1. What development is all about? Its definitions.

Socio, cultural, economic etc. Concepts of development.

2. What is modernization? Definitions by SC Dubey and Daniel Learner.

Socio, cultural, psychological, technical etc dimensions of modernization.

3. Socialist Economy.

4. Agencies of Development.

1. ANS-
There are several aspects of human life: social, economic, political, religious, familial,
educational etc. All these aspects influence one another. Each of these aspects is studied by a
separate discipline of social science. Economics and political science, for example, study
economic and political aspects of life, respectively. Sociology likewise has several branches
to study different aspects of social life.

Thus, sociology of religion, sociology of education, sociology of medicine, sociology of

entrepreneurship, sociology of law, sociology of crime and sociology of environment are

such branches of sociology. Economic aspect of human life is perhaps the most vital one.

Economic sociology, therefore, with its different branches like sociology of work, sociology

of leisure, sociology of profession and sociology of development, holds a very significant

position.

Max Weber’s most popular thesis Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is perhaps the

first and most convincing interpretation on the positive role of cultural norms in

determination of the nature of economic milieu, as his study proved that Protestantism helped

in bringing about modern capitalism in Western Europe.

Addressing the problems of development from the point of view of sociology may be called

sociology of development. Development is a composite concept with multiple meanings.

Economic development, social development, childhood development, political development,

human development and sustainable development are various dimensions of development and

all have sociological bearings.

Darwin's Origin of Species may have crystallized ideas about the phenomenon of

development in living organisms, but the concept of it was grasped in some inadequate form

or the other by some thinkers even before that. Particularly when it concerns social evolution,

the thought has been current for the past century or two; but upon the nature of such

evolution there has been difference of outlook between different students of social science.

Herbert Spencer maintains that social evolution is only a part of the general process of

evolutionary development in all living matter in the world. Society evolves from the simple

form into the complex one as it fulfills the functions of integration and differentiation in its

various organs and consequently, out of the same unit of society, different social systems

come into existence. According to Spencer, there are three stages in the evolution of society;

the first stage is known as 'integration, the second as 'differentiation' and the final one as

'determination.
2. ANS.-
In everyday conversation we use the term 'modern' to describe present technology and
experiences, modernization, on the other hand, is a process that began much further
back. Modernization is a term often used to describe the transformation from more
traditional organizations of society to industrialized society as we see in most cultures
today. Put more simply, it is the transition from the past to the present. In this lesson,
we'll go back about a thousand years to consider the factors in how the world has
become more modernized.

Characteristics of Modernisation:
1. It is a revolutionary process.

2. It is a multidimensional process.

3. It is a universal process.

4. It is a complex process.

5. It is a global process.

6. It is a irreversible process.

7. It is a continuous and lengthy process.

8. It is a systematic process.

9. It indicates scientific temper, rationality and secular attitude.

10. It is a phased process.

11. Modernized society is an open society.

12. It is a progressive society.

13. It is a critical process because it requires not only a relatively stable new structure but also
capable of adopting continuously changing conditions and problems.

14. It is a centralized process.

Modernisation is critical in the sense that it requires not only a relatively stable new structure
in the society but it also expects that the society must acquire capability of adopting to
continuously changing conditions and problems. Its success depends on the ability of the
society to respond the elements. But all societies don’t respond modernisation uniformly.

As a sociologist, S.C. Dube has classified development theories in four broad phases.

In the first phase, development essentially meant economic development and economists
focussed their attention exclusively on economic growth. The basic idea was to achieve
maximum output and to ensure capital formation. It was assumed, if output increases,
distribution would automatically take place.

In the second phase, the relationship between economic development and social change was
realized. It was felt that economic development and technological changes are hindered by
institutional factors. Thus, modifications in institutional framework of society and alterations
in attitudes and values were to be contemplated to facilitate and accelerate the process of
economic development.

In the third phase, issue of unequal development was the centre of concern. New concept of
human-centered development emerged and called for greater access for the common man to
planning process.

The fourth and contemporary approach to development has a wide perspective. It questions
the relevance of existing world order and national order in facilitating such development,
which could benefit all sections of the society. It was proposed that Fhe culture of
development has to be changed. A new style and new idiom was needed. Greater emphasis
was given to basic needs of mankindeducation, public health, and other services to offer
greater distribution benefits to the general mass of people.

Daniel Lerner was an American scholar and writer who gave a modernisation theory
based on the use of mass media. Lerner focused his work of the role of the mass media as a
means of promotion of economic and social development in post-colonial countries. His
theory of modernisation is decidedly west-centric and lays great stress on the superiority of
the American cultural, social, economic and political systems. In his book, “The Passing of
Traditional Society: Modernising the Middle East”, Lerner tries to work out a theory of
modernisation. He states that societies can make a shift from traditional to modern through
the help of mass media. According to Lerner, the process of modernisation begins when the
rural population of a country starts to shift from the rural areas to the urban areas prompted
by economic factors like better opportunities. This leads to an increased rate of urbanisation
and the population that now exists in the urban areas has basic needs that need to be fulfilled.
This is a need for better education systems, markets that allow free trade, and other
institutions that are founded on modern and democratic lines. Media consumption also grows
exponentially in the urban population. The growth of literacy and media consumption leads to
higher economic participation and political participation.
Lerner’s model of cultural and intellectual superiority is based on the process of cultural
maturity that is divided into three phases. These are as following:

 the traditional phase

The traditional phase is characterised by the following and practice of traditional values and
ideas that lead to backwardness.

 the transitional phase

The transitional phase starts to see a shift in the values and ideas of the society.

 the modern phase

The modern phase is characterised by capitalism, technological advancement and on the

sociocultural front by women’s empowerment and rise in modern education. The elites hold
an important position in this phase.

Various dimensions of modernisation are:

Industrial Growth
Flashback to Medieval England, where we meet a peasant named Agador. He's living in the
pre-industrial society of feudalism. His personal world is quite small, and only his family and
village are relevant to him on a day-to-day basis. It's a tough life, with severe punishments by
local lords and the church if he does not follow their rules. Unable to read or write, the
information that he needs to know to survive is primarily about how to farm the land and
other practical tasks.
One factor in modernization is the industrial growth that has occurred since Agador's time.
The work he performed during the Middle Ages as a peasant is now performed by machinery.
The modern era is known in large part for this kind of change, where tasks that used to be
performed on a very small scale can be done in far less time. Look around you, wherever you
are right now, and you'll probably find many objects that are mass-produced or created using
some type of machinery.

Market Economy and Innovation

Modernization has also involved a shift to a market economy, where prices depend on
supply and demand and on competition between private businesses. This economy emerged
over time as conditions in various regions led to a change from more traditional forms of
commerce.
Technological innovations are not only good for business but also have been put to use in
other ways in society. Think of the impact of innovations, like cars, radios, airplanes,
television, computers, and the Internet. These significant innovations have had a complex
impact on human culture.
Literacy
One invention, the printing press, helped spark a dramatic increase in literacy, the ability to
read and write, which fueled modernization. Literacy had spread in the past for other reasons,
such as one region or religion conquering another and trade between those selling and buying
goods and services. But a huge boost to literacy came when the printed word became more
widely available. The printing press made this possible. As a result, more people were able to
learn new information and ideas.

Bureaucratization
New ideas can't be implemented without a process. This is where bureaucratization comes
in. Bureaucratization is the process of establishing documented rules, regulations, and roles,
including a hierarchy.
During Agador's time, local lords and church leaders held considerable power over what
happened in his life. Between the Middle Ages and today, political power became much more
consolidated rather than spread out among many different groups with different laws. This
consolidation of power led to the development of the nation-state as we know it today. While
the peasant Agador would not have had a sense of national identity, a citizen of England
today would be very conscious of this aspect of who they are in the world.
Criticism

From the 1970s, modernization theory has been criticized by numerous scholars,
including Andre Gunder Frank  and Immanuel Wallerstein . In this model, the modernization
of a society required the destruction of the indigenous culture and its replacement by a more
Westernized one. By one definition, modern simply refers to the present, and any society still
in existence is therefore modern.

One alternative model on the left is Dependency theory. It emerged in the 1950s and argues
that the underdevelopment of poor nations in the Third World derived from systematic
imperial and neo-colonial exploitation of raw materials. Its proponents argue that resources
typically flow from a "periphery" of poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy
states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former. It is a central contention of
dependency theorists such as Andre Gunder Frank that poor states are impoverished and rich
ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the "world system".
3. SOCIALISM