World Development

The Theories

Modernisation Theory

• What stages of development did we have to go through?

The History of Modernisation Theory

• World War 2 ends…• Countries are freed from colonial rule• The Cold War begins• Modernisation is the economic theory

encouraged to those aligned with the west for development

Walt Rostow (1960) – The evolutionary ladder

Traditional Society

Pre-conditions for take-off

Take-off Drive to maturity

Age of Mass Consumptio

n

How does modernisation help?

• Financial assistance can kick start the economies of developing countries – Stimulus packages

• But…this does not come without conditions• Capitalist values must be taken on by the

country and capitalist systems introduced

But what was wrong with the way we were?

• Modernisation stresses internal blocks to development

–Traditional Values–High Birth Rates–Lack of Skills–Lack of infrastructure and institutions–Lack of technology

Why is capitalism better?• The wider state over the community• The ability to succeed as an individual – What McClelland

(1961) refers to as ‘the need for achievement’ in his The Achieving Society.

• The ‘cough’ ability to transcend social barriers• Hoselite (1952) – cities are key

– They are centres passing on social and cultural developments– Allow for a centralised workforce– Transport links

• Inkles (1997) – Media as an agent of development

Does it work?

• Rostow predicted China and India would develop to the stage they are at now during this timeframe

• We still use development aid• But…African countries (and others) have

received large amounts of development aid and have failed to develop

Ethnocentric

• It is an ethnocentric theory – It judges other cultures by the values of western civilization

• It devalues traditional values and promotes western ones

Other Criticisms

• It assumes that every country has the natural resources for industrial expansion

• The investment in the economy often benefits the rich and not the poor (although there is supposed to be a trickle down effect)

• It ignores historical context• The internal ‘blocks’ to development may be

because of a lack of development not the cause of it

Consolidation

• Do you agree?• How could you describe this theory in terms of a

smaller human relationship? i.e. between a parent and child, husband and wife etc

• Create 5 revision cards–One summarising Modernisation theory–One for Rostow–One for Hoselite–One for Inkles–One for McCelland

Traditional Marxism

• Agrees that capitalism is the way forward for development

• Disagrees with the distribution of wealth• Beyond modernisation there is a socialist next

stage• Bill Warren (1980) – Capitalism is working to

develop countries it is just happening slower than expected and being hindered by some misguided policies.

Dependency Theory

• Dependency Theory focuses on historical factors

• It sees the problem as external (caused by the developed countries) rather than internal (caused by failings in the developing countries)

Colonialism – Mercantile Era

Colonialism – Direct political control and the slave trade

The British Empire

Colonialism – Neo-Colonialism

• Although we have let many subject nations become independent we still retain a huge amount of political and economic control

• Capitalism is based on exploitation – the west exploits the LEDCs to further its own ends

• We benefit from the poverty and lack of development in third world countries

• We buy off a countries elites who then exploit the population

Andre Gunder Frank (1969)

• Studies the Latin American Economy• Concludes that the development of the first

world is reliant on the underdevelopment of the third world

Satellites/periphery nations (Reliant third world nations)

Metropolis/core (Centre in the developed world)

Why does this mean that modernisation theory is rubbish?

• As the first world was developing it was never exploited

• It ignores the historical context and continuing legacy of colonialism

• For more see Potter on the next slide!

Potter (2000)

• Developing countries policies are not internal but dictated by outside demands (by core/metropolis)

• Because the country was ruled for so long they have experience of democracy

• Western powers have left a legacy legitimising force to quell uprisings

• The skilled workers in society were never native so when the western powers left so did the skilled workforce

• Colonialism leaves behind the idea of western invincibility

Pre-western influence

Benin Empire (in modern day Nigeria)

Incans

What do they need to do to develop?

• Keep out foreign capital• Isolate and become self sufficient• Break away when the core/metropolis is weak• Avoid capitalism

Criticisms

• It is very pessimistic with no view of real development ever being possible

• It does not give a guide to realistic action• It ignores the internal factors

Consolidation

• Do you agree?• How could you describe this theory in terms of

a smaller human relationship? i.e. between a parent and child, husband and wife etc

• Create 3 revision cards– 1 for dependency theory– 1 for Gunder-Frank– 1 for Potter

World Systems Theory

• Develops from the work of Immanuel Wallerstein 1970s

• Based on dependency perspective• The factors influencing development are external but

not a single individual country but the system itself• But…if a country is producing a desired commodity it

can move up forcing other countries down• There will always be under developed countries

which are taken advantage of

World Systems cont.

• There is a modern world system in which countries move up and down not simply core and periphery but semi-peripheral (these countries have developed and un-developed areas)

• It is a dynamic system with upwards and downwards movement

• Globalisation of capitalism

Criticisms

• Still no answer to overcome the problem• Deterministic• No internal factors – corruption

The Theory Impasse

• David Booth (1985) Old Theories are no longer adequate

• Modernisation cannot explain slow progress• Dependency cannot account for rapid growth of

Asian Tigers• Communism’s end shows that traditional

Marxism fails• Postmodernism emerges and there is no longer a

single metanarrative

Neo-Liberalism

• The new official theory of the 1980’s• There are internal blocks – economic

institutions which inhibit development• Without these being removed capitalism

cannot develop

Neo-Liberalism cont.

• Increase the importance of capitalism values and reduce the value of the state– Sell off public assets to private sector– Stop government interference in economy– Reduce state spending– Cut taxed to allow more spending– Remove blocks on imports exports to allow

integration in global economy

How it is imposed?

• Voluntary – as in the UK• Structural adjustment programs imposed by

the IMF and World Bank as part of the Washington Consensus (1989)

Has it worked?

• It appears to in China and India• Where it has not the policies have not been

properly introduced• On the other hand…The Centre for Economic

and Policy Research (study carried out by Weisbrot et al. 2001) – found there was less growth from 1980-2000 than there had been between 1960-1980