This article presents the various theoretical approaches to the study of social transformation and sociology of development since the emergence of this sub-field in sociology. In discussing various paradigms of social change and social transformation, the article questions the Eurocentric assumptions of a seemingly linear trajectory. In summarizing the developments in the field of sociology of development, this article synthesizes various theoretical strands such as modernization theories, dependency and worldsystems theories, and globalization and multiple modernity theories.
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