development theories

• modernisation theory

  • developed by rostow in 1960
  • created to explain dominance of british empire and the USA
  • 5 stages countries go through as they develop
• stages of development (first 2)

  1. traditional society- very slow development in localised ways
  2. preconditions to take off- growth of trade, supported by advancements in technology/communication and government/financial systems
• stages of development(last 3)


  3)take-off= development of manufacturing industries

  4)drive to maturity=increasing levels of disposable income and strong domestic market for goods

  5)high mass consumption= increasily urban society with lots of disposable income and consumption of goods
• critisism of modernisation theory

  • good for explaining economical development , but no political or cultural development needed to become a superpower
• dependancy theory

  • recognises development not a linear progression
  • development is set on relationships between developed countries(core economies) and developing countries(periphery economies)
• role of the core economy

  • provides periphery with manufactured goods, aid and FDI(economic) cultures,political ideas(politcal and cultural) as well as pollution and waste management(enviro)
• role of periphery

  • provides core with raw materials, cheap products eg sugar, cheap labour and debt repayements
  • periphery can become exploited by the core, slowing its development and increasing cores development
• superpowers(core)

  • control the value and volume of trade- allows them to protect their status as they control how much economic power developing nations gain
• critisism of dependancy theory

  • not all countries belong to a core or periphery
  • NICS such as singapore have been able to develop independantly
• world systems theory

  • attempts to model the complexity of relationships that exist between countries
  • expanded dependancy theory to include semi-periphery, made of emerging economies and NICS= able to dominate periphery but not the core
  • countries can move between regions over time as develop or decline-not possible in dependancy theory
• critisism of world systems theory

  • describes which countries have power and wealth but not why they do