Prophecy and Progress: The Sociology of Industrial and Post-Industrial Society by Krishan

Kumar
Review by: John H. Kunkel
The Canadian Journal of Sociology / Cahiers canadiens de sociologie, Vol. 4, No. 4 (Autumn,
1979), pp. 424-425
Published by: Canadian Journal of Sociology
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3340270 .
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Not the leastof theseis the fact thatit is somewhatponderously writtenand
difficultto readin places.Further,it dealswithsomeverycontroversial matters
withoutclearlyindicatingtheircontroversial aspects.Finally,andof some
importanceto thosewhomightdesireto pursuethe argumentsat greater
length,a numberof the referencesare incompleteor missing.
Despitetheselimitations,Nigel Walkerhas saidsomethingsthat needed
saying,andhe hassaidthemin a verycogentandeffectivemanner.Onegets
the impressionthat he is notso muchagainstpositivism,perse, as he is fora
moresophisticatedandthoughtfulapplicationof positivismin the social
sciences.
Unversityof Manitoba Stuart D. Johnson

KrishanKumar,ProphecyandProgress:TheSociologyof Industrialand
Post-industrialSociety.Harmondsworth:
PenguinBooksLtd., 1978,416 pp.,
$3.95 paper.
Thisis the eruditehistoryof ideasconcerningEuropeanandNorthAmerican
economicdevelopment, progress,andindustrializationduringthe last 200
years.Kumardrawson the workof historians,philosophers, socialtheoristsand
commentators to describethe highhopesof the eighteenthcentury,the mis-
givingsof the nineteenth,andthe disillusionment spreadingin ourownday.The
book,then,is intellectualhistoryratherthan"thesociologyof industrialand
post-industrial society"as the subtitlewouldhaveus believe.
The authortreatssociologyas an imperialbut nonempirical fieldof inquiry:
economistswill be surprisedto readof "sociologists suchas J.K.Galbraithand
ClarkKerr"(p. 194),andmostof the evidenceforassertionsanddescriptionsis
in the formof quotationsfroma widerangeof philosophers, commentators, and
theorists.Urbanlife, forexample,is describedin termsof the classicessaysby
Simmel,Weber,andWirth,whilerecentempiricalanalyses,suchas thoseof
ClaudeFischer,arenot mentioned- eventhoughtheythrowconsiderable
doubtson earlierformulations. The bookcontainsscholasticismas wellas
scholarship- if youwantto knowwhatSaintSimon,Marx,Illich,or Bellhave
to say aboutindustrialism, youwill findthe informationhere.Butwhenyou
ask:whatis the evidence?youmustlookelsewhere.Thisis notto say that the
bookis useless,by anymeans;afterall, it is of someinterestwhatintellectuals
havesaidaboutvariousaspectsof today'sandtomorrow's world.
The firsthalfof the bookcentreson the historyof Europeanindustriali-
zationduringthe nineteenthcenturyas seenthroughthe assessmentof various
historiansandphilosophers. A majorthemeis the ideaof progressandits
transformation froma staunchbeliefin a goldenfuturethroughgrowing
awarenessof problemsto widespreaduncertaintyregardingindustrialism and
its future.
Thesecondhalfof the bookdescribesthe presentas seenby various
theoristsandcommentators andconsidersthe futureas proposedby DanielBell
andothers.Kumarassessesthesevisionsandcontributesvaluablecriticism.
Unfortunately, mostof the discussionis on a ratherabstractlevel.On the topic
of reducedskills,forexample,Kumarwrites:"Ultimatelywhatmaybe of

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greatestsignificanceis not so muchthe disuseof actualskillsandknowledgein
the populationat largeas the wholesaledemoralizationandapathycausedby
the process"(p. 268). Beforeanythingelse we mustdefinethe termsand test
the hypothesis,perhapsby the use of existingdata.As longas conceptsare
vagueand evidenceis scarcewe can do little with interestingthoughtssuchas
this.
Towardthe endof the bookKumardiscussesthe questionsthat are being
raisedby an increasingnumberof writersaboutthe economiesof scale, the
possibilityandwisdomof continuedgrowth,the prevailingrelianceon fossil
fuels,and the qualityof worklife. He concludesthat we cannotsimplyextend
presenttrendsin orderto determinethe formandcontentof the future.Rather,
the futurewe will experienceis likelyto be quitenew,differentfromwhatis
generallypredicted.
Universityof WesternOntario JohnH. Kunkel

DanielGlenday,HubertGuindon,andAllanTurowetz,eds., Modernizationand
the CanadianState. Toronto:Macmillanof Canada,1978,456 pp., $8.95
paper.
In Modernizationand The CanadianState, Glenday,Guindon,andTurowetz
haveput togethera usefulcollectionof articlesfor coursessuchas Canadian
Social Issues,CanadianSociety,EconomicSociology,Ethnic-Minority
Relations,or evenIntroductionto Sociology.
Of the twenty-twosubstantivepapers,fourteenare reprintsandonly eight
are new.The papersare groupedinto five sections:The Impactof the Multi-
nationalCorporation,Regionalismand Community,Canadiansand Quebecois,
Ethnicityand Marginality,and Modernizationand the UrbanPoor.The editors
havecontributeda generalintroduction(whichbearsthe title of the book)and
sectionintroductions.Of the threeeditors,only Guindonsaw fit to includehis
ownwork- one of the best piecesin the collectionit turnsout.
Althoughessentiallya "textbook"of previouslypublishedwork,severalof
the commissionedarticlesjustify the priceof admissionfor any interested
scholarnot on the complimentarycopylist. In particular,one is gratifiedto see
a newand worthwhilearticleon the Quebec-Canadaissueby HubertGuindon.
Guindonhas had the happyfacilityof infrequentbut substantialpublication.
His fourtharticlesharesmanycharacteristicsof its predecessors: macroscopic
level,historicalinsight,and a smooth,polishedstyle sociologistswoulddo well
to emulate.
Briefly,Guindon'sarticlearguesthat Trudavianfederalpolicyhas been
wrongheadedin its attemptto solvethe French-Canadian 'problem'by expand-
ing francophoneopportunitiesoutsideQuebec.The crisishas beencausedby
the riseof a new middleclass insideQuebecwhoare not greatlyinterestedin
francophoneopportunitiesin PrinceAlbert.As Guindonsays, "Thefederal
state has . . . followeda languagepolicythat can only be describedas a political
irritationfor EnglishCanadawhichis entirelyirrelevantto a modernizing
Quebec"(244). This papercontinuesto reflectthe stronginfluenceRichardJoy
has had on Guindon'sthought.Onecouldwishthat the entireCanadiancabinet
mightreadthis essay.

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