Theories of Development: Smelser, Lerner, Rostow. Under Development Dependency: Centre Periphery (Frank), Uneven Development (Samir Amin); Globalizati

Theories of Development

Smelser

• Smelser outlined phases of development for norm-oriented movements: incipient, enthusiastic mobilisation, institutionalisation, and organisation. He stressed that these elements can emerge in any chronological order.

• Smelser's theory suggests that collective behaviour indicates an imbalance in the system, which he viewed as principally harmoniously functioning.

• Critics like Crossley argue that Smelser fails to consider the "intrinsically conflictual nature of some social systems".

• The necessity of "strain" as a separate determinant from "structural conduciveness" implies a strain external to the system's contradictions, unlike Marxist theory which emphasises contradiction and crisis.

• Resource mobilisation theory posits that "there are always social strains and conflicts of interest built into existing social arrangements".

• Smelser's interest in the relationship between structural strain and specific kinds of mobilisation led him to conclude it was "indeterminate".

• Despite discussing structured risks, Smelser is often criticised for ignoring inequality and power.

• While acknowledging that social structures play a role in generating collective behaviour under "structural conduciveness", this refers more to the system's ability to tolerate strain than to cause it.

• Smelser argued for a synthetic approach to collective behaviour, studying its "meaning" at both social and psychological levels ("double description") and combining both types of determinants to avoid disciplinary reductionism.

• He criticised sociological reductionism for viewing activists as passive agents of structural change, as seen in his critique of Marx and Marcuse.

• Structuralist models fail to explain why social conditions like unemployment are experienced differently and lead to varying degrees of mobilisation.

• The relatively weak explanatory value of structuralist models of social movements has been emphasised more recently.

Lerner

• American political scientist Daniel Lerner's ideas about the role of mass media in modernization are a clear antecedent of development communication.

• Lerner's theory of modernization, presented in his 1958 book The Passing of Traditional Society: Modernizing the Middle East, posited a model of societal transformation through embracing western manufacturing technology, political structures, values, and systems of mass communication.

• As a policy initiative, modernization was central to Cold War efforts to counter Soviet communism.

• A package of western industrial organisation, governance, and lifestyles was presented as a superior path to the modern postwar world.

• In the 1980s and 1990s, "development-support communication" emerged, rooted in participation and empowerment at the grassroots. This involved horizontally networked information flow supporting people's control over resources and needs.

• While not top-down, development-support communication was often "outside-in," with Western experts still influential.

• Lerner later acknowledged that community survived in society, suggesting that traditional society does not completely pass, thus undermining his book's premise.

• Twenty years after his book, Lerner still believed in the superiority of the Western modernization model and the potential of Western media and experts to diffuse it.

• However, he had revised his views and refined concepts to account for critiques and the opposition to Western-style modernization.

• Meta-research on development communication literature from 1958 to 2006 shows that the field became more conceptually and theoretically complex, and Lerner's universal and teleological model was no longer widely supported.

• Yet, some variables, descriptions, and vocabulary related to Lerner's modernization theory persisted in later studies.

• Research from 1987-1996 showed over 55% of studies defining development as becoming "modern," potentially reflecting Lerner's influence. This decreased to about 25% in 1997-2006, with more varied definitions, though raising living standards and democratic development could align with Lerner's ideas.

• Lerner's core model included literacy, socioeconomic status, and media-related variables, which continued to be included in later studies that also considered increasing numbers of mediating variables.

Rostow

• W.W. Rostow proposed that countries pass through five stages of economic development to achieve high economic growth. His book, The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto, was published in 1960.

• The five stages are:

  1. Traditional Society or Pre-industrial Stage: Characterised by primitive agriculture, animal husbandry, feudalism, static technical conditions, limited economies of scale, and high birth and death rates. This stage existed worldwide before the 19th century Industrial Revolution.

  2. Pre-conditioning phase: Society begins to develop manufacturing and a more national and international outlook as opposed to regional.

  3. The ‘Take-off’ Stage: A period of intensive short duration where industrialisation begins to occur, and workers and institutions become concentrated around new industry. The rate of investment increases from around 5% to 10% of GNP, and real output per capita increases, maintaining an increasing trend. An entrepreneurial and elite class with the will and authority to drive the economy emerges, and leading sectors (growth poles) develop.

  4. Stage of ‘Drive to Maturity’: This stage takes place over a long period, with rising standards of living, increased use of technology, and national economy growth and diversification. The rate of investment increases further to 10-20% of GNP, important industries emerge, technical knowledge spreads, and real income per head rises significantly.

  5. Stage of Self-sustained Growth of Mass Consumption: Society becomes affluent, free of hunger and extreme poverty. A country flourishes in a capitalist system characterised by mass production and consumerism.

• Rostow's model has been criticised for its teleological approach, suggesting a predetermined path.

• Critics argue that history does not necessarily repeat itself, and Rostow's model has a Western bias, illustrating a Western model as the path towards development.

• Rostow himself acknowledged that the stages are an "arbitrary and limited way of looking at the sequence of modern history" and do not pretend to explain history, but have an "inner logic and continuity".

• Singapore's development, following industrialisation and trade, exemplifies successful industrialisation but also highlights criticisms of the model's Western bias and oversimplification.

• Rostow's model disregards fundamental geographical principles like site and situation, assuming all countries have an equal chance to develop without considering population size, natural resources, or location.

• The "take-off" concept has influenced planners in less developed countries who try to create the conditions for it.

• Rostow's theory was developed in a historical and political context of the Cold War, fiercely anti-communist, and aimed to present a non-communist path to high economic growth, also influenced by the perceived Soviet influence.

Under Development Dependency: Centre Periphery

Andre Gunder Frank

• Latin American economists, in response to Western economists, developed the dependency thesis, arguing that underdevelopment in countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America was not due to a lack of capital and technical know-how alone.

• The dependency thesis posits that underdevelopment was caused by the development of capitalism in the West and the integration of Latin American countries into the world capitalist system.

• Raul Prebisch is considered the forerunner of the dependency thesis, which may be called "structuralism," in response to the monetarist approach of neo-classical economists.

• The dependency thesis highlights the role of imperialism in explaining the inability of Third World countries to develop despite having labour and natural resources.

• A key aspect is the dualism of centre-periphery, operating both externally (between developed and underdeveloped countries) and internally (within underdeveloped countries), with significant implications. Developed capitalist countries became the "centre" of development, while underdeveloped countries became the "periphery".

• Andre Gunder Frank and Theotonio dos Santos argue that capitalist development is not possible in the periphery, and what occurs is the "development of underdevelopment".

• Frank builds on Paul A. Baran's view that economic development in underdeveloped countries was not in the interest of advanced capitalist countries as it would close off sources of raw materials and markets.

• Frank argues that the only political solution for underdeveloped countries is a socialist revolution to break away from the world capitalist system; otherwise, underdevelopment will persist.

• Frank identifies three levels in his analysis: incorporation of the periphery into the world economy since colonialism, the transformation of periphery countries into capitalist economies, and the integration through a "satellite chain" where surplus is drawn to the centre.

• According to Frank, sustained development of peripheral countries is impossible under the "satellite-metropolis" arrangement, which weakens only due to exogenous factors.

• Frank rejects the "dual society" thesis, which claims underdeveloped societies have a modern/urban/integrated part and a rural/backward/isolated/feudal part, arguing that the expansion of capitalism has penetrated even the most isolated areas. Underdevelopment is not due to the survival of pre-capitalist institutions but a product of capitalist development.

• Frank believes that no country was ever in a state of "underdevelopment" but might have been "undeveloped." Underdevelopment is a consequence of European mercantilist and capitalist expansion, creating developing metropolises and underdeveloping satellites.

Theotonio dos Santos

• Theotonio dos Santos defines dependence as a "conditioning situation" where one group of countries' economies are conditioned by the development and expansion of others. Dependent countries can only expand as a reflection of dominant countries.

• Dos Santos views the capitalist system as a "central star which exploits an entire system of satellites and sub-satellites," with internal exploitation linked to the international system within underdeveloped countries.

Common Points of the Dependency Approaches

• Dependency theory uniquely explains the historical roots of backwardness in Latin American countries.

• Underdevelopment is not the original state but was caused by Western capitalist development and the integration of Latin America into it.

• The emergence of developed capitalist countries led to dualism, with developed countries as the centre and underdeveloped countries as the periphery.

• Import substitution alone cannot generate development in Latin America.

Critiques and Nuances

• Some Latin American economists like O. Sunkel and Celso Furtado believe capitalist development in the periphery is possible if hurdles like market constrictions are cleared. Sunkel combines external factors with internal constraints to explain underdevelopment within the world capitalist system.

• Fernando Henrique Cardoso accepts the possibility of capitalist development in the periphery, but considers it "subservient to the capitalism of the centre" or "associated-dependent development". He disagrees with dependency theorists who believe dependent relations inherently perpetuate underdevelopment.

• It is argued that peripheral countries must try to break away from the world capitalist system and end the domination of local elites to achieve independent economic development, though the means to do so are unclear.

• The types of domination and dependence vary as both centre and periphery countries are not homogenous.

• The centre-periphery thesis has good explanatory value for the historical roots of backwardness and highlights the role of imperialism and the ties between local and developed-country elites.

Uneven Development (Samir Amin)

• Uneven development is a process of development that is uneven in space and time.

• Unevenness is not incidental but endemic to the development process.

• It cannot be explained solely by external factors or the development process itself but by the relations between these influences.

• This is implied in Trotsky's notion of combined and uneven development.

• The development of development and the development of "underdevelopment may exist side by side in the same economic process". Examples include the decline of British manufacturing alongside the pre-eminence of high-level retail and service functions in London.

• Such uneven development produces society-wide effects, from imperialism to micro-politics, reminding us that "geography matters".

• Space and society are inseparable, and their analysis must recognise this interdependence.

• Samir Amin asserts that underdevelopment is not natural but a direct consequence of how capitalism operates globally, ensuring the exploitation of peripheral nations to sustain the core's prosperity. He critiques Eurocentric development notions assuming linear progression to capitalism.

Globalisation and Development Society

• The goals of economic and social development must be defined in terms of sustainability in all countries, requiring attention to resource access and the distribution of costs and benefits.

• Development as an ideology can lead to the entry of global market domination, creating a need for international aid and foreign debt that can commercialise and privatise local resources, shifting control away from local communities.

• Integration with the global market economy can marginalise concerns for nature's economy and the survival economy.

• Globalisation is a process of increased integration between economies, involving the increasing movement of products, capital, labour, and technology across borders.

• The world in which globalisation has unfolded is divided between advanced and poorer developing countries, with the former dominating the world economy.

• Globalisation has been accompanied by a shift in development policy towards opening up and liberalising economies, known as the "Washington Consensus," pushed by institutions like the IMF and World Bank.

• The promise of export-led growth has been elusive for many developing economies, with the increase in developing countries' world export share primarily due to East and South-East Asia.

• Interestingly, developing countries in Asia with greater state involvement have often fared better in growth and export performance than those in Latin America and Africa that liberalised earlier.

• Modernisation processes in India, without changes in the unequal social system, have primarily benefited middle and upper classes, with poverty increasing under globalisation.

• Contemporary globalisation has three main components: globalisation of finance, markets, and production.

• Two major contemporary concerns in development are human security and sustainability. Development should not cause social dislocation, violence, or war and must meet present needs without compromising future generations.

• There is a need to evolve "green initiatives" for development and change production and consumption patterns for sustainability.