Morals and Backwardness

Bibliographic Data

ID2106845
AuthorsJohn Davis (0000-0003-1164-9000, University of Kent, corresponding author)
Year1970
Volume12
Issue3
Pages340-353
Publication date1970-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueComparative Studies in Society and History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0010-4175 • E-ISSN: 1475-2999
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0010417500005909
OpenAlexW1988064593
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited2

This paper has two aims. The first is to remark about a book: E. C. Banfield's The Moral Basis of a Backward Society; the second is to restate, with particular reference to Southern Italy, some common principles of social organization and structure. The success of Banfield's book is attributable to a number of factors. The author has a high reputation in the discipline of political science. For a long time it was the only sociological book about Southern Italy in English; in default of other works it has been taken up by American and British universities as an introduction to the sociology of South Italian peasantries. Finally, there is its appeal to practical men, such as social workers and community development experts, who find that the attempt to explain individual bits and pieces of behaviour sets up sympathetic harmonies in their hearts. The book is, however, subject to criticism on several grounds: first, on the basis of inadequate method; second, on the grounds of inadequacies of formal argument; finally, on the grounds of omissions and commissions in the presentation of the material itself

Appeal · Argument (complex analysis) · Backwardness · Criticism · Economics · Epistemology · Idiot · Neoclassical economics · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Subject (documents) · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · Historical and Environmental Studies · Italian Social Issues and Migration · Law · Philosophy

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