Study Modernization As Ideology: American Social Science And Nation Building In The Kennedy Era (The New Cold War History) Prepared By Michael E. Latham Available In PDF

modernisation theory has been seen as a social scientific method which gained popularity in the postwar period for its ability to investigate the differences between the rich and poor nations of the world in a consistent, structured way.
Whilst it was acknowledged that the Kennedy administration was influenced by the ideas of the modernisation theorists, the interventionist policies in places such as Latin America and Vietnam which resulted from said influence were considered as genuinely selfless attempts at aiding the poorer countries of the world, ones which tragically failed.

Michael Latham disagrees, and claims that we must look at modernisation theory as an ideology, the American equivalent of the MarxistLeninist ideology of the Soviet Union.
Rather than a collection of abstract ideas, modernisation was a state of mind, one which had direct links on policy, Whilst it was dressed up in the language of science and naturally modernity, modernisation theory had direct links with earlier American perceptions of the world, an imperial American perception which had been considered long banished.

President Kennedy had long called for a more interventionist foreign policy as a senator, The ideas of modernisation theory resonated well with him JFK had been in close contact with MIT social scientists during thes, and took many of them to Washington with him upon his election.
Kennedy saw the US as having to actively intervene in the development of the Third World in order to prevent revolutions and communist influence.
Modernisation theory also provided the basis for his exciting rhetoric of new frontiers Americans, having achieved their manifest destiny at home, could now take their mission to other parts of the world.

Latham looks at three case studies of the time, showing how the underlying ideology of modernisation influenced them all, The first, the Alliance for Progress, was an aid program between Latin America and the United States, which was inspired as an attempt to provide a credible alternative to Castroism and keep Latin America within the US sphere of influence.
The second, the Peace Corps, were envisioned as a means to show that Americans could get “down and dirty” on the ground in the same ways as the communists.
Peace Corps students were meant to show the appeals of the American, democratic way of life by their actions alone their example would prove inspirational.
The last policy, the strategic hamlets initiative in Vietnam was a heavily sophisticated attempt at creating new, loyal, westloving citizens by changing their environment.
As each of these policies failed in turn, the rhetoric and ideals of modernisation ere increasingly challenged, not least by the “new left”, who argued for a dramatic redistribution of the earths wealth.

Overall, I found Lathams work engaging and convincing, What is most notable to me is the confidence of a preVietnam America, Social scientists and policy makers often the same people really did think it was possible to remake the world in Americas image, In their confidence they drew from a long history of American confidence in itself, a confidence which must be reckoned with in any cultural study of the Cold War.
I do take a more positive view on modernisation theory than Latham, particularly its role in providing consensus to American politics, but it is perhaps indicative to say that the language of the modernisation theorists is strikingly similar to that of the generals in Vietnam.

A great read that frames modernization theory as an ideology, But more importantly, a book that shatters many assumptions about modernization and development that have survived to this day, Better and less abstract than "Mandarins of the Future", but could have used some tighter evidence linking specific thinking from the modernization theorists to policy.
Perhaps that evidence doesn't really exist, and the main influence of the modernization theorists was through personnel choices most notably, Walt Rostow, In that case, deeper archival work into the thinking of these specific figures may be needed, Providing new insight on the intellectual and cultural dimensions of the Cold War, Michael Latham reveals how social science theory helped shape American foreign policy during the Kennedy administration.
He shows how, in the midst of America's protracted struggle to contain communism in the developing world, the concept of global modernization moved beyond its beginnings in academia to become a motivating ideology behind policy decisions.


After tracing the rise of modernization theory in American social science, Latham analyzes the way its core assumptions influenced the Kennedy administration's Alliance for Progress with Latin America, the creation of the Peace Corps, and the strategic hamlet program in Vietnam.
But as he demonstrates, modernizers went beyond insisting on the relevance of America's experience to the dilemmas faced by impoverished countries, Seeking to accelerate the movement of foreign societies toward a liberal, democratic, and capitalist modernity, Kennedy and his advisers also reiterated a much deeper sense of their own nation's vital strengths and essential benevolence.
At the height of the Cold War, Latham

argues, modernization recast older ideologies of Manifest Destiny and imperialism,

.