From paradigm lost or paradigm regained?; the case for an actor-oriented sociology of development.

Abstract

This article is divided into two parts. The first maps out the paradigmatic character of structural versus actor-oriented approaches to the study of development and social change, and argues for the injection of a more thoroughgoing, and better theorized, actor perspective into empirical research. The second traces my own struggle with theory and practice during the course of my Latin American work in Peru and Mexico. The conclusion takes up the issue of paradigm change and the so-called theoretical 'crisis' in the contemporary sociology of devel opment.1