Modernization Paradigms: Weber, Parsons, Rostow, and the Marshall Plan
Modernization Paradigms
Max Weber’s Influence
Max Weber’s theoretical corpus breaks with deterministic conceptions of societal development. He proposes a more comprehensive approach, incorporating both linear and cyclical views.
Linear View: Weber sees the shift from traditional to modern societies as a growing process of rationalization. This is evident in the changes affecting ownership, work mechanization, workforce nature, markets, and laws, all increasingly assuming a rational character.
Cyclical View: Weber also examines power structures and the dynamics of societal functioning. He defines domination as the probability of finding obedience within a group to specific mandates.
Weber’s influence on contemporary development theories is significant because he introduces cultural elements that contribute to explaining economic, political, and social development. His reflections highlight that economic development cannot be understood solely through economic factors but is rooted in cultural development, influencing institutions and social values.
Talcott Parsons and Structural Functionalism
In the 1940s and 1950s, structural-functionalist theory, championed by Talcott Parsons, reached its peak. Parsons’s functional theory of social change, drawing on Durkheim, Weber, and Pareto (but largely excluding Marx), posits that social systems evolve like organisms.
Based on Durkheim’s concept of dynamic density, Parsons argued that change occurs as populations grow within social systems. He emphasized social control as the main balancing mechanism, maintaining cohesion by imposing control over individuals. Deviation from norms is seen as a transgression.
Parsons viewed societies as composed of subsystems with varying structures and functional significance. As societies evolve, new, more adaptable subsystems emerge, increasing the society’s problem-solving capacity.
Walt Rostow’s Stages of Economic Growth
Walt Rostow’s work, “The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto,” represents the Western modernization process during the Cold War era. Rostow defined all pre-capitalist societies as traditional and viewed modernization as the mechanism for backward countries to converge with developed ones through technology.
He argued that the technologies of industrial societies reinforce specific forms of social organization, political structures, cultural patterns, behaviors, and even beliefs and attitudes. Rostow assumed that technology has its own logic, driven by discoveries and innovations. The dominance of modern technology leads to a standardization that eliminates local differences.
Rostow’s vision of development is primarily identified with economic growth, which he considered essential for progress. Development became an ideal model of economic action, with social and related policies implemented in countries with ideal conditions for “take-off.”
The Marshall Plan and European Reconstruction
The Marshall Plan, announced by U.S. Secretary of State George Marshall in 1947, aimed to reconstruct post-war Europe. The plan provided substantial financial assistance (estimated at $13 billion between 1947 and 1952) and required European countries to coordinate their implementation efforts.
The USSR declined to participate, viewing the plan as a tool of American imperialism. The Marshall Plan’s success was crucial for economic recovery and the establishment of democratic regimes in Western Europe. Franco’s Spain, due to its lack of democracy, was excluded, hindering its post-civil war recovery.