Development Theories Lab

Rich world, poor world

Why are some countries rich and others poor? Geographers use development theories to explain global inequality, and two of the most famous disagree completely about the cause. Rostow says the answer is inside a country. Frank says it is in the relationships between them. This module sets them against each other and then asks the question exams actually ask: which one explains a given case better, and what does each of them get wrong?

Rostow's five stages

Rostow's modernisation theory (1960) says every country passes through the same five stages, climbing as it invests and modernises: 1. Traditional society: mostly subsistence farming, little technology. 2. Preconditions for take-off: infrastructure and investment begin, often in one export industry. 3. Take-off: manufacturing grows quickly and industry becomes the driver. 4. Drive to maturity: growth spreads across the economy and technology improves. 5. Age of high mass consumption: a service economy, widespread ownership of consumer goods. The model is optimistic: every country can climb, given investment.

Rostow's ladder

Put Rostow's five stages of growth in order, from least to most developed.

• Traditional society
• Preconditions for take-off
• Take-off
• Drive to maturity
• Age of mass consumption

Rostow against Frank

Both are trying to explain the same thing. They disagree about where to look, and the disagreement matters because it points at completely different solutions:

Whose argument is this?

A politician says: "Our country still sells raw materials cheaply and buys back the finished goods dearly. Until that changes, no amount of hard work will close the gap." Which theory is that argument drawing on?

• Frank's dependency theory, because the problem being named is the terms of trade between countries rather than anything lacking inside this one
• Rostow's modernisation theory, because it is about trade and industry
• Both equally, since both theories are about economic development
• Neither: it is a political complaint rather than a development theory

The case that troubles both

From the 1960s onwards, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong industrialised at extraordinary speed, moving from largely agricultural economies to manufacturing exporters within a generation. This is awkward for Frank. These economies traded heavily with the wealthy core and grew rapidly anyway, which is difficult to reconcile with a periphery permanently held down by that trade. And it is awkward for Rostow too. Their governments intervened heavily, directing investment into chosen industries rather than letting a market climb the ladder on its own, and they benefited from particular historical circumstances that most countries did not share. Which is the useful lesson: a good answer does not pick a theory and defend it. It says what each one explains well, and where the evidence sits awkwardly.

What is wrong with the ladder?

Rostow's model has been criticised heavily since 1960. Which is the strongest objection to it?

• It assumes every country begins from the same starting point and can follow the same path, when many began as colonies whose economies were deliberately shaped to supply someone else
• It is too optimistic, and optimism is unscientific
• It was written in 1960, so it is out of date
• It has five stages, and no real economy divides neatly into five

Who actually does it

Theories explain. These are the people and organisations that carry development out, and the two scales they work at:

Who is doing what?

Choose the approach

A remote village needs clean water and more jobs. Four decisions.

• Which water solution is bottom-up, and why does that description fit it?
• A TNC offers to open a factory nearby. What is the honest assessment?
• Someone argues that bottom-up projects are simply better than top-down ones. Is that right?
• The village gets its well and the country gets its dam. Whose theory does that support?

Which are true?

Select ALL THREE statements that are TRUE.

• Rostow's model is drawn largely from the path already taken by Western industrialised countries, which is part of why critics doubt it fits everywhere
• Dependency theory struggles to account for countries that industrialised rapidly while trading heavily with the core
• Top-down and bottom-up are not rival theories but different scales of project, and a country can pursue both at once
• Rostow argued that poorer countries are kept poor by richer ones
• An NGO is a branch of a national government
• Bottom-up projects are always more successful than top-down ones

Theories summary

Rostow's modernisation theory says countries climb five stages and locates the cause of underdevelopment _____ a country. Frank's _____ theory says a wealthy core has grown rich by exploiting a poorer periphery, and locates the cause between countries. Separately from the theories, development projects run at two scales: large _____ schemes funded by governments and IGOs, and small bottom-up ones led by communities and supported by _____.

Which explains it better?

Exam practice. "Frank's dependency theory explains global inequality better than Rostow's model." Evaluate this statement in about 80 words. Include:

• one point in favour, using what dependency theory explains that Rostow cannot
• one point against, using evidence that sits awkwardly with dependency theory
• a conclusion that says which you find more convincing, and why