Development theory
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (January 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Development theory is a conglomeration of theories about how desirable change in society is best to be achieved. Such theories draw on a variety of social scientific disciplines and approaches.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] Historical development theories
[edit] Modernization Theory
Modernization Theory is a theory of development which states that the development can be achieved through following the processes of development that were used by the currently developed countries. Scholars such as Walt Rostow and A.F.K. Organski developed stages of development through which every country develops. Samuel Huntington determined development to be a linear process which every country must go through. Modernization Theory, in contrast to Classical Liberalism, viewed the state as a central actor in modernizing "backward" or "underdeveloped" societies. Talcott Parsons' functional sociology defined the qualities that distinguished "modern" and "traditional" societies. Education was viewed as key to creating modern individuals. Technology played a key role in this development theory because it was believed that as technology was developed and introduced to lesser developed countries it would spur growth. One key factor in Modernization Theory is the belief that development requires the assistance of developed countries to aid developing countries to learn from their development. In addition, it was believed that the lesser developed countries would develop and grow faster than developed countries. Thus, this theory is built upon the theory that it is possible for equal development to be reached between the developed and lesser developed countries.
[edit] Dependency Theory
While Modernization Theory understood development and underdevelopment as a result from internal conditions that different between economies, dependency theory understood development and underdevelopment as relational. Informed by Marxist insights, they argued that development was a result of underdevelopment, and underdevelopment was a result of development. Their conclusion was that for underdeveloped nations to develop, they must break their ties with developed nations and pursue internal growth. Such policies were crafted from this insight were Import substitution industrialization.
[edit] World Systems Theory
In response to some of the criticisms of Dependency Theory came World Systems Theory, which the division of periphery and center was further divided into a trimodal system consisting of the core, semi-periphery and periphery. In this system, the semi-periphery lies between the core and periphery and is exploited by the core and exploits the periphery. This division aims to explain the industrialization within lesser developed countries. World Systems Theory was initiated by Immanuel Wallerstein in, among other writings, World Systems Analysis (Durham NC: Duke University Press, 2004), and focuses on inequality as a separate entity from growth in development and examines change in the global capitalist system. One distinguishing feature of this theory is a distrust for the state and a view in which the state is seen as a group of elites and that industrialization cannot be equated with development. Out of this theory stem anti-systemic movements which attempt to reverse the terms of the system's inequality through social democratic and labor movements.
[edit] State Theory
In response to the distrust of the state in World Systems Theory, is State Theory. State Theory is based upon the view that the economy is intertwined with politics and therefore the take-off period in development is unique to each country. State Theory emphasized the effects of class relations and the strength and autonomy of the state on historical outcomes. Thus, development involves interactions between the state and social relations because class relations and the nature of the state impact the ability of the state to function. Development is dependent upon state stability and influence externally as well as internally. State Theorists believe that a developmentalist state is required for development by taking control of the development process within one state.[citation needed]
[edit] Development economics theories
A number of theories are concerned with how economies develop over time. Some of these theories include:
- Comparative advantage: Predicts all countries gain if they specialise and trade the goods in which they have a comparative advantage. This is true even if one nation has an absolute advantage over another country.
- Rostovian take-off model: A linear theory of development that argues that economic modernization occurs in five basic stages of varying length - traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity, and high mass consumption.
- Harrod-Domar model: Explains an economy's growth rate in terms of the level of saving and productivity of capital.
- Dual Sector model: Explains the growth of a developing economy in terms of a labour transition between two sectors, a traditional agricultural sector and a modern industrial sector. (Also known as the Lewis model)
[edit] References
- M. P. Cowen and R. W. Shenton, Doctrines of Development, Routledge (1996), ISBN 978-0415125161.
- Peter Preston, Development Theory: An Introduction to the Analysis of Complex Change, Wiley-Blackwell (1996), ISBN 978-0631195559.
- Peter Preston, Rethinking Development, Routledge & Kegan Paul Books Ltd (1988), ISBN 978-0710212634.
