Why modernization theory

Different theorists stress the importance of different types of assistance or interventions that could jolt countries out their traditional ways and bring about change.

Firstly , there are no examples of countries that have followed a Modernisation Theory approach to development. This is why it is such a weak theory. Secondly, Modernization Theory assumes that western civilisation is technically and morally superior to traditional societies. Implies that traditional values in the developing world have little value compared to those of the West.

Many developed countries have huge inequalities and the greater the level of inequality the greater the degree of other problems: High crime rates, suicide rates, poor health problems such as cancer and drug abuse. Thirdly, Dependency Theorists argue that development is not really about helping the developing world at all.

It is really about changing societies just enough so they are easier to exploit, making western companies and countries richer, opening them up to exploit cheap natural resources and cheap labour.

Fourth, Neo-Liberalism is critical of the extent to which Modernisation theory stresses the importance of foreign aid, but corruption Kleptocracy often prevents aid from getting to where it is supposed to be going. Much aid is siphoned off by corrupt elites and government officials rather than getting to the projects it was earmarked for. This means that aid creates more inequality and enables elites to maintain powe. Fifth , Post-Development thinkers argue that the model is flawed for assuming that countries need the help of outside forces.

The central role is on experts and money coming in from the outside, parachuted in, and this downgrades the role of local knowledge and initiatives. This approach can be seen as demeaning and dehumanising for local populations. Galeano argues that minds become colonised with the idea that they are dependent on outside forces.

They train you to be paralysed and then sell you crutches. There are alternative models of development that have raised living standards: Such as Communist Cuba and The Theocracies of the Middle East. Sixthly, industrialisation may do more harm than good for many people — It may cause Social damage — Some development projects such as dams have led to local populations being removed forcibly from their home lands with little or no compensation being paid.

In the clip below, Vandana Shiva presents a useful alternative perspective on the Green Revolution, pointing out that many traditional villages were flooded and destroyed in the process:. Finally, there are ecological limits to growth. Many industrial modernisation projects such as mining and forestry have led to the destruction of environment.

Despite its failings Modernisation theory has been one of most influential theories in terms of impact on global affairs. The spirit of Modernisation theory resulted in the establishment of the United Nations, The World Bank and the IMF, global financial institutions through which developed countries continue to channel aid money to less developed countries to this day, although there is of course debate over whether aid is an effective means to development.

Sachs, like Rostow, sees development as a ladder with its rungs representing progress towards economic and social well-being. Sachs argues that there are a billion people in the world who are too malnourished, diseased or young to lift a foot onto the ladder because they often lack certain types of capital which the west takes for granted — such as good health, education, knowledge and skills, or any kind of savings.

Sachs argues that these billion people are effectively trapped in a cycle of deprivation and require targeted aid injections from the west in order to develop.

In the year Sachs even went as far as calculating how much money would be required to end poverty — it worked out at 0. Steve Basset has produced an excellent series of vodcasts introducing Modernization Theory and other theories of development:. Good tool for revision as it compacts important information into a non daunting, accessible pdf. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. But in this variety of applications, the fundamental common factor is the effect of risk, ameliorated by credibility, on the variable of interest.

That is, in essence, also the driving force behind the credible polity and precisely why it is so closely related to the weightless economy. The credibility capital of a polity determines the political risk investors and consumers perceive, and risk in any form dictates where productive capital in any form is employed. A polity, for instance, that fails to employ its credibility capital in guaranteeing ownership of a knowledge product and subsequent right to the income stream it produces, cannot sustain a weightless economy and thereby hampers the process of the modernization of its society.

After all, if a weightless economy could grow independently of a credible polity, it could in theory thrive in North Korea and Cuba to the same extent as it does in the US or Germany. The credible polity construct is more than just a method of introducing political relevance to economic development simply for the benefit of researchers on modernization theory. It is, in itself, also a framework for analyzing transitions in political regimes.

And it does so without simply ordering existing regime classifications and providing an argument with deterministic step functional form. The credible polity is a continuous latent process that does not come to life only in times of transition in economic systems or political regime. Note that we can start from any specific location on the imperfect to perfect credible polity spectrum less than the perfect and, by application of its two principles, converge toward a perfect credible polity directly, without oscillation and theoretically in one shot.

Another implication of the analysis here is that as democracies start becoming more and more perfect in the sense implied by credible polities, we should start witnessing fewer and fewer changes in government and a convergence of all candidate governments to the center.

This essay has deliberately not looked at modernization theory as a constant theoretical idea that was proffered in an inviolable format to social scientists. Instead it has favored a view to modernization theory that, while in its classical form is indubitably in need of reformulation, is a twofold gift to social scientists.

First and foremost it provides an endogenous theory for social modernization. The gauntlet that empirical discoveries of irregularities and fifty years of research on social, economic, and political development has laid down is a significant challenge for constructing a contemporary endogenous modernization theory, but it is a task worth pursuing and, as this essay hints, not entirely insurmountable.

Second, modernization theory is not the purview of political science, sociology, or economics. Seen as such it will fail to progress into the next century and will likely be seen as an amusing exercise in grandiose theorizing by our predecessors.

Progress will likely be most fruitful when provided through the minds of rigorous and methodological social scientists who borrow from the traditions of social science without bias and fear of unorthodoxy. At www-management. For anyone interested in studying the role of credibility in modernization empirically, it is an excellent resource.

At www. The NBER has a working paper series that includes many of the contributors cited in this chapter, and others well known for their work on economic growth and development theory, as well as on the political economy of growth. Social Capital Gateway. Any empirical study of modernization must grapple with the effects of the nature, stock, and flow of social capital in a society over time and space.

The Social Capital Gateway is an excellent resource with new and archived papers on the subject of social capital as well as links to databases, conferences, and educational resources. Online Publications on Social and Cultural Evolution. Maintained by the Sociology Institute of the University of Zurich, Switzerland, this database contains a truly impressive list of resources.

It covers theoretical and applied aspects of social evolutionary theory. A modernization theorist would find a lot of useful material, ranging from traditional approaches to sociocultural evolution to modern views of cyber-evolution and even the emerging link between modernization and social network theory. Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a single article for personal use for details see Privacy Policy and Legal Notice. Oxford Research Encyclopedias.

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of International Studies. Oxford Research Encyclopedias International Studies. Advanced search. Your current browser may not support copying via this button. Sign In Article Navigation. Subscriber sign in You could not be signed in, please check and try again.

Username Please enter your Username. Password Please enter your Password. Forgot password? Don't have an account? Sign in via your Institution. You could not be signed in, please check and try again. Sign in with your library card Please enter your library card number. Search within Show Summary Details Modernization Theory. Modernization Theory. Keywords modernization theory classical modernization theory contemporary modernization theory economic development democratization weightless economy credible polity social modernization.

Introduction Fundamentally, modernization theory studies the process of social evolution and the development of societies. Classical Modernization Theory Contributions to classical modernization theory can usefully be studied as belonging to two levels of analysis.

Classical Modernization Theory Facing New Evidence There are a few significant changes worth reviewing here that have breathed new life into the prospects of modernization theory reemerging as a pursuit worthy of its own dedicated researchers. Embedding Institutional and Instrumental Perspectives in Modernization Theory The responsibility that studying modernization theory places on the shoulders of its researchers when it comes to having a sound understanding of economic development theory cannot be overstressed.

Revising and Continuing the Classical with the Contemporary in Modernization Theory The preceding discussion has emphasized the benefit of a social modernization theory while simultaneously acknowledging the problematic elements of classical modernization theory. A New Modernization Theory through a Credible Polity and a Weightless Economy We can now turn to a review of how a new modernization theory might be constructed addressing the problems with the classical version discussed above as well as being able to tractably study the role of embedded social institutions as well as instrumental rational action.

The Credible Polity Numerous studies in the Northian tradition North ; have mentioned the importance of credibility in political institutions in creating positive economic development outcomes. The Credible Polity and the Weightless Economy In this discussion on modernization theory, the emphasis on credibility is in no small measure also a means of critically assessing the latent processes behind the development and aftermath of that very climacteric event, which causes a shift in political regime and, in so doing, makes the entire process much smoother in our understanding.

Some Remarks The credible polity construct is more than just a method of introducing political relevance to economic development simply for the benefit of researchers on modernization theory.

Some Concluding Thoughts This essay has deliberately not looked at modernization theory as a constant theoretical idea that was proffered in an inviolable format to social scientists. References Acemoglu, D. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Acemoglu, D. Barro, R. Quarterly Journal of Economics 2 , — Journal of Political Economy 6 , — Journal of Political Economy 2 , — Cambridge: MIT Press.

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