Definition of Dependency Theory
(noun) Theory asserting that global economic and social inequality is caused by the historical exploitation by wealthy powerful nations appropriating resources from the least powerful poorer nations while limiting access to technology thus keeping the least powerful dependent on the most powerful.
Dependency Theory Pronunciation
Syllabification: de·pen·den·cy the·o·ry
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /di-pEn-duhn-see thEE-uhr-ree/
- British English – /di-pEn-duhn-see thIUH-ree/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /dɪˈpɛndənsi ˈθiəri/
- British English – /dɪˈpɛndənsi ˈθɪəri/
Usage Notes
- Plural: dependency theories
- Not to be confused with world-systems theory.
- A type of theory.
Related Videos
Additional Information
- Word origin of “dependency” and “theory” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Baran, Paul. 1957. Political Economy of Growth. London: John Calder.
- Cardoso, Fernando, and Enzo Faletto. 1979. Dependency and Development in Latin America. Translated by M. M. Urquidi. London: University of California Press.
- Larraín, Jorge. 1989. Theories of Development: Capitalism, Colonialism, and Dependency. Cambridge: Polity Press.
- Rodney, Walter, A. M. Babu, and Vincent Harding. 1981. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Washington, DC: Howard University Press.
Related Terms
- capitalism
- economics
- global perspective
- globalization
- government
- poverty
- power
- state autonomy
- world-systems theory
Works Consulted
Abercrombie, Nicholas, Stephen Hill, and Bryan Turner. 2006. The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology. 5th ed. London: Penguin.
Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. 2011. Sociology: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Bilton, Tony, Kevin Bonnett, Pip Jones, David Skinner, Michelle Stanworth, and Andrew Webster. 1996. Introductory Sociology. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan.
Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Dillon, Michele. 2014. Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Farlex. (N.d.) TheFreeDictionary.com: Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus. Farlex. (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/).
Ferrante, Joan. 2011. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macionis, John. 2012. Sociology. 14th ed. Boston: Pearson.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
O’Leary, Zina. 2007. The Social Science Jargon Buster: The Key Terms You Need to Know. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
OpenStax College. 2014. Introduction to Sociology. OpenStax CNX.
Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).
Ravelli, Bruce, and Michelle Webber. 2016. Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective. 3rd ed. Toronto: Pearson.
Schaefer, Richard. 2013. Sociology: A Brief Introduction. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Scott, John, and Gordon Marshall. 2005. A Dictionary of Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Stolley, Kathy S. 2005. The Basics of Sociology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Thompson, William E., and Joseph V. Hickey. 2012. Society in Focus: An Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wiktionary, The Free Dictionary. Wikimedia Foundation. (http://en.wiktionary.org).
Cite the Definition of Dependency Theory
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “dependency theory.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 28, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/dependency-theory/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
dependency theory. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/dependency-theory/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “dependency theory.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/dependency-theory/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“dependency theory.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/dependency-theory/>.