POL201: Politics of Development
September 27, 2010
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x Decolonization
o There were a lot of independent
o Most countries were independent in 1963
o New domestic politics sprouted when colonized countries became independent
o Academic literature is being produced in the Global South
x Economic Growth
o Exponentially increased after WWII
x The passing of traditional society to modern society
o Underdeveloped societies are traditional while developed societies are modern
x The features of tradition
o Isolation Æ subsistence society, not participants in market economy
o Rigid adherence to mobility
o No social mobility Æ you cant upgrade your class in society
x A traditional person cannot imagine other situations outside their own (lack of empathy)
x Traditional people resist change/diversity
x Traditional values must be replaced if modernization is to take place
x The desire to accumulate wealth or to be someone greater than yourself (this is a modern trait:
empathy Æ psychic mobility, he is imagining a better position)
x Traits of modernity/modernization
o Population growth, mobility, urbanization, access to media, individuals can interpret the
information they receive, the rise of political participation
x Modern personality
o Rational, positive spirit, goal oriented, empathetic, mobile, opinionated
o Physical mobility (move away to new places), social mobility (move between social
classes), psychic mobility (have goals/aspirations)
x Modernization is the transition to participant society
o Urbanization, literacy, media participation, political participation, economic
participation
o An index of change, physical change in society (more workers in a factory compared to
previous times)
o An agent of change, things that are causing change
o Urbanization Æ literacy Æ media participation Æ political/economic participation Æ
participant society
x Modernization Theory
o Countries that have a high GNP are usually democratic
o Countries at the bottom of the GNP ladder are considered traditional while countries on
the top are considered modern
o However the countries at the bottom will eventually rise on the spectrum
o Urbanization, literacy, political/economic participation lead to democracy which is the
cornerstone of modernity
x The spread of modernity inspired foreign aid to developing countries in order for them to
convert to democracy and the West
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