Professor Hemant Shah (Journalism & Mass Communication) published a new book "The Production of Modernization: Daniel Lerner, Mass Media, and 'The Passing of Traditional Society'" (Temple University Press, 2011).
Daniel Lerner's 1958 book The Passing of Traditional Society was central in shaping Cold War–era ideas about the use of mass media and culture to promote social and economic progress in postcolonial nations. Based on a study of the effectiveness of propaganda in the Middle East, Lerner’s book claimed that exposure to American media messages could motivate “traditional” people in the postcolonial nations to become “modern” by cultivating empathy for American ideas, goods, and ways of life.
The Production of Modernization examines Lerner’s writings to construct the intellectual trajectory of his thinking about mass media and modernization up to and beyond the publication of his famous book. Shah has written not just an intellectual biography of Lerner but also a history of the discipline he shaped.
"Shah’s extensive archival research is really the treasure of The Production of Modernization. He has unearthed and smartly contextualized dozens of fascinating documents that help to frame not only Daniel Lerner’s career but wider currents in Cold War social science that Lerner reflected. I can’t emphasize enough how impressive is the author’s close, almost obsessive reading of the archival material. The Production of Modernization makes a genuine contribution to scholarship."—Jefferson Pooley, Assistant Professor of Media and Communication at Muhlenberg College