THIRD WORLD DEPENDENCY

POS 422

UNDERSTANDING WHAT THE COURSE IS ABOUT

If you look at the title of the course , with basic knowledge in

political science, one should have a clew of what the course entails ,
Third world is used to characterize certain state and Dependency is a
phenomenon that is used to characterize the nature of economic
relationships that this third world state engage in , The term
Dependency is derived from the word Dependent..

Therefore this course is used as a guide to open our eyes to the

mode of relationship between the underdeveloped and developed
countries of the world .

How do we explain inequality in wealth distribution between the

North and the South , what's the situation whereby countries that are
very wealthy in environmental resources like Nigeria are termed poor
and countries like Japan and Switzerland who just have It's Government
and it's People are categorized as Wealthy ?

As of last year the NBS , gave a statistics which shows that the 60
percent of the countries population( NIGERIA )are in multidimensional
poverty .

PROF AKPAN HOGAN : Is a prominent scholar in Economics and in

one of his journal , he posits that if you have economic growth, and if in
the same country you can't afford basic needs like education and
healthcare then one is living in delusion.
 Understanding This course , Prof GORDON SEERS , he posited that
if you are talking about development, ask the question of what has
been happening to POVERTY, INEQUALITY, QUALITY OF LIFE , in that
country, If this concepts out of three maybe two are showing constant
improvement then there's development, but if vise versa , there's no
development .

There's roughly no country as rich as DR CONGO , in terms of solid

minerals , and despite this resources they are among What FRANTZ
FANON classified as the retched of the Earth , why's this? , is it that
they love crisis , is it that they don't love themselves? , the answer is
no , the issue is that the West have interest in this resources , they
want to get it for cheap rate or even free , that's why we have all these
crisis going on there , and also factors which the West capitalize to
penetrate this countries is their :

(1) Cultural Diversity,

(2) some scholars take the international perspectives asking questions

of what role international organizations play in this countries , (3) you
must go to history, concepts like colonization, slavery , apartheid , what
role have this concepts played in the underdevelopment of this
countries.

ASSESSMENT

(1)Book Review, Handwritten, ruled , maximum of Ten pages , to be

submitted a month from today( 4th of May )
(2) Look for an article online, this material you are going to review will
not be older than 2019 , also handwritten, foolscap sheet ruled , ten
pages maximum, it can be even a page no specified minimum , Now
this material or rather journal must be on this issues

(1) Nature of Nigeria's External Debt

(2) Dependency and Economic Development or Under Development

(3) Modernization Theory in Africa ( To be submitted on the 11th of

next month{ MAY} )

CONTINUATION OF CLASS........

Everything we are going to discuss in this course will revolve around

this concept , therefore it's appropriate we understand the concept ,
certain scholar CHAFE .A , is of the concept that in other to engage in
any discuss , one must have a basic knowledge of the discourse

The concept of Third World , ALFRED SAUVY , this French author

used this phrase in 1952 , in an article he titled ONE PLANET , THREE
WORLDS , he's argument is that there's a particular section of the world
( Third world ) that is neglected when discussing the socioeconomic
issues and that part of the world is where majority of countries are .

Third world as a concept is used to describe certain states of the

world , countries in the Middle East , Africa and Latin America are
categorized as third world .

In a book titled ( Fundamentals of Modern Economy and

International Economic Relation , by Prof Ajah Akporo Ajah ) , He
argued that if you look very closely at countries categorized as Third
world country , it's inappropriate to place must countries with certain
counties as their world , imagine classifying Brazil , India with countries
like Niger and Chad , he posited that in this third world there should be
another category to classify countries that are developing daily .

In this course , the Modernization theorist will tell you that The

issues of this third world countries are internal .

XTICS OF THIRD WORLD STATE

How can you distinguish between Chad and France

one major point is that

(1) most of these countries are as a result of colonization,

(2) most of these countries are poor ,

(3) and most of these countries are highly indebted

How do you distinguish Chad from Switzerland, answering these

question you have to look at certain characteristics of these countries,
these third world countries, most of them are ex Colonial, they are
highly indebted , their economies are monocultural , they suffer general
poverty in terms of trade deficit, most of this countries are dominated
by multinational companies owned by the West , these are
characteristics one looks at to enable you understand the course
 THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPMENT

Like most concept in social science, development does not enjoy

consensus in terms of it's definition, however if you look at various
definitions you will see certain elements that runs through all of them

DUDLY SEERS asserts that in any society where you have three
fundamental problems ( Inequality , unemployment and
poverty )worsening on a daily basis, then that society is not developing
but if atleast two of this elements are developing on daily basis then
the country is developing.

N/T , there's a difference between growth and development (use

political economy class to explain) .

Development has to do with what happens to the welfare of the

people not about the GDP which shows the economy growing by
certain percentage , in countries like Nigeria it's GDP grows at some
point but over 60% of it's population wallow in multidimensional
poverty, these can't be called development, because development has
to deal with the welfare of the people. If you say development has
taken place in a country, how easy is it for qualified people to have
access to employment, what's the degree of inequality in the society,
are you trying to breach the gap or is it widening , how easy do people
access Healthcare and Education .

PROF AKPAN posits or agrees with SEERS , but he also asked the
question of what's happening to gender imbalance , all these are
indices one needs to take into consideration.
OFFICIAL NOTE:

It is said that development is a people and Ecology center paradigm ,

it is not the presence of sky scrappers nor the mere physical rise in GDP
and PER CAPITA INCOME, it relates to improved real wages relative to
stable non inflationary price cost structure and also to the functional
and fulfilled health of the citizenry .

It relates to the growth in mental horizons of the population, the

curtailment if not the eradication of unemployment and
underemployment.

It is the ability of the Nation to internally produce a very significant

proportion of it's basic needs. ( if you are asked in the exam , elaborate
on the view that development relates to the capacity of the Nation to
produce internally a significant proportion of it's needs to that of the
citizen : one of the characteristics of third world countries is that there
economy is dependent, Dependency according to THEO SANTOS is
simply a situation whereby one country due to it's unequal
relationship with a higher country depends completely on the higher
country for it's needs , in this case if anything happens to the higher
country it also affects the dependent country , what this theory by
SANTOS posits is that for one to to achieve economic development it
has to attain a certain level of production of it's basic needs in other
for it to sustain development. )

Development is also regarded as a process through which peoples

physical or material vulnerabilities are reduced and capacities are
increased . Development is not entirely an economic phenomenon ,
but a multidimensional undertaken which enhances the social
economic political and environmental aspect of people's lives .
 Development depicts general improvement in human conditions
and it is an attack on the evils confronting the modern world
( malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment, disease etc ) and therefore
simply means or is the ability to tackle these problems, it's not merely
about GDP or graphical representation of economic indices.

Development is a human centered process through which man

transforms he's natural and social environment to enhance he's
conditions of living, in this process man transforms himself by acquiring
the capacity to live a better , rewarding and more fulfilling life , which
he transmits to future generations . The development of any nation is
principally indicated by the extent to which it is able to provide the
basic needs of the vast majority of it's people.

A group of scholars(Nnaemeka okereke and he's companions )

have listed what they call critical indicators of development :

~HIGH PER CAPITA INCOME

~HIGH INCIDENCE OF SAVINGS

~HIGH LEVEL OF TECHNOLOGY

~HIGH LEVEL OF INVESTMENT

~HIGH LEVEL OF LITERACY

~HIGH STANDARD OF LIVING

~HIGH CALORIE INTAKE

~LOW MORTALITY RATE ...

Using these yardsticks, one can compare the level of development

among countries..
 How can we explain the monumental inequality we see in wealth
distribution between the North and South pole , despite these south
pole countries being well endowed with resource .

PROF PUIS ADEFOMI ,is of the assertion that if a government is

saying we should make sacrifices then it's appropriate that the
government should lead by example .

How do you explain a situation where a particular section of the

world that is well endowed is said to be the poorest section of the
world .

( Concept of the day ~Bazaar mentality of the elites )

Third world states are Underdeveloped fundamentally, they

assert that we have an extractive institution rather than an inclusive
institution ( But some scholars have disagreed , arguing that in this
under developed countries the public office holders are more of a
perspective of primitive accumulation of wealth ) .

CONCEPT OF UNDER DEVELOPMENT

Poverty , low calorie intake , high mortality rate , poor medical care ,
children and women die were they shouldn't , the standard of living is
very poor , cost of living is high, inflation, high unemployment rate .

it is seen by some people as a natural process , or a particular stage

in the process of development, while some people are of the view that
under development is man made , they see it as something someone
has done to another person .
 First of all we must understand which perspective the second scholar
is coming from , they see under development as caused or orchestrated
outcome , cutting across the nature of relationship between countries.

JOE VANNY ARIGI , The imperialism of trade , the relationship that we

have with developed countries is not that of equality but that of
domination . In our trade we engage with the developed countries, how
do we fair? , facts have proven that we suffer , why's that ? , because
they determine the price system ( for example Nigeria trading with
USA, we use dollars to trade with them and that shows inequality ,
even within African countries like Nigeria and Zambia engaging in
trade they make use of the US DOLLARS , also in terms of payment of
workers by this multi National companies, for example )

THEORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT

(1) MODERNIZATION SCHOOL OF THOUGHT

[ EXPLANATION]

The outlook of an Underdeveloped society is explained above , it will

easily present to you certain basic characteristics which have been
stated above, Today we are going to look at the MODERNIZATION
SCHOOL, key assumptions and main criticisms

Attempts have been made to explain the Underdeveloped world ,

theories have been formulated to explain these Underdeveloped
society and one of them is the Modernization Theory , but this concept
is not just a a theory but a school of thought.
 It is a Large school of thought that emerged from the writing of
various scholars to explain the Underdeveloped society.

Very many third world states were colonized, which is a major XTICS
of third world states , most of them are ex colonies , especially in Africa,
if you take away Ethiopia almost all African countries were colonized .
At a particular epoch in time these countries began to gain
independence, some through violence e.g Mozambique, Angola ,
Namibia ( Namibia originally colonized by Germany, and then later
handed over to South Africa under the terms of Trusteeship due to fall
of Germany in the world war , all these emphasis are necessary
because you cannot understand the concept of under development of
these third world state without touching Thier historical antecedents
as regards to colonialism)

Modernization as earlier said is not just one theory, it is a

commutation of various theories, e.g W. ROSTOW theory of
Development, this school of thought, THOMAS COOL will call it a
paradigm , it doesn't matter what you look at it as , behind these school
of thought is to explain, facilitate or help us to understand the reason
behind the Under development of third world states.

Those who believe in Modernization are saying that third world

states are Underdeveloped due to certain fundamental reasons, stating
that we are Underdeveloped not because of the activities of the
international system or external factors but our problem is internal, it
can be found from the internal issues of these individual countries, they
are of the assertion that we should not accuse IMF , MULTINATIONAL
CORPORATIONS, CARRIE'S OF MONETARY FUNDS , but our problems
are based on internal causes , ranging from CULTURE , VALUES ,
CORRUPTION LEADERSHIP, which are antithetical to development.

W . W ROSTOW is saying that third world states are the way they are
because they've not undergone the five stages of development, using
US as examples. What now is the prognosis for action, So do you need
Development? , if the answer is yes then here are countries of example
one should look up to and emulate them , try to be like the West .

If you pick up the book of why nations fail , prof Robinson and some
other scholars argue that our structure is extractive and not intrusive,
they try to move away from from Modernization Theory, but if closely
analyzed we can connotes a similarity of ideology with the
Modernization Theory.

Due to all these assertions and arguments, people started asking

that if it's due to our Culture and other values that is antithetical to our
development, what then happens to countries like CHINA , JAPAN and
even INDIA, countries who held to their cultures, values , and beliefs
and are still developed ?

Therefore this theory was developed by mostly western scholars to

justify the fact that Africans ought to always interact with the West ,
open thier doors for them to interact with them and change Thier
cultures and values .

{ N/B Some scholars assert that what Africa needs is Mental

Decolonization before they start moving forward. }

ANDRE GUNDER FRANK , have criticized this theory, asking

questions of how many Western countries suffered colonialism, Now
people will quickly argue that America was colonized, now the question
is , what sort of colonialism? ( Thier colonialism was based on the
search for inhabitants for the whites , the original Americans were
almost killed off , but where as African COLONIALISM was strictly
based on what PROF ARDENEJI will call Extract , Establish and
Exploit ).

{What would have been the level of development if for 400 years
the able men and women of Britain were taken away , this question
was asked by WALTER RODNEY and there's has been no answer till
today, now WILLIAM WILBERFORCE moved the notion for the
abolishment of slavery is given accolades for it , but in reality the end
of slavery was due to the Emergence of Technology and not because
they realized that slavery was immoral}

[ OFFICIAL NOTE @]

MAX WEBER & TALCOTT PARSONS , this two sociologist are the
founders of the concept of Modernization , this theory is all about one
emulating the West if they seek development.

One of the critique's against this theory is that it's Eurocentric in

nature, it is simply a vehicle for the ideology of liberalism to westernize
non Western states .

MODERNIZATION SCHOOL, KEY ASSUMPTIONS.

AND MAJOR CRITICISMS

 Modernization Presupposes the process of evolving from some pre
modern stages of development through some set of patterns or the
acquisition of some prescribed values or variables.

it has been said that historically Modernization is the process of

change towards types of social economic and political systems that
have developed in western Europe and North America and from there
then spread to other countries .

According to AUDU and others 2013 , the Modernization Theory

emerged as a product of three historical event , in the post WORLD
WAR II era namely ;

(1) Emergence of the USA as a global power , after WORLD WAR II.

(2) The spread of communism to the newly independent nations .

(3) The disintegration of European colonial empires in Africa, Asia and

South America.

Modernization theorists argue that the Underdevelopement of third

world states is caused by internal factors , they specifically locate the
root of the Underdevelopement in the existence of executive culture
and traditional institutions that are not receptive to development .

According to AUDU and others , while there are variations and

disagreements among Modernization theorists, they generally agree on
a number of underlying postulations which includes :

~ The third world countries are Underdeveloped because there

traditional values, norms , behaviors ,
and Institutions are antithetical to development .

~ The yardstick and standard of development are the developed

countries of America and Europe.

~ Third world countries have to follow a path of political and economic

Modernization similar to that of the West or to the one first travelled
by the advanced western societies . To achieve development, these
countries have to acquire modern Cultural values and create modern
political and economic institutions .

[ Why is it modern , what do they do that is Modern in the

West ? , why's it that whatever happens in these countries is
automatically modern ? , because culture differs , e.g the Concept of
colonialism is acceptable in Western culture but is not acceptable by
the Colonized societies , The acceptance of Homosexuality in most
countries of the West is not acceptable in most countries of the third
world , it is wrong to universalise one's culture , and this has been a
major critique of the Modernization school of thought , and there are
few countries in Asia to sight as example of countries who did not
abide to western cultures and yet are still developed . Now if we are
talking about following Western cultures then it simply implies that
third world states should embrace colonization, they should look for
countries to colonize , now who's left to colonize? ].

~ Underdevelopement is internally induced due to conservative and

incompatible traditions and institutions.

~ Transforming the Traditional culture is the first step in the

Modernization process .
 CRITICISMS

Modernization Theory or school of thought has been criticised in

various ways . According to DANIEL OFFIONG 1980 , The Modernization
school cannot accurately or rather adequately explain Africa's
Underdevelopement, because it remains in the mainstream of Euro-
America sociology, which has carefully avoided the issue of
dependency and Colonial Imperialism as crucial factors in African
and third world underdevelopement

~ The postulations of this school of thought has also been criticized as

being purely false and ideologically biased , it is said that Modernization
school protects , projects and defends the values of capitalism .

~ It is criticized For presenting the West as a model , the theory is said

to be Eurocentric.

~ The theory is very conservative and static , it is A-historical in

nature . [ it is against history, doesn't play premium on history , this is
because if you go towards history you will come close to a lot of evil
they did , ranging from slavery, colonialism and apertide ]

~ This school of thought is Unidirectional .

[ Statements for exam focus

-One of the critique's against this theory is that it's Eurocentric in

nature, it is simply a vehicle for the ideology of liberalism to
westernize non Western states .

- The meaning of the word A-historical ]

-