Evaluation Of Strengths And Weaknesses Of Development Theories
Development, as complex and unstable as it is, ideally what every country seeks is natural and inherent in any given society. It expands the richness of human life, has three dimensions namely economic, political and social. Development is not synonymous to economic growth, it covers every aspect of human life. The effort made to eradicate poverty and improve upon the living conditions of people are attributed to development. Overtime many theories have been propounded to participate in the continuous controversy over the meaning and nature of economic development. Three of them will be assessed including their strengths and weaknesses. Modernization theory for a start was developed in the early 1950s and 1960s by a group of social scientists. Its early ideas came by the industrial revolution in the 19th century. A handful of American scholars all gave their opinions and placed emphasis on the values and norms of the two types of society and their economic systems namely the traditional and modern society and how they believe that development can come about as a result of countries leaving behind the whims of traditional and cultural values and embracing modernized society. It argued further that the change from the limited economic state of the traditional society to the innovative, complex and learned economic associations of modernity depended on an absolute change in the values, attitudes and norms of people. In this view, development depends on the substitution of traditional, “primitive” values with modern ones. Modernization stressed more on the difference in values of the traditional and modern societies and the need for value alteration to pave way for development to be achieved. Below are the strengths of this theory.
Modernization theory brought about enlightenment, to more innovative and complex way of life to improve upon the intellectual values and attitudes of people. It brought about an empathic society, i. e a society that has the ability to accept new changes, incorporate new roles, and a publicly minded orientation that encourages participation. In modern societies, more individuals exhibit higher empathic capacity than any other society, so the more a society exhibits empathy, the more it will be engaged in the process of modernization. The theory probed the advent of new modern inventions and ideas to make efficient progress in the society, by doing away with archaic, old and one way traditional mode of producing things. Traditional society deploys people by kinship into communities isolated from each other and people’s horizons are limited by locale. Modernization does not only cover one dimension but covers all three dimensions and can be diffused gradually to the developing countries of the third world so they can be exposed along the road to modernity with the help of the advanced countries. I shall proceed further to the weaknesses of the theory.
Modernization tends to weaken extended family ties through geographic and sociological mobilization. Members of the extended family that respond to the call of modernization by moving to the cities for white color jobs and greener pastures tend to break the social bond of the families. In addition, there has been a controversy that the principal terms of the theory, “traditional” and “modern” are much unclear and vague and do not recognize the huge and variety of societies that have and are in existence. The traditional label has been used as a veil to cover a range of pre-industrial societies.
Moreover, Modernization theory has stripped the Third World countries of their precious cultural values and tradition that holds their indigenous history, identity and values. Modernization doesn’t necessarily denote doing away absolutely with traditional values and norms but sadly it is exactly what is being undertaken. We are going to look at the second theory called the Dependency theory, which originated in the 1960s through the works of scholars who were very concerned particularly with the persistent economic downfall and poverty in many Latin American countries. It usually involved the dependency of the Third World countries on the Advanced countries in terms of labor, surplus material and others for their development or survival. The theory analyses the inequality existing between the poor and the rich countries. Below are the strengths of the theory.
Dependency of the Third World countries on the advanced countries have helped the process of development and improved living conditions of the people. If there’s any need in materials or personnel in developmental projects in countries, due to Dependency theory, these materials or expertise can be acquired from the advanced countries through trade, exchange programs, foreign exchange and the like so as developmental aims shall be fulfilled.
Dependency theory has also fostered good relationship ties between countries that have been in several contact through trading with themselves. It has allowed easy acquisition of help or aid from the advanced countries to the Third World countries who might be in dire need of it.
The theory is worldwide that is practiced by most countries especially in Africa and has multiple applications. Nevertheless, there are also weaknesses of this theory that will be assessed from the next paragraph. The theory has caused the Western countries the opportunities to exploit the resources of the poorer countries under the pretext of aiding them so as to enrich themselves causing them to be more advanced and richer and the former poorer. There is a “chain of dependency” that runs down from the highly advanced nations of the world, through which the economic surplus is passed upwards within a nation and then internationally. The theory also limited the image of the poor countries since they are looked down upon because they depend on them. Moreover, it causes the richer countries to be dictatorial since they have all the resources and power needed for a country to amass to great development, the tendency of being dictatorial and promoting their needs first, with a little touch of blackmail to yield to their interests first in exchange of what they need is very high. They are sometimes served “leftovers” or residues or even worse, cheated. The theory also dismissed the notions of modernization theory that a lack of development could be caused by inadequate adoption of modernizing values as well as by zero or insufficient developing country exposure to advanced industrial countries to the world. And rather argued that the consistent and huge poverty in other countries was caused by exposure to influences of the advanced countries.
The last theory to be discussed is the Feminist theory which aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women and men’s social roles, experiences, interests, chores and feminist politics in a variety of fields such as sociology, communication, education, anthropology and the like. It places more emphasis on giving women equal rights and also an upper hand in decision making in all aspects of life. Feminist theory has helped women to be identified in society and also given equal opportunities to participate in leadership careers and take part in taking decisions concerning the country and around the world irrespective of their color, origin and race. It has prevented the persistent stereotyping and discrimination of women that their only place in the world is the kitchen and has promulgated the strengths and abilities of women and given them a good place and recognition in society. In today’s world, due to Feminist theory, Women are holding high positions and participating in decisions to solve world problems all around the world. The theory has helped silenced discriminators and dictators of Women’s rights, and now they can stand up for themselves without fear.
Nevertheless, the theory has its own drawbacks that cannot be overlooked. Since the theory only focuses on women, it makes it one sided or partial, by not paving way for the other sex. A criticism that is often made in the United States on Feminist Theory is that it’s basic tenets and conclusions only apply to women. It has also given too much opportunities and leniency to women in development that it has corrupted most women in highly ranked positions to exploit and embezzle funds that must be used for development. The theory also cleared the notions of the previous theories namely the modernization and dependency and undermined their impacts.
