Tag: Dependency Theory
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Theories of Development applied to Health
As a genera rule, people in developing countries suffer from poorer health than people in developed countries – with higher rates of deaths from preventable causes resulting in higher child mortality rates and lower life expectancies. Theories of development aim to explain why this is the case and what the most effective solutions to improving…
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How does Colonialism Shape the World We Live In? (1/5)
This 2019 Live Stream from Al Jazeera is a good resource for students studying the Global Development option in A-level sociology. They asked the question: how does colonialism shape the world we live in today, and fielded responses from the audience who took part via #BecauseColonialism Below I summarise part 1 of what is a…
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Outline and explain two criticisms other theories of development might make of dependency theory (10)
World Systems Theory (WST) criticises dependency theory (DT) because there is evidence that poorer, ex-colonies can develop within the modern world capitalist system. Dependency theory tended to see the ‘root cause’ of underdevelopment as rich world governments (or nation states) – they believed poor countries remained poor following a history of colonialism where powerful countries…
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Dependency Theory – Revision Notes
Dependency Theory claims that Colonialism had a negative impact on the satellite territories in Africa, Asia and Latin America; that neocolonialism keeps the ex colonial master rich and the ex colonies poor, and that in order to develop the ex colonies need to isolate themselves from the capitalist system, protect themselves from the ‘free market’ and develop…
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Glencore – The World’s Worst Transnational Corporation?
Glencore is one of the world’s largest commodities companies – it operates in 150 countries extracting natural resources such as iron and copper, but also has interests in coal and oil, as well as numerous agricultural products. Glencore – key facts and stats It is registered in Switzerland Has £128 billion in assets (2015) Had…
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The End of Poverty? A Documentary taking a ‘Dependency Theory’ View of Underdevelopment and Development
This 2008 Documentary seeks to answer the question of why there is still so much poverty in the world when there is sufficient wealth to eradicate it. In order to answer this question, the video goes back to 1492, which marks the start of European colonialism and the beginning of the global capitalist system, making…
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A Very Brief History of the Democratic Republic of Congo
This year I’m using the DRC as a major case study in underdevelopment (it is last on the UN’s HDI rankings after all) – Here’s my (mainly cut and paste from Wikipedia) very brief history of the DRC – I’ll add in video links, general links, pictures and extracts from numerous books later… The Stuff…
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A Level Sociology: Global Development Module Overview
Globalisation and its consequences There are Economic, Cultural and Political elements of Globalisation Optimist view of Globalisation Pessimist view of Globalisation Transformationalist Traditionalist Also… Does Globalisation mean the decline of the nation state? The problems of defining and measuring development and underdevelopment How should we define and measure development? The strengths and limitations of Western…
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Dependency Theory Applied to Gender and Development
Dependency theory and Marxist-Feminists would probably point out that many Transnational Corporations are not interested in helping developing countries. Rather, they simply exploit patriarchal values rather than promoting real equality. They do this through taking advantage of ‘women’s material subordination’ – women put up with worse conditions than men because there is no better alternative other…
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Industrialisation and Development
What is Industrialisation? Industrialisation is where a country moves from an economy dominated by agricultural output and employment to one dominated by manufacturing. This will usually involve the establishment of factories in which things are produced in a rationally organized (efficient) manner. Below we look at perspectives on ‘industrialisation’ as a means of development. How…
