The political economy of africa and dependency theory 67 patrick bond 9. A number of scholars have heaped aspersions on the relevance of the dependency theory. In this sense, the dependency theory can be viewed as a reaction to modernization theory. Modernization theory describes the transformative processes of societies from underdevelopment to modern societies. Development theory development theory dependency and world systems theories. Critics of dependency theory social science theories.
The theory of dependency has experienced various forms. Dependency theory is the notion that resources flow from a periphery of poor and underdeveloped states to a core of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. The history of development communication is as old as human history. Dependency theory, an approach to understanding economic underdevelopment that emphasizes the putative constraints imposed by the global political and economic order. While dependency theory as a conscious, explicit approach to development. Dependency theory is also associated with prominent marxist scholars, such. Written in 1973, walter rodneys how europe underdeveloped africa is one of the few marxist. Also true is the fact that some theories have such intuitive appeal and rather strong face validity that it often take more than a second look to detect any form of shortcoming.
The inherent appeal of dunlops systems theory is almost innate. This term is used to indicate countries that are less economically developed than the united. For this purpose, this paper examines the definitions of dependency, general perspectives, classifications, and the criticism of dependency theory. However, although one might think that with the wisdom of hindsight it would be easy to agree on what went wrong, this. Latin american dependency theory global south studies, u. The central argument of this theory is that the world economic system is highly unequal in its distribution of power and resources due to. A critical analysis in the changing world situation after the post 1945 era, the development of modernization theory in order to modernise the rest of the world in line with american development is interestingly significant in the history of development studies. Difference between modernization theory and dependency. They have critically evaluated the continued unequal relationships between countries, which have their history partly in colonialism and imperialism. There are a few academics that are critical of the hegemonic order, such as amin. We shall see in part four that several leading proponents of dependency theory changed their theoretical and even political tune by the early to mideighties. Denis goulet, the cruel choice development must be redefined as an attack on the chief evils of the world today. Pdf this article is a theoretical interrogation and appreciation of the relationship that hitherto exists between the dependency theory and donor.
A critical synthesis of the literature, latin american. Underdevelopment or a methodology for the analysis of concrete. That being the case, the experience of latin america in the last decade suggests that it is time to discard or totally revamp much of the theory that has fallen under the rubrics of develop ment and. Major challenges facing africa in the 21st century.
In fact, the dependencias were the first to predict the transition from authoritarianism. It will then give a brief history of the origins of dependency theory. Nonetheless, there are some core propositions which seem to underlie the analyses of most dependency theorists. A comparative analysis it matters little how much information we possess about development if we have not grasped its inner meaning. Matunhu department of development studies, midlands state university, zimbabwe and published in african journal of history and culture vol. Posted originally to the introduction to marxism mailing list on yahoo. As recent scholarship in the tradition of the dependency theory has shown the emergence of a group of semiperipheries tends to be at the expense of another group, but the unequal structure of the global economy based on unequal transfer tends to remain stable tausch 2010, p.
This will be done by first defining the key terms to be used in the essay. This article argues that dependency theory is still relevant and has flared in this current epoch. Donor aid has emerged as a symbol of dependency, supporting the. Data was mainly be derived from secondary and primary sources. The main objective of this essay is to discuss the main tenets of the dependency theory and analyze its analytical relevancy to developing countries.
In other words, the relation between underdevelopment and dependency is explained in a circular manner. The conclusion is that both theories have failed to help develop africa. This is a complicated, thorny and emotionally charged question. Critical analysis of modernizationdominant paradigm before starting analyzing the dominant paradigm i would like to draw a summary of functionalities of this paradigm of development. Introduction the aim of this paper is to discuss the views of lecturers involved in teacher education on the place of theory in educational research and practice in teacher education. A few provocative remarks ibrahim farah, sylvia kiamba and kesegofetse mazongo1. Critically examines the school of thought known as dependency theory, precursor to world systems theory slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. The main weakness of dependency theory lies in explaining the origin of underdevelopment. Dependency theory, sometimes called foreign dependency, is used to explain the failure of nonindustrialized countries to develop economically despite investments made into them from industrialized nations. Most of the dependency theorists use the centreperiphery paradigm for this purpose.
Modernization, dependency, rural underdevelopment, african renaissance. Walter rodneys how europe underdeveloped africa louis. Modernization theory is also a development theory that emerged before the dependency theory. The repatriation of profits based on dependency theory is a systematic expatriation of the surplus values that was created by african labor using african resources. When it comes to a solution to the problem, it is right to say that the contexts of countries are different and the solutions for their economic and. The marxist theory of imperialism explains dominant state expansion while the dependency theory explains underdevelopment. The content of these theories is addressed and an initial critical assessment is made, both to show the weaknesses of these theories, but also as a precursor to a partial defense of the idea of dependency, less as a theory and more as a concrete analysis of situations of uneven development. Dependency theories have provided an alternative approach to looking at unilinear growth models. Matunhu department of development studies, midlands state university, zimbabwe. Latin american radical political economy in retrospect pdf. The approach worldsystem theory is a macrosociological perspective that seeks to explain the dynamics of the capitalist world economy as a total social system. The discourse pins hope on the african renaissance theory of development. What is the nature of the relationship between rich and poor nations. A common term used in the news and social media today is the developing world.
The dependency theory is an important tool for understanding latin americas relative underdevelopment. Dependency theory, which originated in the 1950s, has singer and prebisch as the progenitors. Dependency theory evolved in response to the question. Furthermore, it is basic to the norwegian sociologist johan galtungs theory of structural imperialism, in which he emphasizes the importance of bridgeheads in the process of underdevelopment.
In this presentation, development is viewed as a gradual transition of society to a strong socioeconomic status. It arose in latin america in the 1960s, became influential in academic circles and at. The analysis of development patterns in the 1990s and beyond is complicated by the fact that. Dependency theorists sought to explain persistent levels of underdevelopment in latin america by situating national economies within their global economic context. If one accepts the analysis of dependency theory, then the questions of how poor economies develop become quite different from the traditional questions. A critique of modernization and dependency theories in africa. I want to wrap up the discussion on dependency theory by referring to a jewel that i stumbled across on the marxism internet archives a week or so ago. The dependency theory offers a very interesting and penetrating analysis of politics in the underdeveloped countries and also of the nature and scope of relations between them and the developed countries. Modernization versus dependency in the context of colonial. Ibrahim farah is a nairobibased academic whose areas of interest include foreign policy analysis, conflict. To put it more precisely, modernization and dependency theory stand on the ground that western countries are the world leaders due to their higher level of development, which affects practically all spheres of life, including economic, political, social, and even cultural life leys, 210. Critical analysis of modernizationdominant paradigm. Then it will go on to analyze the relevancy of dependency theory to developing.
Dependency theory and the political economy of subsaharan. Strengths and weaknesses of the dependency theory free essays. Its first major articulation, and classic example of this approach, is. A critique of modernization and dependency theories in. Introduction that every theory has intrinsic fallacy is well known. Theories of political development georgetown university. Dependency theory, argues that the imf and the world bank policies and programs have indeed been heavily criticized for many years and have been seen as unhelpful and sometimes difficult to account, as they have led to increased dependency by developing countries upon wealthier nations. Dependency and worldsystems perspectives on development. The discourse assesses the influence of modernization and dependency theories on africas development. It is a central contention of dependency theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the world system. In analysing the assets of the modernisation theories, it should be understood that this school of thought emerged in the early years of the 1950s, and began to disappear in the 1970s when belief in it started to wane. The dependency theory colonialism was not merely a system of exploitation, but one whose essential purpose was to repatriate the profits made in africa to the so called home land.
First, the dependency theory is a characterization of the international system as comprising of a dominant and a dependent state, where the dominant states are the industrialized nations belonging to the oecd organization for economic cooperation and development, and the dependent states are the states of latin america, africa, and asia. Conversations on dependency theory institute for new economic. Dependency theory is the notion that resources flow from a periphery of poor and. Dependency theory is a school of thought in contemporary social science which seeks to contribute to an understanding of underdevelopment, an analysis of its causes, and to a lesser extent, paths toward overcoming it. Article information, pdf download for dependency theory. Dependency theory and chinese special economic zones in africa 93 honita. Dependency theory holds that the condition of underdevelopment is precisely the result of the incorporation of the third world economies into the capitalist world system which is dominated by the west and north america randall and theobald 1998, 120, hence in development studies, dependency implies a situation in which a. To highlight the contributions of critical theory to contemporary social theory, i shall therefore, first, present the conception of dialectical social theory contained in the notion of a critical theory of society. The fact of subsaharan africas crisis is now universally acknowledged. Critical theory and the crisis of social theory by douglas. Given the continuing inequality among nations, the north. Stated another way, marxist theories explain the reasons why imperialism occurs, while dependency theories explain the consequences of imperialism.
Vincent ferraro, mount holyoke college south hadley, ma july 1996 background dependency theory developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the director of the united nations economic commission for latin america, raul prebisch. Dependency theory is a popular theory within the social sciences to explain economic development of states. The theory developed during the late 1950s and over the following two. Dependency theory in retrospect, intereconomics, issn 00205346, verlag weltarchiv. Donor aid has emerged as a symbol of dependency, supporting the argument on the relevance of dependency theory. Dependency theory today 72 miguel angel centeno 10. Development and underdevelopment in the third world. Critique of modernisation theories based on the dependency. Modernization versus dependency in the context of colonial bengal by r1uha11ad shahidullah, b.
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