Introduction
Modernization theory is one of the theories of development that seeks to justify why developing countries are not developed. This theory considers the emulation of the developed countries as the best way the third world countries can achieve development.
Definition
Alexander Dolgin in an article titled manifesto of the new economy defines modernization theory as “A version of market oriented development theory that argues that low-income societies develop economically only if they give up their traditional ways and adopt modern economic institutions, technologies, and cultural values that emphasize savings and productive investment”(Dolgin 126).
Modernization theory and the developing countries
Modernization theory postulates that development can only be realized by adopting the policies that were used by the developed countries (Zapf 48). This theory seeks to use the developed countries as the role models and that the path to development they followed is the best.
It states that developing or the third world countries particularly in Asia, Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean will only be developed if they follow the route of development used by the western countries. The proponents of modernization theory include W.A Lewis, Walter Rostow and Talcott Parsons. These scholars sought to explain why poorer countries were not developing.
These features of modern societies according to Talcott Parsons relates to basic institutions which may include competitive democracy, liberalized market economy, mass consumption as well as welfare state (Zapf 50). Proponents of modernization theory believe that the introduction of modern technology in manufacturing, technology and agriculture will lead to industrialization and development of the developing countries.
This is because internal factors in the developing countries like illiteracy, lack of division of labor and rooted agrarian system (Zapf 49) are associated with their underdevelopment and only a change away from these factors is a tactic for development. It is true that these factors are largely impediments to development. Issues like overpopulation, political instabilities, massive corruption and poor governance have prevented developing nations from making steps towards economic prosperity.
Since modernization theory involves moving away from ancient ways to modern ways of social, economic and political systems, this means that development in the third world can not be achieved without adopting the policies that the already developed used. Scholars of modernization theory argue that underdevelopment in third world countries are as a result of internal factors like poverty and indigenous culture.
The recent revolutions in the Middle East and the Maghreb and the political conflicts witnessed in Kenya and Ivory Coast have supported the arguments of contemporary modernization scholars. This is because developing countries have to adopt a liberal democracy which is associated with the political stability and prosperous economies of the developed world.
This theory has been criticized because of its ethnocentrism which seems to ignore the importance of social institutions and only seeks to westernize the worlds; modernization theory has also widened the inequality between developing and developed worlds (Inglehart and Berker 19).
Conclusion
Modernisation theory has contributed significantly to the development of the third world countries. This has been achieved through elimination of factors that hinder development. An example is the adoption of family planning; this has led to population control in the third world countries. High population growth was largely associated with the chronic poverty of the developing countries. Mechanisation of agriculture which replaced traditional ways of agriculture is credited for enhancing food security.
Works Cited
Dolgin, Alexander. Manifesto of the new economy. Second invisible hand of the market. Web.
Inglehart, Ronald and Berker, Wayne. Modernization, cultural change, and the persistence of traditional values in American Sociological Review. Web.
Zapf, Wolfgang. Modernization theory and the non-western world. Munich: Post Dam university press, 2004. Print.