The Interface Between Dependency And Underdevelopment In The States.

Date: 24-05-2021 11:45 am (2 years ago) | Author: Divine Nwachukwu
- at 24-05-2021 11:45 AM (2 years ago)
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The development of any society is measured by the extent of influence and controls the people have on nature and ability to channel their natural resources. This is determined by the level of effectiveness and efficiency of the instruments of labour. In other words, without instruments of labour man - physical, intellectual and psychological assets cannot help him (Islam and Kazulnko, 2008). Nigeria, among the third world countries went through almost a century of colonial experience from 1861-1960, when she got her political independence. Since independence, Nigeria has been struggling in the course of political instability, economic and socio-cultural imbalances. And like other third world countries, the nation has been hugely confronted with underdevelopment which emanated from dominant exploitative character of the western economies on which those of the third world depend. The gap in income inequalities has widened, and perceptions of group marginalization have intensified youth's anger arising from unemployment and poverty, finds expression often in the violent ethno-religious conflicts, or in violent protests and criminal activities such as armed robbery, extortion and fraud. The atmosphere becomes perpetually tensed, laborious, charged, over-heated and characterized by violence (insurgency & counter-insurgency). More so, the nation's economy is suffering enormously owing to her main dependence on petroleum without economic diversification. "Dependency relates to a situation in which the economy of certain countries is conditioned by the development and expansion of the other to which the former is subjected’’ (Santos 2013). The relation of inter-dependence between two or more economies in a world trade terms, assumes the form of dependence when some countries (the dominant ones like the USA, Britain, Germany and France) can expand and be self-sustaining; while other countries (the dependent ones like Nigeria, Rwanda, Bolivia, Thailand and India) can do this only as a reflection of expansion which can have either a negative or positive effect on their immediate development". From the definition above, dependency, according to Santos is both bilateral and multilateral. It also explains or entails the existence of foreign and domestic inter-dependence i.e. two countries together with reasons to relate, again the relation leads to some conditioning effects on development policies of decision makers in a dependent society, and lastly, with this relationship inherently unequal being, are of the dominance and dependence (Santos, 2013). The basic assumption is that there is a dialectical relationship between development and underdevelopment. (Frank, 2010) "Development and underdevelopment are two different sides of a universal historical process’’. He asserts that what causes underdevelopment in third world is as a result of what brought about development in Europe and America". This dependency concerns the centre which refers to the technologically advanced countries of the world and the periphery refers to the third world countries. It should be noted that the centre has a centre which refers to the urban areas of the world and the periphery which refers to the rural areas of the world. The periphery (third world countries) also has both the centre and the periphery. This simply refers to the "centre of the periphery and the periphery of the periphery". Centre of the periphery refers to the urban centre of the developing countries like Nigeria, while the periphery of the periphery refers to the rural areas of the developing country. This is a relationship where the centres of the developed countries dictate the terms of their co-existence economically, socially and politically. There is an exploitative and vertical relationship between the centre and the centre of the periphery which is subordinate to the centre. In this, the centre is assigned the role of manufacturing industrial products while the periphery produces primary goods-raw materials and needed resources; the periphery now depends on the centre for her economic survival and consumption of the already made products (foreign products). Succinctly put, this is an unequal relationship between the countries provided to be already at an advantage the (capitalists) and disadvantaged countries (third world countries like Nigeria) as a result of economic exploitation.

EDITOR'S SOURCE: Undergraduate Project Works


Posted: at 24-05-2021 11:45 AM (2 years ago) | Upcoming