Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 10, 2025

The Success and Failure of Dependency Theory: Lessons for Developing Chinese Independent Knowledge System

(Abstract)

Zhong Yang

Constructing an independent theoretical framework is essential for building an independent knowledge system. In the history of modern philosophy and the social sciences, Dependency Theory, proposed by Latin American scholars, represents a pioneering attempt by developing countries to construct an independent theoretical framework. Its success did not lie in replacing Western modernization theory but in establishing an internally coherent framework capable of rivaling Western theories and achieving broad international dissemination. However, its theoretical limitations and practical shortcomings reveal that, much like Western modernization theory, Dependency Theory cannot adequately explain the achievements of the unique Chinese path to modernization. From the perspective of knowledge production and theoretical innovation, the experience of Dependency Theory underscores that building an independent knowledge system requires properly handling the dialectical relationship between theory and practice, valuing both theoretical innovation and the accumulation and transmission of knowledge, cultivating academic organizational structures suited to independent knowledge production, and enhancing the role of international academic publication and collaboration in scholarly exchange.