Modernization Theory, Friend or Foe?

A week ago, we had a rather interesting discussion in one of my classes.  At first, when the professor presented the topics on the board, I thought they were pretty generic. However, once we began the heated debate, I found myself very intrigued. We talked about development theories – more specifically, about modernization theory and the accuracy of it. For those of you who may be unsure, modernization theory explores the development process within societies. This theory particularly suggests that, with proper guidance and support, traditional countries can evolve into more developed countries through a process called social evolution (source: http://www.bookrags.com/research/modernization-theory-eos-03/).

This brings me to our discussion topic; can developing countries really become more developed through mimicking “modernized” countries? Our class conferred whether this process is the best way to achieve development. I am aware that modernization theory has its fair share of critiques – loss of culture through globalization, and uneven development through rapidly growing economies to name a couple – but I think the most important of these critiques is that if developing countries mimic developed countries, our earth will have much to endure.Here is a little history background: When European countries were going through their industrial revolution, they colonized continents like Africa, which had cheaper costs for a bountiful supply of natural resources and labour power. After the Berlin Conference from 1884 – 1885, the scramble for Africa began; major European powers divided the continent into sanctions they could occupy. It was because of their exploitation, that the industrial revolution in Europe was possible at such a fast pace; their thriving economy was born (Source: http://wysinger.homestead.com/berlinconference.html). 


My question is this: if developing countries today used natural resources at the rate the European powers used them to get to where they are today, what would be the state of our planet? We would be left with a giant, useless rock, sucked of all its zing. That being said, there are no land masses that developing countries can exploit in order to attain copious amounts of resources. So does the trail of development for traditional countries lie in their imitation of developed countries? Or, will this lead to disastrous circumstances for our planet and all of its inhabitants. Even today, developed countries use heavy amounts of resources to sustain their lifestyle. If traditional countries became more like the standard developed country, they would need to consume vast amounts of resources to sustain the “modern” lifestyle; pretty soon there will be no resources left for future generations to enjoy. Please leave a comment with your thoughts about this issue; do you think any countries have been successful in respect to modernization theory?


I want to end this post by reiterating an analogy used by Ray Anderson in the film, The Corporation. In his analogy he discusses, in his early attempts to fly, a pilot would roll his aircraft off of a cliff and in those first few seconds, he would think himself to be successful. In reality, his aircraft would be on its way to crashing, and he, being completely oblivious, would think he is airborne. Anderson uses this metaphor to portray our civilization. Today, we use the natural resources of our planet at such a rate that one would think we have an infinite amount. Certainly our planet provided us with such an abundance of resources to begin with, that our cliff is pretty high, and many of us think we are “flying”, but actually, we are the poor sucker in the aircraft that is about to crash to its doom.