The Struggle for Development and Democracy

Alessandro Olsaretti is an independent researcher in Montreal, where he gained his PhD in sociology from McGill University in 2013 with a thesis on Antonio Gramsci. He has published articles in Critical Sociology, the Journal of Classical Sociology, and Historical Materialism. He has also worked on Ottoman history, social history, and the history of social and political thought, and has published in the Radical History Review, Social History, and the International History Review. Outside academia, he has worked as a database analyst in the finance sector, development sector, and fundraising sector, and has published a novel titled The Caravaggio Code. He is working on a series of essays titled Towards a Humanist Social Science.

Acknowledgements


List of Figures


 Introduction

 1 Defending Theory and an Eclectic Methodology for Formulating It


 2 The New Theories and the Main Hypotheses and Theses on Neoliberalism




part 1

The Project and the Need for New Approaches

1 The Project and Theories of Development and Democracy

 1.1 The Project and the Answers and Alternatives That It Proposes


 1.2 The Project and Its Importance to Achieve a Paradigm Shift


 1.3 The Significantly New Theory of Democracy Proposed


 1.4 The Significantly New Theory of Development Proposed


 1.5 Uneven Development, Civil Society and Engineering


 1.6 The Importance of Civil Society and Universities


 1.7 The Importance of the State and Defense




2 An Intellectual Journey, the Struggle for Objectivity, and Elitism

 2.1 Humanism, Synthesis, and Political-Military Development


 2.2 Broad Pictures and a Humanist Social Science


 2.3 The Difficulties Faced by Some Intellectual Projects


 2.4 McGill University and the Social Conditions for Objectivity


 2.5 Aristocratic-military Elites and a Humanistic Education


 2.6 Broad Pictures of Society and History and Their Importance


 2.7 Implications for Cultural Studies and International Relations




part 2

Continuing Gramsci's Project through a Humanist Social Science

3 Gramsci's Project and a Significantly New Theory of Democracy

 3.1 Gramsci and His Legacy and Approach to Philosophy


 3.2 Gramsci's Project and His Theory of Democracy


 3.3 Gramsci's Project and Related Projects in Italy


 3.4 Gramsci's Project and the Projects of Structural Marxists


 3.5 Gramsci's Project and the Projects of Analytical Marxists


 3.6 A View of Democracy That Rejects Eurocentrism


 3.7 A View of Scientific Knowledge That Rejects Eurocentrism




4 A Humanist Social Science That Promotes Cultural Democracy

 4.1 Gramsci's Humanist Social Science and Cultural Democracy


 4.2 The Anthropological-Sociological View of Philosophy


 4.3 The Contribution from Popular Culture to Theory


 4.4 The Contribution from Popular Art to Theory


 4.5 The Eclectic Methodology, Rhetoric, and Theory


 4.6 The Contribution from Theory to Popular Culture


 4.7 The Contribution from Rhetoric to Popular Culture




part 3

The Methodology and the Hypotheses and Theses of the Project

5 The Theory, and the Hypotheses and Theses on Elites

 5.1 Specialization and the Origins of One-Sidedness


 5.2 Specialization Due to Compartmentalization


 5.3 Specialization Due to the Needs of Empirical Research


 5.4 Theory, Theoretical Groundwork and General Theory


 5.5 The Contribution from Theoretical Groundwork


 5.6 The Contribution from General Theory


 5.7 Theoretical Groundwork and Hypotheses on Elites


 5.8 General Theory and Theses on Elites and Masses




6 Case Studies and Hypotheses on Hegemony and Collective Action

 6.1 Historical Case Studies to Understand Contemporary Cases


 6.2 The Use of Case Studies to Understand Hegemony


 6.3 Gramsci's Theory of Hegemony and Collective Action


 6.4 Gramsci's Theory and Criticism of Elite Theorists


 6.5 The British Elite and Its Use of Culture for Consent


 6.6 The Piedmontese Elite and Its Collective Action Advantage


 6.7 Meso Collective Action Problems, Cooptation, and Defection


 6.8 General Theory and Theses on the Origins of Democracy




  Conclusions




Bibliography


Index