Modernization theory served as an ideological counter to revolutionary upheaval
Evidence
Almost without exception, the Third World first seemed to American policymakers to be “underdeveloped,” in the grip of unnecessarily archaic and static “traditional” modes of life, dangerously prone to communist subversion and internal stagnation. For the Third World “modernization” became the order of the day, so far as the United States was concerned. And, as has been suggested by James Peck, “modernization theory was the ideological answer to a world of increasing revolutionary upheaval and continued reaction among traditional political elites.” Huge sums were poured into Africa and Asia with the aim of stopping communism, promoting United States trade, and, above all, developing a cadre of native allies whose express raison d’être seemed to be the transformation of backward countries into mini-Americas. — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 152
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines modernization theory’s role and ideological function in US Cold War policy.
Related
- Modernization theory framed imperial intervention as benevolent external uplift (similarity 0.84)
- Modernization theory justified empire by framing other societies as needing outside intervention (similarity 0.83)
- Postwar US empire was legitimated through modernization theory and Orientalism (similarity 0.81)
- Modernization is distinct from Westernization and does not create a universal civilization (similarity 0.79)
- US economic imperialism generated modernization theory rooted in racist assumptions about Muslims (similarity 0.79)
- Modernization theory treated Islam as a timeless childish civilization needing rescue. (similarity 0.78)
- Modernization theory located blockage to progress inside non-Western societies (similarity 0.78)