Dependency Theory Represents a Paradigm Shift from Modernization Theory in so Far as It Provided the Scholarly Community with a Different Way of Understanding the Circumstances of the Non-Industrial Countries of the

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Many theorist is of the believe that for a society to be seen as modern, it must undergo an evolutionary change in advancement in terms of science and technology which in turn would contribute to social progress and development of societies. This may refer to the modernization theory. In other words, this theory takes into consideration the internal factors of a country and the assumption that traditional countries with assistance, can be brought to development in the same manner more developed countries have. In order for a country to become modernize, they must embrace new ideas, should move away from agriculture to industrialization and should reform their institutions on the grounds of how they operate. However, according to Hirschman, he believed that much of this theory was too simplistic and failed to take account of the complex reality on underdeveloped countries. That is to say, this theory did not take into consideration the aspect of the underdeveloped countries and the reasons behind their underdevelopment. It emphasized on the developed countries and ways in which they may succeed in development under the notion of capitalism. Therefore, this theory eventually failed and led to a paradigm shift to the dependency theory. This was developed in the late 1950’s under the guidance of theorist, Raul Prebisch who realized that economic growth in the advanced countries did not necessarily lead to growth in poorer countries. The dependency theory was a way of explaining economic underdevelopment which also encompassed political and social issues. It is seen as a result of unequal relationships between rich developed capitalistic countries and poor developing ones. It emphasizes the notion of the global economy being divided into “core” (wealthy countries) and “periphery” (poor and underdeveloped countries). This theory is formulated on the basis that resources

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