Preview

Discuss the Main Features of Two Theories of Development

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
822 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Discuss the Main Features of Two Theories of Development
Modernity is defined as the state or quality of being modern and the theories of development have emerged as a result of this concept. Sociology and Modernity developed hand in hand and were based on similar foundations. Rational forms of thought and organisation; a belief in the ability and right of humans to shape and control their own lives; faith that technology and science could fix human problems and reliance upon manufacturing industries to improve living standards are some of the concepts involved in Modernity. Life in the present through improvement and progress is fundamentally different than life in the past. For most of its history, sociological thinking has been dominated by this approach, however, some analysts, including sociologists, believes that the era of Modernity is or has been replaced by the post – modern era.
Two of theories I will discuss emerged from Modernity, they are the Modernisation and Dependency theories.

Modernisation Theory
Modernisation is the term used for the transition from traditional societies of the past to modern societies as they are found today in the West. Modernisation theory refers to the perspectives put forward to explain the development or underdevelopment of countries. Modern societies are marked by high production, high consumption, individualism, liberal democracy, specialisation, the model of modernity is the West, in particular the USA.
Modernisation Theory employs a fundamental distinction between traditional and modern society - all societies can be located on an evolutionary scale which runs from traditional feudal type societies to modern industrial societies - a society can be positioned on this scale according to its stage of development. Underdevelopment is located internally within an undeveloped country.
Modernisation theory offers an account of the common features of the process of development drawing on the analysis of Durkheim and Weber. Development implies the bridging of these gaps by

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Modernity is a collection of Idea’s that foster new ways of thinking about the subjects of society, economics and political thinking in comparison to the classical way of sociological ideas. Modernity was a name given to a big idea, a big sociological theory, which consisted of lots of smaller ideas. It was a historical change, whereby more than two hundred years in the past, European societies underwent a significant and quite rapid change in all aspects of their social, cultural, political and economic lives (Fevre. R and Bancroft. A. 2010. P 27). Modernity meant that people started to question social phenomena; they started to create theories as to why something had happened or was happening. They started to question what made us do the things we do, what makes us follow certain rules and so forth. Modernity itself was in fact a theory, thought up to summarise the changes that were happening at a certain point in history.…

    • 1548 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    No matter which modern theorist one chooses to believe, modernization is an ever present and ever growing occurrence in modern society. Modernization can be seen from the smallest village in Indonesia to the sprawling metropolises of America.…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Modernity can be defined as a pivotal point in the development of contemporary society, arguably a concept still relevant and effectual to this day. Modernity is, however, an entirely conceptual entity. Within our context as social scientists, perhaps it has a more specific meaning, though modernity had a diverse effect upon very many of the components of the world we live in.…

    • 1696 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    This change in society could be seen as easily noticed by the changed through different changes within society, for example the change from Industrialisation to Globalisation. Modernity focuses greatly on the difference in class being an important factor in a modernist society, where as a postmodern society is seen as something that has less boundaries and stresses the uncertainty of society also highlighting the recent developments of a multicultural society.…

    • 1283 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    We all have different ideas of what it means or what is modern. From the way we dress to the way we act or eat or how we handle situations. Modern for many means to be ahead of the rest to have the newer things in life. For others it's finding new ways to make people equal. Much like in the Film Harrison Bergeron, the film this 14 year old boy is taken from his family. In this modern time no one is stronger than anyone else, no one is smarter,uglier, prettier, or just flat out better than anyone else.…

    • 249 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Please write down three key points for each theorist and give an example of how it is put into practice in your setting.…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Roberts, T., J., & Hite, A. (2000). From Modernization to Globalization, Perspectives on development and social change…

    • 3639 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Modernity is a comparison of two things. When speaking of modernity there is always a standard of what is considered modern, and you are comparing something to that. To figure out if something has reached modernity, you must first realize what is considered modern. In our current world, things that are modern include electricity, cars, and the internet. These are examples of technological advances which other places do not have, so they cannot be considered modern in that aspect. Some other aspects include things like culture. For example, a few hundred years ago, it was not uncommon for people to get married at the age of 15, but nowadays that is completely unheard of. We label countries which are not modern and are behind countries like the United States and China as third world countries.…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The process of modernity has proven to be inevitable in both the contemporary world, and throughout the course of history, especially since the outbreak of the Industrial Revolution and the First World War. Modernity is the “transition from traditional folk society to urban industrial societies,” a transition that inevitably affects all factions of society. The term modernity encompasses many cause and effect reactions, with industrialization as a centre point. The changes brought about by such processes are felt across a large spectrum of interactions and experiences including, education, politics, religion and ones conception of the self and the world in which they live. With this process class structure becomes mobile, and identity and connection to local community deteriorates, indicating a shift from gemeinschaft to gesellschaft, the creation of a mass society.…

    • 1565 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Postmodern society is rich in choice, freedom and diversity, this has caused society to fragment and this has led to secularisation. Postmodernity has caused things such as globalisation. Globalisation refers to the growing interconnectedness of societies. As we are now living in a postmodern society many sociologists believe that we need new theories as traditional theories such as Functionalism and Marxism are outdated and are deemed irrelevant to many sociologists. Functionalism and Marxism are often described as ‘modernist’ as they explain the findings of modern society, where it follows the industrialisation of the western world. Postmodernists reject the views of the modernist theorists as they claim that they are metanarratives (big stories). They believe that sociology needs to develop new theories so we can fully understand postmodern society. Postmodernity has brought changes from modernity these changes include freedom and choice. There is also less focus on science, postmodernists reject scientific research methods in their research. Although postmodernists are criticised for being subjective, as they gain meanings.…

    • 19063 Words
    • 61 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In order to understand the most important differences between the modernization theory and the dependency theory, we must first understand what these theories mean. The modernization theory, becoming popular in the 1950s, was a description and explanation of the processes of the transformation from what was considered “underdeveloped societies” to “modern societies.” Modernization theory is the process of transforming from a traditional or underdeveloped society to a modern Western societies way of life. So what is modernization and what does this theory consist of? To put it simply, modernization is the economic growth within societies. The modernization theory believes that there are steps to success for every country.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The two terms must not be confused and this factor of modernisation has a significant impact on social changes. It changes the society by changing the way in which the society does certain things.…

    • 1731 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The modernization theory was developed in 1960. It comes from the capitalist point of view of development and it relates development with modernization. The theory states that a modern society is likely to archive economic development compared to a non-modernized society. A modern society is more productive due to the fact that children receive formal education, there is time consciousness and the needy receive more welfare. This is according to Smelter’s analysis.…

    • 1843 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    With the world becoming quickly all over the globe and the improved joining of nations there has been extremely lively advancement in the previous six decades. Improvement has seen noteworthy scurry after the World War II (Rapley, 2007). John Rapley (2007) too has endeavored to clarify that the new hypotheses like Modernization Hypothesis and Reliance Hypothesis frame the past attempt to clarify the relationship existing between different nations on the planet and why there exist a distinction between the Underdeveloped nations and the creating countries.Assignment Master AustraliaIn this setting just we allude to the Modernisation Hypothesis and the Reliance Hypothesis which do have a few likenesses in spite of the fact that the differences…

    • 1578 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Modernization Theory was used to justify the process of decolonization and intervention by the United States, which had the ulterior motive of gaining access to new markets and thus boosting the national economy. The U.S. separated this theory from Cold War ideologies with the distinguishing feature that it emphasized GNP and technical measures. The theory is ethnocentric and is posited in the belief that there is a ceaseless struggle against scarcity and that underdeveloped nations must overcome this natural state. The role and ability of the developed state was framed by the teleological doctrine that began with preconditions to “take-off”, which was recognition that economic progress was necessary to move from “tradition” to “modernity” to the final “take-off”, to the “drive to maturity” (which was expected to be completed in 1-2 generations), to the “age of high-mass consumption” (similar to the historical patterns of the U.S.). The strengths of Modernization theory included its organized capitalism, integration into the world economy, and outlook of economic expansion. These changes were to be achieved through institutions and a shift from earlier colonial hierarchy and integration into the United Nations family (a de jure equality). However, the weaknesses overpower benefits. The theory naturalizes “underdevelopment” as something that can be changed…

    • 3983 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics