Development needs context at local, regional, global scale

  • global
    • European idea of stae -> world into capitalism
    • neo-colonialism: core controls periphery despite not being colonies
    • structuralist theory: rigid, large-scale economic arrangements shape future -> hard for poor countries to improve economy

Dependency Theory

  • international political and economic relationships limit economic development possibilities of poorer areas
    • neo-colonialism is good example
  • adoption of superpower currency
    • El Salvador and US dollar
      • 2M El Salvadorians in US
      • 2B in remittances to home country
  • low probability of economic prosperity in dependent regions

Geography and Context (World-Systems Theory)

  • economic development must be seen in context of Wallerstein’s World-Systems Theory
    • basically core earns money and periphery suffers and semi-periphery is where core gets to watch periphery suffer
  • fundamentally different from modernization model because not all places can be equally wealthy (must have 3 tiers at all times)
  • power relations and economic development is different for every tier (geographically sensitive)