Kemp - Industrialization in the non-Western world

INDUSTRIALIZATION IN THE NON-WESTERN WORLD

INDUSTRIALIZATION IN THE NON-WESTERN WORLD

Second Edition

Tom Kemp

First published 1983 by Addison Wesley Limited

Second edition 1989

Fifth impression 1998

Published 2013 by Routledge

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Copyright 1983, 1989, Taylor & Francis.

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ISBN 13: 978-0-582-02182-2 (pbk)

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

Kemp, Tom

Industrialization in the non-Western world.

1. Industrialisation, to 1982 Case studies

I. Title

338.00722

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kemp, Tom.

Industrialization in the non-Western world / Tom Kemp. 2nd ed.

p. cm.

Bibliography: p.

Includes index.

ISBN 0582021820 (pbk.)

1. IndustrializationHistory. 2. Economic developmentHistory.

I. Title.

HD2321.K433 1989

338.09dc19

8828581
CIP

Set in 10/12pt Linotron Baskerville

CONTENTS

We are indebted to the World Bank and Oxford University Press (New York) for permission to reproduce our table on pp. 21417.

Industrialization is increasingly being studied by economists and economic historians as a process in its own right which brought into being the modern world. It is widely seen as the major means through which those areas of the world which suffer from poverty and backwardness can move closer to the advanced nations. It is seen as the key to both growth, in the sense of an increase in per capita incomes and development, meaning a more rounded structural transformation.

In its approach to industrialization, this book follows two previous books. The first, Industrialization in Nineteenth Century Europe (Longman 1969) confined itself to those European countries which followed in Britains tracks before the First World War. The second, Historical Patterns of Industrialization (Longman 1978), besides taking up some general themes such as technology, transport and banking and their relationship to industrialization, also included some brief case-studies of non-European countries. This volume carries on the story into the twentieth century, linking the case studies of the earlier books and concentrating on the non-Western World.

The phrase, non-Western World, needs a word of explanation. It is used here in a mainly geographical sense, to indicate that the older industrial countries of Western Europe and North America have been excluded. The emphasis is thus on the late-comers or followers on the path of industrialization outside those areas. It is not denied that the Soviet Union shares many Western traditions, or that they have made a deep imprint on some of the other countries discussed here. However, development in these non-Western countries has to be seen, as far as possible in their own terms while avoiding a Euro-centred approach.

The choice of countries is not exactly arbitrary, though the earlier economic history of Russia, Japan and India has been dealt with in the previous books. First of all, the countries are large, if not in population and area alone, then in specific weight in the world economy, as in the case of Japan. That means, also, when the populations are added up, that they represent something like one-half of the total world population. It is difficult to be accurate though, as the population of China, India and other parts of the world is not known for certain. However, at the end of the 1970s the population of the selected countries was approximately as follows:

Soviet Union: 260 million

Japan: 112 million

Brazil: 110 million

India: 620 million

China: 850 million

Nigeria: 80 million.

The figures for China and India are the lowest estimates and the real totals may be very much larger. In any case their populations are increasing rapidly.

There seems to be more sense in taking countries of this scale rather than, say, dealing with the experience of small countries such as Taiwan, Cuba or Albania. On the other hand, large countries have distinct advantages: they may have a more varied raw material endowment, a larger labour force and a bigger potential home market, thus permitting greater scale economies. Because of this, their experience may bear little relation to that of smaller countries. However, even for large countries autarchic development is costly, if not impossible, as the Soviet policy of socialism in one country shows. Even the largest countries are part of a world market and gain advantages from participating in the international division of labour.

This book deals with the recent economic experience of about half of humanity and considerably more than half of the non-Western world. It will be shown that while industrialization has some common underlying features, it works itself out in distinctive ways in specific historical and national conditions. Moreover there are basic differences between industrialization in market economies, even where the state plays a positive role, and in those countries having nationalized property relations and a centrally-planned allocation of resources. The choice of countries enables variants of both types to be examined.

The approach adopted is an historical one, based upon the view that the path followed by each country is determined to a very large extent by its past. It is from a study of history that the differential receptivity of particular countries to industrialization can be understood.

Any discussion of industrialization in the twentieth century is bound to be concerned with the prospects of the developing countries. Assessment of their achievement so far differs widely. Some of these countries have begun to industrialize with some success in purely quantitative terms (GNP per capita). On the other hand, it is claimed that their economies remain peripheral and dependent and that they have not been able to replicate successfully the experience of the older capitalist countries. A chapter illustrated by brief case studies is devoted to the problems of the developing countries.

This book is intended as an introductory text for students of economic history, political economy and development studies. It aims to open the way for further study by evoking interest, suggesting what the problems are and why they are important for the future of humanity and not just for academic reasons. The main authorities are indicated in the bibliography, which is also intended as a guide for more detailed study. Ones approach and views are influenced by so much read, heard and experienced that it cannot be regarded as a full indication of sources. As with the previous books, I have avoided footnotes and long quotations from other texts; this is not because the authors to whom I am indebted may not have made the point at issue better or more clearly than I do, but because I feel that by reframing it in my own words, I can make the wider argument more comprehensible to the reader.