MODULE 2 – ADDITIONAL NOTES
Politics of Development
MODERNITY VS. MODERNIZATION
 Modernity is a condition of social existence
that is radically different to all past forms of
human experience, while Modernization
processes of transformation esp. towards types
of social, economic, and political systems
developed in Western societies.
o Modernization is transitional process of
moving from “traditional” or “primitive”
communities to modern societies
 Anticipation of Modernization: West --->
South American, African, Asian Continents
 Modernization Theories
o Concerned with the economic growth
within societies (i.e., GNP as measure)
o Mostly deal with the consequences of
conditions (soc., pol., cul.) in facilitating
economic growth and industrialization
o Specifies the nitty-gritty of social changes
in the course national development
 Industrialization – is the main ingredient in the
economic growth
 Development implies economic growth, but not
confined in terms of output per capita (it is a
more general term than modernization and
industrialization)
o It could be seen through various lenses;
development could mean equitable
distribution of wealth or even providing
the basic needs of the constituents
STRUCTURALISM
 Structuralist approaches consider the
differences in structure of developing coutries
o It also attempts to identify the specific
rigidies, lags, and even other structures of
developing countries that affect economic
adjustments and the choice of
development policies
 According to Raul Prebisch, modernization
was not a spontaneous but rather a politically
induced process.
o political intervention and regulation had to
tackle the disequilibrium caused by an
international division of labor that placed
manufacturing in the First World and
primary commodity production in the
Third
 World Systems Theory by Immanuel
Wallerstein
o Distinguished three groups of states: Core,
Semi-Periphery, and Periphery
o Core states are high profiting states, while
semi-periphery and periphery states are
relatively low-consuming and low
profiting states.
o Core states needed the periphery states to
sustain high levels of consumption while
maintaining material security
 International Division of Labor - Explains the
relationship between the developing and
developed nations
o However, this dualism is not a natural
process rather is colonial heritage which
leads to a structural (non-market) problem
that can’t be removed by the market
mechanism.
o According to Singer and Presbisch,
declining terms of trade of the developing
nations is the product of the unequal
relationship of this two. In order to
address this, rapid development is
important – which is only possible
through rapid industrialization
STRATEGIES OF INDUSTRIALIZATION
 These strategies of industrialization express the
structure of international trade and trade policies
of a specific country (Ito ‘yung nag-iidentify
kung ano ba ‘yung appropriate na policies na
inaadopt nila based sa kanilang orientation,
whether inward or outward).
 Import Substituting (IS) Industrialization – it
was introduced to the developing nations where
the government is expected to intervene to fast-
track industrialization.
o Import substitution (also known as
inward-oriented strategies) refer to the
strategy of substituting imported good
with local ones to meet internal demands
o Sa IS strategies, ginagawa ito para
mapataas ‘yung mga existing enterprise
especially sa production industry – para
hindi na sila mag import. Sa mga-IS
dependent countries, close ang kanilang
economy sa global markets and mataas
 ang kanilang protection levels – through
tariff and non-tariff barriers, interest rates.
o IS strategy is opted to modernize their
local industry/economy para mapantayan
nila ‘yung sa developing countries and
para mas maging competitive sila sa trade.
 Export-Promotion (EP) Industrialization –
the opposite of IS Strategies, also known as the
outward-oriented strategies
o EP strat has little to no government
intervention or very marginal, when it
comes to price levels, production factors
and exchange rates.
o lesser bureaucracy on EP strategies (mas
mabilis ‘yung process sa exportation)
o Pero magiging successful lang daw itong
EP strategies with the government support
(not intervention):
 katulad nalang ng trainings and
capacity-buildings for exporters
and promotion ng export goods
sa foreign competitors.
 direct subsidy (para
masuportahan na makapagsimula
‘yung mga industries ng bansa na
potential exporters)
DEPENDENCY THEORY
 Dependency theories are response to the
structuralist approach, wherein it sought to find
the solution to the ‘development of the
metropolis and the underdevelopment of the
satellite’
o Focuses on the role of international
capitalist system in the underdevelopment
of the periphery
o It uses the core-periphery or world
systems as unit of analysis; a measure for
explaining global inequalities
o Tausch highlights, “a high penetration by
foreign capital, a heavy technological
dependence from the leading countries,
the overall subordination of the productive
capacities of the country towards the
interests of the evolving international
division of labor, [and] the concentration
of exports on a few commodities and
recipients” as the main features of the
periphery and semi-periphery countries 
Example (gawa gawa ko lang ito, magbigay kayo
ng sarili niyong example fleece HAHA): One of
the implications of this is the imposition of
Philippine Mining Act of 1995. This legislation has
opened the mineral-rich country to be exploited by
foreign companies, in the guise of the promised
foreign investment and economy boost. This pro-
mining law has provided incentives such as political
rights, full ownership of land, and tax holidays with
the prospective investors – that later on leads to
400% spur of foreign mining companies in the
Philippines. But overtime, this affected the
indigenous people and their homes. Many of them
were displaced and their source of living are
massively destroyed by the exploitative industry of
mining. And the expected boost in the economy is a
huge scam, as mining industry only contributed just
0.6% to country’s Gross Domestic Product. Not
only it is bogus, the government misplaced the
indigenous rights and environmental protection in
its priorities, just because of the pressure from the
international institutions to make Philippines a
globally competitive player in the world market.
CRITICAL THEORIES
 Known as the emancipation as it focused on
freeing the people from the modern state and
economy
 Came from the ideas of Kant and Marx
 Frankfurt school: a theory is critical to the
extent that it seeks human “emancipation from
slavery”, acts as a “liberating … influence”, and
works “to create a world which satisfies the
needs and powers of” human beings