Modernization and Developmental Theories - Term Paper Example

Introduction Modernization is the term which is being used to describe the transition of the traditional and more conventional societies towards the more modern society on the lines of the societies being developed in the western countries. With the advent of the development economics theories, it is now largely being argued that the Western Capitalistic theories and practices can turn around the fate of the developing countries if followed in their true spirit. The studies on more modern footings on the modernization and development are being conducted since last three decades and have substantially guided the intellectual discussion in the domain of economics, sociology, politics as well as social anthropology. This multi-dimensional orientation of the concept give it a much wider and bigger scope to cover and discuss many important and critical issues of the modern world and specially those faced by the developing countries. In effect, Modernization theories study the impact of modernization process on the human communication and in doing so explore many critical and important issues which may serve as the reconciliation points between the developed and developing world. However these modernization and development theories are controversial also as the most underdeveloped societies due to their strong cultural, religious and economic values find it hard to embarrass a change which has not emerged indigenously. This study will explore the modernization and development process besides providing a critical analysis of the theoretical framework and the impact of cultural invariance on the modernization and development process and the societies. Modernization and Development The historical orientation of the modernization and development process suggest that it is a macro-theory with historical and sociological inspirations. (Universiteit Twente). It is believed that the theories of modernization and development were developed in order to assess its impact on the human communication. Gidden defined modernization as “the appearance of the modes of social life of organization which emerged in Europe from about the seventeenth century onwards and which subsequently became more or less worldwide in their influence” (Giddens). Therefore in effect, modernization defines the changing ways of the communication taking place in modern and traditional society. In its essence the modernization and development theories suggest that the western values and practices are best and that if replicated by the developing countries can prove beneficial to the long term survival of the developing nations. However the deeper analysis of the idea suggest that following of the western practices, values and ideas will only widen the gap between the developing and developed world and would increase the dependence of these nations on more developed nations. (Sorensen). The modernization and development theories suggest that by the introduction of technology into agriculture production for trade and industrialization can significantly alter the economic standing of the developing countries. As discussed above that the modernization and development is multi-dimensional in nature as it has implications not only on the economic front but also on the social, political and anthropological level also. Within the domain of the Politics, Samuel Huntington was its major proponent and considered as one of leading authorities on the issue. Huntington views the modernization and development phenomenon within the context of the change with reference to the social as well as political change. Historical account of the development of theoretical framework Historically, the theoretical framework on the modernization and development took place based on the dependency hypothesis suggesting the economic dependencies of certain weaker economies on more power economies thus restricting their freedom and choice to evolve and develop in their own means rather than relying on the cultural and technological development of the more dominant economies. The process of modernization and development is a recent phenomenon emerging mainly after the World War II and was developed out of the relative importance in the problems and development of the third world countries emerged as a result of the end of the Colonalism. (Eisenstadt). This has resulted mainly due to the peculiar differences between the characteristics of the modern European and Non-European Societies. The historical development of Modernization and development suggest that the modernization and development theories evolved into three different phases. These phases of the development of the modernization and development are: (Universiteit Twente) 1) This phase of development took place during the decades of 1950s and 1960S and resulted into following: a) Economic development in which the mass media promoted the global diffusion of the many social and technical innovations that was essential for the development. b) Literacy and cultural development in which mass media propagated the literacy and other technical skills. c) National identity development took place where mass media supported the emergence of nationalistic identities. The second wave of theory developed during the period of 1970s and 1980s which was actually the period in which the first major criticism of the impact of western modernization on the less developing countries was made. During this period, the modernization and development was dubbed as the Western cultural and economic imperialism and the major theoretical framework which emerged during this period was the theory of media dependency which suggested that the developing countries depend on the mass media in the western countries. The third wave in this respect emerged during the period of 1990s and is dubbed as the era of post modernity. “It tries to be more neutral, being not in favor or against Western modernization. Rather it attempts to unearth the contradictions in the modernization process and to explain the consequences of modernity for individuals in contemporary society. Giddens showed that modern society is characterized by time-space distantiation and disembedding mechanisms. Traditional society is based on direct interaction between people living close to each other. Modern societies stretch further and further across space and time using mass media and interactive media. Disembedding mechanisms such as money, symbolic means, English as the lingua franca and the Internet help to lift out and activities in an abstract or online form that were once embedded in particular material goods and in places”. (Universiteit Twente) However this was also the era where the more notorious terms like the clash of civilization, Islamic Jihad and Islamic bomb were coined to show the possible and potential shift in the changes taking places within the Muslim societies specially and lessening influence of western culture and values on them. Further the new technological tools emerged like mobile phones, internet and various other communication technologies which suggested the changing face of post modern development and modernization of the societies. There also an argument which suggest that the modernization and development essentially took place due to the international integration of capital. This view is more Marxist in nature and term the phenomenon of modernization and development a result of the capital monopoly of the western countries. Culture, modernity and development Probably the greatest fear of the developing countries in adapting the modernization and development on the lines of Western values and practices is the loss of the important cultural values of their own. Studies made on the Latin America during 1960s and 1970s suggested that the underdeveloped nations were blamed for their underdevelopment due to their cultural values and it was argued that these societies are underdeveloped because they were insufficiently modern and lacked the modern values and practices to perform and evolve economically as well as sociologically. (Moles). This was presupposed attack on the values and norms of the underdeveloped societies where culture and values posses a major place in the lives of the residents of these societies. There are many potentially different cultural variables which may change due to the changes taking place within the societies due to the modernization and development of these underdeveloped societies on the lines of the modern western societies. Few of them are: 1) Role of Women: Western societies predominately give more freedom and choice to the women as compared to the most of the underdeveloped nations. This marked difference may be due to the presence of strong religious values in these societies which do not allow them to provide same degree of leverage to the women. Taking the example of Muslim societies where Women traditionally do not go out of the home and scarves and other covering materials as the religious values of Muslim societies do not allow women to go outside without having a proper cover. Apart from that the traditional role of women in less developed countries is that of the caretaker of the home with minimal economic responsibilities to earn the living for the family however same is not the case in most of the modern Western societies as they significantly put additional economic burden on women to share in the family. 2) Religion and Race: Religion and race are two very critical ingredients of the developing countries. It has been believed within the less developing societies that the Western White societies are more dominant and that the Western values will virtually dilute their religious beliefs. Besides there is a very strong differences based on the race of the two poles of the south and north. Theories from Darwin and other biologists clearly suggested an inferior position of the people of other races therefore this strong divide based on the religion and race may prove one of the greatest impediments to the process of modernization and development. Criticism Modernization and development though a new and recent phenomenon however there are strong arguments against this. Intellectual lot within the developing societies believes that modernization and development is a new face of imperialism. With the globalization as the new stage of modernization and development, national values and cultures seems to be hindering the process therefore social evolutionary pressures will eventually dilute the strong regional values and cultures to clear the way for one dominant cultural force which may not fit for all. It is because of this reason that it is believed that the imposition of the Western cultures on the less developing countries can not fit their cultural place. Though the modernization theory has its own strengths but the experiences of 1980 suggest that all the developing countries can not be put in the same category and that the extent of influence of the modernization on these developing countries can be hard to measure or quantify. Further the dependency theories of the modernization suggest that due to strong cultural deviations, one standard set of theories can not be implemented on all the countries as discussed above. For example the countries in Latin America tend to perform poor than their Asian counterparts mainly due to the strong beaurocracies which prove themselves strong hurdles in the process of modernization and development. Therefore effectively, argument that the western values and practices can help developing countries to overcome their problems is naturally flawed mainly due to the above discussed factors as there is no straight theoretical jacket which can fit all the societies. Conclusion Modernization and Developmental theories are new phenomenon emerging out of the ashes of the World War II suggesting that the implementation of the Western values and practices can help developing countries to overcome their problems. Over the period of time, the modernization and development theories have evolved suggesting marked shift in the orientation and scope of these theories however the main argument always remained the same that the western values and practices are superior therefore should be adapted to develop however what is being left in these arguments is the fact that there are strong cultural and other variables which do not allow the same to happen freely as the peoples’ choice to follow their indigenous cultures and values are higher than any theoretical arguments. References Eisenstadt, S. N. "Studies of Modernization and Sociological Theory." History and Theory 13.3 (1974): 225-252. Giddens, A. "The Consequences of Modernity." Stanford (Cal): (1991). Moles, David. "Dependencia and modernization." 1999. 25 March 2008 . Sorensen, Linda. "Modernization and the Third World." Global Studies 410 – Gender and Identity (2001). Universiteit Twente. "Modernization Theory." 09 09 2004. Universiteit Twente. 25 March 2008 . Read More