sociology of development

sociology of development

that branch of sociology concerned with the examination of social change from agrarian to industrial societies and particularly applied to study of the THIRD WORLD. More narrowly, the term is sometimes used to refer to those theories of social change associated with MODERNIZATION theory and neo-evolutionary approaches. This latter usage is now less common than in the 1970s when the sociology of development was contrasted with UNDERDEVELOPMENT or DEPENDENCY THEORY.

Collins Dictionary of Sociology, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2000