One World Emerging? Convergence And Divergence In Industrial Societies

In One World Emerging? Alex Inkeles clarifies the meaning of convergence in the social organization of modern societies, shows how it can be measured, and illustrates in detail the manner and degree of convergence across national boundaries. Inkeles assesses the extent to which convergence in institutional patterns is reflected in the emergence of more common attitudes, values, and daily behaviors in different national populations as individuals and communities engage with and respond to the standardizing pressures of national development and global modernization. One popular image of the probable condition of humanity in the twenty-first century anticipates a new Armageddon with all the great civilizations at war with each other. This model neglects a less dramatic but deeper-seated process of worldwide change in which national economic and political systems become more alike and populations worldwide come to adopt similar lifestyles and develop similar attitudes and values for daily living. Alex Inkeles penetrating analysis focuses on this process of convergence.In One World Emerging? Inkeles clarifies the meaning of convergence in the social organization of modern societies, shows how it can be measured, and illustrates in detail the manner and degree of convergence across national boundaries. Sensitive to evidence counter to the main trend, he gives close attention to the many instances in which national differences persist and nations and their populations diverge from a common path.At the national level, he compares and contrasts the modernization of the United States, Russia, China, and India. Focusing on particularly important institutions, he reviews the process of convergence in prestige hierarchies, the family, education, and communications. Capping the enterprise, Inkeles assesses the extent to which convergence in institutional patterns is reflected in the emergence of more common attitudes, values, and daily behaviors in different national populations as individuals and communitiesin North America, Europe, and increasingly in Asiaengage with and respond to the standardizing pressures of national development and global modernization.

Table of Contents:
List of Tables and Figures; Preface; Part 1 - General Perspectives; 1. The Emerging Structure of World Society; A Set of Basic Concepts and a Historical Excursus; The Recent Modern Era; The Main Elements of Convergence; Conclusion; 2. Convergence and Divergence in Industrial Societies; A Set of Hypotheses and Propositions; Forms of Convergence; Forms of Divergence; Units, Levels, and Time; Part 2 - Comparing Nation-States; 3. Were the Soviet Union and the United States Converging?; Some Features of Social Structure in the United States and the Soviet Union; Problems in Comparative Structural Analysis; 4. Modernization in India and Other Developing Countries; Thinking About Modernity; Five; Qualities of a Modern Nation; Modernity in Organizations and Institutions; On What Makes an Individual Modern; 5. The Generalist Meets the China Specialist; Disentangling Chinese Culture and Leninism-Maoism; Identifying Processes of Systematic Change in China; Looking to the Future; Holding Firm While Bending with the Wind; Part 3 - Focus on Institutions: School and Family; 6. Convergence and Divergence in Educational Systems; The Dimensions of Educational Change; Conclusions; 7. Modernization and Family Patterns; Convergence and the Family; Demographic Indicators; Family Structures; Family Dynamics; Convergent and Divergent ForcesConclusion; Part 4 - Focus on Process; 8. Social Stratification: National Comparisons of Occupational Prestige; The Comparability of Research Designs; The Comparability of Occupational Prestige Hierarchies; Summary and Conclusions; 9. Communication: Linking the Whole Human Race; The Great Transformation; The Content of Worldwide Communication; Overcoming the Translation Barrier and Communicating Without Words; Summary and Conclusion; 10. A Century of Due Process Guarantees Worldwide; What Is Procedural Due Process and Why Is It Important?; Why Study Constitutions?; Theoretical Orientations and Hypotheses; Study Design and Sampling; Analysis of the Data; Conclusion; Appendix.

About the Author :
Alex Inkeles is senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University.