Polanyi's Dependency Theory

For century’s societies have been fathoming the idea of “the good society” and idealizing theories and individuals for the hope that they bring to the table. All individuals and theories agree with the larger notion of the desire to create a decent life for the larger population however, they often disagree on the approach taken to achieve it. Hayek and Polanyi were both philosophers and economists who became extremely well-known for their foundational thoughts, however the Dependency theory was also very convincing to many. I will argue that Polanyi’s argument is the most convincing due to his consideration of social values, the importance he puts on government interference in the economy and the devastation he predicts will take place if …show more content…
The core is recognized as the powerful, developed countries that dominate the world economy. The semi-periphery includes the countries that have somewhat experienced some type of development but have not gotten to the success level of the core countries. And the periphery envelopes the poor countries that are extremely underdeveloped and largely lacking basic necessities for its citizens. The dependency theory claims that the third world needs to sever ties to the world economy to become self-sufficient. “Baran argued that the First world actually hindered the emergence from poverty of the Third World…Imperialism had not exported capitalism to the Third World; rather, it had drained the colonies of the resources that could have been used for investment.” One would’ve thought that the influence of western countries in the third world countries would’ve been positive and beneficial however it was only beneficial to the imperialist. This idea is further explored in Understanding …show more content…
The nature of the system creates and sustains disparities in the wealth between countries. The dependency theory does have strengths and powerfully acknowledges the repercussions of interactions between countries from different economic backgrounds however it also has many criticisms. The dependency theory doesn’t distinguish at all between peripheral countries, it neglects domestic policies and is very naïve about the possibilities and limits of social transformation. The theory also neglects to mention the positive aspects of interactions between countries, this isn’t a constructive