Sociology of development

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Developmental sociology is a branch of sociology that deals with the research and analysis of social, economic and political realities in developing countries . There are numerous overlaps with developmental ethnology . Due to the ambiguity of the term, developmental sociology also stands for that area of ​​sociology that deals with the investigation of processes of individual development, especially in dealing with social groups and institutions .

term

Since the term “ developing countries ” - like its predecessors (“underdeveloped countries”) and successors (“ Third World ”) - is always covertly political. Assuming, for example, that there is such a thing as a “development”, that it is to be viewed positively, and that the countries subsumed under it are also capable of this development - it is not without cause for concern. In addition, it goes very far - for a so-called 'special' sociology - because the sociology of just one country comprises practically the entire specialist discipline.

Theory formation and modification

In the 1960s, the first German university chairs and institutes for development sociology were established (Universities of Münster and Bielefeld ), back then also supported by an optimistic view of development aid . It was already apparent here that individual studies ( Karl Heinz Pfeffer , Paul Trappe and others) were presented, but theoretical approaches - with the exception of Peter Heintz - were lacking for a long time.

With the political decline of the now independent (former) colonies and often even with their change to failed states, this optimism waned.

It became increasingly clear that the following inherent assumptions and practices needed to be urgently challenged
  • There is such a thing as a linear development, starting from a status quo , progressing to a certain target point.
  • The economic or political development of a country takes place relatively independently of its cultural and social characteristics.
  • The principle of catching up development applies , according to which the so-called developing countries can gradually catch up with the development successes of the industrialized nations.
  • Development aid funds are made available to the government of the respective country.
  • Our own experts are sent to the respective country to guide the implementation of the projects.

Currently, decentralized , regionalized, so-called grassroots insertions favors.

However, the problem of analyzing the impact of development projects remains due to the complexity of both the strategies used and their effects.

See also

literature

  • Wolfgang Sachs (ed.): Dictionary of development , Zed Books, London 1992, ISBN 1-85649-044-0
  • Dieter Goetze: Sociology of Development. An introduction , Juventa, Weinheim and Munich 2002, ISBN 3-7799-1474-3
  • Franz Kolland / August Gächter (eds.): Introduction to the sociology of development. Topics, methods, analyzes , 4th edition, Mandelbaum, Vienna 2007, ISBN 3-85476-138-4

Web links