A critique of modernization and dependency theories in africa. But before coming to the question of the relevance of dependency theory. Vincent ferraro, mount holyoke college south hadley, ma july 1996. The central point in the dependency theory is that the nature of social phenomena in the third world countries is determined by the process of underdevelopment which characterizes these countries and which is the result of the expansion of world capitalism.
It is intended to be mainly illustrative of certain theoretical principles and their application in concrete situations and to complement the more purely theoretical companion paper by mr du pisanie. Dependency theory of underdevelopment social development. For example, dependency theory holds the view that the condition of underdevelopment, and resultantly high levels of poverty in nations. It then discusses dependency theory as a set of general concepts and orientations for formulating. First proposed in the late 1950s by raul prebisch, dependency theory gained prominence in the 1960s and 70s. The belief is that such a diagnosis of poverty through development theories would help in coming up with suitable national development policies. But this exchange is to the disadvantage of the poor countries. Hence, this paper makes a clarion call to the current african leaders to seriously look more inwards and less outwards for african development. Furthermore, it is basic to the norwegian sociologist johan galtungs theory of structural imperialism, in which he emphasizes the importance of bridgeheads in the process of underdevelopment. For the purpose of our topic, such theory that suffices here is dependency theory. Africa, being the original home of man, was a major. Then, despite africa s troubles, other countries thrived despite the influence of foreign dependency. Dependency theory a conceptual lens to understand china.
According to dependency theory, africans are engaging with china because china wants to engage with africa. The discourse assesses the influence of modernization and dependency theories on africa s development. May 28, 2018 the dependency theory has been criticized for a number of reasons. Dependency theory economic development economics online. In international political economy, there are competing theoretical perspectives regarding the question of global inequalities and the northsouth divide.
Dependency and underdevelopment in africa project material. Dependency and underdevelopment of nigerian economy adekunle. The latter term simply refers to a condition in which resources are not being used. A paradigm shift the ma y 19 issue of t he econo mist, the influential london n ews magazine has africa on the co ver. A test of dependency theory and a study of african motivations in. Pdf over the years, african political and development scholars, writers and commentators have blamed the europeans for the.
Conversations on dependency theory institute for new economic. One advantage of the dependency theory is that the theory arose around 1960 as a reaction to some earlier theories of development which held that all societies progress through similar stages of development, that todays underdeveloped areas are thus in a similar situation to that of todays developed areas at some time in the past, and that therefore the task in helping the underdeveloped. Dependency defines a situation in which the policy or life of a state and its citizens are exploitatively determined by an outside power or powers, usually through the. The theory of dependency has experienced various forms. Modernization theory an overview sciencedirect topics. Prebisch found that increases in the wealth of the richer nations appeared to be at the expense of the poorer ones. Some aspects of liberation theology and world systems theory are related to dependency theory. This ignorance is partly the result of the scant exposure of dependency theories in orthodox literature and partly due to the fact that the theory has many versions, which in and among themselves are either contradictory or lack testable hypotheses. In his book, how europe underdeveloped africa, walter rodney explains how the dependency theory led to the current underdevelopment in most parts of the continent of africa. Jan 31, 2017 this conceptual article explores the evolution of dependency theory and deploys the theory to understand chinas contemporary presence in africa as a case study to provide new insights into the usability of this theory and its fundamental concepts. The africa portal is a research repository and an expert analysis hub on african affairs. There is harmony of interest between the center in the center nation and the center in the periphery nation. Dependency theorydependency theory became popular in the 1960s as a response to research by raul prebisch.
First, the dependency theory is a characterization of the international system as comprising of a dominant and a dependent state, where the dominant states are the industrialized nations belonging to the oecd organization for economic cooperation and development, and the dependent states are the states of latin america, africa, and asia. An xray of dependency theories imperialism, according to galthung, 1971, in his structural theory of imperialism, is a relation between a centre advanced country and a periphery third world nation so that. Dependency theory is the notion that resources flow from a periphery of poor and underdeveloped states to a core of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. Dependency theory is a theory of how developing and developed nations interact. The fact of subsaharan africas crisis is now universally acknowledged. My people have been successfully managing their political system before the advent of the whites in africa, and even the presence of whites brought distortion to the african political and economic system kwame nkruma, 1957. Over the years, african political and development scholars, writers and commentators have blamed the europeans for the underdevelopment of african. Partial correlation and regression analyses of economic data from thirty tropical african states in the middle and late 1960s provide little support for two dependency based. Strengths and weaknesses of the dependency theory free essays.
Dependency theory and the political economy of africa s crisis manfred bienefeld this article will examine the ways in which the right and a large part of the left have converged in their assessment of the african problem, united both in their denigration of dependency theory and in their belief that state intervention lies at the root of. And thirdly, we analyse the theory in the light of chinas current presence in africa. For some to be rich and developed in the capitalist world, man. Dependency theory is premised on the fact that resources move and. Every continent independently participated in the early epochs of the extension of mans control over his environment which means in effect that every continent can point to a period of economic development. The political economy of africa and dependency theory.
The discourse pins hope on the african renaissance theory of development. Dependency theories and underdevelopment emerald insight. Dependency theorists sought to explain persistent levels of underdevelopment in latin america by situating national economies within their global. This paper is not an exhaustive discussion of dependency theory as applied to southern africa. According to the dependency theory, the industrialized and advanced countries of the western world rely on poor countries in asia, africa, and south america for commodities and raw materials. Dependency theory today 72 miguel angel centeno 10. However, noted african scholars continue to stress. Dependency theory dependency theory has been presented as a theory of development that improves modernisation theory reyes, 2001a.
One of these competing theoretical perspectives is dependency theory, which emerged in the 1950s in response to modernization theory matunhu 2011, p. How europe underdeveloped africa abahlali basemjondolo. In its extreme form, dependency theory is based on a marxist view of the world, which sees globalisation in. The socio political set up of african countries has a similarity with those of the east asian nations which have brought economic progress through exercising developmental state. Dependency theory, an approach to understanding economic underdevelopment that emphasizes the putative constraints imposed by the global political and economic order.
The fact of subsaharan africa s crisis is now universally acknowledged. Patrick bond is based in south africa and is professor of. Dependency theory was first formulated in the 1950s, drawing on a marxian analysis of the global economy, and as a direct challenge to the free market economic policies of the postwar. The more things change, the more they stay the same 79 ian taylor 11. Dependencia rules the traditional statecontrol approach to markets in latin america before the late1990s was greatly influenced by what was known as dependencia, or dependency theory. Dependency theory seeks to analyze international politics by concerning itself with the existing unequal relationship among nationstates i. However, although one might think that with the wisdom of hindsight it would be easy to agree on what went wrong, this. This article focuses on dependency theory and its influence on scholarly work in the field of international development. Modernization theory emphasized internal factors while making an exception of science. It can be seen as an opposition theory to the popular free market theory of interaction.
May 02, 2020 dependency theory is a theory of how developing and developed nations interact. Dependency theorists sought to explain persistent levels of underdevelopment in latin america by situating national economies within their global economic context. Prebisch and his colleagues were troubled by the fact that economic growth in the advanced industrialized countries did not necessarily lead to growth in the poorer countries. Matunhu department of development studies, midlands state university, zimbabwe. The conclusion is that both theories have failed to help develop africa. Dependency theory and the political economy of subsaharan. It is a central contention of dependency theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the world.
Read this article to learn about the dependency theory of underdevelopment. From the dependency perspective, the issue was less the authoritarian character of the state than the class dynamics and. Pdf dependency theory and africas underdevelopment. The origin of dependency theory came as an alternative to the theories of modernisation and development as formulated and supported by the western and marxist.
Modernization, dependency, rural underdevelopment, african. The poor nations, in turn, are dependent upon the advanced countries for finished goods. Some reflections on the dependency theory michigan state. Interpreting and contextualising dependency theory for patrick bond, the simplest explanation of dependency theory is that the north gets richer the more it exchanges with the south, which in turn gets poorer because of a value transfer. Dependency theory a conceptual lens to understand chinas. Dependency theory, in contrast, holds that there are a small number of established nations that are continually fed by developing nations, at the expense of the developing nations own health. Dependency theory and chinese special economic zones in africa.
This model relates to the scholars like andre gunder frank, samir amin, immanuel wallerstein and h. Dependency theory and the political economy of africas crisis. Please, sit back and study the below research material carefully. This article will examine the ways in which the right and a large part of the left have converged in their assessment of the african problem, united both in their denigration of dependency theory and in their belief that state intervention lies at the root of africa s problem andthat market forces represent a powerful and historically progressive force in africa today. Dependency theory and the political economy of africas. Dependency and underdevelopment in africa project materials. The developing nations are essentially acting as colonial dependencies, sending their wealth to the developed nations with minimal compensation. After tracing the roots of dependency theory, the article considers its relationship to the international economy, multinational capital, the local bourgeoisie, and the state. We conclude this paper by summarising our reasoning as well as putting forward an agenda for future research.
How does dependency theory explain the continuing poverty. Dependency theory an overview sciencedirect topics. Dependency theory, which enjoyed virtual ascendancy for an extended period in latin america, crossed the atlantic and achieved broad influence in africa, not only amongst scholars and intellectuals but also in ruling circles. Schools of thought on dependency theory dependency theory has been under debate since the 1960s.
India and thailand are two examples of nations that should have remained depressed under the concept of the dependency theory, but, in fact, they gained strength. Relationships with developed countries and particularly with. Africa almost every year, with race frequently ranking second or third among a list of possible divisions. Modernization, dependency, rural underdevelopment, african renaissance. Dependency theory was first formulated in the 1950s, drawing on a marxian analysis of the global economy, and as a direct challenge to the free market economic policies of the postwar era. Actually, this dependency syndrome is the main cause of african underdevelopment. Introduction dependency theory holds that the condition of underdevelopment is precisely the result of the incorporation of the third world economies into the capitalist world system which is dominated by the west and north america. Dependency theory is alive in different guises 86 matias vernengo 12. Dependency theory and chinese special economic zones in africa 93 honita. Paul baran, in his work the political economy of growth 1973, first published in 1957, pioneered the theory of underdevelopment.
The discourse assesses the influence of modernization and dependency theories on africas development. Doc dependency and underdevelopment in africa abhishek. An empirical evaluation can then be made of the dependency theory proposition that economic dependency inhibits positive economic performance growth and development. The focus of this theory is the totality of society and social system periphery, which highlights the. Dependency theory was first formulated in the 1950s, drawing on a marxian analysis of the global economy, and as a direct challenge to the free market economic policies of the. The theories of underdevelopment are essentially dependency theories. Dependency theory and the political economy of africa s crisis manfred bienefeld this article will examine the ways in which the right and a large part of the left have converged in their assessment of the african problem, united both in their denigration of dependency theory and in their belief that state. There are, among others, marxist as well as nonmarxist variations. Latin american dependency theory global south studies, u. Dependency theory has always been quite controversial. The problem is that communication in the development process of africa was denied a marshall plan, despite africas contribution to the economic development. Dependency theory developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the director of the united nations economic commission for latin america, raul prebisch.
Patrice mcmahon african states are increasingly engaging with chinapolitically, socially and. In dependency theory porverty can be explained through the maintainance of a structural dependency from the less developed nations periphery towards the more developed ones center. Underdevelopment is a condition fundamentally different from undevelopment. A test of dependency theory and a study of african motivations in increasing engagement with china nkemjika eke kalu, ph. It combines elements from a neomarxist theory and adopts a revolution of under developed nations model. Why africa remains underdeveloped despite its potential. Uniprojects aim of providing dependency and underdevelopment in africa project research material is to reduce the stress of moving from one school library to another all in the name of searching for dependency and. The political economy of africa and dependency theory 67 patrick bond 9. Olukoshi director, africa and west asia, international idea, distinguished visiting professor, university of johannesburg by maria dyveke styve professor adebayo olukoshi emphasises the relevance of dependency theory today in. Development, underdevelopment, dependency, bad leadership and governance. The central propositions of dependency theory there are a number of propositions, all of which are contestable, which form the core of dependency theory. Kabonga dependency theory and donor aid in zimbabwe, the history of aid can be traced back to 1981, when the country held the zimbabwe conference on development and reconstruction zimcord. A critique of modernization and dependency theories in. Historical research demonstrates that contemporary underdevelopment is in large part the historical product of past and continuing economic and other relations between the satellite underdeveloped and the now developed metropolitan countries.