Notes: Development & Dependency | Sociology Mains Optional for UPSC 2024 PDF Download

 Page 1


 
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Sleepy Classes 
IMPORTANT FOR SOCIOLOGY PAPER-1 
DEPENDENCY THEORY 
 
Dependency Theory developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the Director of the 
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Raul Prebisch.  
 
Prebisch and his colleagues were troubled by the fact that economic growth in the 
advanced industrialized countries did not necessarily lead to growth in the poorer 
countries.  
 
Indeed, their studies suggested that economic activity in the richer countries often led to 
serious economic problems in the poorer countries.  
 
Prebisch's initial explanation for the phenomenon was very straightforward:  
1. Poor countries exported primary commodities to the rich countries who then 
manufactured products out of those commodities and sold them back to the poorer 
countries.  
 
2. The "Value Added" by manufacturing a usable product always cost more than the 
primary products used to create those products.  
 
Therefore, poorer countries would never be earning enough from their export earnings to pay 
for their imports. 
 
Prebisch's solution was similarly straightforward:  
1. Poorer countries should embark on programs of import substitution so that they need 
not purchase the manufactured products from the richer countries. 
 
2. The poorer countries would still sell their primary products on the world market, but 
their foreign exchange reserves would not be used to purchase their manufactures 
from abroad.  
 
Most dependency theorists regard international capitalism as the motive force behind 
dependency relationships.  
 
Underdevelopment theory is particularly associated with Paul Baran’s The Political 
Economy of Growth, and even more with the 1960s and 1970s work of Andre Gunder 
Frank.  
 
It was further developed in the 1970s by Walter Rodney, Samir Amin and Arghiri Emmanuel.   
 
Page 2


 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
IMPORTANT FOR SOCIOLOGY PAPER-1 
DEPENDENCY THEORY 
 
Dependency Theory developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the Director of the 
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Raul Prebisch.  
 
Prebisch and his colleagues were troubled by the fact that economic growth in the 
advanced industrialized countries did not necessarily lead to growth in the poorer 
countries.  
 
Indeed, their studies suggested that economic activity in the richer countries often led to 
serious economic problems in the poorer countries.  
 
Prebisch's initial explanation for the phenomenon was very straightforward:  
1. Poor countries exported primary commodities to the rich countries who then 
manufactured products out of those commodities and sold them back to the poorer 
countries.  
 
2. The "Value Added" by manufacturing a usable product always cost more than the 
primary products used to create those products.  
 
Therefore, poorer countries would never be earning enough from their export earnings to pay 
for their imports. 
 
Prebisch's solution was similarly straightforward:  
1. Poorer countries should embark on programs of import substitution so that they need 
not purchase the manufactured products from the richer countries. 
 
2. The poorer countries would still sell their primary products on the world market, but 
their foreign exchange reserves would not be used to purchase their manufactures 
from abroad.  
 
Most dependency theorists regard international capitalism as the motive force behind 
dependency relationships.  
 
Underdevelopment theory is particularly associated with Paul Baran’s The Political 
Economy of Growth, and even more with the 1960s and 1970s work of Andre Gunder 
Frank.  
 
It was further developed in the 1970s by Walter Rodney, Samir Amin and Arghiri Emmanuel.   
 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
The starting point for this analysis was an acceptance that capitalism and imperialism 
were somehow parasitic, and that this was most clear in the case of the underdeveloped 
world. 
Page 3


 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
IMPORTANT FOR SOCIOLOGY PAPER-1 
DEPENDENCY THEORY 
 
Dependency Theory developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the Director of the 
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Raul Prebisch.  
 
Prebisch and his colleagues were troubled by the fact that economic growth in the 
advanced industrialized countries did not necessarily lead to growth in the poorer 
countries.  
 
Indeed, their studies suggested that economic activity in the richer countries often led to 
serious economic problems in the poorer countries.  
 
Prebisch's initial explanation for the phenomenon was very straightforward:  
1. Poor countries exported primary commodities to the rich countries who then 
manufactured products out of those commodities and sold them back to the poorer 
countries.  
 
2. The "Value Added" by manufacturing a usable product always cost more than the 
primary products used to create those products.  
 
Therefore, poorer countries would never be earning enough from their export earnings to pay 
for their imports. 
 
Prebisch's solution was similarly straightforward:  
1. Poorer countries should embark on programs of import substitution so that they need 
not purchase the manufactured products from the richer countries. 
 
2. The poorer countries would still sell their primary products on the world market, but 
their foreign exchange reserves would not be used to purchase their manufactures 
from abroad.  
 
Most dependency theorists regard international capitalism as the motive force behind 
dependency relationships.  
 
Underdevelopment theory is particularly associated with Paul Baran’s The Political 
Economy of Growth, and even more with the 1960s and 1970s work of Andre Gunder 
Frank.  
 
It was further developed in the 1970s by Walter Rodney, Samir Amin and Arghiri Emmanuel.   
 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
The starting point for this analysis was an acceptance that capitalism and imperialism 
were somehow parasitic, and that this was most clear in the case of the underdeveloped 
world. 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
The Central Propositions of Dependency Theory 
While there are various theories of Dependency, there are certain propositions, which form 
the core of dependency theory.  
These propositions include: 
1.  Underdevelopment is a condition fundamentally different from undevelopment.  
 
The latter term simply refers to a condition in which resources are not being used.  
 
Underdevelopment refers to a situation in which resources are being actively used, 
but used in a way which benefits dominant states and not the poorer states in 
which the resources are found.\ 
 
2.  The distinction between underdevelopment and undevelopment places the poorer 
countries of the world is a profoundly different historical context.  
 
These countries are not "behind" or "catching up" to the richer countries of the world.  
 
They are not poor because they lagged behind the scientific transformations or 
the Enlightenment values of the European states. They are poor because they were 
coercively integrated into the European economic system only as producers of raw 
materials or to serve as repositories of cheap labor, and were denied the opportunity to 
market their resources in any way that competed with dominant states. 
 
3.  Dependency theory suggests that alternative uses of resources are preferable to 
the resource usage patterns imposed by dominant states.. 
 
4.  Dependency theorists rely upon a belief that there exists a clear "national" 
economic interest which can and should be articulated for each country.  
 
In this respect, dependency theory actually shares a similar theoretical concern with 
realism.  
 
What distinguishes the dependency perspective is that its proponents believe that 
this national interest can only be satisfied by addressing the needs of the poor 
within a society, rather than through the satisfaction of corporate or 
governmental needs.  
 
5.  The diversion of resources over time (and one must remember that dependent 
relationships have persisted since the European expansion beginning in the 
fifteenth century) is maintained not only by the power of dominant states, but also 
through the power of elites in the dependent states.  
 
Page 4


 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
IMPORTANT FOR SOCIOLOGY PAPER-1 
DEPENDENCY THEORY 
 
Dependency Theory developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the Director of the 
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Raul Prebisch.  
 
Prebisch and his colleagues were troubled by the fact that economic growth in the 
advanced industrialized countries did not necessarily lead to growth in the poorer 
countries.  
 
Indeed, their studies suggested that economic activity in the richer countries often led to 
serious economic problems in the poorer countries.  
 
Prebisch's initial explanation for the phenomenon was very straightforward:  
1. Poor countries exported primary commodities to the rich countries who then 
manufactured products out of those commodities and sold them back to the poorer 
countries.  
 
2. The "Value Added" by manufacturing a usable product always cost more than the 
primary products used to create those products.  
 
Therefore, poorer countries would never be earning enough from their export earnings to pay 
for their imports. 
 
Prebisch's solution was similarly straightforward:  
1. Poorer countries should embark on programs of import substitution so that they need 
not purchase the manufactured products from the richer countries. 
 
2. The poorer countries would still sell their primary products on the world market, but 
their foreign exchange reserves would not be used to purchase their manufactures 
from abroad.  
 
Most dependency theorists regard international capitalism as the motive force behind 
dependency relationships.  
 
Underdevelopment theory is particularly associated with Paul Baran’s The Political 
Economy of Growth, and even more with the 1960s and 1970s work of Andre Gunder 
Frank.  
 
It was further developed in the 1970s by Walter Rodney, Samir Amin and Arghiri Emmanuel.   
 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
The starting point for this analysis was an acceptance that capitalism and imperialism 
were somehow parasitic, and that this was most clear in the case of the underdeveloped 
world. 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
The Central Propositions of Dependency Theory 
While there are various theories of Dependency, there are certain propositions, which form 
the core of dependency theory.  
These propositions include: 
1.  Underdevelopment is a condition fundamentally different from undevelopment.  
 
The latter term simply refers to a condition in which resources are not being used.  
 
Underdevelopment refers to a situation in which resources are being actively used, 
but used in a way which benefits dominant states and not the poorer states in 
which the resources are found.\ 
 
2.  The distinction between underdevelopment and undevelopment places the poorer 
countries of the world is a profoundly different historical context.  
 
These countries are not "behind" or "catching up" to the richer countries of the world.  
 
They are not poor because they lagged behind the scientific transformations or 
the Enlightenment values of the European states. They are poor because they were 
coercively integrated into the European economic system only as producers of raw 
materials or to serve as repositories of cheap labor, and were denied the opportunity to 
market their resources in any way that competed with dominant states. 
 
3.  Dependency theory suggests that alternative uses of resources are preferable to 
the resource usage patterns imposed by dominant states.. 
 
4.  Dependency theorists rely upon a belief that there exists a clear "national" 
economic interest which can and should be articulated for each country.  
 
In this respect, dependency theory actually shares a similar theoretical concern with 
realism.  
 
What distinguishes the dependency perspective is that its proponents believe that 
this national interest can only be satisfied by addressing the needs of the poor 
within a society, rather than through the satisfaction of corporate or 
governmental needs.  
 
5.  The diversion of resources over time (and one must remember that dependent 
relationships have persisted since the European expansion beginning in the 
fifteenth century) is maintained not only by the power of dominant states, but also 
through the power of elites in the dependent states.  
 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
Dependency theorists argue that these elites maintain a dependent relationship 
because their own private interests coincide with the interests of the dominant states.  
 
These elites are typically trained in the dominant states and share similar values 
and culture with the elites in dominant states.  
The elites sincerely believe that the key to economic development lies in following 
the prescriptions of liberal economic doctrine. 
 
 
Lenin’s Theory of Imperialism  
Lenin’s views on imperialism are contained in his well known work. Imperialism: “The 
Highest stage of Capitalism.”  
 
Basing himself of the laws of the emergence, development and decline of capitalism, Lenin 
was the first to give a profound and scientific analysis of the economic and political 
substance of imperialism. 
 
Its characteristic expert is, capital and its consequences are threefold:  
1. It results in the exploitation of colonial peoples, whom it subjects to the capitalist 
law of increasing misery and whose liberty it destroys.  
 
2. It produces war between the nations, since it substitutes international competition for 
competitions inside the nation, and in the clash of combines and powers seeking 
markets and territory war becomes inevitable. 
 
3. And ultimately it brings about the end of capitalism and the emergence of the new 
order, since with the arming and military training of the worker’s war which begin as 
national wars will end as class wars. 
 
According to Lenin, imperialism is moribund (declining) capitalism, containing a number 
of contradictions which ultimately destroys capitalism itself: 
 
1. There is firstly the contradiction or antagonism between capital and labour. Capital 
exploits labour and brings the exploited workers to revolution. 
 
2. Secondly, there is contradiction between various imperialist powers and industrial 
combines for new territories, new markets and sources of raw materials. 
 
3. Finally, there is also the contradiction between the colonial powers and the 
dependent colonial people which arouses revolutionary outlook and spirit among the 
latter as happened in India and other countries.  
 
 
Page 5


 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
IMPORTANT FOR SOCIOLOGY PAPER-1 
DEPENDENCY THEORY 
 
Dependency Theory developed in the late 1950s under the guidance of the Director of the 
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, Raul Prebisch.  
 
Prebisch and his colleagues were troubled by the fact that economic growth in the 
advanced industrialized countries did not necessarily lead to growth in the poorer 
countries.  
 
Indeed, their studies suggested that economic activity in the richer countries often led to 
serious economic problems in the poorer countries.  
 
Prebisch's initial explanation for the phenomenon was very straightforward:  
1. Poor countries exported primary commodities to the rich countries who then 
manufactured products out of those commodities and sold them back to the poorer 
countries.  
 
2. The "Value Added" by manufacturing a usable product always cost more than the 
primary products used to create those products.  
 
Therefore, poorer countries would never be earning enough from their export earnings to pay 
for their imports. 
 
Prebisch's solution was similarly straightforward:  
1. Poorer countries should embark on programs of import substitution so that they need 
not purchase the manufactured products from the richer countries. 
 
2. The poorer countries would still sell their primary products on the world market, but 
their foreign exchange reserves would not be used to purchase their manufactures 
from abroad.  
 
Most dependency theorists regard international capitalism as the motive force behind 
dependency relationships.  
 
Underdevelopment theory is particularly associated with Paul Baran’s The Political 
Economy of Growth, and even more with the 1960s and 1970s work of Andre Gunder 
Frank.  
 
It was further developed in the 1970s by Walter Rodney, Samir Amin and Arghiri Emmanuel.   
 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
The starting point for this analysis was an acceptance that capitalism and imperialism 
were somehow parasitic, and that this was most clear in the case of the underdeveloped 
world. 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
The Central Propositions of Dependency Theory 
While there are various theories of Dependency, there are certain propositions, which form 
the core of dependency theory.  
These propositions include: 
1.  Underdevelopment is a condition fundamentally different from undevelopment.  
 
The latter term simply refers to a condition in which resources are not being used.  
 
Underdevelopment refers to a situation in which resources are being actively used, 
but used in a way which benefits dominant states and not the poorer states in 
which the resources are found.\ 
 
2.  The distinction between underdevelopment and undevelopment places the poorer 
countries of the world is a profoundly different historical context.  
 
These countries are not "behind" or "catching up" to the richer countries of the world.  
 
They are not poor because they lagged behind the scientific transformations or 
the Enlightenment values of the European states. They are poor because they were 
coercively integrated into the European economic system only as producers of raw 
materials or to serve as repositories of cheap labor, and were denied the opportunity to 
market their resources in any way that competed with dominant states. 
 
3.  Dependency theory suggests that alternative uses of resources are preferable to 
the resource usage patterns imposed by dominant states.. 
 
4.  Dependency theorists rely upon a belief that there exists a clear "national" 
economic interest which can and should be articulated for each country.  
 
In this respect, dependency theory actually shares a similar theoretical concern with 
realism.  
 
What distinguishes the dependency perspective is that its proponents believe that 
this national interest can only be satisfied by addressing the needs of the poor 
within a society, rather than through the satisfaction of corporate or 
governmental needs.  
 
5.  The diversion of resources over time (and one must remember that dependent 
relationships have persisted since the European expansion beginning in the 
fifteenth century) is maintained not only by the power of dominant states, but also 
through the power of elites in the dependent states.  
 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes 
Dependency theorists argue that these elites maintain a dependent relationship 
because their own private interests coincide with the interests of the dominant states.  
 
These elites are typically trained in the dominant states and share similar values 
and culture with the elites in dominant states.  
The elites sincerely believe that the key to economic development lies in following 
the prescriptions of liberal economic doctrine. 
 
 
Lenin’s Theory of Imperialism  
Lenin’s views on imperialism are contained in his well known work. Imperialism: “The 
Highest stage of Capitalism.”  
 
Basing himself of the laws of the emergence, development and decline of capitalism, Lenin 
was the first to give a profound and scientific analysis of the economic and political 
substance of imperialism. 
 
Its characteristic expert is, capital and its consequences are threefold:  
1. It results in the exploitation of colonial peoples, whom it subjects to the capitalist 
law of increasing misery and whose liberty it destroys.  
 
2. It produces war between the nations, since it substitutes international competition for 
competitions inside the nation, and in the clash of combines and powers seeking 
markets and territory war becomes inevitable. 
 
3. And ultimately it brings about the end of capitalism and the emergence of the new 
order, since with the arming and military training of the worker’s war which begin as 
national wars will end as class wars. 
 
According to Lenin, imperialism is moribund (declining) capitalism, containing a number 
of contradictions which ultimately destroys capitalism itself: 
 
1. There is firstly the contradiction or antagonism between capital and labour. Capital 
exploits labour and brings the exploited workers to revolution. 
 
2. Secondly, there is contradiction between various imperialist powers and industrial 
combines for new territories, new markets and sources of raw materials. 
 
3. Finally, there is also the contradiction between the colonial powers and the 
dependent colonial people which arouses revolutionary outlook and spirit among the 
latter as happened in India and other countries.  
 
 
 
www.YouTube.com/SleepyClasses 
Sleepy Classes