Advanced Placement Human Geography Session 2. Two conflicting theories have guided social scientists in the 20 th century in answering the question.

Unit Six:INDUSTRIALIZATION

Advanced Placement Human Geography

Session 2

THEORIES OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

What factors explain differences in levels of economic development?

• Two conflicting theories have guided social scientists in the 20th century in answering the question.

• Those theories are:• THE MODERNIZATION MODEL

AND

• DEPENDENCY THEORY

The Modernization Model

• According to this theory, Britain was the FIRST country to begin to develop its industry.• The Industrial Revolution was

spurred by a combination of:• prosperity• trade connections• inventions• natural resources

The Modernization Model

• Max Weber asserted that Western Europe had a cultural environment that favored change.• The growing importance of individualism steadily replaced the traditional emphasis on community.

The Modernization Model

• The British model spread to other European nations and the U.S., which prospered because they built on British ingenuity and economic practices.

• By extension, any country that wants to improve its economy should follow the British model and enjoy modernization, or “westernization.”

The Modernization Model

• Modernization theory identifies tradition as the greatest barrier to economic development.

• In societies with strong family systems and a reverence for the past, the culture discourages people from adopting new technologies.• As a result, standards of living are not raised.

Dependency Theory

• Dependency theory puts the primary responsibility for global poverty on rich nations.• The theory also holds that economic development is blocked by industrialized nations that exploit the poor countries.

A favela in Rio de Janeiro

Dependency Theory

How can a country develop when its natural and human

resources are controlled by a handful of prosperous

industrialized countries?

Dependency Theory

Inequality has its roots in the colonial era when European nations exploited resources in

various parts of the world.

Dependency Theory

• Although many countries gained independence in the 20th century, they have not gained economic

wealth.• This theory is an outgrowth of

Marxism, which emphasizes exploitation of one social class of the

other.

Reaction to Dependency Theory

• Many LDCs have experimented with various forms of socialism.• Their intent is to nationalize industry and narrow the gap between rich and poor.

Modernization Theory: Rostow’s Stages

Modernization Theory holds that economic prosperity is open to all countries.

According to W.W. Rostow, modernization occurs in four stages.

• People in traditional societies build their lives around:• families• local communities• religious beliefs

• Wealth is generally limited.• Most people are subsistence farmers.

Traditional Stage

Stage One

• Political leaders encourage people to produce goods for their own consumption AND for trade.• Sustained growth

takes hold.• Urbanization

increases.

Take-off Stage

Stage Two

• Technological and production breakthroughs occur.• Individualism

flourishes, often at the expense of families and traditional customs.

Take-off Stage

Stage Two

• Economic growth is widely accepted.• People focus on higher living standards and can afford more luxuries.• Poverty is reduced and material goods are much more common.

Drive to Technological Maturity

Stage Three

• Cities grow as more people leave farms.• Modernization is

evident in the country’s core.• Population growth decreases.• International trade

expands.

Drive to Technological Maturity

Stage Three

• Economic development raises living standards.• Mass production

encourages consumption of industrial products.• Items that have been

luxuries in earlier stages of development now become necessities (e.g. automobiles).

High Mass Consumption

Stage Four

• This stage is marked by high incomes.• A majority of the workers are involved in the tertiary (service) sector of the economy.

High Mass Consumption

Stage Four

Modernization Theory

• This theory claims that high-income countries can help poorer countries by encouraging them to:

• control population growth• increase food production• take advantage of industrial

technology

Modernization Theory

High income countries also help poorer countries with foreign aid.

Criticisms of Modernization Theory

• Socialist countries believe that modernization theory provides justification for capitalist systems to continue to exploit non-capitalist countries.• Others believe that modernization simply

cannot occur in many poor countries.

Criticisms of Modernization Theory

• Critics also assert that rich nations, which benefit from the status quo, often block paths to development for poor countries.• Another criticism is that the theory

suggests that the causes of poverty lie in the poor countries themselves, which means that it blames victims for their own plight.

Criticisms of Modernization Theory

Dependency Theory: Wallerstein’s Capitalist World Economy

• In 1974, Wallerstein explained economic development using a model of the capitalist world economy, a global economic system that is based on high-income nations with market economies.• He traced economic inequality among nations to the colonial era when Europeans first took advantage of the rest of the world.

Dependency Theory: Wallerstein’s Capitalist World Economy

• Wallerstein divided today’s countries into three types, according to how they fit into the global economy:•Core countries•Countries of the periphery•Countries of the semiperiphery

• This category includes the rich countries of the world that fuel the global economy by taking raw materials and channeling wealth, through multinational corporations, to:• North America• Europe• Australia• Japan

Core Countri

es

• This category includes low-income countries that were exploited during the colonial era.• These countries

continue to support rich countries today by providing inexpensive labor.• Countries of the

periphery are also a large market for industrial products.

Countries of the Periphery

• The remaining countries of the world have characteristics that place them somewhere between the core and the periphery.• Countries of the

semiperiphery exert more power than peripheral countries but are dominated to some extent by the core.

Countries of the Semiperiphery

According to Wallerstein…

• The world economy benefits rich societies and harms other countries by making them dependent on the core.

• Dependency is perpetuated by narrow, export-oriented products such as oil, coffee, and fruit.

According to Wallerstein…

• Poorer countries lack industrial capacity so they are caught in a cycle of selling inexpensive raw materials and buying expensive manufactured goods.• As a result, foreign debt cripples

poorer countries even further.

Dependency theory emphasizes the idea that NO COUNTRY develops in isolation because the global economy shapes the destiny of all nations.

Important note about Dependency Theory

Criticisms of Dependency Theory

• Critics disagree that wealth is a zero-sum commodity, as if no one gets richer without someone getting poorer.• They believe that new wealth is

created through:• ambition• hard work• new uses of technology

Criticisms of Dependency Theory

• Critics also believe that the theory places blame on rich countries that have a long history of supporting economies of nations such as:• India• South Korea• Japan

• The poorer countries have been supported through foreign investments that foster economic growth.

Criticisms of Dependency Theory

• Dependency theorists are also criticized for ignoring cultural factors in poor countries that discourage economic growth.

• Corrupt leaders may contribute to poor economic health in a country that lacks a strong rule of law, since the country’s wealth is monopolized by the elite.

The Self-Sufficiency Model

This model encourages LDCs to isolate newer

businesses from competition from large international

corporations.

The Self-Sufficiency Model

How can LDCs escape global inequalities?The government can:• Shield local businesses from

trade in international markets

• Encourage internal growth• Limit imports from other

places

The Self-Sufficiency Model

Another approach to protecting local markets:• Require international

companies to purchase expensive licenses that discourage them from selling within the newly industrialized country’s borders.

The Self-Sufficiency Model

Example: India• India has used all of

the methods described to encourage internal economic development.• However, problems

persisted.

The Self-Sufficiency Model

Problems in India• Inefficiency• Little incentive for

businesses in India to develop better products

• Complex bureaucracy that hampered development

Key Terms and Concepts to Review for this Session

• Modernization Model

• Dependency Theory• Industrial

Revolution• Individualism• Westernization• Modernization• Marxism• Socialism• Sustained growth

• Mass consumption• Core• Semiperiphery• Periphery• Status quo• Foreign debt• Foreign

investments• Self sufficiency

theory