III. Critical Response to Alice H. Amsden’s Thesis
At the heart of Escape from Empire, Amsden explains how shifts in American policy between the First and Second American Empire were a detriment to the development of the Third World. More specifically, Amsden’s thesis is that because of American policy rigidity, the Third World could be better suited for development if it cultivates self-determined policy. It is from this dichotomy between progressively driven policies and ideologically driven policies that Amsden theorizes a third American Empire: an ideal regime that promotes equitable policy regardless of economic, geographic or ideological status. However, the overly exploitative history of American foreign and economic policy creates a …show more content…
For example, in order to engage in the industrialization process, developing nations must transform the agrarian sector to an open industrial system (Storey, 2009). For developing nations, the process of industrialization was (and continues to be) very difficult. Agrarian change required large amounts of capital. Amsden argues that the most important source of finance was the transfer of resources from agriculture to industry (Amsden, 59). Although there is truth in the importance of agrarian change, the economic bias of development discounts social change.
For example, in Chapter 4 “Angel Dust,” Amsden discusses the serious issue of agricultural development during both the First and Second empires. Aid to agriculture during the First and Second American Empire was essential to “nurturing industry, supplying it with savings, foodstuffs for urban workers, exports, inputs for industrial manufacturing, and demand for manufacturing output” (Amsden, 61). However, because aid in the First American Empire was centered on dumping and economic strategy, agriculture could not properly
At the heart of Escape from Empire, Amsden explains how shifts in American policy between the First and Second American Empire were a detriment to the development of the Third World. More specifically, Amsden’s thesis is that because of American policy rigidity, the Third World could be better suited for development if it cultivates self-determined policy. It is from this dichotomy between progressively driven policies and ideologically driven policies that Amsden theorizes a third American Empire: an ideal regime that promotes equitable policy regardless of economic, geographic or ideological status. However, the overly exploitative history of American foreign and economic policy creates a …show more content…
For example, in order to engage in the industrialization process, developing nations must transform the agrarian sector to an open industrial system (Storey, 2009). For developing nations, the process of industrialization was (and continues to be) very difficult. Agrarian change required large amounts of capital. Amsden argues that the most important source of finance was the transfer of resources from agriculture to industry (Amsden, 59). Although there is truth in the importance of agrarian change, the economic bias of development discounts social change.
For example, in Chapter 4 “Angel Dust,” Amsden discusses the serious issue of agricultural development during both the First and Second empires. Aid to agriculture during the First and Second American Empire was essential to “nurturing industry, supplying it with savings, foodstuffs for urban workers, exports, inputs for industrial manufacturing, and demand for manufacturing output” (Amsden, 61). However, because aid in the First American Empire was centered on dumping and economic strategy, agriculture could not properly