THE TRANSFORMATION OF PUERTO RICO: THE IMPACT OF MODERNIZATION IDEOLOGY

Anthony Lauria and I were colleagues in Puerto Rico in the l950s when the drive toward modernization was reaching its zenith. As we both show, in retrospect, this modernization ideology weakened many of the traditional roots of social cohesion in Puerto Rico, making the people more vulnerable to poverty and other social ills. The effects of this transformation are traced here, especially in the author's comparison of a traditional shantytown and public housing project in Puerto Rico. [Puerto Rico, Lauria, modernization, industrialization, gender]