Theory Of Societal Development Research Articles

A Contextual Analysis of Three Major Tribes’ Traditional Conflict Resolution Mechanisms in Pre-Literate Nigerian Society

This paper contextually analyzed three major tribes’ traditional conflict resolution mechanism in pre-literate Nigerian society. Conflict is very much part of human society and it is expected. Conflict resolution encompasses a range of processes gallantly aimed at alleviating or eliminating sources of conflict. Secondary sources of data with relevant literature were engaged and the Emile Durkheim theory of societal development was adopted as a theoretical framework. Findings show that in Yorubaland, conflict is seen as unavoidable, a positive development through which people understand each other better. While the main causes of conflict among the Igbos are basically land, chieftaincy tussle and matrimonial fallouts. Prior to kingship institution, the Igbo used non-centralized forms of government which have in attendance Elders and Council of Elders which serves as the highest and most important peacemaking and conflict resolution mechanism. Hausa/Fulani pre-colonial administration is highly centralized and hierarchical in nature. The Emir, in terms of adjudication, is both the political and religious head because he ensures that the provisions of Sharia are adequately followed to the core in treating cases of individual or group conflicts. The Emir court was the highest and the final. Having perused all the conflict resolution mechanisms of the three major tribes in Nigeria, the following recommendations were made; there is a need to encourage traditional conflict mechanisms as it is accessible and economic for disputants. There should be peace education for all and sundry. Alternative dispute resolution and unofficial strategies should be subscribed to in an attempt to ameliorate and manage human’s conflicts (vigilante, militias, charms, prayers, communal solidarity, etc). Keywords: Tribes, Traditional, Pre-illiterate, Conflict Resolution

Collective Action, Mutual Aid, and Wetland Agriculture in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea

Much archaeological and historical theory of societal development characterises societies that are reliant on hydraulic agro-ecosystems as maintaining high levels of socio-political control and centralisation (Wittfogel 1957). In the highlands of Papua New Guinea, large-scale and extensive wetland agricultural practices date from several thousand years ago up to the present. These extensive drainage networks are the product of collective, community-based action and are co-ordinated by the persuasive influence of relatively weak and egalitarian political leaders, big-men (Strathern 1971). Here the New Guinea evidence is used to critique evolutionary models of societal development and associated concepts of human nature to develop a mutualistic perspective on the past. These ideas are pertinent to contemporary highland societies, many of which aggressively maintain their independence from each other and the Papua New Guinea state. Their agricultural history continues as a living tradition into the present.

John Stuart Mill on Savagery, Slavery and Civilization

This paper explores the paradoxes of Mill’s defence of liberal imperialism. It does so by examining the stadial theory of societal development he inherited from Adam Smith and the contrast between savagery and civilization embedded within that theory. Particular attention is given to Mill’s theoretical and historical understanding of the institution of slavery and its place within his model of development.

Legal Positivism and National Socialism: A Contribution to a Theory of Legal Development

Recent theories of societal development carry a heavy load; they are weighed down by their inheritance from the philosophy of history. Only at the price of a paradoxical forgetfulness can they ignore the fact that there have been predecessors, whose origin and decline, as well as the particular circumstances of their revival, must also be of interest. However, there appears to be a quest for the meaning of life, coupled with an aesthetic requirement to do a kind of elegant violence to historical complexity, which gives rise to such forgetfulness about one's own history. If one has discerned the difficulties with philosophy of history, it is only with considerable irony that one could erect a handsome structure in the form of a theory of development. There are, nevertheless, some lessons from the development of theories of development, which may permit a cautious advance. In what follows I want to attempt such a cautious advance towards a theory of legal development.

Societal development and the impact of information technology: African perspectives

There are several theories on societal development, especially concerning issues that are affecting globalization. Those issues include the impact of information technology on developing countries of Africa, the social and cultural schools of thought on globalization of information technology, the defining issues that are embedded in disseminating this technology, and the provision of services in developing countries. This paper synthesized different theories on the social, cultural, and economic impact of globalizing information technology in developing countries from the African perspectives. The theoretical thoughts discussed in this study outlined factors underpinning the theories of societal development. This research was dedicated to exploring theories of societal development according to the works of Toffler, Giddens, Wallerstein, Vago, Tomlinson, and Weinstein. All of these theorists present different schools of thought on societal, cultural, modernization, colonization, and classical theories of societal development. This study explored, analyzed, and integrated these different schools of thought, in addition to comparing and contrasting the theories for similarities and differences, as well as for various interpretations of societal development. The Information Technologist Vol. 5 (1) 2008: pp. 126-145

The foundations of Habermas's universal pragmatics

Jurgen Habermas has developed an analysis of rationality that, when linked to his theory of societal development, provides a valuable perspective on the predicaments and possibilities within modernity. One of the important claims of his project is that universal pragmatics provides a non-foundational universalism1 for social and political theory. My claim is that universal pragmatics is a form of non-representational foundationalism. This is to say that Habermas's work is not foundationalist in the sense made popular by Rorty.2 The reason is that Habermas does not argue for a correspondence theory of truth.3 For Rorty, representation and foundationalism tend to be joined because the quest for foundations is understood in terms of representation as the search for a transparent, "God's-eye" view of the world.4 But it does not follow that a non-representationalist is always a non-foundationalist. My argument, then, is that Habermas's work, while it does not rest on a representationalist epistemology, is a form of foundationalism. An important part of the article therefore simply seeks to be clear about Habermas's arguments, because his claim is misleading.

Global capitalism: Theories of societal development. By Richard Peet. (Rout‐ledge, 1991, pp. 206, £79.99 p/b)

Global capitalism: Theories of societal development. By Richard Peet. (Rout‐ledge, 1991, pp. 206, £79.99 p/b)

Global capitalism: theories of societal development

Measuring the geography of development - the argument environmental determinism - organismic theory, climate and civilization critique structural functionalism and modernization theory - structural functionalism, sociological modernization theory, social-psychological theories of modernization, historical stages of modernization geography, critique fo structural functionalism and modernization theories dependency and world systems theory - the ECLA analysis dependency theory, world systems theory, critique of dependency and world systems theory historical materialism - idealism and materialism dialectics, production as the transformation of nature, production as social relatins, structural Marxism, articulation of modes of production, socialist feminism the pre-capitalist world - schemes of historical development, primitive communism, kin-ordered mode, tributory mode geography of the pre-capitalist world the origins of capitalism - Marx on the origins of capitalism, debate on the transition from feudalism to capitalism, the Brenner thesis the development of global capitalism - mercantalism, Discovery of the Americas, mercantalism in the Western Hemisphere, mercantalism in the Eastern Hemisphere, mercantalism in India, mercantalism in China, industrial revolution, free trade and imperialism, imperialism in Africa transformation through industrialization - industrialization and development, the regulation school, transformation through industrialization?, an alternative strategy conclusion - the critique of Marxist development theory (and a reply) - the critique of Marxist development theory theoretical reply, the validity of criticism, reproduction and development, an alternative development?

Educational Ideology and the World Educational Revolution, 1950-1970

In their comparative analysis of the expansion of national educational systems, Meyer, Ramirez, Rubinson, and Boli-Bennett raised substantial doubts about the ability of contemporary theories of societal development and education to account for the dramatic worldwide growth in educational enrollments from 1950 to 1970.1 Meyer et al.'s analysis, which used countrylevel data from 1950 to 1970, showed that endogenous political, economic, and social characteristics of countries had little or no effect on educational

Durkheim and Individualism Revisited: Response to Chandler

Professor Chandler levels two criticisms at my attempt to develop and test Durkheimian model of development, equality, and homicide. First, he charges that argument is internally inconsistent. Second, he asserts that interpretation of Durkheim's theory that informs analysis is in error. With respect to latter issue, I would simply note that Durkheim's theory of societal development has been and will undoubtedly continue to be susceptible to varied interpretations. The clearly stated purpose of my research (225-26) was to apply one widely respected interpretation-that of Anthony Giddens-in an original context (the explanation of homicide rates). As title of my article indicates, I recognize that my study represents test of a Durkheimian model and not the Durkheimian model. The charge of internal inconsistency warrants slightly more detailed response. Chandler argues that, given my exposition of Durkheim's theory, measure of moral individualism should be negatively related to homicide, rather than positively related to homicide as I have asserted. Chandler arrives at this conclusion by following line of reasoning. Moral individualism serves as basis of organic solidarity, and development of organic solidarity decreases homicide rate. Hence, measure of moral individualism should be positively associated with organic solidarity (which is not directly measured) and negatively related with measure of homicide. Chandler thus concludes that finding of negative relationship between one of indicators of moral individualism (percent Protestant) and homicide is really consistent with proposed theoretical model despite my claims to contrary. My disagreement with Chandler centers around role of social structural changes in emergence of organic solidarity. Following Gid-

Politics and Female Status in North Africa: A Reconsideration of Development Theory

is presented in theories of societal development. Modernization theory hypothesizes a positive relationship between female status and level of socioeconomic development, while the more recent conflict perspective asserts that foreign capitalist penetration is negatively associated with female access to opportunities in the modern sector. This paper assesses the applicability of these two major theoretical perspectives for explaining national differences in female status among the five North African Muslim states of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, utilizing a composite female modernity index derived from secondary sources. The results of this analysis suggest that neither theoretical paradigm adequately accounts for observed national variations in female access to educational, economic, and family limitation opportunities. The remainder of this paper proposes an alternative theoretical framework to explain these divergent national patterns of female participation. It highlights the central role of political elites in the late-developing states and suggests an empirical relationship

Time-Scale Factor as Related to Theories of Societal Change

A computer simulation model of theory building was discussed within the framework of Quincy Wright's data on occurrences of wars within the 15–20th century time interval and time series of discoveries of the atomic elements of matter. Several types of theories of societal change as derived from generalizations of longitudinal data were postulated in terms of their underlying geometric forms. The main parameter of the model was the length of the historical period used for abstraction from the observed data. A relationship between the size of this parameter and the geometric form of theories of historical change was observed. Implications of this finding were discussed with respect to models of open systems and both active and fringe periods of closed systems.

Value Systems: The Moral and Eudaemonic Components by John E. Guendling

388 BOOK REVIEWS Value Systems: The Moral and Eudaemonic Components. By John E. Guendling. Chicago: Adams Press, 1973. Pp. 151. In this privately published work John Guendling has 1!-ttempted to integrate conceptions from sociology, economics, and political science into a review of the two traditionally basic value systems "the right " and the " good " or in other language " doing things out of duty " in contrast to "doing things for a pay-off." In the first of his four essays, "Morality and the Game of Life," he develops problems of moral discourse in the context of the analogy of life as a game. Many o~ his sentences illuminate subtle implications of this age-old and widely employed image. His writing indicates wide familiarity with current research and documentation in this area of inquiry as well as in the field of game-theory. In essay II, "Changing Games: A Theory of Societal Development," the author offers a metatheory and a theory as a set of steps to be followed in any attempt to modify a social structure. His third essay, "Casuistry, Explication and Saving the Appearances," reviews the proposition that might makes right under the light of diverse rubrics drawn and formulated from political theory. It is in his fourth essay, "Toward a Socialist Theory of Morality," that the argument of the book reaches its clearest and most explicit proposal. By an application of the economic polarity of scarcity and abundance he advocates creativity as present in a socialistic political and economic system to beget cooperation among men for the welfare of the disadvantaged. Whereas monopolistic capitalism maintains structures through the exploitation involved in deprivation, socialism has the potential of bringing a more equitable distribution of goods by cooperative contributions by members of the society. The author does not succeed in convincing the reader because he neglects to provide any detailed suggestions about how the change and redistribution of goods would come about. The aim of this monograph which started out as an elucidation of the distinction between "fair " and " successful " became increasingly confused as the discussion proceeded through the four essays. The style burdens the reader, demanding much effort for a modicum of light. It is hard to select what audience he intends to address by his writing. The verbal creations and the extended sentences of Mr. Guendling do not help to advance the insights in the discussion toward this necessary and useful goal of integration of thoughts from the behavioral sciences with moral theory. Reading numerous pages for the occasional unit of understanding is a higher price than one should be expected to pay for intellectual exercise. GEoRGE L. CoNcORDIA, O.P. ProvidenctJ College Providence, Rhode Island ...