Social work theory · Volume F: Community, Collective & Social Change

Social change and modernisation theories

Social change and modernisation theories are broad sociological explanations of how societies transform over long periods, particularly in the shift from agrarian and traditional societies to industrial and late modern ones.

1. What it is

Social change and modernisation theories are broad sociological explanations of how societies transform over long periods, particularly in the shift from agrarian and traditional societies to industrial and late modern ones. They address questions of development, inequality between nations, and the changing relationship between individuals and institutions (So, 1990). The family contains several competing positions. Classical modernisation theory treats development as a staged path that all societies can follow. Dependency and world-systems theories argue that global capitalism produces underdevelopment. Theories of reflexive modernisation describe how advanced societies confront the risks and uncertainties created by modernity itself (Beck et al., 1994). For social work, these theories frame international and development practice, debates about the spread of Western professional models, and the risk-focused character of contemporary welfare (Midgley, 1995; Webb, 2006).

Classical modernisation theory. Modernisation theory, influential from the 1950s to the 1970s, held that societies move from traditional to modern forms through industrialisation, urbanisation, education and the adoption of rational values (Lerner, 1958). Walt Rostow (1960) proposed five stages of economic growth: the traditional society, the preconditions for take-off, the take-off, the drive to maturity, and the age of high mass consumption. Rostow presented the model as an alternative to Marxist accounts of history, and it shaped Western foreign aid policy during the Cold War.

Talcott Parsons and structural functionalism. Parsons (1951) provided the sociological foundation for modernisation theory. His pattern variables contrasted traditional orientations (such as ascription and particularism) with modern ones (such as achievement and universalism). Parsons (1964, 1966) later described evolutionary universals, including bureaucracy, money markets and democratic association, which he argued increase a society’s adaptive capacity. Modernity was understood as growing differentiation of social institutions, each specialised for particular functions.

Dependency theory (Andre Gunder Frank). Dependency theory emerged in Latin America as a critique of modernisation theory. Frank (1966, 1967) argued that underdevelopment is a product of the same historical process that produced development in the West. Through colonialism and unequal trade, metropolitan centres extracted surplus from satellite regions, leaving them poor. On this view, closer integration with wealthy nations deepens dependence. Cardoso and Faletto (1979) offered a more nuanced version, recognising that some dependent development is possible.

World-systems theory (Immanuel Wallerstein). Wallerstein (1974a, 1974b) argued that the proper unit of analysis is the capitalist world-economy that emerged in the sixteenth century. Individual nations can only be understood by their position within it. The world-system is divided into a core, a periphery and a semi-periphery, linked by an international division of labour. Core states benefit from unequal exchange, and countries can move between zones over time. The theory explains persistent global inequality as a structural feature of capitalism.

Reflexive modernisation and risk society (Ulrich Beck and Anthony Giddens). Beck (1986/1992) argued that late modern societies are increasingly organised around the distribution of risks, such as environmental, technological and financial hazards, that modernisation itself produces. He linked this to individualisation, in which people lose the security of class, family and tradition and must construct their own biographies. Giddens (1990, 1991) similarly described late modernity as a period of heightened reflexivity, in which institutions and individuals continuously monitor and revise their practices in light of new knowledge. Both writers called this process reflexive modernisation (Beck et al., 1994).

2. Historical development

Modernisation theory grew from structural functionalism and post-war Western development policy. Its claim that poor countries could follow the path of industrialised nations was challenged by Latin American scholars who saw persistent poverty as a result of global economic structures (So, 1990). World-systems theory extended this critique, drawing on Marxist political economy and the historical work of the Annales school. Theories of reflexive modernisation developed later, in response to environmental crises, globalisation and the decline of traditional institutions in Western Europe.

Social work engaged with these debates in two ways. In international social work, Midgley (1981) argued that Western models exported to developing countries were often unsuitable, and he later proposed social development as an approach linking welfare with economic development (Midgley, 1995). In Western welfare states, Beck’s and Giddens’s ideas were used to explain the growth of risk assessment in child protection and mental health, and the individualised nature of service users’ lives (Ferguson, 2001; Webb, 2006).

3. Practical guidance

These broad theories inform how social workers understand global inequality, development work and the risk-focused nature of welfare institutions.

• Question universal development models. When working internationally or with migrant communities, avoid assuming that Western institutions represent the end point of development (Midgley, 1981).
• Link local problems to global structures. Dependency and world-systems analyses help explain how trade, debt and migration shape the circumstances of refugees and families with transnational ties (Healy, 2008).
• Recognise colonialism as a structural cause. Australian practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should acknowledge that dispossession and colonisation produced present inequities. Framing these inequities as a failure to modernise repeats colonial assumptions (Gray et al., 2008).
• Examine risk thinking critically. Risk assessment tools can narrow practice to managing hazards. Use Beck’s analysis to ask who defines risk and who bears its costs (Webb, 2006).
• Support people constructing their own biographies. Individualisation means many service users face choices without traditional supports. Practice can help them plan and make meaning in uncertain conditions (Ferguson, 2001).
• Apply a social development lens. Combine social services with income, employment and community economic development where possible (Midgley, 1995).

4. Critical evaluation

Strengths. The family provides a large-scale historical context for social work, linking individual hardship to global economic and social processes. Dependency and world-systems theories give a strong basis for critiquing professional imperialism and for decolonising practice. Risk society theory offers a persuasive account of why contemporary welfare is organised around risk management and individual responsibility (Webb, 2006).

Limitations. Classical modernisation theory has been widely criticised as ethnocentric, treating Western societies as the model for all others and dismissing Indigenous and non-Western knowledge as traditional or backward (So, 1990). Dependency theory struggled to explain the rapid growth of East Asian economies, and world-systems analysis has been criticised for economic determinism and neglect of culture and agency. Beck’s and Giddens’s accounts of individualisation have been challenged for underestimating the continuing effects of class, gender and race (Webb, 2006). Post-development scholars argue that the concept of development itself carries colonial assumptions (Escobar, 1995).

Overall importance. These are explanatory theories of society. They shape the assumptions behind welfare systems, international aid and professional knowledge. They are particularly important for international social work, practice with migrant and refugee communities, and critical analysis of risk-based welfare. Read alongside critical and decolonising perspectives, they help social workers place local practice within wider patterns of social change.

5. References

• Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity (M. Ritter, Trans.). Sage. (Original work published 1986)
• Beck, U., Giddens, A., & Lash, S. (1994). Reflexive modernization: Politics, tradition and aesthetics in the modern social order. Polity Press.
• Cardoso, F. H., & Faletto, E. (1979). Dependency and development in Latin America (M. M. Urquidi, Trans.). University of California Press.
• Escobar, A. (1995). Encountering development: The making and unmaking of the Third World. Princeton University Press.
• Ferguson, H. (2001). Social work, individualization and life politics. British Journal of Social Work, 31(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/31.1.41
• Frank, A. G. (1966). The development of underdevelopment. Monthly Review, 18(4), 17–31.
• Frank, A. G. (1967). Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin America. Monthly Review Press.
• Giddens, A. (1990). The consequences of modernity. Polity Press.
• Giddens, A. (1991). Modernity and self-identity: Self and society in the late modern age. Polity Press.
• Gray, M., Coates, J., & Yellow Bird, M. (Eds.). (2008). Indigenous social work around the world: Towards culturally relevant education and practice. Ashgate.
• Healy, L. M. (2008). International social work: Professional action in an interdependent world (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Lerner, D. (1958). The passing of traditional society: Modernizing the Middle East. Free Press.
• Midgley, J. (1981). Professional imperialism: Social work in the Third World. Heinemann.
• Midgley, J. (1995). Social development: The developmental perspective in social welfare. Sage.
• Parsons, T. (1951). The social system. Free Press.
• Parsons, T. (1964). Evolutionary universals in society. American Sociological Review, 29(3), 339–357. https://doi.org/10.2307/2091479
• Parsons, T. (1966). Societies: Evolutionary and comparative perspectives. Prentice-Hall.
• Rostow, W. W. (1960). The stages of economic growth: A non-communist manifesto. Cambridge University Press.
• So, A. Y. (1990). Social change and development: Modernization, dependency, and world-system theories. Sage.
• Wallerstein, I. (1974a). The modern world-system: Capitalist agriculture and the origins of the European world-economy in the sixteenth century. Academic Press.
• Wallerstein, I. (1974b). The rise and future demise of the world capitalist system: Concepts for comparative analysis. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 16(4), 387–415. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0010417500007520
• Webb, S. A. (2006). Social work in a risk society: Social and political perspectives. Palgrave Macmillan.