Theories of Development and Underdevelopment

Abstract

A prolific literature exists on the subject of development and underdevelopment. This chapter sets forth a synthesis and an assessment of six general themes that run through the literature: political development, development and nationalism, modernization, underdevelopment, dependency, and imperialism. The traditional literature on political development emphasizes a political dimension, distinguishing political from economic development. Most historians date nationalism to the French Revolution, although nationalism sometimes is associated with primitive peoples or was submerged in the city state, local villages, or region. The literature on nationalism usually interprets development as an incremental or asynchronous process of change and growth. The experience of Western Europe has suggested a linear path toward modern development. Nineteenth-century theories of evolution asserted that the Western world had pursued a path through successive stages of development. David Apter in The Politics of Modernization presented a typology of government and some theories about change.

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