Only a couple of decades ago, the prospects for socio-economic development in the
Third World seemed much brighter than at present. The economic theories of the 1950s
and early 1960s, at least those of the North American variety, prescribed more capital
investment (from domestic and foreign sources) which then would lead to a "take-off into
sustained economic growth. Political theorists advocated Western political development
as an irreversible step which would lead to modern democratic societies. Other social
scientists suggested that the spread of modern values "modernity"- to the developing
world would solve the basic problems of underdevelopment. Those days of simpleminded
theories were buoyed by the short-term euphoria of the decolonization process.
If the political leaders of the newly-independent states were determined to achieve
development, as indeed they were, it seemed possible that these strategies would lead to
progressive social and economic changes.
Yet, recent evidence suggests that the economic gap between the developed and
developing world, with few exceptions, is widening rather than narrowing.’ While
economic growth has been satisfactory in a number of countries, there are widespread
concerns that other aspects of underdevelopment, including unemployment and underemployment,
income inequality, poverty, rapid population growth, landlessness, and
rural-urban gaps have been moderated only slightly, if at all, in response to the economic
growth which has occurred.2 Furthermore, political instability, including the spread of
"strong-man" dictatorships and the antagonism between ethnic/ nationality groups, seems
to loom as pervasive problems throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America.