The crisis in modernization theory the period following the second world war has witnessed the advent of a massive and unprecedented project of social engineering in third world countries, variously termed industrialization, modernization, or development. Rostow 1971 suggested that following initial investment, countries would then set off on an evolutionary process in which they would progress up 5 stages of a development ladder. Theories of development revista ucm universidad complutense. Perin gurel development and modernization theory development is a kind of discourse built upon the assumption that the political and socioeconomic problems of the socalled third world can be solved by the replication of western capitalist modernization. Drawing on modernization theory, it considers whether democracy is more likely to emerge in a country that modernizes economically. The most popular criticism would revolve around the idea of ethnocentrism, or the assumption that how economic and social progress has worked in certain countries would work equally as well elsewhere. Modernization theory an overview sciencedirect topics. Readings in the theory of economic development department of. Development has come a long way in the past six decades. Bureaucracy, once erected, may also come to play an active role in decisionmaking and thus determine policy evolution. There are two levels of analysis in classical modernization theory. Modernization theories backwardness theories according to modernization theories, internal factors in the countries, such as illiteracy, traditional agrarian structure, the traditional attitude of the population, the low division of labour, the lack of communication and infrastructure, etc. Modernization theory oxford research encyclopedia of.
As far as modernization theory is concerned, development is simply a matter of knowledge and technology transfer that is unproblematic and straightforward, context free, and not disruptive of existing social and cultural arrangements in developing countries herkenrath and bornschier, 2003. Accordingly,neoliberalism is an anti development perspective,not in termsofgoalsbutintermsofmeans. Ac cording to this theory, the sequence of events one would expect is one of poor authoritarian countries developing and becoming democratic once they reach some level of development, a threshold. Modernization, modernization theory and its criticism. Stages of economic growth was published in 1960, at the height of the cold war, and with the subtitle a noncommunist manifesto, it was overtly. The earliest western theory of development economics was mercantilism, which. Modernization versus dependency in the context of colonial bengal by r1uha11ad shahidullah, b. Modernizationtheoryanddependencytheory modernization. These are the principal theoretical explanations to interpret development efforts carried out especially in the developing countries. Farhan ahmad faiz 2 historical background to modernization theory 1 post world war twos deepening poverty in some countries 2 ideological competition from communism 3 increasing unrest in some countries 4 the above posed a threat to capitalism, and especially the usa 5 this led to the development. Modernization theory stresses the functional necessity of efficient bureaucracy for welfare state development because, without it, effective taxation and administration of complex distributional programs is simply impossible. The discourse pins hope on the african renaissance theory of development. Modernization theory and dependency theory are two development theories between which some difference can be identified.
In this article, multiple theories are discussed, as are recent developments with regard to these theories. Dependency theory highlights that due to colonial and postcolonial endeavors the countries at the periphery are constantly exploited by those at the core. The conclusion is that both theories have failed to help develop africa. Development theory is a collection of theories about how desirable change in society is best achieved. Dacca a thesis submitted to the school of graduate studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree r1aster of arts mcmaster university august, 1977. Read this comprehensive essay on modernisation, its meaning theory and characteristics. The paper elaborates upon various theories to explain economic development and restructuring in the forested regions of advanced countries. Modernization theory is a theory used to explain the process of modernization that a nation goes through as it transitions from a traditional society to a modern one.
This means that social science theories are better understood as models which work, either to predict or explain, in limited settings, rather than laws of science. Development theory economics and political science. The most wellknown version of modernization theory is walt rostows 5 stages of economic growth. The theory looks at the internal factors of a country while assuming that, with assistance, traditional countries can be brought to development in the. Modernization theory studies the process of social evolution and the development of societies. Modernization vs dependency addtionally, modernization theory became the foundation stone of this evolutionary prescription for development.
The theory arose around 1970 as a reaction to some earlier theories of development like the modernization theory which said that all societies progress through similar stages of development, and that underdeveloped areas are thus in a similar situation to that of todays developed areas at some time in the past, and that therefore the task in. It was, however, also grounded in the historical and political context in which he wrote. Modernization theories are recent in development and its practice was in the period 1945 1955, however the period of enlightenment throughout the 18th century can be seen as the start of portraying western ideas as above those of the third world. Rostows stages of growth development model thoughtco. Modernization theory and the comparative study of societies. Its main tenet is that the periphery of the international economy is being economically exploited drained. Modernization theory and the sociological study of development the author would like to thank rita cruise obrien and leslie sklair for encouraging him to commit to paper his views on this subject, and ronald dore and donal cruise obrien for their extensive comments on an earlier draft. Introduction to development theory department of economics nyu.
Hoselitz has used the parsonian modernization pattern variables to explain the process of development in any country. Dependency theory rejects the limited national focus of modernization theory and emphasizes the importance of understanding the complexity of imperialism and its role in shaping postcolonial states. Such theories draw on a variety of social science disciplines and approaches. Modernization theory and the sociological study of development. Modernization theory both attempts to identify the social variables that contribute to social progress and development of societies and seeks to explain the process of social evolution. These are the principal theoretical explanations to interpret. Society for comparative studies in society and history. Development economics is a branch of economics which deals with economic aspects of the. Abstract the aim of this paper is to provide an understanding of the role of accounting information system ais in developing countries in a global economy. Difference between modernization theory and dependency. The main objective of this document is to synthesize the main aspects of the four major theories of development. The applicability of the modernization theory in achieving development in the least developed countries like tanzania the term development is very broad and it has therefore brought many scholars in defining economic view, development can therefore be defined as the increase of level of economic development of a nation. One popular model combines political development state and nationbuilding, participation, redistribution, economic growth, and social mobilization with cultural. According to reyes 2001, the main hypothesis of the dependency theory is that the world is divided into two groups of nations.
Modernity and modernization oxford research encyclopedia. A key role in the aim of world system theory was to achieve a clear conceptual break with theories of modernization and thus provide a new theoretical paradigm to guide our investigations of the emergence and development of capitalism, industrialism, and national states martinezvela 2001 p. The theory has not been attributed to any one person. A critique of modernization and dependency theories in. Rostows stages of growth model is one of the most influential development theories of the 20th century. Many scholars, often people of color and those from nonwestern nations, pointed out over the years that modernization theory fails to account for the way western reliance on colonization, slave labor, and theft of land and resources provided the wealth and material resources necessary for the pace and scale of development in the west see postcolonial theory for extensive discussions of this. A critical analysis in the changing world situation after the post 1945 era, the development of modernization theory in order to modernise the rest of the world in line with american development is interestingly significant in the history of development studies. These are the principal theoretical explanations to interpret development efforts carried out especially in. The hypothesis implied by this theory is that if a country develops over a longer period under dictatorship, so that all the modernizing consequences. The theory is not homogeneousnumerous proponents disagreed on several key features. The discourse assesses the influence of modernization and dependency theories on africas development. Development theory rostows fivestage model of development and ist relevance in globalization essay school of social science faculty of education and arts the university of newcastle soca 6570 social change and development lecture dr.
Huntington is alerting to the problem that some societies reach such social and economic modernization before they develop effective political institutions. Piagets 1936 theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the world. Modernization or modernisation refers to a model of an evolutionary transition from a pre modern or traditional to a modern society. Franks theory of underdevelopment your article library. Development economics, a subject that studies institutions, growth, inequality and poverty in the developing world, is a large, lively and exciting. But in broad outline, the theory focused on deficiencies in the poorer countries and. The concept of modernization and development in marxs. The first part is devoted to broader conceptual themes in development economics, and economywide perspectives on the nature of the development problem. Modernization theory has effectively transmuted into the securitization of development discourse see duffield 2001. Modernization theory is a description and explanation of the processes of transformation from traditional or underdeveloped societies to modern societies. Modernisation and the aspirations to modernity are probably the most overwhelming theme which has engaged the attention of sociologists, political scientists, economists and many others. Indeed, back in the late 1960s robert mcnamara, reflecting upon his stint as the us secretary of defense and thinking forward to his fight on poverty as president of the world bank, astutely noted that in a. The use of the term development to refer to national economic growth emerged in the united states beginning in the 1940s and in association with a key american foreign policy concern.
This article examines the link between economic development and democracy. Modernization, modernization theory a term and approach that came into widespread use in the early 1960s, as a consequence of the efforts by a group of development specialists in the united states to develop an alternative to the marxist account of social development. Comparison of dependency theory with modernization theory. The teleology of modernization is described in social evolutionism theories, existing as a template that has been generally followed by societies that have achieved modernity. In contrast to the development of the core nations, the development of the peripheral nations necessitates subordination to the core. Modernization theory modernization theory sociology. An exegesis of theoretical sarcasm jacob tagarirofa great zimbabwe university, department of sociology and anthropology, zimbabwe abstract the essay sought to explore the efficacy of modernization theory as a pragmatic development model for developing countries. Modernization theory is a theory used to explain the process of modernization within societies. Scribd is the worlds largest social reading and publishing site. Modernisation theory treats development as a phased process.
Modernization versus dependency in the context of colonial. Postdevelopmentthinkingalsoputs forth an anti development position. In the words of one of the major proponents, historically, modernization is the process of change towards those types of social, economic, and. As formulated by piaget, classical developmental theory had much to offer educational psychology which was not derivable. In such a way, this theory views modernization of socioeconomic and political life of developing countries on the basis of the example of western countries as the only possible solution of the problem of backwardness of poor countries since western way of development is, according to modernization theory, is the only correct way to prosperity. Development rostows of development and ist relevance in. John gow semester 012005 oliver basu mallick student id 3042542 mail oliver. Development theory, cluster of research and theories on economic and political development. In its most sophisticated variants, modernization theory explains modernization by reference to the onset of the process that. Modernization theory is subject to criticism originating among socialist and freemarket ideologies, worldsystems theorists, globalization theorists and dependency theorists among others.
275 356 674 892 1489 895 221 1169 1361 1322 1113 237 563 962 703 743 1327 1431 1557 1548 810 1139 373 695 66 632 409 1554 350 1496 391 772 976 203 952 747 624 76 759 129