Patron-client culture in Bangladesh and the resulting weak state and stubborn rural socio-economic stagnation
This study uses Weberian sociology to understand the prolonged socio-economic stagnation and political instability of Bangladesh. Weber's concept of elective affinities has been used as the base for an historico-cultural narrative and subsequent field research. The study concludes that patron-client ideals are the foundation of Bangladeshi society. It argues that agriculture, particularly rice production, is the bedrock on which economy, culture, religious beliefs, and social relationships are organized and out of which patron-client ideals emerged
Thesis, Dissertation, English, 2001