TRENDS AND CONTEXTS - THE PRINCIPLE OF SINGULARITY

This paper undertakes to determine whether social change in the six la rgest North Atlantic nations has followed common or separate lines of development since 1960. The finding that they exhibit far more shared than unshared trends is qualified by the principle of singularity whic h states that the sharing of trends by two or more national societies does not imply shared outcomes, because of differences in institutiona l context and other considerations. Both the convergence of trends and the divergence of outcomes are illustrated by numerous examples.