

































IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING 

THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT  

Mohammed A. N. A. Imam (Ph.D.)  

Department of Sociology, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria 

Abstract 

The aim of this paper is to conceptualize development and under development and discuss them 
based on the theories of development and their perspectives. The paper argued that development 
is a multi dimensional concept conceived as any significant change that involves economic, 
socio-cultural, political and even environmental aspects of a country. Issues of gender and 
economic wellbeing and equality, political inclusion or participation, social justice, and peace 
and stability are all important when it comes to the subject of development. Under development, 
on the other hand, is the antithesis of development represented with backward indicators, such as 
low per capita income/GDP, low level of literacy, and low level of technology, weak economic 
and political institutions, political instability and fragile statehood. The terms have been 
evaluated using modernization and dependency theories. The former theories see development as 
synonymous with the western models. The latter theories argued that the backwardness of the 
underdeveloped countries is an outcome global economic inequality and exploitation. In view of 
this, the paper concludes that development and underdevelopment are two sides of the same coin. 

Keywords: Dependency Theories; Development; Modernization Theory; Third World Theories; 

Under development. 

1.0 Introduction 

Development and underdevelopment are two sides of the same coin. During the period following 

the First World War a massive scalestruggle for national liberation began to spread widely 

among the colonialand semi-colonial areas. In a number of places, these nationalist struggles led 

to the emergence of independent political units during theinterwar period. For the most part, 

however, the colonial areas havebeen decolonized since the Second World War; becoming 

Independent countrieslargely on the basis of their colonial heritage –without regardto ethnicity, 

language, or other aspects of cultural homogeneity (Kim, 1975). 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 35



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

Since the Second World War, the newly Independent countries haveconsciously tried to 

construct some basis for national autonomy and eliminatethe legacy of imperialist domination. 

While some of these newstates took to the path of socialist reconstruction, others have been 

shapingtheir economies and social structures on the basis of “free market economies”. These 

newly independent countries are described popularly as the “Third World” (Horowitz, 1966; 

Worsley, 1964, as cited in Kim, 1975: 1), or simply as the “new states” (Shils, 1966). They are 

also characterized as “underdeveloped countries” and have been recently, in a more diplomatic 

sense, called “developing countries” or “less developed countries” (Myrdal, 1968:I, as cited in 

Kim, 1975: 1).  

According to W. W. Rostow’s thesis, in hiswidely read book The Stages of Economic 

Growth,economic underdevelopmentis only a stage that nations pass through on their way to 

becoming rich.But the data we have at hand tell a different story.The income gap between rich 

and poor countries has grown dramaticallysince World War II and shows few signs of shrinking 

(Seligson, 2014).For this period, then, there is clear evidence to support the oldadage that “the 

rich get richer.” It is not true, however, that the poor get poorer,not literally anyway, but this 

would be a perverse way of looking at the situation (Seligson, 2014). Whatever the case, there is 

the division of the world countries into developed and underdeveloped.   

Kim (1975) described these underdeveloped countries with certain characteristics 

whichdistinguish them from developed countries. These characteristics, asdescribed by a number 

of scholars, are: (1) technologically having a predominanceof human and animal power over 

Inanimate power (such as steampower, electricity, or other sources) as a means of production; (2) 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 36



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

economically having low levels of labor productivity and per capitaIncome, a predominance of 

the primary sector over the manufacturingsector and relatively low development of organized 

large-scale machinebased industry; (3) ecologically having a low level of urbanization; (4) socio-

demographically having low levels of living standard for the mass ofpeople as is manifested in 

specific deficiencies (insufficient food-intake,bad housing conditions. Inadequate public and 

private provisions forhygiene and medical care, and inefficient educational and cultural 

facilities,massive Illiteracy, low level of health and nutrition, and rapidpopulation growth due to 

high fertility rates); (5)socio-culturally and psychologically, there is a prevalence of low levels 

ofwork discipline, a lack of punctuality and orderliness, superstitious beliefs and irrational 

attitudes, and fatalism (Kim, 1975). 

In view of this background, this paper will conceptualizedevelopment and underdevelopment and 

discuss them based on the theories of development and its perspective. 

2.0 Development and Underdevelopment 

2.1 The Concept of Development: Development is a concept that went through various 

interpretations over time. According to Rodney (1972: 9), development refers to expansion of the 

economic capacity of a country and of the state of society andits institutions as whole. In simple 

terms, development signifies progress in human well-being, used to be equated with economic 

growth, but it is now widely acknowledged that this is a very inadequate characterisation. As 

long noted, average per capita incomes are one important means to achieve such progress, but 

not the only one.Not only does average income fail to capture distribution across households, but 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 37



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

it also may not be a good indicator of many important aspects of human well-being, such as 

people’s health, education or their security (Stewart, as cited in Jamri, 2017). 

One of the earliest development indices that provide alternative to the above definition is the 

PQLI (Physical Quality of Life Index). Sen has suggested that the development objective should 

be the enhancement of people’s capabilities, or the opportunities open to people of being and 

doing a variety of things. UNDP’s Human Development Report defined the objective succinctly 

as enlarging people’s choices in a way which enables them to lead longer, healthier and fuller 

lives (Stewart, as cited in Jamri, 2017). The UNDP developed the concept of ‘human security’ to 

encompass not just the achievement of minimal levels of material needs, but also the absence of 

severe threats to them of an economic or political kind: ‘Job security, income security, health 

security, environmental security, security from crime – these are the emerging concerns of 

security all over the world’ (Stewart, as cited in Jamri, 2017). 

In a seminar paper, Dudley Seers (as cited in Augustine, 2018: 1) conceives of development as 

notonly involving economic growth but also conditions in which people ina country have 

adequate food, jobs and the income inequality among them is greatly reduced. According to 

Seers, the questions to askabout a country’s development are threefold: 

• What has been happening to poverty? 

• What has been happening to inequality? 

• What has been happening to unemployment? 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 38



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

Seers noted that if these three aspects: poverty, unemployment and inequality have witnessed 

significant decline, then there had beenfundamental development for the country involved. In a 

post-thesisreview eight years later in 1977, Seers asserted that he had left anessential element 

which must now be added: ‘self-reliance’ (Augustine, 2018: 1). In a nutshell, development is any 

significant change that involves economic, socio-cultural, political and even environmental 

aspects of a country. Issues of gender and economic well being and equality, political inclusion 

or participation, social justice, and peace and stability are all important when it comes to the 

topic of development.  

In brief, Mukhtar&Abdullahi (2022) mentioned that development is a concept that goes through 

gradual process of expansion over time. In simple terms, development signifies progress in 

human wellbeing,used to be equated with economic growth, but it is now widely acknowledged 

thatthis is a very inadequate characterization. As long noted, average per capita incomes are 

oneimportant means to achieve such progress, but not the only one. Not only does 

averageincome fail to capture distribution across households, but it also may not be a good 

indicatorof many important aspects of human well-being, such as people’s health, education or 

theirsecurity. 

2.2 The Concept of Under-Development:  Underdevelopment, according to Rodney (1972), isa 

term only meaningful in comparison to levels of development;when one group appears to 

become wealthier, it happens with a contrasting outcome. Anothercrucial component of 

underdevelopment is a dimension of exploitation of one country byanother (p 21).Acheoah 

(2018) conceptualizes underdevelopment as the antithesis ofdevelopment manifestly in backward 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 39



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

indicators: low per capitaincome/GDP; the preponderance of rural and agricultural 

populations;low literacy levels; the predominance of inferior technology; weakeconomic and 

political institution; underdeveloped political culture;the prevalence of a ruling class that stresses 

and rationalizes values thatare incompatible with socio-economic and political development as 

well as fragile statehood (Acheoah, 2018). 

Characteristics of underdevelopment include extremepoverty; disparity in delivery of social 

services includingformalized education systems, medical facilities, and safedrinking water; poor 

or lacking infrastructure and governancecapacity; and an environment of physical insecurity.All 

of these factors can collectively lead to a poverty trap, inwhich poverty is widespread, cyclical, 

and intractable. Thecombination of these challenges contributes to a vicious circleof 

underdevelopment and fragility, which can overwhelma state’s operational capacity to deliver 

services and hinderlong-term economic growth (International Peace Institute, 2009). 

Over the past two decades, global economic integration andgrowth have contributed to poverty 

alleviation and higherliving standards around the world. Trade, capital flows,foreign aid, 

technological improvements, and idea-sharingacross international borders have enhanced 

humandevelopment and economic prospects in many developingcountries. Yet, too many 

countries continue to suffer fromwidespread poverty and underdevelopment. Progress 

towardsreaching the globally endorsed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has been 

uneven. With notable exceptionslike China, most countries are predicted to fall short ofmeeting 

most MDGs by the target date of 2015, withfragile states lagging furthest behind.At the regional 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 40



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

level,sub-Saharan Africa is behind on all eight goals, while SouthAsia is struggling to meet the 

MDGs that concern humandevelopment (International Peace Institute, 2009). 

In a nutshell, the basic assumption is that there is a dialectical relationship between development 

andunderdevelopment. (Frank, 1975: 10) "Development and underdevelopment are twodifferent 

sides of a universal historical process’’. He asserts that what causes underdevelopmentin third 

world is as a result of what brought about development in Europe and America" Frank, as cited 

in Alaye, 2019). 

3.0 Theories of Development 

A litany of theories and Perspectives have been propounded andformulated to explain the factors 

behind the development of some regionsand the underdevelopment of other regions and proffer 

solutions to addressing the underdevelopment crisisin Third world Countriesfor which virtually 

all Sub-Saharan Africa fall into (Augustine, 2018). These theories include Modernization 

Theory, the Dependency school, the ThirdWorld Analysis and the Globalization Perspectives 

(Augustine, 2018). For the purpose of this paper, the theories of modernization, the third world 

analysis and the dependency perspectives will be reviewed. 

3.1 Modernization Theory 

Modernization theory presentsthe Western models of economic development as the quickest 

andsurest way of taking underdeveloped countries out of theirunderdevelopment crisis. Its 

postulations interpose the Westernsocieties as a ‘mirror’ reflecting before the underdeveloped 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 41



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

societies afuture they should aspire (Augustine, 2018: 2).Modernization Theory is amongst the 

earliest theories of development and remedies to underdevelopment. The theory emerged as a 

response to growing concern on the subject of development. That is why the origin of 

modernization theories is usually traced to the aftermath of the Second World War (Rapley, 

2007), yet Harrison (2005) believed that, the beginning of modernization theory can be traced to 

antiquity, when the notion of evolution was first used with reference to human society, however, 

it was not until the eighteenth century that the evolution of societies was studied in a systematic 

way (Jamri, 2017).  

Intense concern about the subject of development around the world is the main reason why the 

modernization represents the buzzword of the global agenda from the period immediately 

following WorldWar II. The post-World War II was theperiod in which Western world began to 

be confronted with the challenge of rebuildingcountries, especially those that had been shattered 

by war. To successfully face this challenge, international institutions, such as theInternational 

Bank for Reconstruction and Development, later called World Bank, were established to 

accomplish the objectives of industrializing backward or less developed and war stricken 

countries (Jamri, 2017). 

3.2 Third World and Dependency Theories 

This section covers the contributions of scholars who havesentiments of the Third World and 

underdeveloped societies largely ofthe Latin American origin who emerged as a radical and 

offeredcounter perspectives to the Modernization School. A leading exponentof this School of 

Thought was Raul Prebisch who enquired into thedialectical growth in wealth between the 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 42



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

developed and under-developed, AndreGunder Frank, Walter Rodney, Immanuel Wallenstein 

and Samir Amin.They argued that the Less Developed Countries (LDCs) coveringSub-Saharan 

Africa and elsewhere in Asia and Latin America did notwitness underdevelopment until their 

coming into contact with theWestern Societies (Slave trade and Colonialism) this altered 

theirdevelopment trajectory in their course of nation building, thus, theybegan to experience 

arrested development (Augustine, 2018).  

They argued thatincorporation of third world economies into the international capitalistsystem 

orchestrated a structure of inequality skewed disproportionally against the Third world (Frank, 

1981).They argued that the poor nations provide the resources, cheaplabor and consumer markets 

for the wealthy nations which ensured thedevelopment of the developed nations. The trajectory 

of this relationsis that development becomes two sides of the same coin; one sidedevelops, while 

the other under develops.Challenging the Linear model of Modernization TheoristsImmanuel 

Wallenstein in his World System Theory argued that notevery nation can develop 

simultaneously. The World System theoryargues that the development of underdevelopment is a 

simultaneousphenomenon in a character of one regional development and surplusesproduces it’s 

under development and deficit counterparts elsewhere inanother region (Augustine, 2018). 

The Guyanese Marxist historian Walter Rodney with reference to his magnum opus “How 

Europe Underdeveloped Africa”, nostalgically asserted that thedecisiveness of the period of 

colonialism and its negative impacts onAfrica sprang from the fact that Africa lost power -

economic andpolitical (Rodney, 1972).Rodney (1972)argued that when one society is forced to 

relinquish power entirelyto another society that in itself is a form of underdevelopment.Prebisch 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 43



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

considering the contradiction in the trade relationsbetween developed and underdeveloped 

nations began to question thenotion that countries can benefit equally and that mutual 

profitabilityin trade between developed and developing nations. Examining therelationship from 

the standpoint of balance of payment rather thanresource allocation, he asserted that there is a 

tendency for the terms oftrade to shift against agricultural product and its impact on balance 

ofpayment far outweighs its benefits with respect to the efficient allocation of resources 

(Thomas, 1994).Using this argument as a parameter, Prebisch formulated a numberof hypotheses 

which came to be known as the ‘Prebisch Doctrine’ (Thomas, 1994). 

Inspired by the world economic crisis of the 1930s and hisexperience as ECOSOC for Latin 

America and UNCTAD, Prebischbecame concerned with two distinct but interrelated issues: 

• The first deals with the transfer of the benefits of trade from thedeveloping to the developed 

countries because of the adverse termsof trade being experienced by the former; 

• The second relates to the balance of payment effect of differencesin the elasticity of demand for 

agricultural and mineral productsvis-à-vis secondary products and the fluctuating earnings 

andforeign exchange shortages it induces for developing countries. 

Advancing the arguments, Prebisch declared that: 

International division of labor is governed by an asymmetry inwhich 
developed nations dominate the dynamic industries fromthe center while the 
developing countries are impoverishedbecause their exports of agricultural 
and mineral raw materialsfrom the periphery by extension while these produce 
of developingcountries are bought at under quoted prices, those of 
developedcountries of the center are sold and bought at over quoted 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 44



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

pricesthereby allowing the latter to take advantage of the differences (Quoted 
in Augustine, 2018: 3). 

According to Prebisch, the phenomenon is cyclical in character.Corroborating Prebisch, notes 

that not only is the system sustainedby unequal levels of technological acquisition, but also, 

progress andthe distribution of the benefits accruing from science and technology (Augustine, 

2018: ). The development of the means of production determines of thestate and patterns of 

development experienced by any society. 

4.0 Conclusion 

The paper has traced the evolutionof the concepts of development and underdevelopment as two 

sides of the same coin.  The key terms: development and underdevelopment have been 

conceptualized and to address the question, the definitions of both terms (development and 

underdevelopment) was accompanied with explanations based on the theories of development 

and their perspectives. These theories are modernization, on the one hand, and third world and 

dependency theories, on the other hand.  The modernization theory argued that the Western 

models of economic development are the ideal models forthe development of underdeveloped 

countries. Third world theories on the other hand, argued thatincorporation of third world 

economies into the international capitalistsystem has created a structure of inequality, 

obviouslyin favor of the developed countries and against the economic prospects of the Third 

world. Third world theorist argued that the poor nations provide the resources, cheaplabor and 

consumer markets for the wealthy nations which ensured thedevelopment of the developed 

nations. The trajectory of this relations has substantiated the claim of this paper that development 

is two sides of the same coin; one sidedevelops, while the other under develops. 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 45



IJO- INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH  

 ( ISSN 2811-2466 )                                                                          Mohammed A. N. A. Imam * 

https://ijojournals.com/                                        Volume 07 || Issue 05 || May, 2024 || 

EXAMINING DEVELOPMENT AND UNDER DEVELOPMENT:  CONTRASTING THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT 

 

References 

Acheoah, A. O. (2018).The Crisis of Underdevelopment in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Multi-
 Dimensional Perspective. Department of PoliticalScience, University of Lagos, Akoka, 
 Nigeria. 

Alaye, (2019).Dependency and underdevelopment of Nigerian economy.Global Journal of 
 Politics and Law Research,7(1): 9-28 

Augustine, A. O. (2018). The Crisis of Underdevelopment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Multi-
 dimensionalPerspectives. Journal of Political Sciences & Public Affairs, 6 (4): 1-9. 

Frank, A. G. (1981).Crisis in the Third World.Heinemenn EducationalBooks, Holmes Etmeler. 

Harrison, D. (2005). The Sociology of modernization and development. London:  Routledge. 

International Peace Institute.(2009).Underdevelopment, Resource Scarcity, and Environmental 
 Degradation. IPI Blue Paper No. 1 www.ipinst.org . 

Jamri, B., J. (2017). Modernization perspective: A review of Nigerian development. 
 Department of Sociology, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Yobe State 

Kim, S. (1975). Reconsideration of underdevelopment andproblems of development: an 
 application of analternative model of change to the Third Worldcountries. Retrospective 
 Theses and Dissertations.5487.https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/5487. 

Mukhtar, J. I.&Abdullahi, A. S. (2022).Security-Development Nexus: AReview of Nigeria’s 

Security Challenges.Contemporary Sociological Issues,2 (1):18-39. 

Rapley, J. (2006).  Understanding development: Theory and practice in the third world (Third 
 edition). Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers. 

Seligson, M. A. (2014). “The Dual Gaps: An Overviewof Theory and Research”. In Mitchell A.

 Seligson& John T. Passé-Smith (eds.) Development and underdevelopment: the Political

 Economy of  Global Inequality. USA. 

Thomas, L. J. (1994). Neoclassical development theory and the Prebischdoctrine: A synthesis. 
 The American Economist 38: 75-81. 

 

 

IJO JOURNALS

Volume 07 | Issue 05 | May 2024 | https://ijojournals.com/index.php/ssh/index 46

http://www.ipinst.org/
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/5487

