This new authoritative two-volume set contains a selection of the most important articles and papers spanning over 30 years on the sociology of development. It is divided under 14 succinct headings covering the main areas of the field, including: Antecedents, Modernization Theory, Dependency, the Global Economy, the Urban and the Rural, Gender and Ethnicity, Environment and Sustainable Development.The first volume features a comprehensive collection by authors whose work has shaped academic thought and public policy on the economic development of third world nations. Contemporary scholarship on economic development is explored in the second volume which addresses today's major research issues: class, gender, ethnic and race inequality, the informal economy, population growth, migration, worker remittances, politics and the state, planning and development, and the state and sustainable development.

The editors do not limit their selection of articles on the sociology of development to just one country - papers are included on Africa, Latin America, China, Mexico as well as more general articles on the developing world. The editors have also written an introduction to accompany the piece, explaining their selection of articles chosen.