Моральные основы отсталого общества

A classic of post-war political science, Edward Banfield's book answers the question of where society's inability to unite and coordinate comes from, leading to a lack of political institutions and economic development. In 1958, the book by political scientist Edward Banfield, The Moral Foundations of a Backward Society, was published in the United States. Banfield described in it the life of a small town in southern Italy, trying to understand the reasons for the backwardness of the local society and its inability to create effective political and social development institutions. Ultimately, he defined the ethos of the inhabitants of Montegrano (the town of Chiaramonte is hidden under this fictitious name) as "amoral familism" and formulated a number of provisions that, being a consequence of immoral nepotism, determined the political and social life of Montegrano.