. At the level of theory, the previous polarization between the concepts of ‘modernization’ (the idea that to develop, poor societies need to achieve economic take-off and free themselves of ‘traditional’ social and cultural impediments, and that the benefits would eventually ‘trickle down’) and ‘underdevelopment’ (the idea that poor countries had been actively underdeveloped l)V direct colonization and unequal terms of trade, and that development was not possible without large-scale structural change) gave way to an ‘impasse’ (Booth 1994).