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

By I. Kvangraven. Development and Change, 2020

185 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This article evaluates the relevance of dependency theory for understand- ing contemporary development challenges, especially in the light of changes in the global economy over the past 50 years. In order to do so, the arti- cle rectifies previous misunderstandings of the scholarship and offers a new definition of dependency theory as a research programme, rather than a sin- gular 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 combin- ation of these elements. The article demonstrates how this approach provides a deep and broad understanding that is necessary to appreciate the persis- tence 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.

Subfields: Economics and Econometrics, Political Science and International Relations, Sociology and Political Science

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