Beyond the Stereotype: Restating the Relevance of the Dependency Research Programme

Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven

doi:10.1111/dech.12593

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis article evaluates the relevance of dependency theory for understanding contemporary development challenges, especially in the light of changes in the global economy over the past 50 years. In order to do so, the article rectifies previous misunderstandings of the scholarship and offers a new definition of dependency theory as a research programme, rather than a singular theory. Four core tenets of this research programme are identified: a global historical approach; theorizing of the polarizing tendencies of global capitalism; a focus on structures of production; and a focus on the specific constraints faced by peripheral economies. While each of these elements can be found in many contemporary theories, what makes dependency theory unique — and a particularly strong research programme — is the combination of these elements. The article demonstrates how this approach provides a deep and broad understanding that is necessary to appreciate the persistence of uneven development with reference to two case studies, namely successful industrialization in South Korea, and how the fragmentation of global value chains has impacted industrialization in Indonesia. Finally, the article argues that approaching these kinds of cases through a dependency research programme can contribute to a fruitful renewal of development studies.

Highlights

In a time when developing countries are increasingly moving into manufacturing production and there has been a degree of rebalancing of global power relations, it has become common to claim that the world has changed so drastically since the 1970s that we need new theories to understand contemporary development challenges
Chang combines a global historical approach with analysis of economic structures and a recognition of the specific constraints faced by peripheral economies, his approach lacks a theory of uneven development to explain polarizing tendencies in the global economy
This article has demonstrated that defining dependency theory as a research programme provides an alternative way of categorizing dependency scholarship that captures the breadth of the scholarship as well as its strengths

Summary

Introduction

In a time when developing countries are increasingly moving into manufacturing production and there has been a degree of rebalancing of global power relations, it has become common to claim that the world has changed so drastically since the 1970s that we need new theories to understand contemporary development challenges. This article intervenes in this debate to demonstrate that dependency theory can offer important insights that remain relevant for understanding the changing development landscape. Dependency theory has largely been excluded from mainstream development analysis since the late 1970s (Booth, 1985; Kufakurinani et al, 2017). This article argues that one of the reasons dependency theory was so dismissed is the common focus on individual theorists who are mistakenly taken as spokespersons for ‘the theory’ as a whole. Given the misrepresentation of the tradition, this article argues that it is essential to develop a new framework for understanding dependency theory if we are to evaluate its relevance and preserve its strengths. The diversity within the tradition calls for a definition that can capture the strengths of a wide range of dependency theories, which is why this article defines it as a research programme

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