and held in Chicago on March 28-30, 1958. From the inception of the conference plans and selection of authors and discussants to completion of the major revisions of papers for the present volume, the central problem and its ramifications have been kept in sharp focus. The perspectives of authors differ, as they should, but the field of vision has been the same. The sequence of steps leading to publication of this volume may be briefly noted. After exploration by the sponsoring committee sufficient to establish the importance of the subject and the availability of persons actively interested and working on aspects of it, a planning subcommittee was appointed, consisting of Bert F. Hoselitz, Melville J. Herskovits, and Wilbert E. Moore (chairman). The final conference program and the selection of authors and other participants were that subcommittee's responsibility. That responsibility was discharged with the aid of a number of minor miracles. Papers were solicited and circulated in three stages: (1) A background paper, designed to be speculative and wide-ranging, and therefore provocative of controversy, was first circulated to all other authors. (2) Some eleven papers, grouped into four major topics, were solicited from various social scientists well-informed on particular subjects and areas. (3) These basic papers were in turn sent, by groups, to four other scholars for comment and criticism. The organization of this volume is consistent with that procedure. Part I is by the undersigned, who are both authors and editors. The basic analyses are presented as the earlier chapters in each subsequent Part (Chapters 5-7, 9-11, 13-14, and 16-18). The final chapters of each Part (Chapters 8, 12, 15, and 19) are of a more general character than their predecessors and represent a critical but also creative approach to the four major topics. All papers have been revised in the light of the conference discussion as well as the authors' own afterthoughts and the editors' suggestions. Our initial paper has been extensively revised on the basis of the superior wisdom of our colleagues, and now appears as the four chapters of Part I. We have added a concluding, retrospective chapter on moot issues. The conference that resulted in this volume was one of a series sponsored by the Committee on Economic Growth, aided by a grant from the Ford Foundation to the Council for support of the committee. The suggestion of the particular subject was made several years ago by Frederick H. Harbison, then of the University of Chicago and now of Princeton University, and Charles A. Myers of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Their work and that of others associated with the Inter-University Study of the Labor Problems in Economic Development were vital ingredients in the assembly of the reports and analyses. presented here. In addition, Messrs. Harbison and Myers served as "general discussants" at the conference. Their comments and criticisms have aided many of the authors, including the editors. Mr. Feldman's work as both author and editor was aided by the sponsoring committee, which provided funds for critical exploration of the theoretical literature on economic development. Mr. Moore's work was aided by a Grant-in-Aid from the former Behavioral Science Division of the Ford Foundation. Besides incidental clerical expenses, part of these funds was used to secure the research assistance of Mrs. Jane Kronick and of Kermit Gatten and David Chaplin for tracking down some of the growing body of significant literature. In addition, Mr. Moore's work as Faculty Associate of the Center of International Studies at Princeton, on our continuing study of the dynamics of industrial societies, made possible an allocation of both writing and editorial time since the summer of 1958. Mr. Feldman also spent the academic year 1959-60 and the summers of 1959 and 1960 as a Visiting Research Associate at the Center, thus making possible our firsthand cooperation on this volume as well. Various authors have recorded acknowledgments as notes to their papers, and we in turn wish to note our appreciation for their willingness to participate in this enterprise. Betty B. Bredemeier has given valiant editorial aid, ranging from checking references and maintaining uniformity of format to the rendering of scholarly prose into communicative English. We record here, therefore, our thanks to the many individuals and organizations that helped make this volume possible. Finally, we note for ourselves as authors and editors that we have worked jointly. Since we are quite unable, and indeed unwilling, to single out our individual contributions, we should not think it worth while for others to attempt it. We have found the whole experience immediately rewarding, and now hope others may share part of the excitement. November 1960 WILBERT E. MOORE ARNOLD S. FELDMAN Page V CONTENTS PREFACE by Wilbert E. Moore and Arnold S. Feldman PART I SPHERES OF COMMITMENT by Arnold S. Feldman |