... been criticised for placing too much emphasis on material and economic factors. The development of many asian economies that developed along capitalistic, open lines, also serves as an empirical contradiction to dependency theory. (This is not to say that many asian "tiger economies" did not follow the ideas propounded by development theory, for indeed many did - South Korea, Taiwan and others developed through a process of import-subsitution - backed up with heavy investment of American capital.) Frank proposed an alternative to dependency theory - "Development Theory". How does Frank's "dependency theory" differ from the traditional "development theory"? The conventional view of the undeveloped countries denies them a history: "To classify these countries as "traditional societies" implies either that the underdeveloped countries have no history or that it is unimportant." (Griffin 1969) But it is increasingly clear that the history of the post-colonial countries has been crucially important in shaping their present underdevelopment. The ...

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