ABSTRACT
Professor Myrdal's approach, the social and economic institutions of the Third World are changed, the introduction of modern industrial techniques, with their promise of greater material affluence and power, into the context of traditional societies might result in vast convulsions and bloody revolution. On the question of population, agriculture and education, he puts forward an inter-linked, and certainly challenging, programme. As to education, he demands sweeping reforms of the school systems. Elitism, with its roots in colonial dominance, must give way to a greater emphasis on adult education, and to education that is fundamentally linked with the agrarian programme. Much the most important aspect of his analysis, and his greatest contribution, is in his treatment of what he calls 'the Soft State', that is, the nepotism, the favouritism, the corruption, the unbridled self-seeking of the dominant class. He ends this section with a passionate appeal to the Western 'donors' to support change.
