Thursday, December 11, 2008

Modernisation and Development

Back in the bad old days, development and modernisation were seen as pretty much synonymous. Becoming developed meant, well, becoming more like the West. These days the two ideas have detached themselves and come to mean different things. To some people, anyway.

One of the interesting things about reading a book like "The Sociology of Modernisation and Development" (by David Harrison) is realising just how wide the gap between economics and other social sciences really is. Sure, economists like Rostow were involved in modernisation theory and economists associated with the Economic Commission to Latin America (ECLA) with dependency theory, the two early schools of thought in development theory. But do economists even realise this?

Economics seems by far the most ahistorical of the social sciences. Sociologists seem to always be looking over their shoulders, seeing where they've come from to work out where they might be going. Trying to read a sociology book or article without some exposure to the background is, in a phrase, not so fun.

Economics is quite different. When taught, economic theory is presented as immutable: it all started with Adam Smith and now is sitting on your table. Homo economicus (rational as he is) has always existed and always will. He determines the course of history and will chart the waters of the future. (If this paragraph seems gender-biased, you must be from one of the softer social sciences.)

While economic reasoning and rationality certainly are important, a neglect of the historical aspect can be dangerous. Sociologists seem far less likely to observe something twice. They know what previous theorists have said, what debates and ground have been covered and don't need to revisit the territory. Economists sometimes seem to run in circles, repeating the same mistakes, particularly in development, ad nauseum.

Take for example, the view of development as "being more like the West". Isn't that just what the Washington Consensus (and post-Washington Consensus) was all about? "This is how the West got rich and this is how everyone else will do it". Well, the West isn't looking so hot right now so perhaps that particular brand of advice will be meted out in smaller doses. But if the US and EU get back on their gargantuan feet anytime soon, it may not be long till its more of the same. Developing countries may want to take advantage of the window while it's still open.