DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND SOCIAL STUDIES

SESSION 1
 Definition and the concept of development
 Objectives of development
 Dimensions of development
 Approaches to development

Development studies as an academic discipline is a branch of social science which addresses

issues of concern to developing nation. (Poverty, Food insecurity, political instability, poor
health, illiteracy, unemployment, low GDP, poor infrastructure, poor living standards)
It is interdisciplinary because it is concerned with the economic processes, political processes,
social and cultural systems, gender studies, international relations.
Development as an inter-disciplinary subject covers both theory and practice, i.e. both ideas
about how development should or might occur and real-world efforts to put various aspects of
development into practice.

Why Learn Development Studies

Learning development studies helps us to understand better and analyze the problems of the
developing countries, their causes and possible effective solutions. This enables us to addresses
these problems as informed professionals who are stakeholders in the process of development.
There is concern of lack of development in the so called under developed world where the
situation is getting worse and the prescribed policies and strategies are not achieving much,
people continue to die of hunger, debt burden is increasing, high mortality rates, civil wars. A
large proportion of people in the world face conditions that can only be described as
unacceptable. The growing and glaring inequality between the developed and underdeveloped
world is worrying
Development remains an agenda or goal for many countries especially the developing world – it
dominates policies, politics, conferences, hence the need to learn about development
Definitions

The term development does not have a standard definition and has remained elusive as different
people and societies have different cultures, value systems, ideologies etc (eg what is middle
class)

However development definitions have some commonalities;

 Development may be conceptualized as a process which involves a series of stages with the
each new stage being more progressive or better than the proceeding stage.
 Development is a progressive process that involves improvements in standard of living and
quality of life that follow on from a country becoming richer.
Standard of living- A measure of the quality and quantity of resources available to people
and the way these resources are distributed within a population ( does Kenya has quality of
life ? are the resources equally distributed)
Quality of Life - The degree of satisfaction that an individual or a group of people have with
their living conditions and lifestyle ( are the people of turkana satisfied?)
 Development involves positive change in social, political and economic structures of
societies as well as relations
 Development is planned positive change meant to improve people‘s lives by enabling them
to meet their needs and aspirations as individual groups and societies
 Development is building people‘s capability; Institutional development and improvement of
institutions to cope with human challenges, resolve problems with a view to satisfy the needs
of the society
 According to Rober Chambers development is improvement, advancement or progress – in
economic measures, e.g GDP, per capita income and in social measures like education,
healthcare,
Chambers conceptualizes the concept of development at three levels;
i. A vision
This is a description or measure of the state of a desirable society and forms an aim towards
which to focus improvement e.g. vision 2030 .As a vision development may entail reduction
 of poverty, promoting democracy, mitigating environmental degradation and improving
health standards of a population, increasing GNP
ii. Process of social change
Development can also be understood as a historical process of social change in which
societies are transformed over a period of time
iii. Comprising the activities of development agencies
Development can also be viewed as consisting of activities of various development agencies
which include the government, civil societies, NGOs to reduce poverty, improve health,
education, gender equality and environmental protection etc.
Different dimensions (views) of Development
i. Economic development- Focuses on economic factors e.g growth of GDP, Commerce,
Incomes, trade etc
ii. Social development- focuses on how society is organized, is the organization relevant in
meeting the social (societal) challenges, growth of institution and their capacity to foster
social change, Provision of institutions that will provide social amenities, basic needs
iii. Cultural development – Change in values, norms in the society (like which one……)
iv. Political development focuses on the development of political Institutions that can
address societal challenges, ability of the political system to adopt inclusionary
governance, system based on social justice, equality ( equal opportunity, fairness) for all,
improving governance
v. Environmental development - focuses on the growth of a better environment
vi. Technological development- focuses on tools, technology and skills available in society
to help people cope with societal problems

In Summary
 Hence development can be perceived as a multidimensional process of change involving re-
organization and re-orientation of the entire economic, technological, political and social
systems.
 Development is not just about economic growth but involves changes in institutional, social
and administrative structures of the society as well as popular attitudes, customs and beliefs
  Development encompasses the entire spectrum of changes by which a society is able to
satisfy its diverse basic needs and desires of individuals and social group in order to move
from a condition of life perceived as unsatisfactory to satisfactory

Core values of Development

These are the basic components of development. (Goulet, D) They serve as s basis or
guidelines for understanding development. They represent common goals sought by society and
nations and include:
i. Life sustenance - this is the ability to provide basic needs which make life possible. They
include food, shelter, clothing, health, basic education and security. There absence or short
supply leads to absolute underdevelopment.
A basic function of development is to provide as many people as possible with the means of
overcoming the problems arising from lack of the basic needs
ii. Self Esteem - refers to a sense of worth and self respect ( do you respect yourself ? what
is self worth?). Worthiness in the modern world has been given to those who posses
economic wealth and technological power. Poverty and lack confers feelings of
worthlessness to individuals and nations. As a consequence, poor people and nation engage
in development to gain some respect and worthiness. It is essential that the goal of
development should also be geared towards enhancing individual and group esteems.
iii. Freedom from Servitude (slavery,bondage)- liberation from degrading material conditions
of life which create servitude to nature, social systems, other people, nations and beliefs
Freedom involves expanding the range of choices for societies and their members while at
the same time minimizing their external constraints in line with their social goals

Objectives of Development
The main objective of development is the improvement and promotion of human well-being;
however development in all societies must have at least the following three objectives;
i. To increase the availability and widen the distribution of basic life sustaining goods such as
food, shelter, health care
ii. To raise the standards of living in a society. In addition to improvements in income and
output, development must aim at providing better jobs, education and more attention to
cultural and humanistic values.
iii. To expand the range of economic, political and social choice to individuals and nations by
freeing them from servitude and dependence on other people, nations and forces of nature
and ignorance which create human misery

Factors Affecting Development

They explain variations in development in different countries, nations and regions
They include;
1. Social:- Education, Population growth rate
2. Environmental - Natural disasters, Climate
3. Historical Reason - Colonialism
4. Economic – presence of Raw materials, Cumulative causation
5. Political Reasons - Political conflict, Leadership

DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO DEVELOPMENT

A. Economic Development Approach
For many years development was seen in terms of economic growth and as a shift of the
economic structure away from production of primary goods (agriculture and raw materials) to
manufacturing and service activities.
This approach dominated development thinking in the 1950s and 1960s.
For most economists and policy analysts, development was understood as economic
development which meant rising incomes as measured by Gross National Product GNP rather
than individual well being.
Economic Development Approach used economic indicators as a measure of development
which include:
1. Income per capita – total income of a nation divide by the total population/ income per
person
2. Gross National Product (GNP) - Refers to the total value of goods and services produced by
the citizens of a country in a given year. Includes contributions by citizens working and
investing outside the country
3. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Refers to the total value of goods and services produced by the citizens and non-citizens in a
country in a given year. Excludes contributions by citizens working and investing outside the
country

Weaknesses of the economic development approach

This approach does not take into account non economic factors which influence development
such as social, cultural, governance and political also does not consider the resource distribution
Under this approach underdevelopment is defined in terms of lack of what the rich could have in
terms of money and material possessions.
Dissatisfaction with the economic development approach led to a new approach to development
called the ―Human Development Approach‖
b) Human Development Approach
The new concept of development views development as a comprehensive economic, social
and political process whose main objective is to improve the well being of the entire
population. It takes people as the main actors in the process of improving their welfare and
beneficiaries of development
Accordingly, a society‘s standard of living should not be judged by the average level of
income only but by people‘s capabilities to live the life they choose. Underdevelopment is
therefore viewed as lack of capabilities as opposed to lack of income per se.
Human development involves the process of expanding capabilities and access to
opportunities in the social and political arenas and therefore improvement in the overall
quality of life.
 The most basic of these capabilities are: to lead healthy lives, to be knowledgeable and to
have access to resources needed for a decent standard of living (UNDP 2000).
Development may also be conceptualized in terms of improvement in human well being or
living standards.
 Living standards can be measured through: longer lives, fewer health problems, higher
educational standards, increase in income or earning capacity, political and economic
 stability at the national level, greater working opportunities, greater control of one‘s life
and involvement in decision making processes.

Weakness of the Human Development approach

 Despite the all encompassing nature of the human development approach, some concern has
been raised that it can also conceal other aspects of social and political inequality which are
not captured in the human development index. For example, racial or political discrimination
or religious marginalization

c) Development as Freedom and Capabilities

 According to Amartya Sen (1999) development is a process of expanding the real freedoms
that people enjoy.
 Sen focuses on instrumental freedoms i.e. those freedoms which allow us to live lives free
from starvation, undernourishment, unnecessary morbidity, premature mortality, illiteracy and
innumeracy. The freedoms include political freedoms (the right to vote and enjoy political
participation), existence of economic opportunities, social facilities, transparency and
protective security.
 Growth of GNP and of individual incomes are important means for expanding the real
freedoms enjoyed by members of society but freedom depends on other determinants i.e.
social arrangements (education and health facilities) as well as civil and political rights (i.e.
the right to participate in public discussion and scrutiny)
 Sen (1999) argues that development requires the removal of major sources of un-freedom that
leave people with little choice and little opportunity for exercising their rational action
"un-freedoms‖ are barriers that exist in economic, social or political realms of society and
include; poverty, malnutrition, poor sanitation, tyranny, poor economic opportunities, social
deprivations, poor public facilities, intolerance, ethnic centricity, repressive state apparatuses,
lack of education, absence of health care, lack of security, and corruption can all be termed
un-freedoms.
 One human freedom tends to promote freedoms of other kinds e.g. social opportunities in the
fields of health care, education, which generally require public action, complement individual
opportunities for economic and political participation
 Expansion of freedom is also viewed as a primary means to development. The instrumental
role of freedom concerns the way different kinds of freedoms (rights, opportunities and
entitlements) contribute to the expansion of human freedom in general thus promoting
development (Sen 1999).

Capabilities
Capabilities refer to the range of things that people can do or be in life. The most basic
capabilities for human development are to lead long and healthy lives, to be knowledgeable, to
have access to the resources needed for a decent standard of living and to be able to participate in
the life of the community. Without these, many choices are simply not available, and many
opportunities in life remain inaccessible.

Human development concerns itself with the creation of an environment in which people can
develop their full potential, and lead productive, creative lives in accord with their needs and
interests. It is about creating an environment in which people can develop.
Human development shares a common vision with human rights the goal of human freedom. In
pursuing capabilities and realizing rights, this freedom is vital. People must be free to exercise
their choices and to participate in decision-making that affects their lives

Human development is about the realization of human potential. It is about what people can do
and become (their capabilities) and about the freedom they have to exercise real choices in their
lives.
As a people-cantered approach that focuses on the expansion of people's capabilities and
freedoms, the human development paradigm does not underestimate the importance of rising
incomes and outputs.
Economic growth/Rising incomes and output are deemed only as the ―means‖ and not the ―ends‖
of development. Human development concerns itself with the creation of an environment in
which people can develop their full potential, and lead productive, creative lives in accord with
their needs and interests.
The capability approach emphasizes human achievements and freedoms. It evaluates the various
―functionings‖ in human life (what people want to do and what they aspire to be) and their
capabilities to achieve these functionings‖. These include but are not limited to the ability to be
well-nourished, escape avoidable death, be knowledgeable and be equipped to participate in the
life of one‘s community.

THE CONCEPT OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Meaning of underdevelopment
There is no single definition that is comprehensive enough to incorporate all the features of the
an underdeveloped country
Several definitions
 Underdevelopment refers to the failure to utilize fully the productive potential of a nation due
to existing state of technology, knowledge, failure of social institutions, lack of resources
 Can mean backwardness in economic performance compared with the few economically
leading countries
 Underdevelopment can describe economic poverty, i.e. failure by a country to provide/ assure
adequate subsistence and material provision to most of the country‘s population
 Under-developed country is one that is characterized by the co-existence of unutilized and
under-utilized man power, on the one hand, and of unexploited natural resources on the other.
 An under developed country is one characterized by chronic mass poverty which is not as the
result of some temporary misfortune, and by obsolete methods of production and social
 organization, ‗which means that the poverty is not entirely due to the poor natural resources
and hence could presumably be lessened by methods already proved in other countries.‖

CHARACTERISTICS OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT
1. Predominance of Agriculture:
An underdeveloped country is predominantly a primary producing economy that mainly
depends on the production of agricultural materials and minerals. Majority (70 -80%) of the
population engaged in Agriculture or related activities whose production remains low due to lack
of capital and efficient technology and yet the population pressure on agriculture is very high.
Nearly 40 per cent of the national income is derived from agriculture. Industries in such
countries are mainly agro—based.

2. Population Pressure and Unemployment:

Another feature of underdeveloped countries is that they are over-populated. The rate of
population growth is very high, and the economic development low, not capable of keeping pace
with the increase in population. Alarming increase in population, excessive pressure on land and
poor industrial development creates unemployment problems.

3. Low Income and Poor Savings:

Another important feature of underdevelopment is the low per capita income of the people and
the consequent little or no savings in the economy. Poor income leads to little saving or no
savings in the economy. Savings play a vital role in economic growth, as savings and
investments are the two crucial determinants of economic growth.

4. Under-Utilization of Resources:
The natural resources of the underdeveloped economies are either unutilized or under-utilized.
Generally, underdeveloped countries may not be deficient in natural resources like land, water,
minerals, etc. but the resources are poorly utilized due to various reasons like inaccessibility,
lack of technical knowledge, shortage of capital and limited markets.
5. Capital Deficiency:
Capital occupies a strategic role in production and economic development of a nation.
Underdeveloped countries suffer from capital deficiency. Stock of capital is small, and is
generated at a low rate. The basic shortcoming of the underdeveloped economies is lack of
incentives to invest, low propensity and capacity to save and lack of dynamic entrepreneurship.

6. Low Level of Technology and Skills:

In underdeveloped economies, there is an acute shortage of skilled personnel and as such the
methods of production used are primitive with limited technology. These countries have very
low levels of literacy and technical education hence employ inferior production techniques
making their goods and services less competitive in the international market. As a consequence,
productivity in agriculture and industries is very low.

7. Foreign Trade Orientation:

Most of the underdeveloped countries depend on the export of a few primary commodities,
consisting mainly of raw materials and minerals but import high value consumer goods and
machinery. The ratio of export production to total output is normally high. Any drastic change in
the foreign demand for the products of underdeveloped economies results in dislocation in the
economy, depressing the home market and ultimately reducing the income and employment
level.
8. Lack of Suitable Socio-economic Set Up:
In underdeveloped countries, the prevailing socio-economic set up is the greatest impediment to
development. Mass poverty and illiteracy combined with social systems, religious beliefs, culture
etc., adversely affects the course of economic development. For example, in India, the caste
system proved detrimental to economic progress, as it impeded the movement of capital and
labor and dampened the spirit of enterprise.

9. A Dualistic Economy:
Another important feature of underdevelopment is ‗Dualism‘, the presence of dualistic nature of
economic. We have fast-moving electric trains and also slow-moving country-carts. We have
capital markets and stock exchanges with many communication facilities like STD, ISD and Fax
system in cities; while we have no proper roads in the rural areas and many villages are
unconnected with the railway system. The barter system is still prevailing in many villages. This
type of dualistic feature is not conducive to economic development.

10. Mass poverty, Misery and Low-Standard of Living:

Most of the people in underdeveloped countries are economically very backward, poor and
leading a miserable life without any norms of standard of living. This results in, low labour
productivity, factor immobility, lack of entrepreneurship and poor specialization.

11. Inadequate infrastructure and social services

The countries lack adequate Infrastructure and provision of social services such as health and
education is strained. This contributes to lower levels of life-expectancy in LCDs compared to
DCs.

DEVELOPMENT THEORIES
A theory is a tool of explanation or a mechanism with which to make sense of complex realities.
In development studies, theories have been advanced to try and explain what development is,
how it happened in the past and how it should happen or why it fails to happen. Development
theories offer justification for policies. Different positions in development policy are based on
differences in underlying development theories. Models are based on theories and try to explain
the process of development

MODERNIZATION THEORY
Is a social economic theory that is recognised as one of the first theories of development that
emerged just after World War 2 in an effort to explain the differences in wealth between the rich
and poor countries. According to the theory, rich countries are rich because of embracing
modernity
Modernity represents conditions of development characterised by the spread of scientific
knowledge, development of technology, attainment of higher standards of material welfare and
the emergence of lawful, humane and liberal democratic systems of governance
Cultural values, social, political and economic institutions that were a precursor to the rich
country‘s development are all embodied in the notion of modernity
According to W.E Moore, the concept of modernization represent total transformation of a
traditional society into the types of technology and associated social, political and economic
organization that characterize the countries of western Countries
 Development is possible if pursued through urbanization and industrialization with
technological transformation of agriculture
 Attainment of a modern society is seen as the strategic goal for new nations.
 Modernization theory can be seen as an analytical tool to provide a framework within which to
analyse the transition of nations from tradition to modern forms of society
 Theory assumes the rate of transformation from a primitive society to a modern one is slow,
gradual and in piecemeal.

Characteristic of Traditional Societies vs Modern Societies

1. Traditional societies are deeply rooted in either in religion or culture and rely on tradition or
customs to solve societal problems and have little incentive for change or innovation. On the
other hand, most modern societies are secular, believe in the power of reason to transform
nature and are creative and open to change
2. Traditional societies are pre-dominantly rural and based on subsistence agriculture while
modern societies are urban based and more reliant on industries
3. Status of an individual is determined by the status of parents ie it is inherited e.g sons of a
trader are traders while those of a peasant are peasants. In contrast, modern societies are
characterised by social mobility where by an individual can move up through hard work,
education.
4. Modern societies are characterized by high division of labour and job specialization while
traditional societies are characterized by low division of labour and lack of job specialization
5. Problem solving in modern societies is scientific and objective hence universal while in
traditional societies it is subjective with no particular application
Acc. To modern theorists, countries are poor because they persist in the traditional ways and
cultural values and institutions which are incompatible with economic growth and
industrialization. Such countries need to undergo the same transition experienced by rich
countries from traditional to modernity
 Traditional poor societies need to adopt some xtics of modern societies to develop which
include; the ability to mobilize capital for development, development of entrepreneurial
values as well as investment culture that is technologically driven, structural capacity to
absorb change, performance based vale-system, universalistic attitude etc
 Proponents of this theory agree that interdependency between the rich and poor countries is
useful for the beneficial impact of such a relationship in helping the poor societies to transit to
be modern societies. Therefore less developed countries can be helped to develop by a process
of interacting with developed nations with the assumption that development in the advanced
nations will trickle down to the poor countries given certain policies and conditions. The poor
countries can also benefit from earlier growth experiences of other countries

Rostow
Among the most prominent modernization theorist is WW Rostow
Identified 2 factors that play an important role in the transformation of a society from a
traditional one to a modern industrialised society;
1. Non economic factors; Attitudes, ideas, achievement, individualism, competition
2. Economic factors: capital and technology, savings and accumulation of wealth for investment
in productive sectors.
Since developing countries lack capital he proposes injecting of capital to finance new methods
of production by developed countries in form of foreign aid in order to stimulate economic
activities – economic growth and development
Rostow argued that although modernization first occurred in the west, it can occur in all societies
provided these societies meet certain preconditions.
Explains economic growth based on a theory which gives 5 stages through which all countries
must pass through to realize development
Countries can be placed in one of five categories in terms of its stage of growth:
Rostow - Stages of Growth
1. Traditional Society

 It‘s the lowest in economic growth characterized by limited output /productivity because
of lack of technology and science.
 Political power is centralized and the values are fatalistic
 The e conomy is usually of a subsistence nature – % of the working
population is involved
in direct food production.
 Traditionalism- persisting values and attitudes that represent obstacles to economic and
political development.
 Labour intensive agriculture production

2. Pre-condition for takeoff

In this stage there are new ideas which favor economic progress, new levels of education and
entrepreneurship, institutions are also able to mobilize investment there4 there is expansion of
commerce and the economy in general
However society is limited at this stage because social structures are still traditional:
– Development of mining industries
– Increase in capital use in agriculture
– Necessity of external funding
– Some growth in savings and investment

Stage 3: Take off stage

Characterised by commercialized Agriculture, growth and rise in productivity, expanding urban

population that provides market for goods and services, new political groups represent new
economic push towards industrial economy.
– Increasing industrialisation
– Further growth in savings and investment
– Some regional growth
 – Number employed in agriculture declines
Stage 4: Drive to maturity
Characterised by 10-20% growth in GDP,
- economy takes place in the international order,
- Use of advanced technology;
- Productivity is not the outcome of social necessity but to maximize profits
- Growth becomes self-sustaining – wealth generation enables further investment in value
adding industry and development
- Industry more diversified

Stage 5: Stage of Mass Consumption,

This last stage involves the achievement of a high standard of living characterized by mass
production and consumption of material goods and services.
At this stage, a society has attained a certain level of income for everybody and nearly everybody
joins in the consumption of goods and services.

- Basic needs have been met; the emphasis is on social welfare and security.
- High output levels/productivity
- Mass consumption of consumer durables
- High proportion of employment in service sector

Strength of the theory

The theory has helped in the identification of several aspects of social and cultural change that
lead to development

Criticisms
i. One of the criticisms is that the applied model of modernization has failed to produce
technological and economic development in third world countries. Despite massive
injections of foreign aid and education projects sponsored by first world countries, most third
world countries remain underdeveloped. An underdeveloped country has a low GNP (the
total value of goods and services in a country).
ii. Some critics view modernization theory as ethnocentric or Western-centric. They don‘t agree
that all societies must emulate the West to progress economically.
iii. The theory has also been criticised for citing traditional values as obstacles to technological
and economic progress in third world countries. While it lays emphasis on the internal factors
in third world countries, it neglects the factors of global economic and political power,
conflict and competition within and among societies which contribute to underdevelopment.
iv. The other problem with the theory is that it leads to the categorization of societies into three
worlds: the first world (composed of modern industrial states with predominantly capitalist
or hybrid economic systems. they became industrialized first. Second world countries
consist of industrial states with socialist economies like the countries of Eastern Europe. The
third world countries refer to pre-modern agricultural states that maintain traditionalism. It
encompasses the vast majority of people in the world including Africa, Asia, and Middle
East).
v. This categorization of countries is too simplistic today to account for the great diversity that
is found in these societies. The theory failed to recognize that the underdeveloped countries
are characterized by poorly organized commodity and money markets, communication and
transportation problems, limited skilled labour, highly inefficient bureaucratic government
and corruption
vi. It failed to take into account that third world nations are part of a highly integrated and
complex international system and therefore some external factors come into play like the
vested interests of developed world.

B) DEPENDENCY THEORY
The theory was put forward in the late 50‘s by American Scholars who are largely disillusioned
by development policies based on Modernization theory. This was so because the optimism in
the modernization theory was contradicted by the actual situation in the underdeveloped world
According to Raul Prebisch economic growth in industrialised countries did not necessarily lead
to growth in the poor countries. In fact economic activities in the developed countries often led
to serious economic problems in the poor countries
Dependence is a condition in which the economy of one group is determined by the
development of another. While dominant economies develop on their own, dependent economies
can only develop as a reflection of the development of the dominant country which has a positive
or negative effect on their immediate development.

Dependence is a historical phenomenon that resulted from the contact of poor countries and the
rich mainly European countries which resulted in patterns of relationship characterised by
domination
It has been said that dependency is of international nature and mainly resulted from colonial
domination and has ensured that poor countries have no capacity to exercise choice in external
relations and can never be self-reliant. Colonialism and the international expansion of capitalism
are two processes that have propagated development and underdevelopment. As the
underdeveloped countries are becoming poorer, the local political and economic elites in these
poor nations collaborate with international capitalism to exploit their nations.

The theorists believed the process of social change was not gradual and evolutionary as assumed
by the modernization theory but is instead characterised by conflict of interest between classes of
societies and countries in the international system i.e. class struggle as the engine of social
change and development.
Dependency theorists showed conclusively that some aspects of underdevelopment are related to
the dynamics of power, conflict, class, relations and exploitation. The dependency theory states
that the less developed countries (LDCs) are dependent on developed countries and this
dependency is the cause of underdevelopment in the LDCs

According to Andre Gunter Frank (1967), underdevelopment in the world is the result of
deliberate and systematic exploitation of poor countries by rich countries through the forces of
capitalism on a global scale. Hence capitalism is regarded as the motive force behind
dependency relationships

The international system is comprised of two sets of states which he described as dependent/
dominant, Centre/ periphery, Metropolis/ satellites. The dominant countries include the
advanced countries while the dependent countries include Latin America, Asia and Africa which
have low per capita income, GNP and rely heavily on the basic products of raw materials for
foreign exchange. They exploits the satellites through the extrapolation of economic surplus.
Real development can therefore only occur when this vicious cycle of dependency relationship is
completely removed

Policy Implications for Dependency

1. Advocate for complete withdrawal from international capitalistic system that is exploitive.
From the prevailing view that that the relation between the developed and developing
countries was unequal where the developed countries took advantage of the developing
countries in terms of access to benefits of development
2. The dependent countries can still welcome international capital but should institute strong
local controls to reduce or eliminate its capacity to dominate and exploit
3. Developing countries can develop closer relations with one another to guarantee benefits
based on equality and sovereignty and a relation founded on shared historical experience
These policies are important to build up national capital or institute some kind of development
plan aimed at building national capacity for self reliance/development.

Strengths of the Dependency Theory

1. The theory attempts to explain the present underdevelopment of many nations in the world
by examining patterns of interactions among nations
2. Dependency theories tend to recognise the role of industrialization in raising the productive
capacity of dependent economies. However unlike the modernization theories they are
inward looking in terms of sources of capital so as to avoid the exploitative nature of
international capital in order to build capacity and self-reliance
3. By advocating collective self reliance strategy based on mutual cooperation and economic
integration of the LCDs it draws attention to joint action by poor countries
4. Draws attention to the significance of planned development with the view of promoting self-
sustenance in national deve lopment

Criticisms
1. It is overly pessimistic. It suggests that dependency and impoverishment can be undone only
by a radical restructuring of the world economy to reallocate wealth and resources from
wealthy industrial capitalist countries to impoverished pre-capitalist countries.
Economic development however has occurred in some countries that have had extensive
contact with industrial capitalist societies. Notably Japan moved from an underdeveloped
society to a wealthy industrial capitalist position after the 1950s. In contrast, some poor
societies have had less contact with industrial capitalist society remain highly
underdeveloped.
2. Dependency theorists also neglect the internal conditions of underdeveloped countries
that may inhibit economic development.
3. The theory does not clearly spell out how LDCs are to get the capital necessary for
development instead of external sources of capital. Mobilizing the same from poor countries
is unrealistic
4. The theory uses a large and unclear unit of analysis as it lumps together countries that are at
different stages of development in the same category. E.g. Kenya and brazil which are
lumped together have different levels of capacity for economical and political devt
5. It can also be argued that capitalism is not always as bad as portrayed in the theory. Critics of
the theory have pointed out that the spread of capitalism in LCDs has led to development
rather than underdevelopment( consider the case of Tanzania which embraced socialism)

World Systems Theory

It was proposed by Emmanuel Wallerstein and pursues the line of thought of the dependency
theorist in an attempt to explain world patterns of inequality. Developed to remedy some of the
inadequacies of the Dependency theory. The theory considers development in the global
context of a single world system and maintains that the capitalist world system develops
rather than individual economies.

The position and relative strengths of an economy in the world system determines its levels of
development. Hence the development process in the low developing countries cannot be studied
in isolation from the industrialised countries. The world has to be treated as one single world
system. . According to this theory the modern capitalist economy world is made up of four
groups of economies; the core countries, the semi-periphery and the periphery.
i. Core countries
- Represent modern societies, in which economic enterprises first emerged,
- Countries with global economic power and wealth, and the associated political & military
strength and influence hence politically and economic dominant countries.
- They have strong manufacturing industries and advanced forms of Agriculture
- Feature high skill, capital intensive production
- Politically they, they collectively establish and enforce rules of the global order and
through these advantages appropriate surplus from noncore countries.
- They organize the world trade to favour their interests and export their culture and
supporting technology to support their economic and political advantage
- Core societies are the most powerful industrial nations that exercise economic domination
over other regions.
- Include USA, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
ii. Semi periphery
Wallerstein notes that between the core and peripheral countries are the semi peripheral societies
which are somewhat industrialized and have some economic autonomy but are not as advanced
as the core societies.
- The most dynamic group as members constantly move up and down from the category
- In these countries there is hope for development and joining the core countries but narrow
windows of opportunity to do so
- This category accounts for the newly industrializing countries that relatively sophisticated
that cannot fit in the periphery category like Argentina, Brazil, Latin America, China, Asian
Tiger – Malaysia, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
iii. Periphery
Are at the lower end of the world system and are characterized by low skill production and
raw materials for industries elsewhere, poor living conditions and bleak development
prospects
Non-industrialized countries which have very little control over their own economies and are
dominated by the core societies.
Were initially unconnected to core countries but have since been drawn to world economy
through colonialism, missionary activities and the activities of large international cooperation.

As the World system evolves, it becomes more difficult for these less developed countries at the
periphery to improve their status significantly, but sometimes opportunities are created for them
to move up. These countries are disadvantaged in the world system‘s order and are often
exploited

The countries in these categories are not fixed; over-time countries are able to move in and out of
the categories depending on their economic status.

The WST rejects the notion that underdevelopment can be dealt merely through economic
growth promoted by foreign aid or investment. It sees underdevelopment as a product of world
capitalist system in which economic activities are organized in such a manner that facilitates
accumulation through exploitation. Economic power rests with those who own the means of
production. The industrialized nations prosper through economic domination and exploitation of
non- industrialized.

Note; A capitalist system entails profits maximization and use of advantage of continuous capital
accumulation and exploitation of labour

Criticisms
i. Fails to explain how development takes or should occur
ii. The theory focuses exclusively on economic factors at the expense of non economic factors
such as politics and cultural traditions. It also fails to address the question of why trade
between industrial and non industrial nations must always be exploitative. Some theorists
have noted that in certain cases, peripheral societies benefit from trade with core societies i.e.
when they need western technology to develop their economies
Although it is not a perfected model it has been more helpful in allowing for a more
comprehensive and flexible view of global economic and political interconnections.