ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the state-in-society approach. This approach brought that confidence about the power of the state in the Third World, and elsewhere, into question. The earlier images of modern states shaping formerly traditional societies were based on presuppositions about the overall role of politics in the organization of society and the dynamics of social and political change. The chapter examines some of the important premises about order and change-many of which have survived in contemporary research in one way or another. It presents an alternative understanding of the role of politics in society and a model of how to approach the question of overall societal change. Even in societies where other social organizations exercise significant social control, the state is still a major presence. In an environment of conflict, especially, the social control exercised even by small social organizations tucked away in remote areas constrains the state tremendously.
