ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with changes in the occupational structure and their effects on mobility. It points out that the imposition of a modern economy on a traditional and less advanced society can have varying results: the economically simpler societies may be completely destroyed or absorbed or become a welfare-maintained portion of the advanced population; and the non-Western population may adopt quickly the basically different and new pattern of economic, social, and political organization. The book also includes the imposition of a modern economy: the indigenous tribal population may persist for a long time in self-centered and separate groups; and the more westernized and less westernized economies of a developing nation may integrate successfully. It suggests that the key "question is how cultural ideals that support tradition can give rise to cultural ideals that support modernity".
