IGNOU MSO-003 Assignment Answers 2025: : Sociology of Development Solved Part 5

 

Question 9: Describe dependency theory and delineate its salient features.

Answer: Dependency Theory is a significant sociological and economic framework that emerged in the late 1950s and 1960s as a critique of modernization theory. It explains global inequality and underdevelopment not as a result of internal deficiencies within developing nations but as a consequence of their historical and structural dependence on developed nations.

The theory primarily focuses on the relationship between the Global North (developed countries) and the Global South (developing or underdeveloped countries). It argues that the prosperity of rich nations is directly linked to the poverty of poor nations through an exploitative world economic system. In other words, the development of some countries is made possible by the underdevelopment of others.

This theory has roots in the Marxist tradition, emphasizing the structural nature of inequality in the global capitalist system. Scholars like Andre Gunder Frank, Raúl Prebisch, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, and Immanuel Wallerstein played a key role in developing dependency theory. It became one of the most influential perspectives in sociology, political science, and development studies during the 20th century.

Historical Background

Dependency theory emerged as a response to modernization theory, which suggested that all societies progress through similar stages of economic growth—from traditional to modern industrial societies (as proposed by W.W. Rostow). Modernization theorists argued that developing nations were “backward” because they had not adopted Western values, technologies, and institutions.

However, dependency theorists rejected this idea. They argued that underdevelopment is not a stage before development, but rather a result of historical exploitation—particularly through colonialism, imperialism, and global capitalism. Latin American scholars, particularly from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), first articulated this critique when they noticed that global trade relations kept their economies dependent on Western powers.

Core Assumptions of Dependency Theory

1. The World is Divided into Two Interdependent Zones:
   • The core (or center) comprises industrialized, wealthy countries such as the United States, Western Europe, and Japan.
   • The periphery includes developing countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America that supply raw materials, labor, and agricultural goods to the core.
     The relationship between these zones is unequal and exploitative.
2. Underdevelopment is a Structural Condition:
   Dependency theorists argue that underdevelopment is not a natural or original state but is created by the historical process of exploitation. The economic systems of the core and periphery are linked in such a way that the development of one (the core) perpetuates the underdevelopment of the other (the periphery).
3. Unequal Exchange and Exploitation:
   The global capitalist system ensures that peripheral countries export low-value primary goods (like minerals, agricultural products, and raw materials) while importing high-value manufactured goods from the core. This creates an unequal exchange, where wealth continually flows from the periphery to the core.
4. External Dependence:
   Peripheral countries are dependent on core nations for technology, capital, and markets. This dependence prevents them from developing autonomous economies or diverse industrial bases. Consequently, they remain economically vulnerable to fluctuations in global demand and prices.
5. The Role of Elites and Internal Class Structure:
   Dependency theory also recognizes that within developing nations, domestic elites or ruling classes often align with foreign interests. These elites benefit from dependency relationships, maintaining the status quo rather than promoting genuine national development. Sociologist Andre Gunder Frank called this a “metropolis-satellite relationship,” where local elites act as satellites to global metropolises.
6. Historical and Colonial Roots:
   Dependency theorists highlight how colonialism established a global economic order that extracted resources from colonies and funneled profits to European powers. Even after political independence, many developing nations remained economically subordinate—a condition known as neo-colonialism.

Salient Features of Dependency Theory

1. Historical Materialism:
   Rooted in Marxist analysis, the theory interprets global inequality through the lens of class conflict and economic exploitation at the international level.
2. Core–Periphery Model:
   The central analytical tool of dependency theory is the core-periphery relationship, which explains how wealth and power are concentrated in the core while poverty and subordination persist in the periphery.
3. Critique of Modernization Theory:
   Dependency theory rejects the notion that underdeveloped countries simply need to “modernize” to catch up with the West. Instead, it argues that the very process of Western development created global underdevelopment.
4. Focus on Structural Constraints:
   It emphasizes structural barriers—such as unfair trade, global monopolies, and dependency on foreign investment—that prevent the periphery from achieving economic independence.
5. Advocacy for Self-Reliant Development:
   Dependency theorists advocate for strategies like import substitution industrialization (ISI), economic diversification, and reduced reliance on foreign capital. They argue that developing nations must pursue autonomous and inward-looking development policies to break dependency chains.
6. Global Capitalism as a Hierarchical System:
   The world economy operates as a hierarchical system where the core nations dominate through multinational corporations, trade policies, and financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank.
7. Integration of Sociology and Economics:
   Dependency theory combines sociological perspectives on power, class, and inequality with economic analysis of trade and production, making it an interdisciplinary framework.

Criticisms of Dependency Theory

While dependency theory provided a powerful critique of global inequality, it has also faced criticism:

• Overemphasis on External Factors: Critics argue that the theory neglects internal social, political, and cultural factors that contribute to underdevelopment.
• Economic Determinism: It sometimes portrays developing countries as passive victims rather than active agents capable of change.
• Empirical Challenges: Some countries—like South Korea, Singapore, and China—have achieved rapid development despite being part of the periphery, challenging the universality of dependency assumptions.
• Neglect of Globalization: Modern critics argue that globalization has reshaped dependency patterns in more complex ways, involving transnational networks and digital economies.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Dependency Theory remains one of the most influential sociological frameworks for understanding global inequality and the persistence of underdevelopment. It shifted the focus from blaming poor nations for their poverty to analyzing the structural injustices of the global capitalist system.

By emphasizing the exploitative relationships between core and periphery, dependency theory highlights how economic, political, and cultural domination shape the social realities of the developing world. Though it has evolved over time—with later theorists incorporating elements of globalization and world-systems analysis—its central message endures: development and underdevelopment are two sides of the same coin in an unequal global order.

From a sociological standpoint, dependency theory invites us to critically examine power, exploitation, and inequality on a global scale, urging the need for a more just and self-reliant path to development.

 

Question 10: Discuss the role people science movement in developmental practices in India.

Answer: The People’s Science Movement (PSM) in India represents one of the most significant civil society initiatives that link science, technology, and social development with the empowerment of the masses. From a sociological perspective, it reflects how scientific knowledge, when democratized and made socially relevant, can become a powerful tool for social change, equity, and development.

The People’s Science Movement emerged in response to the realization that science and technology were often controlled by elites and used for industrial and military purposes rather than for addressing the real needs of common people, such as health, education, environment, and sustainable livelihoods. The movement sought to bridge this gap by taking science to the people, promoting scientific temper, and making development participatory and people-centered.

Historical Background

The roots of the People’s Science Movement in India can be traced back to the post-independence period, when leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru emphasized the role of scientific temper in nation-building. Nehru believed that science should be used to overcome poverty, ignorance, and superstition. However, by the 1970s and 1980s, it became evident that mainstream development and scientific policies were largely top-down, benefiting urban elites while neglecting rural and marginalized communities.

This led to the rise of voluntary groups, scientists, and activists who believed that science should serve social justice and development. The movement gained momentum in the late 1970s through the formation of organizations like the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP), which later inspired similar initiatives across India.

By the 1980s, these groups came together under the umbrella of the All India People’s Science Network (AIPSN), coordinating hundreds of local organizations working in areas such as literacy, health, energy, and environment. The People’s Science Movement thus became an organized effort to link scientific knowledge with grassroots activism.

Objectives of the People’s Science Movement

The PSM aims to:

1. Promote scientific temper and rational thinking among people, countering superstition and blind faith.
2. Democratize science and technology, making them accessible to the poor and marginalized.
3. Integrate science with social development, ensuring that it serves human welfare rather than profit or power.
4. Encourage community participation in development planning and implementation.
5. Challenge inequities in education, health, and environmental policies by using science as a tool for empowerment.

In this sense, PSM represents a sociological synthesis of knowledge and activism—an attempt to align scientific progress with the values of equality, justice, and sustainability.

Key Areas of Intervention

1. Science Popularization and Literacy

One of the earliest and most visible contributions of the PSM was the mass literacy campaigns it organized in several states. For example, the KSSP in Kerala launched the Total Literacy Campaign in the late 1980s, which became a model for the national National Literacy Mission (1988). The movement used folk media, street plays, and local volunteers to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic, while also spreading messages about health, sanitation, and women’s rights.

This effort demonstrated how scientific methods of communication and community mobilization could transform education into a participatory social movement.

2. Health and Medicine

PSM groups have been deeply involved in promoting public health and challenging unscientific medical practices. Campaigns such as the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (People’s Health Movement) advocated for affordable healthcare, vaccination, nutrition, and maternal health.

They exposed the exploitation of the poor by private healthcare systems and pharmaceutical companies, arguing that health is a social right rather than a commodity. The movement has been instrumental in promoting awareness about issues such as malnutrition, sanitation, and reproductive health, especially among rural women.

3. Environment and Sustainable Development

The People’s Science Movement has played a critical role in environmental activism, promoting sustainable use of natural resources. It supported people’s struggles against environmentally destructive projects—such as large dams, mining, and deforestation—by providing scientific evidence and ecological education.

For instance, KSSP was involved in the Silent Valley Movement in Kerala, which successfully prevented the construction of a hydroelectric dam that would have destroyed a tropical rainforest. This marked a milestone in India’s environmental history, showing that science could be a tool for ecological protection and participatory decision-making.

4. Energy and Appropriate Technology

PSM organizations have promoted appropriate technologies—simple, low-cost innovations suited to local needs. Examples include renewable energy technologies, biogas plants, smokeless chulhas (stoves), and water conservation techniques. These initiatives align with sociological ideas of self-reliant development, ensuring that technology serves people rather than creating new forms of dependence or inequality.

5. Rationality and Social Reform

A key dimension of the PSM has been the fight against superstition, obscurantism, and pseudo-science. Activists like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, and M.M. Kalburgi dedicated their lives to promoting rationality, secularism, and scientific temper. Through workshops, public debates, and publications, the movement sought to create a culture of critical inquiry, encouraging people to question authority and dogma.

This aspect of PSM connects deeply with the Enlightenment ideals in sociology, where rational thinking and empirical reasoning are seen as essential for social progress.

Sociological Significance of the Movement

From a sociological perspective, the People’s Science Movement represents:

1. A grassroots democratization of knowledge, breaking the monopoly of scientific elites.
2. A counter-hegemonic movement, challenging both capitalist and bureaucratic models of development.
3. A form of collective action rooted in participatory democracy and social empowerment.
4. An effort to link local knowledge with modern science, creating a hybrid form of people’s knowledge.
5. A movement towards inclusive development, where science serves human needs rather than profit motives.

Through these dimensions, PSM has contributed to building a scientifically informed civil society, capable of engaging critically with issues of governance, environment, and technology.

Challenges and Criticisms

Despite its achievements, the PSM faces challenges such as:

• Limited reach beyond certain states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Tensions between scientific expertise and local cultural beliefs.
• Political resistance and violence against rationalist activists.
• Difficulty in sustaining volunteer-based models over time.

Nonetheless, its influence on literacy, health, and environmental policies remains profound.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the People’s Science Movement in India has played a transformative role in redefining development as a people-centered and knowledge-driven process. It has shown that science is not the privilege of a few but a collective asset that, when democratized, can promote equality, justice, and empowerment.

From a sociological standpoint, PSM exemplifies how social movements can integrate knowledge, participation, and activism to achieve human development. By linking science with social responsibility, it has not only challenged hierarchical structures of knowledge and power but also illuminated a path toward inclusive, sustainable, and democratic development in India.

 

 

What is Social Change? Discuss the various perspectives of social change.

Discuss in detail cultural dimension of globalization.

What is sustainable development? Discuss its dimensions.

Discuss the impacts of large dams on the economic, social and ecological aspects of the society?

What is modernisation? Discuss the various perspectives on modernisation.

What is Social Development? Explain various models of development.

Explain in detail the role of civil society for empowerment of the marginalized

What do you understand by ‘human development’? How does it differ from economic development.

Describe dependency theory and delineate its salient features.

Discuss the role people science movement in developmental practices in India.

IGNOU MSO-003 Assignment Answers 2025: : Sociology of Development Solved Part 5