The developed countries utilized their seite an seite experiences upon modernization and development for the developing countries, better known as the Third World. They presumed that poor developing economies will simply encounter an economic take-off in a supporting environment of the world economy (Henry, 2003). The truth of the Middle section East is a great example how First World experiences are not applicable mainly because internal institutional factors do not let it and these were certainly not taken into account (Henry, 2003). One aspect, a personal Islam are not able to find it is place in a method patterned following western democracies.

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The newspaper aims to discuss the relationship between development and modernization. Changes important for industrialization were tackled. Part of the discussion dwells within the shortcomings of modernization which in many cases are not applicable in the Third World.

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  1. History of Modernization

Considering that the second half the twentieth hundred years modernization theory developed in three significant waves (Theorieenoverzicht, 2007):

  1. First trend (1950s and 1960s)

Western kinds of living and technological innovation begun to spread and gained acceptance with the belief it presents superior secular and materialistic culture.

With the help of mass media, western practices were adopted in many countries regardless if some of these were impractical. The edition covered different facets of your life: clothing, meals, housing yet others. The youth shaped the demographic segment that readily embraced foreign Western culture. The adults watched and little by little assimilated the American practices. Areas further away from the metropolitan areas did not possess much use of media and this is exactly where traditional traditions was maintained.

Western education was regarded far more advanced and it was a dream for many to get their education in the developed countries. There were no doubt traditional western education was better and government and private institutions dispatched their students to acquire proper schooling to be able to tap to the maximum the benefits of the anticipated take-off towards industrialization. However , not all these types of scholars would return to their very own native countries. The chance to earn more and enjoy higher living specifications made quite a few to stay in the developed countries. Because of this, the advanced training they received in the western colleges and universities were not transferred in their respective countries.

Technical development centered on strategic military superiority since the rivalry between the Western and the communism countries became pronounced. However , there was significant scientific development inside the industrial sector, particularly production.

  1. Second wave (1970s and 1980s)

European modernization was criticized and was identified as a case of cultural and economic imperialism. A similar sector which in turn readily embraced western traditions realized that modernization has not brought prosperity for their countries and protested the continuing influx of american culture. Many of the producing countries will be producers of raw materials and it was perceived that the produced countries had been only thinking about their source. Currently, the Chilly War was raging and the western countries were wary about the economic advances in the communist countries.

The western countries, particularly the United states of america, supported the theory that respected governments can bring about development plus the enjoyment of the fruits of development can lead to transformation to democracy. It was applied in the whole of the Third Community, including the Middle East. Since petrol has become a politics commodity currently, the western countries supported the monarchies then famous in the region.

However , Western modernization was already think as to its objectives while the negative effects were already being knowledgeable by the Arabic world. This triggered the toppling of monarchies and which were replaced simply by autocratic regimes. The emergence of such autocratic government authorities was suffered by American foreign coverage in the hope that advancement in the region is going to contribute on the shift to democratic government authorities. However the change would not occur, plus the gap between rich and the poor became wider.

  1. Third influx (1990s)

The theory tries to identify the shortcomings from the modernization method and how that impacts about individuals in society. At this point on time, the affect of modernization stretched further than what classic societies can imagine through the use of mass media and fun media. Digital technology grew at an outstanding rate. It offered a basic facilities for electronics and communications, setting the beginning of an information innovation. Internet technology was already available to the private sector. The influence of modernization come to places a long way away from the cities and the worsening of classic culture extended.

Pockets of resistance to modernization developed and was incredibly evident among the list of Muslim nations. Making use of the same technology that modernization has brought, Islamic groups were able to initiate terrorist activities in proportions hardly ever before skilled. Their very own main enemy was the Us for it can be perceived as the champion of capitalism and free industry economy. Furthermore, the is the main promoter of Israel. The humiliation from the Palestinian persons experienced because of the formation from the Jewish nation has always been acknowledged as one the main causes of personal instability in the centre East. But this kind of argument can be subordinate to the inequitable distribution of wealth leading to the spread of poverty inside the oil-rich region.

At this time, european economic believed espoused the view outside the window that the the use of universe economies is going to lead to rapid change in the developing countries. The western countries promoted free of charge trade plans that will eventually bring straight down trade barriers. Various developing countries use transact barriers as protection, along with contract price and export subsidies. Among the free of charge trade plans that developed were the North American Free of charge Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Asia Pacific cycles Economic Assistance (APEC). The European Union proceeded to go further simply by integrating forex with the creation of the Euro Dollar. The objective of integrating the world economic system will be obtained through what is known today since globalization.

Modernization theory depended on the mechanisms of relative advantage that brings forth the required take-off and economic development among nations and the particular changes necessary for industrialization. On the other hand, the positive effect theory is similar to modernization theory but highlights the cost-free flow details, resources and people (Jrank, 2007).

With the dismantling of safety barriers, developing economies discovered themselves at the mercy of international control competition. Agricultural suppliers, industrial producers and providers were unable to compete with more advanced foreign technology and more efficient financial capital. Consequently, dislocations happened and the threat of growing poverty persist among expanding nations.

  1. Alterations Needed to Support Industrialization

For modernization to be successful, there is also a need for societies in growing countries to implement improvements that influences on nearly all aspects of person and community way of life. These adjustments may be grouped into institutional, cultural, cultural and personal.

  1. Institutional
  1. a) Paperwork

An efficient bureaucracy is essential for the federal government to carry out the functions effectively. Experience shows that many multilateral and bilateral financial helps are involved in programs targeted at improving and streamlining the bureaucracy. A common matter is the bureaucratic red tape common in expanding countries which can be viewed as burden to the delivery of services to the different sectors of society. In many growing countries, the bureaucracy can be bloated way beyond the necessary workforce. This may be a result of political patronage which is an accepted practice in the Third World.

  1. b) Fiscal system

Tax collection is important in the attempts of the authorities to pump excellent the economy. Many producing countries have a low collection rate as a result of administrative issues resulting from an unhealthy fiscal system. Irritating this problem may be the prevalence of graft and corruption. The government imposes taxes not only to fund the national finances. Taxes rates are made so as to aid in narrowing the truly amazing divide involving the rich and the poor.

  1. c) Trade and Capital Circulation

Industrialization is based on the premise countries control due to existing comparative advantages. Many developing countries, however , inflict various kinds of trade obstacles to protect their industries. Likewise, growing economies have got imposed capital flow restrictions in order to pillow fluctuations inside the exchange charge and guard its financial system from capital flight. Developing countries have utilized different measures to create down these kinds of barriers. Through the multilateral financial institutions, borrower states were forced to remove or become softer trade limitations and foreign exchange controls. This took place after the worldwide debt catastrophe of the eighties (Henry, 2003). Even more improvements were imposed resulting from the more latest 1997 Asian financial crisis.

  1. Ethnical
  1. a) Entrepreneurialism

A expanding economy requirements entrepreneurs who will take the likelihood of initiating and running the company sector. For this reason, many developing countries allot the majority of the budget upon education, planning on a more successful workforce. Educational curricula have been tweaked to support entrepreneurialism. Various have followed the Dual system of education where college students are exposed to functioning conditions. As a result, participants are better prepared if they enter the staff. The governments’ effort to produce skilled and efficient work force does not work out in the mild of poor pay and working conditions. Mind drain outcomes as many college graduates look for greener pastures in more created countries (Case and Reasonable, 2005). But not most graduates move to find job abroad. There are those who stay and have interaction in small , medium businesses.

  1. b) European Culture

There is a predominating perception that the developed countries are more potent and, therefore , Western lifestyle is more progressive. On the other hand, this relegates traditional traditions in bad countries for the thought of staying backward requiring transformation to western methods (Marglin, 2003). According to Marglin, this leads to ethnic imperialism because western procedures are made on the regional population.

European culture has had about the two positive and negative results to emerging economies. It includes introduced methods of thinking and lifestyles that has shaped thinking and habit that will help in adjustments required by modernization. Nevertheless , the outright imposition of your culture, perceived as better, over that of traditional culture seem grossly unjust to the people engaged. Regarding the phenomenal monetary growth of Japan in the 1960s, traditional culture was preserved. Japanese world was able to assimilate modern suggestions from american culture, which include technology; but there was not any imposition.

  1. Cultural
  1. a) Urbanisation

Industrialization results in job creation thereby welcoming population to migrate to primary cities. When it comes to the development of the Baltic says under the Soviet Union, the actual result was a difference in population syndication leading to the overcrowding of cities and a shortage in the way to obtain labor in the agricultural sector (Idzelis, 1984).

Due to rapid urbanisation, government is not able to offer sufficient social infrastructures including housing and health care. The result is degeneration in the home for that pet of the work force. Tranquility and purchase is also adversely affected resulting in the expansion of criminal offenses against home and individuals. The drug abuse problem continuous to worsen though this was not while serious through the onset of modernization. The fast progress in urban population resulted in the organization of illegitimate human negotiations. With government’s incapability to provide standard services, urban decay sets in. A simple solution is to turn over this function to the personal sector. The profit determination of the non-public sector may also contribute to bigger costs of living.

The labor lack in farming could have been counteract by the using modern technology but lack of capital and the slower growth of cash flow low-income organizations prevent this from occurring. Youngsters in the agricultural sector likes to migrate to the urban areas where, through the effect of electronic digital and print media, they perceive there exists greater potential for getting used.

  1. Political
  1. a) Collateral and Profits Distribution

Experience inside the developed countries showed a solid middle category evolving from the fruits of industrialization. However , present development trends show that incomes among low-income organizations rise gradually resulting in increasing income inequality (Jinglian, 2004). 1 reason can be due to the acknowledgement in expanding cultures that family and political connections are definitely more important than ability (Case and Reasonable, 2005).

Governments have reacted with procedures aimed at redistributing wealth. Among these types of redistributional procedures are: tax and copy programs, bare minimum wages, free of charge education, subsidized housing (OECD, 1996). But the performance of these programs remain in query, as the outcomes are unlike desired targets.

The taxation system as directed by fiscal insurance plan is affected by collection problems and graft and corruption. To alleviate the situation, government offers requested help from multilateral financial companies to fund the purchase of equipment and systems to make collection efficient and effective.

The lowest wage policy resulted in the erosion of comparative benefits since productivity has not gone up proportionally. As salary increased, the values of prime commodities improved at a proportional level. The purchasing power of labor remained weak forcing this sector to ask for even more wages. The non-public business sector then protests as increasing labor costs erodes earnings of their goods. With government unable to meet their very own demands, there is also a tendency intended for labor to show militant and engages in job stoppages and work slowdowns.

Government’s free primary and secondary education policy will never be effective in the absence of fresh classrooms and books in order to meet the growing student population (which results from a high human population growth rate). The results are overloaded classrooms and dilapidated books. The caliber of education dips and does not provide the necessary training and background to the new members in the labor force.

In developing countries where vast tracts of personal agricultural terrain remained nonproductive, land répartition was affected through land reform programs. Yet , many of these courses lacked monetary planning and were performed for personal considerations. Take the case of Taiwan where terrain reform was successfully executed. Federal government bought farming land and redistributed these to farmers who were given inputs financing. On the other hand, landowners were paid based on reasonable market value and productivity from the land. The former landowners then spent their funds holdings inside the financial, production and service sectors helping to promote economical growth and development in Taiwan.

Only some land reform programs have already been successful. The inability of government to provide support to the new farmer-landowner lead merely in the transfer of ownership of agricultural land. The task did not at all contribute to gardening production. Payment to landowners are generally not based on fair market value so that there is undervaluation of the obtained properties. Furthermore, it will require years prior to the landowner receives the payment.

  1. Concerns on Modernization and Expansion

The needed alterations for industrialization and modernization as reviewed above currently hints on the potential challenges such alter will bring about. Today, some problems stand out from the rest but the key causes seem to point to the politicization of economic development thought.

  1. Failed Development Plans

In the post-war period, there was a belief that dictatorships enhance development and development, in turn, promotes democracy. This kind of argument offered as one of the fundamentals of worldwide economic creation thought and the foreign coverage of the United States (Przeworski, 2003). History demonstrates this common sense fallacious as the period by 1951 to 1999 demonstrated that the difference in gross domestic item growth charge between democracies and severe regimes had been negligible. This considering has their roots in the western world’s reaction to increases in size of the communism regimes, specially the Soviet Union.

The threat in the spread of communism around the world prompted leg jerk reactions in a video game of adding or retaining allies. US foreign coverage tolerated the presence of autocratic routines as it champions democracy. The irony was too blatant for the victims of those autocratic regimes. Consequently , the US as well as the western countries became believe, as to what their very own intentions are really. On time, suspicion considered hatred. Western culture became unacceptable and militancy grew.

There is absolutely no question that modernization provides contributed to the lives of folks in developing countries. However , modernization theory might have been more effective had been it not imposed as ready-made blueprints for development. Allowance really should have been made intended for the compression of aspects of traditional tradition which a nation principles and will keep. The western world did not realize that the strength of basic social components stops the implementation of a system for modernization. In developing countries, the associates of the older generation are generally not sent to homes for the aged. They are used cared of by members of the family who or else would have recently been productive inside the labor force but not be part of joblessness or underemployment statistics.

The adherence to traditional techniques is one reason why multinationals have to modify their advertising manufacturing techniques and the goods themselves. In India, McDonalds’ ended using oil based on beef fat since cows will be revered and treated with respect. In the two microeconomic and macroeconomic ball, cultural practices have to be taken into significant consideration. Of course governments can be asked (or coerced) to align their very own policies to accommodate modernization inside their own societies. In cases like this, individual decisions are not significant but the group temper from the population might one day lead to protests.

  1. The Case from the Middle East

This current growing affect of Arabic militants calling for the institution of Islamic states since against keeping the economic and personal reforms pressured on Midsection East government authorities in the 1960s finds the latter in a “global pressure cooker.  Making modernization efforts to accomplish development harder. The difficulties involving advancement and modernization in this portion of the world now requires immediate concern due to the rise of terrorism (Henry, 2003).

The difficulties against modernization are not localized in the geographic area of the Arabic world. But the circumstance of the Midsection East is a classic example of how politicized economic considering can back fire within the advocates. Monarchies had been toppled and replaced with authoritarian regimes. Some governments turned Islamic fundamentalists and reverted to the traditional requirements of Islam, a good example can be Afghanistan. After the 9-11 tragedy, the US government found reasons to bump the Taliban government. It offered as a base for around the world terrorism. But some might claim that terrorism stems from low income and the hate against traditional western culture. Both these factors are the unexpected outcomes of blueprint modernization.

  1. Modernization and Cultural Identification

Certainly, modernization has contributed to the betterment of lives in the 3rd World. This can be seen in improved infant and kid mortality rates, more food, better usage of education and health providers. However , only a small portion of these benefits reach the marginalized sector of particular populations as a result of tremendous imbalance in prosperity distribution. Furthermore, modernization imposes Western values with disregard to native cultural identity (Marglin, 2003). The adverse effects of modernization seem to don’t have any effect on traditional western foreign and economic coverage. Today, the specter of globalization looms in the marginalized groups of producing economies.

Simply put, globalization is modernization within a rapid rate. The expected outcome is fast economic development and growth. Will certainly globalization make rapid regarding anti-western sentiments? Is going to traditional lifestyle ever become extinct and replaced simply by western way of life and behavior? To get as long expanding nations can easily see how the Japan handled modernization, they are anticipated to opt for selective assimilation of whatever traditional western culture may positively contribute to the lives of individuals in the expanding countries. However , government regimes can impose its very own people to agree to western considering and methods should it determine that it is pertaining to the good of its people.


Modernization theory comes from a belief that European culture is definitely superior. On this assumption, it was enforced on growing economies disregarding the traditional lifestyle of the indigenous population.

In which some communities were able to accept modernization, others clung strongly to their traditional culture.

The Western world presumed that severe governments can result in development and development, in return, can lead to democracies. This kind of politicized financial development theory emphasized industrialization as the key for development of emerging economies. Producing nations adopted this line of thinking and the efforts had been supported by zwei staaten betreffend and multilateral financial support. Eventually, however , these developing nations’ economies by no means took-off. They concluded indebted leading to the worldwide debt problems of the 1980s. Since their particular cultures tolerated preference pertaining to strong as well as political ties, the gap between the abundant and the poor widened. Today, lower income haunts the 3rd World.

Various in the Under developed consider modernization as a fabrication for imperialism. The victims of modernization happen to be themselves fodders for terrorism which aims to stop what perceives to be US imperialism. The Western world nonetheless promotes modernization with focus on worldwide monetary integration which will we know call up globalization. Will it cause rapid positive change? Will developing nations around the world ever go through the kind of financial development that the Western countries once knowledgeable?





Henry, C. 2003, ‘A clash of globalizations hurdles to advancement in the Middle East’, Development and Modernization, Vol. twenty-five (1) ” Spring 2003, Available at:

Przeworski, A. 2003, ‘A mistaken blueprint, the covert politicization of advancement economics’, Advancement and Modernization, Vol (25) (1) Spring the year 2003, Available at:

Marglin, S. 2003, ‘Development because poison rethinking the american model of modernity’, Development and Modernization, Vol 25 (1) ” Spring the year 2003, Available at: hir. harvard. edu/articles/1104/

Theorieenoverzicht, 2007, `Modernization theory’, Offered at:


Case, K., Fair, R., 2005, Guidelines and Foundations of Economics 7thed., Pearson Education Education South Asia Pte Ltd., Singapore

Idzelis, A., 1984, Business and change inside the Baltic republics, Lithuanian Quarterly Journal of Arts and Sciences, Vol. 31, No . two ” Summer season 1984, Sold at:

Jinglian, W., 2004, Truly does china ought to change their industrialization route?, World Bank, Available at:

Jrank, 2007, Modernization theory ” globalization theory, Available at:

OECD, 1996, Development, equity and distribution ” OECD monetary outlook and policies, OECD Economic Prospect, Dec, 1996, Available at:


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