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110 THE ISA HANDBOOK IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY

political situation has influenced local The French economist F. Perroux (1961)
groups, nation-states, and transnational rela- analyzed the ‘colonial situation’ (Balandier,
tions in different ways. The changing impor- 1985) that he condemned, and asked for
tance and meaning of the three notions in our transformations of the unequal social, politi-
research field can redraw this situation. To cal and economic structures after countries
summarize, drawing on societies from several achieved formal independence.
regions of the world, this article addresses the During this period, the theory of modern-
problematics of these notions, the types of ization was shown to be applicable, insofar
explanations proposed, and outlines some of as the political strategies of cooperation
the main recent empirical findings. implemented by the countries of the North
privileged internal growth in and international
assistance to the South. Latin-American intel-
lectuals counter-attacked with the idea that
THE NOTION OF COOPERATION 1 international cooperation would not improve
the situation in the South but that instead
After the declaration of USA President external dependence had increased. The
Truman in 1947, cooperation emerged as an arguments of these intellectuals were pro-
international task that had to include the non- gressively adopted by political opponents to
European world in the twentieth (European) the USA and by groups in the South that tried
century by increasing the standards of living to criticize modernization theories. Yet the
of all societies. The relation of subordination adoption of the dependencia theory was not
of colonized people to colonizers changed followed by concrete political measures.
insofar as former colonies were gradually For Rostow, internal inequality was consid-
integrated into a world system, organized as ered positive because, as he saw it, competi-
an economic hierarchy. In fact, the United tion would lead to development. By contrast,
States was interested in gaining access to the Latin-American scholars underlined that
markets in the colonial empires of European inequality was problematic and required state
colonial powers (cf. Rist, 1996: 126). The intervention. The former declared that an
‘development project’, as McMichael (2004) increasing integration of ‘young nations’ in
defined it, lent legitimation to political the global market would automatically result
actions aimed at developing ‘underdevel- in development; the latter declared that sepa-
oped’ nations. The increase of economic pro- ration from the unequal world economy
duction was considered the element that would be necessary to improve the situation
could transform the situation of developing of these countries. Studies of the ECLA
countries. The Bandoung Conference (1955) (Economic Commission for Latin America,
where nations of the South met, declared that cf. Frank, 1967) had shown that free exchange
cooperation was necessary in order to inte- brought advantages to the North and disad-
grate ‘underdeveloped’ nations into the vantages to the South, which would result in
global economy. In 1962, the Secretary- the ‘core-periphery’ scheme of the global
General of the United Nations, U Thant, world. These scholars asked for regional eco-
wrote a report in which he asserted that nomic integration, industrialization that would
development was considered an economic substitute for imports, and the intervention of
change accompanied by social transforma- the state in order to avoid inequality. The Third
tions. The influential economist W. W. Rostow World movements that appeared during this
(1960) thought that cooperation with the period tried to correct the disparities of the
West would mean economic growth and the colonial division of labour (primary goods
possibility of democratic development exchanged for manufactured products).
in the South. Rostow’s idea was that a univer- The result of this discussion was that
sal ‘modernity’ would replace ‘traditions’. ‘development’ and ‘underdevelopment’ were