A Grand Theory

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A Grand Theory
Modernization theory is a rationalization and explanation of the processes of change from traditional or underdeveloped societies to modern societies. Modernization theory has been one of the main standpoints in the sociology of national underdevelopment and expansion since the 1950s. Several considerations have been taken on the ways in which previous and present pre-modern societies become westernized through methods of economic development and transformation in political, cultural, and social compositions and dynamics. Modernization theory is topic of criticism deriving from free-market ideologies and socialists, dependency theorists, globalization theorists, and world-systems theorists among others. Modernization theory not only stresses on the development of transformation but also the reactions to that transformation. It also emphasizes on the internal dynamics while referring to cultural and social configurations and the acclimatization of innovative technological advancements. The theory originated from the thoughts of Max Weber, a German sociologist; his ideas gave the foundation for the modernization model created by Talcott Parsons, Harvard sociologist.
Some chief characteristics of the theory as defined by Parsons was that the theory created the value of seeing societies as incorporated systems in which economic, social, and political areas are unified. This guaranteed that a modification in one section would call for adjustments and alterations in the others and bring about the interdependence of segments, forming a whole, bound jointly in a manner that transformation and movement cannot happen in an uncontrollable or unintended way, but are the results of multifaceted relations resulting in processes.

Secondly, is that it seemed to permit for a worldwide and comparative study since all individuals were assumed to have the same set of necessities that social structure must function to accomplish. From this, modern societies, according to the author, could be in a place to uphold social classification regardless of changes in the environment, population, or technology. This is because they formed a number of exceedingly specialized organizations, created a more comprehensive polity, made better use of natural resources, and dignified their vital value system in legal codes that could be intentionally and gradually adapted (Latham 33).
For several people, the notion of modernization hence offered a logical structure through which a whole process of social transformation, encircling both the history of the West and the future of the developing world, might be valued. It offered a model into which solid, empirical data seemed to fit, and it structured the tasks for further study by depicting various branches of the field toward a universal, overarching research program. With its focus on an integrated system of change and its emphasis on a universal set of social functions and structures, modernization theory also assured to grant a new form of comparative, temporal study. As a “grand theory,” modernization seemed to elucidate a compound and changing the intellectual landscape. A structure of extensive change, it included economic, social, and political factors. Because it connected particular structures with needed functions, it assured social scientists the capability to contrast various societies across the boundaries of space and time. As a global process, it also made the intricate disparities of particular cultures seem far less imperative than the universal factors believed to connect them. This theory has also affected how history is studied today. Students and researchers have been outfitted with a new set of theoretical apparatus that assist them to recognize the fundamental changes that occurred after 1945. We now have the power to define the global pattern of change, explain its sources, and shape the future of the world because of the modernization theory.
Work Cited
Latham, Michael E. The right kind of revolution: Modernization, development, and US foreign policy from the Cold War to the present. Cornell University Press, 2010.