Modernization theory located blockage to progress inside non-Western societies

Evidence

The traditional theory of economic development (modernisation theory) suggested that nations begin as undeveloped, primitive societies, and through industrialisation and development of governance institutions, transcend to developed status. A middle class forms as incomes grow and an export-orientation is then encouraged. — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 11 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Modernization theory pathologized non-Western societies as internally deficient — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 248; Modernization theory attributed underdevelopment to internal cultural deficits in the colonized — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 248; The West-civilizes-the-Eastern-despot claim chains climate theory through Orientalism to modernization theory (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Modernization theory blamed underdevelopment on internal cultural flaws within societies #corroborates (0.95)
• Modernisation theory sees development as linear industrial progression from primitive to developed #corroborates (0.85) — Fanny Pigeaud_ Ndongo Samba Sylla, Africa’s Last Colonial Currency, 11
• Culture-clash arguments foreclose the possibility of non-Western progress #expands (0.80)
• Non-European reform outcomes can index distinct traditions rather than failed modernization #complicates (0.80) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 1038
• Modernization theory justified empire by framing other societies as needing outside intervention #expands (0.80)
• Several non-Western societies modernized without adopting Western culture #qualifies (0.75)
• Modernization need not require Westernization #contradicts (0.75)