Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 January 2016
The modernization/development process, both historically in Europe and in developing nations of the twentieth century, has involved the transformation of the labor force from one primarily engaged in agricultural pursuits to one largely involved in secondary- and tertiary-sector activities. This change has often been brought about in stages, beginning with the introduction of nonagricultural work in rural areas—proto-industrialization—as a supplement to industrial development in urban locations, concomitant with or followed by massive migration of the rural population into cities. Proto-industrialization may have been a response to population pressure, serving as a means to provide work for the surplus rural labor force when cultivable land became overtaxed and as a way for households to gain much-needed additional income during periods of agricultural shortfall.