Daily Archives: February 1, 2022

Collective Takeaways

Uncategorized

Group 3 Natalie Bankhead, Melissa Janco, Paige McCary

  • How do the theoretical frameworks evolve and change from one to the other? 

These theoretical frameworks evolve and change from one to the other due to different historical events and overall changes in global society.  Modernization was brought about after  WWII. Modernization is the initial movement of development and theorizes that rural environments and States undergo a systematic transformation to urbanized environments through industrialization and a transformation of traditional values. This Western/Americanization is nearly impossible to reverse.

 Modernization shifts to a Dependency Theory model explaining the exploitation of labor and resources from periphery countries to core countries wherein resources and wealth accrue. The Dependency Theory holds that to counteract this exploitation, national markets and national industrialization need to be developed in order to create stronger local markets and standard of living.  The Theory of Dependency began in the 1950’s as a result of several different prominent theories at the time including neo-marxism and Keynes’ economic theory.  Modernization and the Theory of Dependency are both derived from research conducted on third world development.  

The World Systems model considers a global economy instead of nation states and seeks to seek the upward and downward mobility in world economy focusing on the semi-periphery and periphery of the global economy. The Theory of World Systems emerged in the 1960’s. At this time many societal changes and economic changes were evolving on an international level rather than that of the states. 

Globalization theory considers massive increase of global communications at every levels to change the culture and enables virtual economic transactions empowering minorities but overall businesses and powerful elite are the decision makers for world economic and social structures

Overall, these four theories are focused around research and studying third world countries’ development.  They all have an emphasis on sciences and technology. 

  • How do the frameworks lack further explanations as to how people live their lives? 

The earlier frameworks of Modernization and the Theory of Dependency both seem to lack an explanation as to how people in third world countries maintain their own individual cultures, traditions and customs while also improving their financial and political standings in the world.  As economic theory evolves towards Globalization, there seems to be more of an opportunity for individuals to maintain their cultures and interact in a global economy. 

 Lastly, it seems that these theories focus on the systems at play, but lack regard for the way these massive transitions would uproot the lives of individuals.  These changes impact the types of jobs available, the infrastructure in their area, cultural wisdom, and use of natural resources.  

Overall, these frameworks fail to take account of our limited and shared natural resources as well as the emerging regenerative movement that encourages localized and decreased economies. They see development and economy in terms of industrialization and technological advancement rather than living in harmony with the earth and communities. 

  • How does the economics piece connect people in different ways through mobility and education? 

These economic models account for distribution of resources and why people would need to migrate  and redistribute themselves in relation to the economic evolution from rural to urban, developing to industrial regions and as a result transform their sociocultural values in order to survive. 

Economics connects people through jobs and through the distribution of resources.  People often move for job opportunities and educational opportunities.  Additionally, people often seek education based on the types of skills that will provide them with employment opportunities.

This globalization and migration is seen in the migration patterns of South America to North America. Individuals are often from a rural environment and coming to work in industrial jobs in city centers due to lack of resources, instability, and economic opportunity.

Media Reflection 2.3

Media Reflections

Oressa Gray-Mullen — Group 1

Should the Russia-US conflict be examined with a modernization or globalization lens?

BBC Article <— This was an article I read the other day when I was trying to understand the latest Russia-Ukraine tensions.

Note: Russian media screen capture from this article

I will never forget my two classmates from Russia and Ukraine screaming at each other in ~2015 history class. They were friends and related to each other culturally, but my friend from Russia seemed almost brainwashed as she spoke against the American media and swore that her friends overseas were piping the truth to her.

Media Reflection:

Russia and world leaders are mobilizing to confront this elusive tension politically, but Russia is fighting with media-based education. Russia’s story depends on misinformation, re-routing the narrative, and misdirection.

Since the Second World War, our government’s political movements have strategically clung to our global influence- both through actions and narratives- as the world changes and becomes globally interdependent. Putin has claimed that the United States uses Ukraine as a tool to control Russia’s influence. Russia utilizes the global network of communication and seemingly tosses aside the ethnocentric but gradually interconnected and economically fruitful vision shared by Modernization and Globalization (Reyes, 2001, p.11).

Reyes (2001) argues that through a globalization lens, the nation-state no longer serves as a unit of development analysis due to global communication scales (p.11). Globalization is a stretching transformation of people’s experience of space and time (Jones, 2010, p.5). The implication of this is an awareness to others beyond the classically know ways of measuring the world. The concept of globalization argues that the main modern elements for development interpretation are the cultural links among nations rather than economic or political ties- and in fact, dictating those ties (Reyes, 2001, p.11). Social relations are becoming stretched, “facilitated by information and communications technology, the global media, and transportation” (Jones, 2010, p.5). Though this has not yet taken on a radical reconfiguration of relationships or deterritorialization (Jones, 2010, p.6) – still exhibiting influence from last century’s relationships out of which the modernization theory was born.

From this conflict, a globalized world does not seem to encompass the current condition or progression of the world- despite technological connections and the culture of communications dictating political conduct. Globalized, free-for-all communications became a tool for Russia. However, the nation-states and national identity and power are very much alive for many- especially at the political level. A classical understanding of modernization is a systematic, lengthy, and revolutionary process that can only be partially felt at the current time due to friction between “traditional” and “modern” values (Reyes, 2001, p.3-4).

Therefore, I think modernization and globalization can both be utilized in this scenario. However, modernization still embodies the development of global relations, where the change is irreversible and yet slow movement toward homogeneousness (p.2) yet preserving assumptions based upon the nation-state (Reyes, 2001, p.7).

More if you’re curious: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-56720589

Jones, A. (2010). Thinking About Globalization. In Globalization: Key Thinkers (pp. 1–18). Polity Press.

Reyes, G. (2001). Four Main Theories of Development: Modernization, Dependency, World-System, and Globalization. Revista Crítica de Ciencias Sociales Y Jurídicas, 4(2), 1016. Nómadas.