Notes

Modernization theory- frames global stratification as a function of technological and cultural differences between nations.
modernization/industrialization didn't take place everywhere because technology clashes with tradition, a barrier to growth.
Europe industrialized easier because hardworking citizens were admired and made you more wealthy, industrialization makes working harder, easier.
Rostow- modernization took place in four stages
1) Traditional Stage- societies that are structured around small, local communities with production typically getting done in family settings; most have limited resources, so they spend most of their time on food production; they have strict social structures (like Feudal Europe).
2) Take-off Stage- people begin to use their individual talents to produce things beyond the necessities, and this innovation creates new markets for trade; individualism takes hold and social classes are based on material wealth.
3) Drive to Technological Maturity- Technological growth of the earlier periods begins to bear fruit, in the form of population growth, reductions in absolute poverty levels, and more diverse job opportunities; people often push for change in this stage.
4) High Mass Consumption- when your country is big enough that production becomes more about wants than needs; these places put in social support systems so everyone has access to basic necessities, leaving more opportunities for wants.
This points out that even as technology has improved throughout the world, a lot of countries have been left behind.
The view on modernization is more Eurocentric and disregards the advantages Europe and America had, like slaves and such.
Economic progress also includes environmental damage by industrialization and exploitation of cheap/free labor.
Critics of this theory see it as "blaming the victim" by blaming poor countries for "not being willing to accept change", which then involves dependency theory--

Dependency Theory- focuses on how poor countries have been wronged by richer nations.
Rich nations became rich at the expense of another country being poor.
Started with colonialism- which came with the exploitation of both natural and human resources.
As the slave trade died down, the point of colonialism came to be less about human resources and more about natural resources.
Wallerstein described high-income nations as the "core" of the world economy; the manufacturing base of the planet.
Poor nations tend to have few resources to export to rich countries, but corporations can buy these raw materials cheaply and then process and sell them in richer nations, therefore the profits bypass the poor nations.
The poor countries also tend to lack industrialism due to the prior theory, which means they have to import expensive manufactured goods from the richer nations, which keeps them poor/in debt to the richer nations. This makes it even harder for them to see economic growth.
Under the Dependency Theory, the problem is not that there isn't enough global wealth, it's that we don't distribute it well.
People argue that the world economy isn't a 'zero-sum theory'- one country getting richer doesn't mean another country becomes poor.
According to these critics, innovation and technological growth can spill over to other countries and benefit everyone, not just the rich; and colonialism isn't the best reason on its own to explain today's economic disparities.
This theory also points the finger at the capitalist market system as the sole cause of stratification, ignoring the role of culture and political regimes in impoverished countries.
No solution to this problem comes out of this theory either, they mostly just urge poor nations to disconnect with richer nations to avoid manipulation, but it's pretty impossible.