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Group 7 Reflection Paper

1. Modernization theory explains the process by which "traditional" societies transition to "modern" societies through internal social and economic changes like adopting new technologies and practices. 2. The theory suggests that with assistance, traditional countries can develop in the same way more developed countries have through increasing industrialization, urbanization, education, and participation in media. 3. Critics argue that modernization theory is Eurocentric and does not account for local cultural and political contexts influencing development pathways differently across societies.

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2K views3 pages

Group 7 Reflection Paper

1. Modernization theory explains the process by which "traditional" societies transition to "modern" societies through internal social and economic changes like adopting new technologies and practices. 2. The theory suggests that with assistance, traditional countries can develop in the same way more developed countries have through increasing industrialization, urbanization, education, and participation in media. 3. Critics argue that modernization theory is Eurocentric and does not account for local cultural and political contexts influencing development pathways differently across societies.

Uploaded by

Emily Jamio
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Republic of the Philippines

SULTAN KUDARAT STATE UNIVERSITY


Graduate School
ACCESS, EJC Montilla, Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat 9800
Master of Arts in Teaching Social Studies

EMILY G. JAMIO
MAT-SOCSTUD
EDUC 617

REFLECTION PAPER
Group 7

ASSUMPTION OF MODERNIZATION THEORY

Modernization theory is used to explain the process of modernization


within societies. Modernization refers to a model of a progressive transition
from a 'pre-modern' or 'traditional' to a 'modern' society. Modernization theory
originated from the ideas of German sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920), which
provided the basis for the modernization paradigm developed by Harvard
sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902–1979). The theory looks at the internal
factors of a country while assuming that with assistance, "traditional"
countries can be brought to development in the same manner more developed
countries have been. Modernization theory was a dominant paradigm in the
social sciences in the 1950s and 1960s, and then went into a deep eclipse. It
made a comeback after 1991 but remains a controversial model.

Modernization theory both attempts to identify the social variables that


contribute to social progress and development of societies and seeks to explain
the process of social evolution. Modernization theory is subject to criticism
originating among socialist and free-market ideologies, world-
systems theorists, globalization theorists and dependency theorists among
others. Modernization theory stresses not only the process of change but also
the responses to that change. It also looks at internal dynamics while referring
to social and cultural structures and the adaptation of new technologies. It
suggests that traditional societies will develop as they adopt more modern
practices. Proponents of modernization theory claim that modern states are
wealthier and more powerful and that their citizens are freer to enjoy a higher
standard of living. Developments such as new data technology and the need to
update traditional methods in transport, communication and production make
modernization necessary or at least preferable to the status quo. That view
makes critique difficult since it implies that such developments control the
limits of human interaction, not vice versa. And yet, seemingly paradoxically, it
also implies that human agency controls the speed and severity of
modernization. Supposedly, instead of being dominated by tradition, societies
undergoing the process of modernization typically arrive at forms of governance
dictated by abstract principles. Traditional religious beliefs and cultural traits,
according to the theory, usually become less important as modernization takes
hold.

Modernization is the view of historical progression as a series of stages,


reflecting intellectual, technological, economic and political development. It
views progress in terms of particular path of transition. The theory of
modernization is said to be the current term and the old process, the process of
social change where less developed society’s acquired characteristic common to
more developed society.

For some persons, modernization is a process of structural


differentiation, functional specialization and adaptive upgrading. In the
evolutionary perspective modernization refers to transition from primitive to
traditional form of industrialized society to super industrialized form religious
to secular ideology, from particularism to ascription, diffuseness, self-
orientation to universalism etc. A modern society has been identified as a
society characterized by the application of technology and by extensive social
interdependence.
Modernization implies the breakdown of traditional society, it refers to
the development of a new social order based on advanced technology and the
spirit of science, a rational view of life, a rational approach to social relations,
achieving for justice in public affairs and above all else on the acceptance in
the political realm of the belief that the prime unit of public policy should be
the nation state.

Modernization theory like industrial revolution is said to have started in


Western Europe and has spread to other parts of the world. Thus,
industrialization, Urbanization, education and media participation are the
various aspects of modernization. It therefore, refers to change in political
culture and political institutions as a result of the process of modernization.
The association of modernization with a particular Western Model of
development has led to the charge of euro centrism and a denial of a neat
dichotomy between the traditional and the modern understanding, political
and socio-economic progress.

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