Modernisation theory has been a dominant theory since post-World War II (McMichael 2012:5) to describe development and social change. It is structured and outlined through five different stages of 'development ladder' proposed by Walt Whitman Rostow in The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto. (1961:4) The first premise of modernisation theory reflected by 'development ladder' is that development happened in a sequential process through stage by stage while the second premise underpinned by ‘development ladder’ is conformity towards West's values and norms. However, these two premises are found to be problematic as they are neglecting the differences in societies and assuming that the 'development ladder' system is applicable to all societies. Thus, Rostow's 'development ladder' is highly challenged as it gathers a lot of critiques.
Rostow's five stages of economic growth begin with the traditional society. As described by Rostow, the underdevelopment is naturalised in this structure with the evidence of constrained production means such as technology. In this part, the society applies subsistence economy that technically results in small margins of productivity such as hunter-gatherer society (Sahlins 1972:1) Undesired to do nature exploitation, Rostow viewed society at this stage as restrained from progress. The second phase following the previous stage is preconditions of take-off. Economic growth starting to take place and is essential to justify the means within good definition. The society begins to implement the manufacturing of products while at the same time foreign intervention by advanced societies such as through colonialism is needed to bring about change in one's society. The next step towards moder...
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...the critical points in other parts of international system.
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As Escobar points out in The Problematization of Poverty, one of the many changes in the post-WW2 era was the "discovery" of mass poverty throughout the world. This "discovery" had massive implications for development discourse. Prior to WW2, development discourse was limited to the colonial experience. But with the end of colonial rule lurking on the horizon, western academics began to formulate theories of economic growth and "modernization." As a result, an entire genre of academic research emerged: the development discourse. The aim of development discourse was to chart out patterns of growth (which were based on the historical successes of the West) that newly independent countries could use, primarily to escape vicious cycles of poverty, famine, etc.
Rodney’s argument is broken down into six chapters each consisting of several subdivisions and case studies supporting his principle argument. The first chapter works towards defining the terms of development and underdevelopment and argues the comparative nature of these terms; a country is only ‘underdeveloped’ by European standards. This chapter begins by tracing European development from its early stages of communalism through feudalism and finally capitalism. Then, he works towards developing an understanding of the term ‘underdevelopment’ and through an analysis of a variety of development indices what it constitutes in present day society: “In Niger, one doctor must do for 56, 140 people; in Tunisia one doctor for every 8,320 Tunisians”(18). The Marxist concept of inherent inequalities within the international capitalist system un...
Smith, R.K. (1996). Understanding third world politics: theories of political change and development. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Modernization is defined as the conversion from the former civilizations in society to contemporary society; as it is establish today in the West. It models a perspective of economic, social, and cultural progress that enlightens the global disparity in terms of modifying levels of scientific improvement between societies. By presenting modern approaches in underdeveloped countries, societies will be knowledgeable of solidifications in their economies. This dominant theory refers to a variety of believers of Karl Marx’s perspectives that encourage the explanation of improvement or underdevelopment of countries. Everyone isn’t a fan of Karl Marx’s perspective. The mutual features between Max Weber and Emile Durkheim also interpret the developmental illustration of this theory. Development implies the bridging of these gaps by an imitative process, occurring in stages, such that traditional sectors and/or countries gradually assume the qualities of the 'modern' western. Max Weber observed that with modern civilization the societies would only profit from rationality. The title of Durkheim’s book, Division of Labor in Society, basically summarizes how he views modernization. Durkheim’s believes that with modernization will be the creation of a growing division of labor. He expects the flop of modern social unions in modernization might lead to anomie. Elevation in anomie will eventually cause a growth in crime rates. The theory is in fact a unilinear, ethnocentric theory and it is with all its shortcomings which one can conclude that it provides an unworkable guide to Caribbean development.
When looking through the topic of development, two drastically different ways to assess it arise. The majority of the western world looks at development in terms of per capita GNP. This means each country is evaluated on a level playing field, comparing the production of each country in economic value. Opposite this style of evaluation is that of the alternative view, which measures a country’s development on its ability to fulfill basic material and non-material needs. Cultural ties are strong in this case as most of the population does not produce for wealth but merely survival and tradition.
Smith, Brian. Understanding Third World politics: theories of political change and development. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2003. Print.
United Nations Development Program (UNDP). (2000). Human development report 2000. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
In this book Ferguson aims to create an understanding of the workings of the concept of development through the case study of the Thaba-Tseka Development Project. To achieve this he gives detailed accounts of the setting and conditions of the project, as well as emphasize where and how development practitioners went wrong in this particular case.
Sachs also discusses the concept of social progress, which began in the Age of Enlightenment in Europe in the 1700s. The author also stresses the importance of “Enlightened Globalization” in the form of democracies, multilateralism, science and technology, and global economic system to meet the human needs. This requires active participation, cooperation, and innovative nations to sustain the progress. The three efforts which highlighted the rights of the poor and weak population were (i) The end of slavery as a results of independent movements which occurred in many countries concurrently; (ii) The end of colonialism with the notable effort by Mahatma Gandhi who strategized the independence movement by calling for political
Modernization is the term used for the transition from the traditional society of the past to modern society as it is found today in the West. Modernization theory refers to a variety of non-Marxist perspectives which have been put forward to explain the development or underdevelopment of countries. Modernization theory is a model of economic and social development that explains global inequality in terms of differing levels of technological development among societies. Modernization theory presents the idea that by introducing modern methods in "technology, agricultural production for trade, and industrialization dependent on a mobile labour force," the underdeveloped countries will experience a strengthening in their economies. Modernization theory offers an account of the common features of the process of development drawing on the analysis of Durkheim and Weber. Development implies the bridging of these gaps by an imitative process, occurring in stages, such that traditional sectors and/or countries gradually assume the qualities of the 'modern' western countries. There are many proponents of Modernization Theory, such as, Walter Rostow, W.A. Lewis, Talcott Parsons, and Daniel Lerner, however the theory has it's roots in the ideas of Durkheim and Weber. The proponents of the modernization theory all felt that the rest of the world needed to look to the Western model of modernity and pattern their society like the West in order to progress. Modernization theory was developed as an alternative to the Marxist account of social development. Modernization Theory Divides the World into two kinds of societies: "modern" and "traditional." Traditional societies are backward looking : Dominated by religious a...