In this assignment the key elements of Modernization theory will be discussed as well as an outline of arguments against it. Important ideas from W.W. Rostow, Émile Durkheim, and W. Arthur Lewis will be identified and analyzed as well as a discussion regarding how this theory addresses the “free market” in development and how the fact that having government take on a welfare or social protection role would not address the problem.
“Modernization theories argue that development is largely economic and the same development path should be followed by all countries (Willis, 2011, p.67). Modernization theory first appeared as a rationalization of how the different industrialized worlds of North America and Western Europe were created. This theory …show more content…
Arthur Lewis was considered a key theorist in the panorama of modernization. He conceived the notion of dualism in underdeveloped countries with the traditional sector comprised of “subsistence agriculture” and the modern sector as being “made up of commercial agriculture, plantations, manufacturing and mining”. His idea of modernization became balanced by “rural—urban migration” when surplus labor moved from the traditional sector to capitalism within the modern sector. He believed that wages in this sector “would not increase until the surplus labor had been absorbed”. He was also in favor of foreign investment so countries could begin to develop a more modern way of life (Willis, 2011, …show more content…
Modernization theorists deduced the supposed failings of poor societies as the principal impediment to their future prosperity. Both “…approaches focused principally on the interplay of states and markets. As a result, neither fully captured the complex challenges confronting poorer countries at the time” (Reid-Henry, 2012). Internal factors focused on three main policies: the unwanted expansion of the public sector, the unnecessary highlighting of economic policies for investment, and the prevalent use of “economic controls, such as tariffs, subsidies, and quotas” which altered market prices (Willis, 2005, p.52). Neoliberalism is frequently used nowadays to give the impression that it is pro-market and wants less government involvement. A free market for all is not so much the goal but more a market that caters to more powerful interests that does not include the poor (Reid-Henry,
“Modernization theories argue that development is largely economic and the same development path should be followed by all countries (Willis, 2011, p.67). Modernization theory first appeared as a rationalization of how the different industrialized worlds of North America and Western Europe were created. This theory …show more content…
Arthur Lewis was considered a key theorist in the panorama of modernization. He conceived the notion of dualism in underdeveloped countries with the traditional sector comprised of “subsistence agriculture” and the modern sector as being “made up of commercial agriculture, plantations, manufacturing and mining”. His idea of modernization became balanced by “rural—urban migration” when surplus labor moved from the traditional sector to capitalism within the modern sector. He believed that wages in this sector “would not increase until the surplus labor had been absorbed”. He was also in favor of foreign investment so countries could begin to develop a more modern way of life (Willis, 2011, …show more content…
Modernization theorists deduced the supposed failings of poor societies as the principal impediment to their future prosperity. Both “…approaches focused principally on the interplay of states and markets. As a result, neither fully captured the complex challenges confronting poorer countries at the time” (Reid-Henry, 2012). Internal factors focused on three main policies: the unwanted expansion of the public sector, the unnecessary highlighting of economic policies for investment, and the prevalent use of “economic controls, such as tariffs, subsidies, and quotas” which altered market prices (Willis, 2005, p.52). Neoliberalism is frequently used nowadays to give the impression that it is pro-market and wants less government involvement. A free market for all is not so much the goal but more a market that caters to more powerful interests that does not include the poor (Reid-Henry,