Global Social Change and Development

The emergence of this field of study coincides with the emergence of sociology, which began as a science of social order and social change. The classical sociologists (Marx, Weber, Durkheim) all analyzed the development of modern industrial society and capitalism and the consequences of this transformation for the structure of societies and the behavior of individuals. The study of social change, development, and comparative sociology is fundamental to all sub- areas or specializations within the discipline as a whole.

As a graduate specialization, this area focuses upon the processes and consequences of transformations in nation-states and in the entire world system. Graduate study in this area conveys the history, theories, concepts, and methodological tools necessary for both basic and applied research. The courses provide students with an understanding of the advantages and pitfalls of current theoretical and methodological approaches towards social change and development.

Graduate Courses

Developing Societies (SOC 726): classical and contemporary theoretical perspectives on social change, in general, and the sociology of development, in particular.

Sociology of Agricultural Development (SOC 756): structures and processes of agricultural organization and the role of significant social actors (including peasants and women) in societal transformations.

Comparative Societies (SOC 727): methodological techniques of comparative social science research and the issues involved in the comparative study of social institutions throughout the world.

Communities Organization and Development (SOC 513): introduction to the literature on the social organization of communities and sub-communities for development in the US and around the world.

Related Courses

  • Applied Anthropology (ANT 512): analyzes the processes of cultural change by applying anthropological techniques to programs of developmental change.
  • Urban Anthropology (ANT 560): cross-cultural patterns of behavior in urban areas and adaptive strategies that urban dwellers employ.
  • Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Women (ANT 544): cross-cultural perspectives on the similarity and diversity of women's statuses and roles in Western and non-Western societies.


Faculty

Dr. Moxley, Dr. Schulman & Dr. Thomson
Professors: Schulman, Clifford, Thomson, Moxley, Chen, Kick and Wimberley

Feinian Chen

Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2001
339 1911 Bldg, (919) 515-9011, email: feinian_chen@ncsu.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Current research focus: Family and life course, Demography, Aging, Research methods and statistics, Gender and inequality.

Publications:

  • Chen, Feinian. 2005. “Employment Transitions and the Household Division of Labor in China.” Social Forces. Forthcoming.
  • Chen, Feinian. 2005. “Family Context and Transition to First Birth in Contemporary China.” In Dudley L. Poston, Jr., Chiung-Fang Chang, Sherry L. McKibben, Carol S. Walther, and Che-Fu Lee (editors), Fertility, Family Planning, and Population Control in China. London: Routledge Publishers. Forthcoming.
  • Chen, Feinian. 2005. “Residential Patterns of Parents and Their Married Children in Contemporary China: A Life Course Approach.” Population Research and Policy Review 24: 125-148.
  • Chen, Feinian. 2004. “The Division of Labor between Generations of Women in Rural China.” Social Science Research 33: 557-580.
  • Curran, Patrick, Kenneth Bollen, Feinian Chen, Pamela Paxton, and James Kirby. 2003. “The Finite Sampling Properties of the RMSEA: Point Estimates and Confidence Intervals.” Sociological Methods and Research 32: 208-252.


William B. Clifford

Professor
Ph.D., University of Kentucky, 1969
336 1911 Bldg, (919) 515-9000, email: william_clifford@ncsu.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Current research focus: Demography, Ecology, Environmental Sociology.

Publications:

  • “A Case Study of the Socioeconomic Impacts of Technology Transfer on a Philippine Company: Eliminating Aflatoxin in Peanut-Based Products,” with Robert L. Moxley, C.F. Galvez and M. L. Francisco. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Southern Association of Agricultural Scientists and the Southern Rural Sociological Association, Orlando, Florida, February, 2006.
  • “NC Farm Operators’ Adoption of Nutrient Management Practices,” with Thomas J. Hoban and Alyssa Wittenborn. Final report for the NC Division of Water Quality, 319 Grant Contract EW05043, January, 2006.
  • “The Adoption of New Peanut Nutrition Technology in the Philippines: A Socioeconomic Impact Assessment,” with Robert L. Moxley, C. Jicha, and others. Paper presented at the 4th annual meetings Hawaii International Social Science Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii. June, 2005.
  • “Vitamin A Fortification of Peanut Butter in the Philippines: Socioeconomic Impacts on Families,” with F. Galvez, L. Francisco, R. Moxley, L. Palomar, M. Aquino and K. Jicha. Final report for P-CRSP grant No. RC710-013/4092104 submitted to the University of Georgia P-CRSP Management Program Office, Griffin, Georgia, September, 2004.
  • “Socioeconomic Impact Assessment of Vitamin A Fortification,” with Robert Moxley, Carl Jicha and others. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Rural Sociological Society. 2004.
  • “Environmental World View and Behavior: Consequences of Dimensionality in a Survey of North Carolinians,” with J.E. Nooney, E. Woodrum, and T.J. Hoban. Environment and Behavior, 35 (6): 763-779, 2003.
  • “Environmental Behavior: What are the Religious Effects?,” with Eric Woodrum and Thomas J. Hoban. Paper presented at the annual meetings of the Southern Sociological Society. 2003.


Ed Kick

Professor
Ph.D., Indiana University at Bloomington, 1980
301-A 1911 Bldg, (919) 515-8301, email: elkick@sa.ncsu.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Current research focus: Global and Community, Development, Crime, Political, Organizations, Environment.

Publications:

  • Jorgensen and Edward Kick (eds.). (2006). Globalization and the Environment. Leiden, England: Brill Academic Publishers.
  • Thomas Burns and Edward Kick. (2006). The Sociological Tradition. Under contract with Allyn and Bacon.
  • Kick, Edward L., Byron Davis and Jeffrey Kentor. (2006). “A Cross-National Analysis of Militarization and Inequality.” Forthcoming in Summer in Journal of Political and Military Sociology.
  • Davis, Byron and Edward L. Kick. (2006). “Changing Scores, Composites, and Reliability Issues in Cross-National Development Research.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology.
  • Jorgensen, Andrew and Edward L. Kick. (2006). “Issues in the Global Environment: Political-Economic Approaches.” Forthcoming in Globalization and the Environment, Andrew Jorgensen and Edward L. Kick (eds.) Leiden, England: Brill Academic Publishers.
  • Thomas Burns, Edward Kick and Byron Davis. (2006). “Theorization and a Cross-National Analysis of Deforestation.” Forthcoming in Globalization and the Environment, Andrew Jorgensen and Edward L. Kick (eds.) Leiden, England: Brill Academic Publishers.
  • Kick, Edward L., James C. Fraser, and Byron Davis. (2006). “Performance Management, Managerial Citizenship, and Worker Commitment: A Study of the United States Postal Service.” Economic and Industrial Democracy, 27:137-172.
  • James Fraser and Edward Kick. (2005). “ Understanding Community Building in Urban America.” Journal of Poverty 9:23-43.
  • Andrew Jorgensen and Edward Kick. (2003). “Globalization and the Environment.” Journal of World-Systems Research 9:202-204.
  • Thomas Burns, Edward Kick and Byron Davis. (2003). “Theorizing and Rethinking Linkages Between the Natural Environment and the Modern World System: Deforestation in the Late 20 th Century.” Journal of World-Systems Research 9:357-390.
  • James Fraser, Jonathan Lepofsky, Edward Kick and J. Patrick Williams. (2003). “The Construction of the Local and the Limits of Contemporary Community-Building in the United States.” Urban Affairs Review 38(3): 417-445.


Robert L. Moxley

Professor
Ph.D., Cornell, 1970
341 1911 Bldg, (919) 515-9011, email: Robert_Moxley@ncsu.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Current research focus: adoption/diffusion processes and socioeconomic impacts; community development and rural viability

Publications:

  • Moxley, R.L. and K.B. Lang (2006). “The Importance of Social Context Influences on New Farm Technology Sustainability: Community and Sub-community Characteristics in Jamaica .” Technology in Society, Vol. 28:1.
  • Moxley, R.L., G. Thompson and D. Jordan (2005). “Peanut CRSP Technology Adoption Rates: Report on a Survey of N.C. Peanut Farmers,” in Proceedings of the American Peanut Research and Education Society, Vol. 37.
  • Moxley, R.L., A.R. Librero, and D. Alston (2002). “A Study of Philippine Farming Communities: Adoption of New Technologies and Structural Influences on Sustainability,” in the Proceedings of International Conference on Impacts of Agricultural Research and Development, an electronic publication (disk) by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT)


Michael D. Schulman

Professor
Ph.D., Wisconsin, 1975
332 1911 Bldg, (919) 515-9016, email: Michael_Schulman@ncsu.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Current research focus : globalization and rural restructuring; labor market transformation

Publications:

  • Runyan, C.W., J. Dal Santo, M. Schulman, H. Lipscomb, T. Harris. (2006). “Work Hazards and Workplace Safety Violations Experienced by Adolescent Construction Workers.” Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Forthcoming
  • Runyan, C., Michael D. Schulman, and Myduc Ta. (2006). "Adolescent Employment: Relationships to Injury and Violence.” Chapter (pp. 163-90) in Karen Liller (ed.), Injury Prevention for Children and Adolescents: Integration of Research, Practice, and Advocacy,. Washington : American
  • O’Connor, T., D. Loomis, C. Runyan, J. A. dal Santo, and M. D. Schulman. (2005). “Adequacy of Health and Safety Training Among Young Latino Construction Workers.” Journal of Occupational and Industrial Medicine 47: 272-77.
  • Runyan. C., J. M. Bowling, M. D. Schulman, and S. S. Gallagher. (2005). “Potential for Violence Against Teenage Retail Workers.” Journal of Adolescent Health 36: 267.e1-67e6.
  • Schulman, Michael D., and Doris Slesinger. (2004). “Health Hazards of Rural Extractive Industries and Occupations.” Pp. 49-60 in Glasgow, Morton, and Johnson (eds.), Critical Issues in Rural Health. Ames, IA: Blackwell Iowa State University Press.
  • Runyan, C. W., J. Michael Bowling, and Michael D. Schulman. (2004). Safety of Youth Employment: A National Study of Parents and Teens. Final Report to National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. November.
  • Costello, Theresa, Michael D. Schulman, and Regina Luginbuhl. (2003). “Understanding the Public Health Impacts of Farm Vehicle Public Road Crashes in North Carolina,” Journal of Agricultural Safety and Health 9 (1):19-32.
  • Anderson, Cynthia D., Michael D. Schulman, and Phillip J. Wood. (2003). “Place, Race, and State: Sustaining the Textile Security Zone in a Changing Southern Labor Market.” Pp. 31-54 in Falk, Schulman, and Tickamyer (eds.), Communities of Work. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.
  • MacMillan, Marybe, and Michael D. Schulman (2003).. “Hogs and Citizens: A Report From the North Carolina Front.” Pp. 219-239 in Falk, Schulman, and Tickamyer (eds.), Communities of Work. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press.
  • Runyan, C. W., Michael D. Schulman, and C. Hoffman.(2003). “Understanding and Preventing Violence Against Adolescent Workers: What Is Known and What is Missing?” Clinics in Occupational and Environment Medicine 3: 711-20.
  • Falk, William, Michael D. Schulman, and Ann Tickamyer editors. (2003). Communities of Work: Rural Restructuring in Local and Global Contexts. Athens: Ohio University Press.
  • Schulman, Michael D. “Things My Mentor Never Told Me.” (2003). ASA Footnotes 31 (1): 5.
  • Schulman, Michael D. (2003). “A Testimonial to the Value of Undergraduate Research Mentoring.” The Rural Sociologist 23 (3): 24-25.
  • Schulman, Michael D., Carol Runyan, J. Michael Bowling, Janet Dal Santo, Linda Treiber, and Hester Lipscomb. (2003).“Teenage Construction Workers: Hazards, Experiences, and Work Organization.” Presentation at the National Occupational Injury Research Symposium, Pittsburg, PA. October.


Randall J. Thomson

Associate Professor of Sociology and Assistant Dean and Director of Undergraduate Programs, College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Ph.D., Indiana, 1978
106 Caldwell Hall., (919) 515-2467, email: randy@server.sasw.ncsu.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Current research focus: comparative methodology; housing; international students

Publications:

  • Housing and Community Integration. (2002). International Conference on Social Science. Honolulu , HI .
  • Technology Transfer and Bain Drain: A tracer study. (2002). International Conference on Social Science. Honolulu , HI .
  • Review of Dan A. Chekki (ed.) (1999). Research in Community Sociology, vol. 8: American Community Issues and Patterns of Development. Contemporary Sociology 28(5):585-586
  • Peanut CRSP Human Resource Development (with R. Moxley) in Impacts & Scientific Advances Through Collaborative Research on Peanut: Proceedings. (1997). J.H. Williams, et al. (eds.) Griffin , Georgia : University of Georgia , CRSP Management Office.
  • R. Thomson and R. Moxley, 1994. Socioeconomic Impacts of Peanut CRSP Graduate Training Efforts. Research Report 94-01. Griffin, GA: AID Peanut CRSP, University of Georgia.
  • R. Thomson and B. Newman. 1989. Economic Growth and Social Development: A Longitudinal Analysis of Causal Priority. World Development 17 (4): 461-71.


Ronald Wimberley

William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor
342 1911 Bldg, (919) 515-9026, email: ronald_wimberley@ncsu.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Current research interests: Methodology, The South, Rurality, Spatial Environment, Applied.

Publications:

  • Wimberley, R. C. and L. V. Morris. 2002. “The Regionalization of Poverty: Assistance for the Black Belt South?” Southern Rural Sociology 18(1).
  • Wimberley, R. C., C. K. Harris, J. J. Molnar, and T. J. Tomazic, eds. 2002. The Social Risks of Agriculture: Americans Speak Out on Food, Farming, and the Environment. Westport, CT: Praeger.
  • Wimberley, R. C. 2002. “Social, Agricultural, and Environmental Interdependence.” Pp. 1-13 in The Social Risks of Agriculture. Edited by R. C. Wimberley, J. J. Molnar, C. K. Harris, and T. J. Tomazic. Westport, CT: Praeger.
  • Wimberley, R. C. 2002. “Agriculture’s Social Risks and Directions.” Pp. 117-24 in The Social Risks of Agriculture. Edited by R. C. Wimberley, J. J. Molnar, C. K. Harris, and T. J. Tomazic. Westport, CT: Praeger.

In addition, several members of the anthropology faculty have research interests in the area of social change and development. They include:

  • Risa Ellovich (Ph.D, Indiana, 1979): urban, women
  • James M. "Tim" Wallace (Ph.D, Indiana, 1975): tourism, community development