Introduction
Various scholars have defined the word development differently. Generally, development refers to a social, economic, and cultural process that aims at promoting human needs and conditions such as living standards, good health, and provision of adequate education. The process of development usually aims at fulfillment of human needs in an equitable manner and without any discrimination. However, this is usually not the case in many countries in the world, especially those in global South. For example, the global South countries such as those in Africa, Asia, and Latin America usually face a number of problems and challenges among the, being political, social, cultural, and economic. Besides, these challenges and problems result from various structural failures that hinder their economic and social development (Vidal, 563).
In most cases, these countries experience lack of enough resources, poverty, ethnic and regional conflicts, hunger, mass displacements, environmental degradations, poor education level, corruption, lack of democracy, abuse of civil and human rights and even cultural conflicts (Sutton, 222). Therefore, for proper development to be realized in these countries, the above challenges must be confronted through proper policies and procedures (Vidal, 560).
According to Marxist theory, a number of structures lead to poor development in global South countries. These include lack of advanced and modern technology, lack of enough knowledge and skills to apply in production, and over-exploitation of workers by the capitalists (Sutton, 228). This paper will discuss the Marxist theory of development, which provides that countries in global south have structural features that prevent them from achieving full-fledged development.
Marxist theory of development
Marxist theory of development views economic development in three perspectives (Waller, 1006). To begin with, this theory focuses on the interpretation of the materialistic and economic history. Here, Marx argues that the economic aspect and interpretation of history of materialistic attempts indicates the historical perspective of how various countries came to posses the resources they have today (Waller, 1008).
In fact, it tries to indicate that various economic events are due to a number of economic struggles that occurred between different social classes and groups in the community in the past years. However, these struggles continue even in current social environment. Furthermore, the theory argues that the main cause of these conflicts and struggles is mainly on the relations between the mode or means of production and the relations of production. In that sense, mode of production means a specific pattern of production in a particular society that determines social life, political life, and religious arrangement of a society (Vidal, 555).
The relations pattern of production shows the various class structures of a society that determine their production output (Scheiber, 28). Firstly, there is the organization of labor system including division of labor, labor cooperation, skills of labor, and status of labor, which incorporates social environment and the degree of freedom and servitude in the society. Secondly, there is the geographical context of the environment and the application of knowledge system in the use of resources and materials. Thirdly, there are technical methods and processes including the application of science and technology. Therefore, according to Marxist theory, all these relations of production are some of the key players affecting and determining the degree of development in a country (Vidal, 544).
To some extent, one may argue that global south countries usually lack these arrangement and patterns of production, leading to their lack of development. For example, in African countries, science and technology is not widely developed as compared to Europeans countries. Again, both the organization of labor and skills of labor are not well developed in global South countries, and that can partly explain their poor economic state (Tătulescu, 80).
In addition, global South countries also usually lack proper knowledge to apply in the development and utilization of natural resources they own. Furthermore, the degree of freedom and respect for servitude is very low in most of the global South countries. However, most of the global South countries have abundant natural resources but they do not have the ability and capacity to use them effectively; hence, they remain underdeveloped while the European countries continue to develop steadily (Tătulescu, 75).
According to Marxist theory, society has a system of social class that usually consists of propertied and non-propertied classes (Scheiber, 33). Given that the mode of production is usually undergoing changes, a period or stage usually occurs that leads to evolution system where the society’s mode of production and classes get into conflict. As a result of this, social class struggle in the society usually emerges between the rich and the poor classes, which later disrupts social relationships in the society.
Consequently, this explains the lack of development in global South countries; for example, in African countries, there is always a large disparity and gap between the rich and poor, leading to conflicts between them. This again can be one of the reasons of high crime rates and poverty in these countries, especially in Africa and Asia (Vidal, 547). Besides, class struggle has been largely witnessed in Africa where many poor societies lack empowerment to exploit their raw natural resources, leading to underdevelopment (Scheiber, 29).
Marxist theory also argues that development is based on motivating power of the capitalists’ development viewpoint (Mombeshora, 440). Here, Marxist theory argues on the surplus value as the basic economic value of class struggle, leading to economic development. The theory asserts that class struggle is mainly due to the outcome of surplus value, which in most cases is in the possession of a number of few capitalists in the society. Indeed, capitalism is divided into two units. Firstly, there are the workers whose main aim is to sell their labor. Secondly, there are the capitalists who are the owners of various means and methods of production. Therefore, it is upon the laborers to find a way of selling their labor power just as they would do with any other commodity (Sutton, 218).
Labor should be paid an amount that is worth its value to avoid conflicts; however, this is not usually the case especially in global South countries where laborers are usually exploited. Therefore, I totally support the Marxist theory on the fact that most global South countries are poor due to the lack of good structures that enhance development. Evidently, in global South countries, the rich and the capitalists usually exploit workers, with the amount of labor power provided by workers being not directly proportional to the amount of money given to them. As a result, maintenance of labor is very poor in these countries, leading to poverty and poor living standards (Mombeshora, 442).
It is also evident in many global South countries that workers usually work many hours that are not directly related to the wages they get. Therefore, such structures and features should change in order for these countries to achieve their expected development. For example, if a worker takes eight hours to do a job, he should then be paid wages equal to the eight hours of labor (Glassman, 31). However, this is not the case in most of these countries, with workers receiving little money that is not equal to their work input. The capitalists exploit most of the workers by utilizing their wages in settling some organizational needs such as rent and interests, while at the same time denying workers the chance to share in the success of the organization. This form of exploitation by the capitalists is termed by Marxist theory as the surplus value, while the extra labor that workers are not paid for is known as the surplus labor (Davenport, 45).
Thirdly, Marxist theory also argues that capitalists’ main aim is usually to maximize their profits regardless of the impact that process will have on other players such as workers (Davenport, 27). Therefore, their main aim is capital accumulation through surplus labor and through increased surplus value. As a result, capitalists usually aim at maximizing the value of their profits through various means. To begin with, capitalists usually apply the strategy of increasing working days in order to have more working hours, hence more surplus labor. Secondly, capitalists increase their profits by reducing the number of hours needed to provide the labor sustenance.
This also increases surplus value, consequently leading to the rise of profits due to reduction of the wage amount. Thirdly, capitalists usually increase their profits by increasing the productivity of labor. This is usually achieved by increasing the speed of working by the workers. However, this usually requires the availability of advance technology. Furthermore, when technology is available the total work production output is raised while the cost of production is usually reduced (Davenport, 47). Therefore, it is clear that, to some extent, lack of enough structures such as advanced technology, exploitation of workers, lack of ideologies, overdependence, and lack of autonomy is some of the reasons that have led to poor development of global South countries (Davenport, 28).
There are also some poor cultural practices in global South countries that hinder their development. These include discrimination of women and other minority cultures. Again, due to low class struggles in the global South countries, most of them are still underdeveloped, forming the basis that leads to constant conflicts between ethnic groups in most these global South countries. Therefore, there is need for all the global South countries to develop the desire for capitalist system, as this would improve and promote creation of large-scale production, leading to more development. Again, capitalist system can be applied in these countries in sectors such as agriculture using machinery and technology to promote surplus production. Indeed, according to Marxist theory, labor is the main source of production (Sutton, 221).
However, this labor system should be effective under normal socially accepted standards, including proper application of labor status and integrating the best labor skills necessary. As a result, the technology and skills applied will enhance the productivity of labor. Besides, workers usually have only one commodity to sell, which is their labor. Therefore, they need to receive compensation that is equivalent to the value of their labor (Scheiber, 32). Moreover, lack of democracy in the global South countries is also a major hindrance to development in these countries. As a matter of fact, civil and human rights abuse that occurs in these countries should be avoided, as this reduces democracy and promotes corruption (Davenport, 41).
Therefore, I fully agree with the Marxist theory that most global South countries are mainly poor due to lack of enough structures and features that can allow them to have full-fledged development. Despite this, I also fully support the idea that most of the global South countries fail to use necessary natural resources that they have due to lack of enough skills, knowledge, and modern technology. Therefore, these countries should adopt capitalist ideologies, use technology in production, and apply commercial production in labor productivity (Davenport, 30).
Conclusion
From the paper, it is clear that Marxist theory of development focuses on the development of countries in the view that human civilization involves a number of organization structures. However, global South countries may have some of these structures but they fail to utilize them appropriately. Some challenges they face are related to the primary mode of production especially division of labor system and application of capitalist ideologies, lack of advanced machinery, and lack of democracy, leading to common ethnic and regional conflicts. Again, it is also clear that class struggles and poor tribal system in the global South countries lead to constant ethnic conflicts and slave culture system.
As a result of these conflicts, the society faces many challenges, leading to low development levels. Besides, the gap between the rich and the poor in global South countries due to lack of democracy is also one of the major reasons for underdevelopment. Indeed, there is need for more capitalist systems in these global South countries in order for them to receive full-fledged development status through surplus production. Furthermore, global South countries are mainly based on subsistence method of production coupled with a lot of labor exploitation, thus leading to poor living standards and low development levels.
These countries also apply primitive methods of production in almost all sectors. This is one the reasons that promote their low and poor social, political, cultural and economic development. Therefore, it is true that most global South countries are mainly poor and underdeveloped due to lack of enough structures of production. Again, they also underutilized their potential and capabilities including their land and skills due to overdependence on developed countries. Therefore, global South countries need to formulate and adopt policies that would promote their general development including changing their mode of production through utilization of modern technology and knowledge.
Works Cited
Davenport, Andrew. “Marxism In IR: Condemned To A Realist Fate?” European Journal of International Relations 19.1 (2013): 27-48. Print.
Glassman, Jim. “The Spaces of Economic Crisis: Asia and the Reconfiguration of Neo-Marxist Crisis Theory.” Studies in Comparative International Development 37.4 (2003): 31. Print.
Mombeshora, Solomon. “The Salience of Ethnicity in Political Development: The Case of Zimbabwe.” International Sociology 5.4 (1990): 427-444. Print.
Scheiber, Noam. “The Case for Socialized Law.” New Republic 244.22 (2014): 28-33. Print.
Sutton, Alex. “Towards an Open Marxist Theory of Imperialism.” Capital & Class 37.2 (2013): 217-237. Print.
Tătulescu, Alina. “An Overview of the Main Theories Regarding the Role of the State.” Economic Insights – Trends & Challenges 65.4 (2013): 73-82. Print.
Vidal, Matt. “On The Persistence Of Labor Market Insecurity And Slow Growth In The US: Reckoning with the Walton’s Growth Regime.” New Political Economy 17.5 (2012): 543-564. Print.
Waller, William. “Research Note.” Journal of Economic Issues (M.E. Sharpe Inc.) 47.4 (2013): 1003-1010. Print.