Modernization Theory

Modernization theory was created by western capitalist countries in the 1940s. After World War II, they were worried that many underdeveloped countries might become communist as they developed, so they created a theory that they hoped would stop this. It states that underdeveloped, or “Third World” countries can only become developed by adopting Western (Capitalist) Beliefs and practices and developing in a similar way to the westerners. Modernization theory adopters such as Talcott Parsons argued that the culture of these underdeveloped places is what keeps them underdeveloped. They argue that ways of life such as particularism, collectivism, patriarchism, and ascribed status and fatalism should be replaced with individualism, universalism, and achieved status and meritocracy. Western countries believed that they could aid these countries in adopting these ways of life by giving them financial and resource-based aid. These countries were then encouraged to focus on building up their infrastructure, resource production and exportation, and their economy. 
An example of modernization theory in action is in Indonesia in the 1960s and ‘70s. They encouraged western aid and investments, boosting their production and economy. They were so anti-communist that they were basically a dictatorship, with their president being comparable to Hitler and Stalin. They fell apart when this regime and way of life crashed, setting them back many years in development. 
I think this example demonstrates the flaws in Modernization theory. In my opinion there is no “one way” for a country to develop. Additionally, according to Zeihan in The Accidental Superpower, geography and demography play too much of a factor for outside aid to be able to successfully kickstart a country’s development. I also think that since geography and demography are so important for a country's development, individualism, universalism, and achieved status and meritocracy do not make as much of a difference in development as modernization theorists claim. While it is common to see the use of particularism (appointing people to positions of power based on personal gain rather than merit) and collectivism (working as family or other units instead of purely for oneself) can be seen in some lesser developed countries as part of the cultural norms or political regime (for example in Nicaragua where the Vice President is the President's wife), I think this is more as a result of being less developed, rather than a cause of it; in more developed countries, it is more difficult to be a patriarchy and have huge gender inequality, for example, because the citizens expect, and have the means to get more equality, rather than in many lesser developed countries where citizens may have less power based on their political setup.


Sources:
Thompson, Karl. “Modernization Theory.” ReviseSociology, 19 September 2017. 
Murphy, Robert, and Gleek, Charles. Global Politics. Pearson Baccalaureate, 2016. Edited by 
Christian Bryan. 
Prozorovskii, A. “Indonesia as an Example of Modernization.” IMEMO. 

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