Underdevelopment theory and poverty - Essay Example

? UNDERDEVELOPMENT THEORY AND POVERTY Underdevelopment theory and poverty Underdevelopment is the process that allows advanced countries to influence the growth of developing countries through colonialism. For example, the advanced nations change agriculture in African countries that was a main source food to a subdivision of the agricultural system in a metropolitan area. This made the countries start producing agricultural products for economic instead of domestic purpose. Development is the process of satisfying the people’s basic needs. The political and economic influence of the advanced nations increases the poverty level by increasing the dependence of the developing world (Alavi & Shanin 1982, p 12). The underdevelopment theory occurred because of objection of the modernization theory. The theory is mainly concerned with financial structures (Foster-Carter 1985, p1). It is equally evident that the theories of development were responses to decolonization process. Dependency theory was the main element of underdevelopment theory that arose after the disillusionment with the development of financial strategies. The underdevelopment theory focuses on the relationship between the advanced and undeveloped countries. Baran claimed that the modernization theory supported capitalism that kept the developing world backwards while the advanced world continued to acquire valuable resources and chances to obtain economic surplus. During the beginning of capitalism in the advanced world, the peasants and traders acquired capital rapidly. However, this did not happen in the colonized nations. This resulted into underdevelopment in the third world nations. The development theorists believe that the developing counties would escape underdevelopment if they had withdrawn from global capitalism (Harris 1989). According to the underdevelopment theorist, the increase and persistency of poverty results from the influence of the financial and political system of developed countries. This implies that the emphasis of modernization on financial growth was unsuccessful. This is evident in the rising poverty rates and indebtedness of developing counties specially the African countries. The exposure to the economic and political systems of the advanced systems was referred to as modernization. The modernization perception was the model of development, which failed due to various reasons. One of the reasons is that it did not have vital ingredients, which included enough historical contribution and a structural incline. This implies that modernization is ethnocentric and fails to consider the fact that the wealth of evidence that the growth of the financial system cannot be summarized in simplistic concept. This is because the system of the traditional values cannot be substituted with the modern ones. The economic and political influence of the advanced states caused the increased the poverty level in developing countries because they were not structurally responsive to various vital factors (Sklair 1994, p 61). The factors included the introduction of the new technology and market systems in the current social relations. Additionally, the modern perspective ignored the lack of equality of power and social classes (Stiglitz 2002, P. 2). The economic and political influence of the advanced nations led to underdevelopment because it increased the dependence of the developing nations on the advanced ones. The gap between the financial status of the advanced and developing nations became wider because of dependence. The social economic stability of the advanced states was maintained while the workers and peasants in the developing countries became strained financially. The problem of underdevelopment can only be solved if the there can be the equal global redistribution of resources. It can also be solved if there can be essential alterations in the productive relations within the developing nations (Webster 1992, p 30). The dependence theorists claim that the impacts of the economic system of the advanced states on the developing counties are negative since their growth depends on the growth of the advanced world. This implies that growth of international trade and finance put the developing world depend on factors, which they lack the ability to control. The international forces effectively react to the advanced nations’ concerns. This contributes to the reinforcement of poverty due to dependence of the developing world. The benefits of development are not equally distributed in both the advanced and developing countries that is against the development theory. The development concepts led to conflicting interests in the society. This is because countries with power continue to focus on their own interests. For instance, the advanced countries dictate the investment systems and goods to be produced. This reinforces the interests of the advanced societies while others continue to experience financial problems (Seabrook 1993, 21). The influence of the economic and political system of the advanced world increases poverty because it also led to the exploitation of the underdeveloped countries. This because they control the quantity and prices of the goods produced by the underdeveloped countries because they depend on them only. Additionally, the employees from the developing countries get lower pays compared to the workers in advanced countries with the same qualifications. The economy and political systems of the advanced nations encouraged monopoly that keeps the wages of the third world workers down (Leys 1996, p.57). Additionally, the modern economic and political system reinforces poverty in the developing world by making the developing world rely on imported goods. The individuals in a developing world have been influenced to believe that imported goods are better than their local goods. This makes most of them to spend their money on the imported goods that are more expensive. Additionally, this hinders the development of the local industries that deal with the same goods. The underdevelopment theory focused on the factors that hinder the countries’ development and their dependency (Roxborough 1979, p. 51). Underdevelopment or slow industrialization occurred when the counties were closely connected to the advanced nations. This connection does not only involve colonization, but it also involves the economic connection especially though the capital investment and technology transfer (Brandt & Independent Commission on International Development Issues 1980, P. 72). Countries that had the strongest metropolitan powers are the currently among the most underdeveloped countries. For example, countries like West Indies had strong connections with the West. This made them exploited and abandoned. This implies that the development of one area leads to underdevelopment of other areas (Desai & Potter 2002, P 21). The alterations of the labor markets in the advanced states have also contributed to the escalation in poverty in the developing world. For instance, there has been a decline in the well paying manufacturing jobs due to the influence of the advanced nations. This is because of the technological changes that have resulted into the high demand for workers in technological sectors. Several individuals in the underdeveloped countries acquire skills required in manufacturing jobs especially the ones that require manual labor. Acquiring such skills is faster and cheaper. However, as the manufacturing jobs are replaced by the technology related jobs, people have to go through colleges to acquire the skills required for the jobs. Most people lack capacity to pay for the colleges in the developing world. Consequently, several of them do not attend the colleges. This makes most of the people in these countries unemployed. This results into the high rate of unemployment leading to the increase in poverty rate due to the lower incomes. The lack of skill for technology jobs also makes the developing countries to rely on trade with the advanced world in order to acquire manufactured goods, which are very expensive. This burdens the developing countries more (Larrain 1989, p. 42). The pressure of the wealth system of the advanced nations also resulted into the increase in poverty because of the promotion of unfair trade. For example, the high tariffs for agriculture in developed countries cause the increase in prices for goods in the countries. This lowers the demand for goods that affects the local traders (Seebrook 1993, P 17). The influence of the economic and financial system of the West has resulted into the increase in poverty especially in the developing world. This is explained in the underdevelopment theory that occurred after the effects of the modernization concepts. Due to modernization, poverty increased in developing counties because the West took most of their valuable resources. Poverty also became massive because the West exploited the underdeveloped world through trade and employment sectors. The West controlled what the developing countries produce and their workers are underpaid. Additionally, the West economic system has resulted into the replacement of the manual manufacturing jobs with the technological jobs. This has increased the rate of unemployment in the developing countries because most individuals lack skills for the technological jobs. This contributes to the increase in poverty. Reference List Alavi, H and Shanin, T 1982, Introduction to the Sociology of Developing Societies, London: MacMillan. Brandt, W, & Independent Commission on International Development Issues, 1980, North-south: A programme for survival, London: Pan Books. Desai, V, and Potter, R 2002, The Companion to Development Studies, London: Arnold. Foster-Carter, A 1985, The Sociology of Development, Ormskirk, UK, Causeway Press Ltd, Harris, G1989, The Sociology of Development, Harlow, UK, Longman Group UK Ltd Larrain, J 1989, Theories of Development, Oxford: Blackwell. Leys, C 1996, the Rise and fall of Development Theory, London: James Currey. Roxborough, I 1979, Theories of underdevelopment, London: Macmillan. Seebrook, J 1993, Victims of Development: Resistance and Alternatives. London: Verso Sklair, L 1994, Capitalism and Development, London: Rutledge Stiglitz, J 2002, Globalisation and its Discontents, London: Penguin. Webster, A, 1992, Introduction to the Sociology of Development, London: MacMillan Read More