Identify and briefly explain three criticisms that other sociologists make of modernisation theories of development. (AQA 'Global Development' A2 Paper)

A 9 mark question should be in three paragraphs. You will get one mark for each of the three criticisms identified. To gain the further six marks, you must give a satisfactory explanation as to why the modernisation theory is criticised. 

Paragraph 1: Ideological rather than evidenced based. The theories were developed by American economists (e.g. Rostow) and were designed to favour and promote capitalism rather than communism during the Cold War period.

Paragraph 2: Outdated/no longer relevant. Modern economic developments and globalisation have changed the nature of the global economy and the parts played by different nations. The globalised world is not well explained by the processes described in modernisation theories. It was a dominant theory in the 1950s and 1960s under Bill Rostow and Talcott Parsons. 

Paragraph 3: Ethnocentric. The theories reflect American values and American ways of doing things rather than offering an objective view of development, it does not take into account the views of the people experiencing this development.