The United States as a Developing Country

The history of the United States is in crucial respects the history of a developing country, not only in its transition from agriculture and commercial colonies to an industrial nation, but in modern times and the foreseeable future as well. These seven essays are primarily concerned with the U.S. as a developing country in the early twentieth century, undergoing stages of development from competitive capitalism to corporate capitalism, and from industrial to "postindustrial" society. The chapters treat the emergence of corporate capitalism and its implications for domestic affairs and foreign relations, the origins and character of corporate liberalism, and the central role of Woodrow Wilson in these areas. Critical linkages are also drawn among economic, political, and cultural developments in the 1920s, raising a parallel between Henry Adams in the Progressive Era, the "Young Intellectuals" of the Twenties, and the New Left in the Sixties. Martin J. Sklar is Professor of History at Bucknell University, has published articles in early twentieth century American history, and is the author of The Corporate Reconstruction of American Capitalism, 1890-1916.

"In a new book of essays, The United States as a Developing Country (Cambridge, 1992), historian Martin J. Sklar presents a model of capitalist development that is far more relevant to the present than the factory-centered one that still dominates much political and economic thought." John B. Judis, In These Times "This book interprets American development in the early part of the century and offers intriguing perspectives on modernization and periodization; it also illuminates Sklar's own intellectual odyssey from outrage and despair over American life to acceptance and almost celebration." Emily S. Rosenberg, American Historical Review "[These] essays present provocative ideas and offer an interesting perspective on the intellectual evolution of a member of the 'Wisconsin School.'...makes interesting reading." David S, Foglesong, Journal of Interdisciplinary History