Modernization theory is a description and explanation of the processes of transformation from traditional or underdeveloped societies to modern societies Modernization theory has been one of the major perspectives in the sociology of national development and underdevelopment since the 1950s. Primary attention has focused on ways in which past and present pre modernised societies become modern (i.e., Westernized) through processes of economic growth and change in social, political, and cultural structures.

Dependency theory, sometimes called foreign dependency, is used to explain the failure of non-industrialized countries to develop economically despite investments made into them from industrialized nations. The central argument of this theory is that the world economic system is highly unequal in its distribution of power and resources due to factors like colonialism and neo-colonialism. This places many nations in a dependent position.

The dependency theory states that it's not a given that developing countries will eventually become industrialized if outside forces and natures suppress them, effectively enforcing dependency on them for even the most basic fundamentals of life.