper)
Any reviewer foolhardy enough to tackle the four books here under consideration must at the outset resolve not to be deflected into competitive theorizing about their subject matter. He may have his own notions as to the probable course of events in what is known as the 'third world' of backward, pre-industrial, or 'underdeveloped' countries. But if he values his peace of mind (not to mention his professional standing) he will be wise to keep these thoughts to himself. Yet however earnestly he may strive to restrict himself to the proper business of criticism, he cannot hope to eliminate his preconceptions as to the manner in which the subject ought to be tackled. If he has been brought up to believe that the proper approach is one that fuses political, social, and economic considerations, he is likely to be skeptical of ambitious syntheses which eliminate one or the other of these aspects. If his confidence is vested in specialist studies, he may yet feel the need for something more comprehensive. Lastly, if his background is European, he may suspect American scholars of being unduly concerned with the short-run implications of the East-West conflict. He may wonder, for example, why they find it embarrassing to have to admit the reality of class conflict, or the fact that over most of the inhabited globe, 'free enterprise' fails to evoke a round of applause. He may even suspect them of having fashioned their conceptual tools for the purpose of demonstrating the existence of a specifically American way of studying the modernization process.
Review, 4626 words
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