Modernization Theory In Third World Society

Register to read the introduction… Modernization theory stresses the important roles played by the values, norms and beliefs of the people in determining the sort of society whether traditional or modern that they create and thus value changes are vital for social changes. As modern cultural and institutional forms begin to emerge, they will support the development of a more dynamic, efficient and innovative capitalist economy in third World countries. It is maintained that third World Societies must emulate culture, institutions, and practices of modern first World societies in order to become developed .Modernization theorist identifies tradition as the greatest barrier to economic development. Wilbert Moore defined modernization as the total transformation of a traditional or pre-modern society into the types of technology and associated social organization that characterize the "advanced," economically prosperous and relatively politically stable nations of the Western world. Modernization theory claim that in the past the entire world was poor and that technological change especially the industrial revolution enhanced human productivity and raised standard of living. Walter .W. Rostow, an American economist distinguished five stages through which every society had to pass in …show more content…
Much of the interest of modernization was prompted by the decline of the old colonial empires. # The third world became a focus of attention by politicians who were keen to show countries pushing for independence that sustained development was possible under the western wing (rather than that of the Soviet Union) The supporters of modernization theories assumed that modernization is a linear process which exists whereby developing countries progressively become industrialized. The theory promotes the idea that all countries starts from a traditional base and moves straight along a pre-determined line to a state called modern. Reasons for the underdevelopment of countries were seen within the different societies in internal factors, for example, in their traditions or in the lack of sufficient capital investment. Modernization, as conceived by its advocates, is largely a process initiated and directed from above. In the past the modernization process actually took place and was instrumental in propelling the societies concerned towards higher levels of production and economic maturity. Japan is a striking example of a society in which modernization was initiated from above by a social group narrowly allied with the establishment, without the occurrence of any revolution that is any mass movement from below. Modernization theorists