Modernization and the Dominant Discourse of

Development

A dominant paradigm of development guided intellectual thinking and practice from the 1940s through the 1960s.

Everett Rogers: This concept of development grew out of certain historical events, such as the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United States, the colonial experience in Latin America, Africa and Asia, the quantitative empiricism of North American social science, and capitalistic economic/political philosophy.

Economic growth and scientific values constitute key themes in “development” as the solution to “underdevelopment.”

Most problems plaguing third world nations were diagnosed as economic in nature.

In the dominant paradigm, industrialization was considered the main route to successful economic growth.

Elements of Modernization Perspective

1. Economic growth through industrialization and accompanying urbanization was the key to development.

It was approximately equal to passing through the Industrial Revolution.

It was also assumed that development performance could be measured quantitatively in economic terms.

2. The choice of the scientific method was to be Western quantitative empirical research while the technology was to be capital intensive and labour extensive, imported predominantly from the West.

3. In order to guide and speed up the process of development, planning should be centralized and controlled by economists and bankers.

4. Underdevelopment was mainly due to problems with in developing nations rather than in their external relationships with other countries.