The modernization theorists believe and argue that change is unavoidable and the transformation from traditional to modern societies will occur in a linear way. There are many ways for change to take place such as political institutions, economic institutions, technology and mass media and through education. Rostow’s modernization theory is around “five stages of economic growth” which was alternative to Marx’s theory of economic development. Rostow in his theory of modernization argues that an underdeveloped nation “take-off” toward modernity is achievable through the spread of technology and the modern economic organizations. According to Rostow, all societies, in their economics dimension are lying within one of the five categories: traditional society, pre-condition for take-off, take off, the drive to maturity and the age of high
Rather, this term is shorthand for a variety of perspectives that were applied by non-Marxists to the Third World in the 1950s and 1960s. The dominant themes of such perspectives arose from established sociological traditions and involved the reinterpretation, often conscious, of the concerns of classical sociology. Evolutionism (with its focus on increasing differentiation), diffusionism, structural functionalism, systems theory and interactionism all combined to help form the mish-mash of ideas that came to be known as modernization theory. There were inputs from other disciplines, for example, political science, anthropology, psychology, economics and geography, and in the two decades after the Second World War such perspectives were increasingly applied to the Third World. In many respects, the beginnings of modernization theory can be traced to antiquity, when the notion of evolution was first used with reference to human society.
In some countries, farming may be the primary economic activity of a region and support the vast majority of the population in employment. In such regions, it is clear that overall social and political stability is inextricably linked with the condition of the agriculture sector. 8. However, in most economically developed countries, farming accounts for a relatively small part of a diversified rural economy, and in addition the significance of agriculture in terms of the proportion of national wealth and employment is, in most regions, in decline. This does not lessen the potential role of farming in rural development in those countries, but the contribution of alternative economic activities, which may offer durable prospects for employment and economic progress, should also be
In capitalist economy, the most important factor was the production and consumption of goods. The industrial revolution has allowed for new methods of production. It broadens range of the services, what significantly expanded their reach. The mass migration of people from rural to urban areas has resulted in a steady increase in the demand for new goods and services - everyone wishes to 'keep up with the Joneses ': to have their own home, car and dishwasher, as well as hottest smartphone app and ridiculous kitchen gadgets. This constant need for new accessories to improve our lives is forcing production of more and more new goods and services.
Is it truly as Eurocentric as people claim? Modernization theory suggested that societies moved through natural stages of development as they progressed towards becoming developed societies (i.e. stable, democratic, market oriented, and capitalist) (Little, 2014). Walt W.
Our age has witnessed a rapid economic growth accompanied by surging consumer demand and mass production ever since about two hundred years ago during the first industrial revolution. Technological productivity highly increases, and so does the extraction of resources, production of goods and services, and consumption of various newly-developed products. Then here comes the time when consumerism begins on the stage of history--coming across the rusty old age of past desires for simplicity, it rather concentrates on “the chronic purchasing of goods and services, with little attention to their true need, durability, product origin or the environmental consequences of manufacture and disposal,” bringing about benefits as well as challenges (Verdant).
Postmodernism is said to be culture increasingly dominated by space and spatial logic (Smart, 1993). A cultural configuration which is constituted in and through complete relationships with a new generation of technologies which themselves are articulated with emergence of a new global economic formation (Smart, 1993). According to Bradlely (1997) cited in Thompson& McHugh (2009) “In contemporary economy, an increasing number of work have become feminized. Women have displaced men in labor market”. Most organizations & their structure bureaucracy in particular can be considered as gendered reflecting to migration of women in higher levels of occupational and professions for example women in management (Adorno,1991).
Modernism was an important style, which consisted of literature, poetry, music and most art forms. It is a trend of thought that states publicly the power of humans to create, improve and reconstruct our environment with the help of technology or practical
As a result, surplus labor happens. Because of the existence of surplus labor, wages do not really increase that much and economic growth does not happen as fast as expected (Riley, “Lewis Model of Structural Economic Growth and
Modernization theory experienced its “golden age” during the 1950s and 1960s, when it reached the status of mainstream theory of development. Today, many scholars refers to it as an old-fashioned theory strongly criticized for its many weakness and its Eurocentric and ethnocentric perception of the world. However, besides its heavy criticisms and its supposed decay, it is undeniable that Modernization theory left a strong legacy in contemporary development thinking. In this paper I will argue that even though modernization theory’s legacy is quite often seen in a negative light, as it shows how development still remains a fundamentally western value-based project, its main contribution to development thinking has been to highlight the importance