Modernization theory states that traditional societies grow into societies of the modern type as they adopt modern values, institutions, norms, rules of law, and social practices. Social modernization is usually associated with economic development, social wealth, and political power. Citizens of countries with modernized societies have more freedom, human rights, and better standards of living.
Weber’s and Parsons’ Theories of Modernization
The origins of modernization theories come from the modernization paradigm developed by German sociologist Max Weber (1864–1920) and American sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902–1979). These theoretical ideas considered two kinds of societies, which were labeled as traditional and developed countries.
That modernization theory explains how traditional societies can evolve into more developed societies due to the economic and social processes of modernization. This modernization theory was especially popular among social scientists in the second half of the 20th century. This early sociological theory of modernization was mostly theoretical and relied on scientific observations.
Modernization theory describes a social model of how “traditional” (“pre-modern”) societies progressively transform into “modern” societies. This gradual shift occurs as societies adopt modern values, norms, and practices. In this way, modernization theory strives to explain the process of social evolution in countries and identify the social parameters that contribute to their development and social progress.
The countries undergoing the process of modernization make a transition from societies governed by authorities and traditions to societies regulated by abstract principles and democracies. The developments of faster transportation, expansive urbanization, new efficient technologies, cost-effective production, extensive industrialization, and dynamic communication have been the main driving forces of such modernization. In modernized societies, traditional religious beliefs decrease in influence while rational and critical thinking increase in influence on human minds. While in traditional societies, families and collective communities are the fundamental units, modern societies are societies of individuals. The theory assumes that human agency controls the speed and success of such modernization.
Inglehart’s Evolutionary Modernization theory
The American political scientist Inglehart (1934–2021) proposed the Modernization Theory, which is empirically based on the data of wide-world surveys taken across several generations. The theory compares countries based on their economic, political, social, and cultural attributes and assesses them along the spectrum from traditional to modern societies. These types of societies have two cultural dimensions: materialism versus postmaterialism, and modernization versus postmodernism.
In societies that are characterized by high materialistic values, people highly value security, survival, economic growth, and the stability of the economy. In societies that are characterized by high postmaterialistic values, people have high values of freedom, humane society, social participation, self-expression, and tolerance of minorities (Inglehart 1997; Inglehart & Baker, 2000; Inglehart & Welzel, 2005).
The survival values, which emphasize physical and economic security, are prevalent in traditional materialistic cultures, while the self-expression values, which emphasize quality of life and subjective well-being, are prevalent in modernized postmaterialistic cultures. In this regard, the term modernization means the transition from societies with a prevalence of survival values to societies with a prevalence of self-expression values (Inglehart 1997, 2015; Inglehart & Baker, 2000; Inglehart & Welzel 2005).
The World Value Survey obtained data from 60 countries (Inglehart & Baker, 2000), which accounted for 75% of the global population. Researchers have demonstrated the crucial role of socioeconomic factors in the modernization of societies.
It appears that religions also play a role in modernization. The data showed that countries with a Protestant culture place a high priority on freedom of expression, whereas countries with an Orthodox culture place a low value on these values. However, the role of these religions can be linked to the countries’ current socioeconomic situations.
During modernization, countries evolve:
- From traditional values to secular and rational values.
- From cultural values emphasizing survival to values emphasizing self-expression.
Finally, Inglehart summarized his extensive research in the Evolutionary Modernization Theory, which describes how societies evolve over time along with changes in social values and human priorities (Inglehart, 2018).