Thornton 2001, The Developmental Paradigm
The Paradigm, Data, Methods, And Scholars
The Developmental Paradigm
Has a very long history: it was influential in ancient Greece and Rome
A model of change that has been applied at the individual, organizational, and societal levels
Change = natural, uniform, necessary, directional
Human beings = stages of growth + decline
Societies = life cycle stages
Different speeds of progressing
Many stages exist in a single cross-section
Cross-Cultural Data
Accounts of explorers/travelers → described customs of groups
Scholars collected their data through community studies + ethnography
Led to new profound questions
About family change
Reading History Sideways
Problem: limited historical data
Reading history sideways: historical geography that substituted variations across space for variations across time, thereby converting spatial heterogeneity into homogenous development
Ordering contemporary societies along the trajectory of development
Ethnocentrism: northwest Europe viewed itself as the pinnacle of development
Societies different from Europe = least developed
Reading the history of the European past in the non-European present
The Scholars
1500s-1600s: Acosta, Hobbes, Locke
1700s: Smith, Rousseau, Voltaire, Millar, Trugot, Condorcet, Hume, Ferguson, Maltus
1800s: Comte, Tyler, Maine, Morgan, Spencer, Marx, Durkheim, Westermarck, Le Play
→ interest in family relationships and processes
Describing And Explaining Family Change
Cross-Sectional Differences in Family Patterns
Many differences between the family systems existing in northwest Europe and elsewhere
Saw other societies as having a low status for women
Northwest Europe societies were less family-organized and more individualistic
Less female involvement in hard labor
Saw women’s status as higher there
Interpretations Based on a Developmental Trajectory
The great family transition: development was seen as the process that transformed traditional families into modern ones
Less developed became non-northwest European
Developed became northwest European
Development would transform family systems outside northwest Europe from traditional to modern
Theoretical Explanations
Explanations for the shift from traditional to modern family:
Industrialization
Urbanization
Increases in education and knowledge
Increased consumption and mobility
Democratization
Christianity
Religious pluralism
Secularism
*Transition from a traditional society to a modern one
The Northwestern European Decline in Marital Fertility
Substantial decline in marital fertility → modern fertility
Due to the use of contraception and abortion
Product of socioeconomic and family development
Mortality decline = predictor of the decline in fertility
Demographic transition
New Historical Studies
Northwest Europe did become more organized around non-family institutions over time but the change was not as large as assumed before
Most other family dimensions of northwest Europe in the 1700s and 1800s had existed for a very long time
The “great family transition” could not be documented in the European archives. It was a myth!
Almost all the substantial changes occurred after, not before, the early 1800s
Ideas of developmental idealism have contributed to substantial and important family change in the past 200 years
Developmental Idealism And Family Change
Developmental Idealism as a Causal Force
Changed human institutions
The developmental histories provided criteria for evaluating the legitimacy and value of the many existing ways of organizing human society
Northwest Europe became the standard for judging
Provided a model for the future
The Propositions of Developmental Idealism
Four basic propositions
Modern society is good and attainable
Modern family is good and attainable
Modern family is a cause and an effect of a modern society
Important force for social progress
Enhance economic well-being
Individuals are free and equal, and social relationship are based on consent
Inalienable rights of freedom, equality, and consent = attached to all human relationships
The Power of Developmental Idealism
If only some of the 4 propositions were embraced, it would have considerable power to change family ideas and behavior
1st proposition = influence on family behavior
2nd proposition = inspire the family aspirations of those who endorse it
3rd proposition = influence for family change
4th proposition = powerful force for family change
Ideas of developmental idealism: informed government policies/programs and citizens’ thinking
Effects of Developmental Idealism in Northwest Europe
Developmental idealism: ideational framework
Effects:
Rights of individuals/government
Delegitimizing hierarchies based on both gender and generation
Change in the direction of modern family
Future expectations
Effects of Developmental Idealism Outside Northwest Europe
Undermines indigenous family forms
Governmental influence
Era of European colonization
Family reform movements happened in colonies
South and Central America: program for the Christianization
China and Soviet Union: based on Marx’s ideology
Family planning movement
Helped to reduce fertility
Try to increase the desire for smaller families and to encourage the use of contraception
Incentives + coercion (in China, India, and Indonesia)
Expansion of mass education
Educational change alone accounts for most of the family changes explained by all socioeconomic factors
Mass media: mechanism for diffusion
Exposure to mass media → strong predictor of family patterns
The Paradigm, Data, Methods, And Scholars
The Developmental Paradigm
Has a very long history: it was influential in ancient Greece and Rome
A model of change that has been applied at the individual, organizational, and societal levels
Change = natural, uniform, necessary, directional
Human beings = stages of growth + decline
Societies = life cycle stages
Different speeds of progressing
Many stages exist in a single cross-section
Cross-Cultural Data
Accounts of explorers/travelers → described customs of groups
Scholars collected their data through community studies + ethnography
Led to new profound questions
About family change
Reading History Sideways
Problem: limited historical data
Reading history sideways: historical geography that substituted variations across space for variations across time, thereby converting spatial heterogeneity into homogenous development
Ordering contemporary societies along the trajectory of development
Ethnocentrism: northwest Europe viewed itself as the pinnacle of development
Societies different from Europe = least developed
Reading the history of the European past in the non-European present
The Scholars
1500s-1600s: Acosta, Hobbes, Locke
1700s: Smith, Rousseau, Voltaire, Millar, Trugot, Condorcet, Hume, Ferguson, Maltus
1800s: Comte, Tyler, Maine, Morgan, Spencer, Marx, Durkheim, Westermarck, Le Play
→ interest in family relationships and processes
Describing And Explaining Family Change
Cross-Sectional Differences in Family Patterns
Many differences between the family systems existing in northwest Europe and elsewhere
Saw other societies as having a low status for women
Northwest Europe societies were less family-organized and more individualistic
Less female involvement in hard labor
Saw women’s status as higher there
Interpretations Based on a Developmental Trajectory
The great family transition: development was seen as the process that transformed traditional families into modern ones
Less developed became non-northwest European
Developed became northwest European
Development would transform family systems outside northwest Europe from traditional to modern
Theoretical Explanations
Explanations for the shift from traditional to modern family:
Industrialization
Urbanization
Increases in education and knowledge
Increased consumption and mobility
Democratization
Christianity
Religious pluralism
Secularism
*Transition from a traditional society to a modern one
The Northwestern European Decline in Marital Fertility
Substantial decline in marital fertility → modern fertility
Due to the use of contraception and abortion
Product of socioeconomic and family development
Mortality decline = predictor of the decline in fertility
Demographic transition
New Historical Studies
Northwest Europe did become more organized around non-family institutions over time but the change was not as large as assumed before
Most other family dimensions of northwest Europe in the 1700s and 1800s had existed for a very long time
The “great family transition” could not be documented in the European archives. It was a myth!
Almost all the substantial changes occurred after, not before, the early 1800s
Ideas of developmental idealism have contributed to substantial and important family change in the past 200 years
Developmental Idealism And Family Change
Developmental Idealism as a Causal Force
Changed human institutions
The developmental histories provided criteria for evaluating the legitimacy and value of the many existing ways of organizing human society
Northwest Europe became the standard for judging
Provided a model for the future
The Propositions of Developmental Idealism
Four basic propositions
Modern society is good and attainable
Modern family is good and attainable
Modern family is a cause and an effect of a modern society
Important force for social progress
Enhance economic well-being
Individuals are free and equal, and social relationship are based on consent
Inalienable rights of freedom, equality, and consent = attached to all human relationships
The Power of Developmental Idealism
If only some of the 4 propositions were embraced, it would have considerable power to change family ideas and behavior
1st proposition = influence on family behavior
2nd proposition = inspire the family aspirations of those who endorse it
3rd proposition = influence for family change
4th proposition = powerful force for family change
Ideas of developmental idealism: informed government policies/programs and citizens’ thinking
Effects of Developmental Idealism in Northwest Europe
Developmental idealism: ideational framework
Effects:
Rights of individuals/government
Delegitimizing hierarchies based on both gender and generation
Change in the direction of modern family
Future expectations
Effects of Developmental Idealism Outside Northwest Europe
Undermines indigenous family forms
Governmental influence
Era of European colonization
Family reform movements happened in colonies
South and Central America: program for the Christianization
China and Soviet Union: based on Marx’s ideology
Family planning movement
Helped to reduce fertility
Try to increase the desire for smaller families and to encourage the use of contraception
Incentives + coercion (in China, India, and Indonesia)
Expansion of mass education
Educational change alone accounts for most of the family changes explained by all socioeconomic factors
Mass media: mechanism for diffusion
Exposure to mass media → strong predictor of family patterns