ABSTRACT
This paper has two aims. The first is to remark about a book: E. C. Banfield's The Moral Basis of a Backward SOcietyl; the second is to restate, with particular reference to southern Italy, some common principles of social organization and structure. The success of Banfield's book is attributable to a number of factors. The author has a high reputation in the discipline of political science. For a long time it was the only sociological book about southern Italy in English; in default of other works it has been taken up by American and British universities as an introduction to the sociology of south Italian peasants. Finally, there is its appeal to practical men, such as social workers and community development experts, who find that the attempt to explain individual bits and pieces of behaviour sets up sympathetic harmonies in their hearts. The book is, however, subject to criticism on several grounds: first, on the basis of inadequate method; second, on the grounds of inadequacies of formal argument; finally, on the grounds of omissions and commissions in the presentation of the material itself.
