ABSTRACT
According to Henri Aujac, culture determines a country’s ability to industrialize and the type of industrialization that might occur. Development, from his perspective, is entirely contingent upon culture, which in turn is a product of historical experience. If this view is sustained by research, some of which is reported in the two chapters that follow, the explanation of the persistent and widening gap between rich and poor countries is obvious; developed countries have cultures that have permitted them to industrialize, while those countries that have failed to industrialize, and hence have failed to narrow the international gap, do not possess appropriate cultures. There is a certain circularity in reasoning inherent in this argument. Furthermore, it tends to minimize the chances for cultural change in response to new challenges. What would observers have said in 1800, for example, about the suitability of the culture of the United States for industrialization?
