ABSTRACT
The current debate about the relationship between various forms of community, civic democracy, and the growth of capitalism take us back to classical nineteenth- and early twentieth-century theories. Not only Alexis de Tocqueville, but many others were interested in the connection between different types of social solidarity and the evolution of distinct political and economic systems throughout the world. After the middle of the nineteenth century, the problem took the form of asking how capitalist, industrial systems arose in the West, and how they might be tamed. This became the central sociological issue, so much so that as late as 1970 Alvin Gouldner could devote an entire book to explaining why it was time to go beyond this old question. Now, with the obvious uncertainties raised by the collapse of communism, the continuing decline of community in the West, and the rise of new industrial powers in East Asia because they are less committed to individualistic democracy than the West.
