The Theory of Cultural Lag and the Veblenian Contribution.

The article presents a theory of cultural lag. Cultural lag refers to the discrepancy between the socio-political structure and technological advances, to put it another way, it indicates a more retarded development of societal arts as compared with the advanced stage of technological arts. It is commonly held that technology is developing and growing at such a high speed that social relationships, for one reason or another, have not been able to keep pace in development. The implication is, of course, of a teleological nature. It assumes that the two ought to be harmonized in some fashion and that there is some force which causes the two to move in the same direction or towards the same ends, albeit at different rates of speed. Economist Thorstein Veblen's contribution to the theory of cultural lag lies in his keen analysis of the basic dichotomy of the social complex, technology and ceremonialism, an analysis which goes far beyond the usual studies of the phenomenon of cultural lag and deals with the underlying aspects of society. And an almost equal contribution of Veblen was his unparalleled recognition of the significance of this concept for the field of economics.