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International Journal of Comparative Sociology
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The Weight of the Past

Traditional Agriculture, Socio-political Differentiation and Modern Development in Africa and Asia: A Cross-National Analysis

Patrick Ziltener

University of Zurich, Switzerland, zaibat{at}soziologie.unizh.ch

Hans-Peter Mueller

University of Zurich, Switzerland, hpm68{at}gmx.net

Twenty years ago, Lenski and Nolan published a seminal article in which they established empirical links between modern development and traditional technology in developing countries. This analysis is expanded in two ways: by improving the indicators of traditional technologies, and by introducing a second dimension of structural complexity, the socio-political differentiation of traditional societies. Though two indices measure functionally related aspects, they have distinct impacts on the socio-economic development of the 65 non-western countries analyzed in this article. Since traditional socio-political differentiation explains modern development better than traditional technology, we suggest significant revisions, and a new interpretation of Lenski and Nolan's results.

Key Words: agriculture • Africa • Asia • ecological-evolutionary theory • economic growth

International Journal of Comparative Sociology, Vol. 48, No. 5, 371-415 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0020715207081935
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