The ideology of progress in Levinson's theory of adult development: A response to Basseches and Kalinowski

Abstract

Basseches and Kalinowski make a number of perceptive criticisms of The Seuson’,~ ofu Man’s Life, but they seem finally unable to grasp the significance of their own insights. Consequently, after a review which implicitly undermines the basic structure of Levinson’s work, they end by reinforcing its fundamental perspective. The author’s basic criticisms are of two fundamental sorts: (1) they maintain that Levinson’s work suffers from defects in research design, broadly defined, and (2) that the work in fact advocates compliance with present society under the guise of a value-neutral empirical description. I will refer to these basic critiques under the heading of “methodology” and “ideology”.* I believe that both assertions made against Levinson are valid, but that the authors do not fully grasp their inter-relationship nor the devastating implications that follow for any study of human development.