Blomstrom Magnus_Development theory in88ghjhbhkj.pdf

8/10/2019 Blomstrom Magnus_Development theory in88ghjhbhkj.pdf

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evelopment

Theory in

Transition

The

ependency

ebate

and eyond

Third

orld

Responses

Magnus lomstrom

and jorn Hettne

@

f . . : . C ~ O

e : : : i o t ~ c ( t

Zed Books Ltd 7 Caledonian Road London Nl 9BU


2/29

H l i 1 ~ 1

\.

rvvlo

m nt T11l r.\ in r nsition

was first

published by

Ze d

Books Ltd . . < '7Caledonian

Road. London

N1 ~ B U .

UK .

and l7l First

Avenue.

Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey 077l >.

USA.

in I


3/29

Background to the

Dependency Approach

2

The

dependency ppro ch

originated in the extensive Latin American debate

on the problems of underdevelopment. which was a most valuable contri

bution to modern social science. Not only did it contain an effective criticism

of the modernization paradigm. it also provided an alternative perspective

and still functions as a catalyst in the development theory which is taking

shape at present.

The dependency school emerged from the convergence of two intellectual

trends: one often called ueo-Marxism , and the other rooted in the carlie:

Latin American discussion on development that ultimately formed the

E L (the United Nations

Economic ommission for Latin

merica rad

ition.

The concept of nee-Marxism reflects a certain dualism in Marxist thinking.

i.e. on the one hand the traditional approach. focusing on the concept of

development and taking a basically eurocentric view. and. on the other a

more recent approach. focusing on the concept of underdevelopment and

expressing a Third World view. Of course. much controversy has arisen as to

the ontinuity or discontinuity of these two approaches. To the orthodox

Marxists, the main body of nee-Marxist thinking is more or less incompatible

with the classic Marxist framework. This complex issue will be dealt with in

the first part of this chapter.

A second important background to the dependency school was the more

indigenous Latin American discussion on underdevelopment. reflecting

specific economic and intellectual experiences in various Latin American

countries, particularly during the depression

of

the 1930s. This economic

crisis dramatized the dimensions of Latin American dependence It init iated

more systematic economic research, and it necessitated a policy of import


4/29

Dcpcndcncv Theory ill Transition

Marxism

versus Nco-Marxism

Marx and the

Third

World

I t would bc absurd to apply Marx' s description and conclus ions about 19th

Century European capitalism to the so-called problems

of

the underdeveloped

countries uf to day. It would be equally absurd to blame Marx for the futility

of such an under tak ing. In this

context

we shal l, however, t reat

Marxism

as a

system

of thought which has been mechanically applied to the

pr

oblcrns

of underdevelopment. Our purpose is not to cri ti cize Marx, but to point out

that thc i nt cl le ct ua l development in the Thi rd World has becn great ly

n

Ilucnccd by the fact tha t Marxism, as well as a number

of

other systems of

thought. was introduced asan ideology rather than asa theory.

Before the Russian Revolution, Marxism was mainly represented by a fcw,

o

lt

cu poorly translated, publications. The subsequent large-scale distr ibution

llf

Marxist

Ii tcraturc was

more

a

m

at

t

er

of

political

zealousness

than

a

response to intcl lcc tual demands. This is not onc of the brightcst chapters

1I1 the his to ry of Marxism. but it is

important

to the development

of

the

dependency

school,

particularly

since the

lattcr was a

reaction

against

schemat ic Marxism and the analytica l weakness and pol it ical inefficiency

of

orthodox communism.

In

one

of the ir more pamphleteering

moods,

Marx

and

Engels stated that

thc

future

of the

backward country

is

reflected

in

that

of the more developed

country:

through thc rapid

im r

rovcmcnt of thc ins truments of production

.uid

vast ly improved communica tions the

bourgeoisie forces

all nations,

including

the

most barbarian

ones,

into civil ization. The low

prices

of goods

is thc heavy a rt il lery with which it shoots down all Chinese walls,

arid

the.

means

by which it forces the capitulat ion of the barbarians'

stubborn

hatc of

foreigners. All nations are forceu to auopt the bourgeois mouc of

prouuction.

unlcss th cy want to bc r uin eu ; it forces upon itsclf the introuuction of

sucallcu civil ization, i .e. becoming bourgeois. In othcr worus : thc bour'

gCllisic crcatcs a world in its own image.

iv arx's tl1llughts a bo ut t h e problcms of undcrucvclopmcnt' uiu not uiffer

s igni ficant ly frolll thc prcva il ing 19th Ccntury cvolutionism. Thc Third

World rcstcu. pcaccfully anu unsuspcctingly Iikc

a

sleeping bcauty, waiting'

fur thc Wcstcrn worlu 's Prince Charming to awakcn thc process

of

dcvclop'

me nt. If not by a kiss, t hc n by thc sworu. In onc of thc IlloSt frcqucntly

quo tcd passagcs on the

non-[urupcan

worlu, Marx forcsccs an industrial

revulution in lnui:.l as thc incvitablc rcsult of the English-built railways.

You cannot maintain a net of

railw:.lYs

over an immense

country

without

introducinl . all those industrial processes nccessary to mcet the immed,

ia te and current wants of rai lway locomot ion, and out of which there

must grow the applica tion of machinery to those branchcs of industry

not immediately connected with railways. The ra ilways system will

thcrefore becomc, in India, truly the forerunner of modern industry.

(Marx and Engels, 1 9 60 , pp 8 4 - 5

r

Background

In

thv Def elldellc.1 A lpr J


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Dependency

Theory in Transition

ackground the Dependency

s tr ugg le in Latin Amer ica. European immig raut s had introduced socialist

ideas during the latter part of the lOth Cen tu ry , but they bor e the mark of

anarchism rather than tha t of Marxism (Alba, 1968, p 37) . In Lat in America ,

as well as in 11I0St other parts of the Thi rd World, Marxism was spread

through

the Communist International the Conrintern).

The first Comintern congress which specifically dealt with Latin American

questions was t h e S ix th , held in 1928. The fol lowing passage is quoted from

the Comintern s declara tion on Lat in America , which also ini t ia ted the hard

line .

In Latin America the Communists must everywhere actively participate

in the r evolut iona ry mass movemen ts d ir ec ted against th e landlord

regime and against imper ia lism, even where these movements are

still

under the leadership of the petty bourgeoisie. In so doing, however, the

Communists may not

under

any

c

ircumstances politically subordinate

themselves to their

temporary

ally. Whilst struggling for the hegemony,

dur ing the r evolut iona ry movemen ts , the Communi st Par ti es

must

strive in the first place for the political and organisational independence

of their Parties, securing its

[sic

transformation into the leading party

of the proletariat.

(Clissold, 1970, p 78)

proletariat was in fact the primitive, Indian population. The new

to be built on the latter s collectivist traditions, His homespun,

istic Marxism somewhat reminiscent

of

Mao Zedong) was consistent

Comin te rn line up unt il the t ight en ing

of

the reins in 1928; after

turned into an eccentric in an increasingly streamlined communist mo

Towards the end

of

his life

Mar

iategui became more and more

His

r evolut iona ry nat iona li sm led him to support Haya de la To

populist leader

of

the Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana

Later Mariategui became convinced that the APRA would fol low the

of Kuom int an g in China - which was quite an astute prediction.

la Torre repl ied by accus ing Mariaregui of taking or de rs from M

which was absurd. The Comin te rn agent s had t ri ed to per suade M

to change his Peruvian Socialist Party (PSI ) into a communist par ty

but to no avail . The Comintern did not, at that t ime, permit any inde

interpretations

of

the Marxi st -Len in is t doc tr in e. In the spring of 1

first Latin American communist congres s met in Bu en os Aires to

gr ips with the

Mariategui

problem . After a stormy discussion, the

criticized

Mariat

egui for his Trotskyist views. After his death , the

changed into an orthodox c ommuni st p ar ty and a tool of the Co

The revolutionary throughts

of Mar

iategui as well as their cor rect

tation are still discussed today (Choy et

al.

1970; Paris et al. 1973 .

The case of Cuba is also a good example of the con tr as t b etw

Dur ing the per iod between 1928 and the 1935 People s Front policy the orthodox, c o mm u ni s t p ar t y line and a more volun ta ri st ic , r evol

Comintern

enforced

its u lt ra -l ef t l ine. cha ract er iz ed by a revolut iona ry st rategy. Urged by the Comin te rn and aided by the Mexican Co

pur itanism which refused to col laborate with any bourgeois e lements. The Party, the Cuban Communist Par ty was founded in 1925. Cuba a lr e

Nicaraguan Sandinista guerrilla for instance, was severely criticized. This

line

a mil itan t, non-Marxist , rad ical nat ionalism with Jose Mar t

i

as its

was tot al ly un succe ss fu l, with the

exception,

of course. of deteriorating figure Marti had led the insurrection against Spain in 1895 and

relations

between

the Soviet Union and the Lat in American governments. The combat . Those who cla im that Fidel Castro was inf luenced more

softer line, introduced after 1935, l as ted unt il the d is so lu ti on of the Comin Marti than by Marx are probably right.

tern in 1943; as a result of it the communist par ti es in several countri es The dep re ss ion created great social p robl ems in Cuba dur ing the

eventually turned into significant political forces. when the economy was strongly dependent on the Unit ed St at es .

Most often, however , they remained as minor ity groups

of

l it tle or

no

Fulgencio Batista led an insurrection against the dictator Gerardo M

polit ical impor tance. They rarely produced thinkers

of

any significance Batista enjoyed extensive popular support, although not by the Co

although the Peruvian

JLlSe

Carlos Mar iatcgu

i

was an excep tion . His

Siete

Party, which was i llegal unt il 1938. Leu by BIas Roca the Commun

Ensavos de Int erpretac ion de la Rca lidad Peruana

(Seven Essays on the played an

important

role in the l ab ou r movement . A ft er 1935, w

e r u ~ i n

Reality) written in 1927 remains, according to Aguilar ,

th e single

Comintern proposed a popular f ront pol icy, the par ty sought a ll ies

most important attempt to understand a national, Latin American problem

in

groups of the lef t, and eventually ended up support ing Bat is ta . In re

a Marxist perspective (Agui lar, 1968, P 12). In order not to give

the

not only legalized the party, but promoted two leading commu

impression that ear ly Lat in American communism was unjustly scanty , we minister ia l posts . The par ty changed name in 1944 and became the

shall discuss

Ma

riategu i in some deta il . In Siete Ensayos he descr ibed the . Socialista Popular

the

PSP). Between 1938 and 1944 the member

history of Peru in a d ia le ct ic per spec tive , from the p rimi ti ve communism grown from 23,000 to 122,000. In 1952 Batista s dictatorship moved

of the Incas to the soc ia li sm of some futur e age (Ba ines , 1972, Chap .

7 .

the right and the

Communist

Par ty was again made i llegal . In 1959

Mur iategu i claimed t ha t the Spa nis h c onq ue st had meant a retardation to began the revolt which was car ried out ent irely without the suppo

feudal insti tu tions) . and that the subsequent capital ism had been perverted, Communist Par ty . The course of events of the revolt is well kn

par tly by the fore ign economic inf luence and par tly by the domestic alliance December 1956, 8:: . revolut ionaries landed in Cuba from the boat

between

the

bourgeoisie and the aristocracy . According to

Mar

iategu

i

the.

19

of them reached the Sierra Maestra Mountains and began the

30


6/29

1)( 1 ( 1/( \ Theory ill Transition

war wh ic h led to Bat ist

as

fall a few years later.

From a conventional

communist

view the Latin American society

was

still

feudal

in

nature,

and a mobil izat ion of the

proletariat

would therefore

he

premature

before Lat in Ame ri ca had experienced its own 'bourgeois'

rcvo lut ion. In other wor ds , it was the historical task of the growing

bour

g ~ u i s i e to smash tile 'fcudal-impcrialis: alliance' - a task in which the pro

ic.uriat I \ ~ I S

to

part

icipatc.

Only then wou ld

a socialist revolution be possible

(the 'two-stage strategy ). The

Cuban

Revolution challenged this polit ical

view. Aguilar sums up

the

pre-Cuban phase as follows:

Indica

t

ivc of

the

sit ua t io n of the Communist parties in this period,

and a key to t he in ternal and

external

conflicts that were overwhel

ming

t hcm was the ir scant participation in the most important events of the

moment.

Nut in

Guatemala

in

1944,

in Bolivia in 1952, or in Cuba in

1959,

nor

in any

of

the

other

pol it ical convuls ions in

Venezuela,

Argentina. Colombia or Peru did the Co nuuunists play an outstanding

role.

(Aguilar, 1968, p 38)

conclusion

it m ight be said t ha t the role

of

Marxism in Latin America

was marginul unt il I ()60 wit h the exception of certain political movements

(Chile) and cer ta in individua ls

( \I ar ia te gu i) . A round 1960

the movement

suffered lrom yet anothcr s ch ism as a res ul t

of

the

Sino-Soviet connie

(Ratliff.

Il J7b, P

::

In spi te

of

the Chinese cha llenge , to which

should

e

added the cri tici sm f rom var ious

Trotskyists ,

Castro ists ' and nationalist

communist s. alld the Sov ie t i nvas ion of Czechoslovakia in 1961 : the Latin

American communist

parties

have remained amazingly faithful to the Soviet

l nion. In terms of development strategic thinking they have been very

close

the ECL\ ana lysis (see below) , and

when

the [CLA

strategy

ran into

dill i l'ult ies during the Il)(,Os, they were also subjected to c ri tici sm f rom

the

dependency school. One

of

the best-known dependency theorists, i\ G Frank,

h ~ l d

t

his to say about the Latin American communist parties:

the latin Aruerican communist par ties and

their

ideologues .. .

haw

made no cont r ib ut ion to Marxi sm or any

other

theory that

any

o nc has been able to

discover.

Programmatically

t

hey have

hcen

scarc l' ly as advanced as

the

bourgeois

dcvclopmcnt

ists from

whom they

diffc red at most in their largely Soviet- inspired and propagandist

o pposi

t

ion to American imper ia li sm; pol it ical ly they have been little

morc

t

h an a tail wagged by t il e nat iona l bourgeois dog who used the

Comm unist parties temporarily excepting In Guatemala, Vcnezueh

ancl Colombia

t

o keep a leach 011 t i l l dependence theorists, the or -

munist pur t i cs a

t horne

and abroad loyally joined the opposition.

t lrunk . I 1I77. P

356)

Ba

groun I

to the DCliCIl CnC.l pproach

TheNew Left in Latin America

During the

1960s

Latin Am erican polit icaI pr actice

developed

into something

entirely different f rom wha t the official

communist

analysis had predicted.

The

peasants

were

more

i nc li ned to r evol t t han the worke rs .

and

the rural

guerrilla

appeared

to be an ulternat ivc to organiza tional work within the

labour

movement.

The traditional Marxis t views were

consequently

subjected to severe cri tici sm f rom the left . Furthermore, there was now a

Marxist-inspired

debate

that did

not

necessarily have

any connections with

the

Couunu

nist

Party.

The underlying political reason for this may be

sought in the

Cuban Revolution.

This revolution should not have been pos si bl e, according to the conven

tional Marx is t v iew, and at the beg inning , the Cuban Communis Party saw

Fidel C as tr o as a b ou rg eo is

adventurer.

Ilis succ es s, as well as the b re ak

through

r

Chc Guevara's

revolutionary

appea ls in other

parts of

the Latin

American

continent, undermined

the

conununkt

parties positions

and I'orccd

them in to a more or less radical re-evaluation of their earlier policies. Aguilar

says.

The r eper cuss ions of t he se event s nat ur al ly went beyond the Cuban

sp her e. It is ev id en t that many of thc a rgumcn ts that were hurled

dir c ct ly and obli que

ly

at the old Cuban couununist cadres the

bachelors of

Marxism

as they were

disrespectfully

called by Che

Guevara could very easily be a pp li ed to nea rly all the Communists

parties

of

the contincnt.

(Aguilar, 1968, p 45 )

(h e

Gucv.nas

ideas

about t he

role of the peasants in the revolution

and the abili ty of the human will to surmount objective limitations is reminis

cent of Mao Zedong. Latin American Marxist became even more fragmellted

after the Sino-Russian

couflict

and Maois t ideas were a llowed to grow freely,

as was a less party-bound Marxism. Particularly at the univcrsit ics Marxism

now becamea

part

of the intellectual

climate

rather

than just

a

stilted

languagc

at communist party

convent

ions. The

new

l ef t' had been born.

The new le it was impatient. It wanted revolution here and I/O\\ The cul

mination

of

thi s pol it icnl l ine was the Latin American Solidarity Conference

heldin l lavana in August l lJ ()7. It s

motto

was:

The

duty or a revolutionary is

to make revolution. The influential Venezuelan Coml1lunist Party obcjctcd

violently to he fac t that - 'idel Castro had assurucd the task or deciding who

was and who was no t a revo lut ionary in Latin Arucr ic.

Other

communist

parties were, howcver, moderate in

their

views. The secretary general of the

Chilean Communi st Par ty not ed

two

tendencies in the revolutionary move

ment in Lat in Ame ri ca : a pro l et ' Irian one and a bourgeois-nutionalist one.

The

latter

underestimated the role

played

by

the

working class, and showed

a tendency

towards

anti-sociulism _. but was, ncvert hclcss, rcvolui illnary.

Only imperialism

could

pro fi t from a pol ar iz

ation

o f t he se wo teudcncics

(Ratliff. 1976. l 80). Allende s Iruu: rganizatiun was

made

possible through

-' -

C I ~ C : ; O - ~ ) i i J i i n i . - r : ;

33


7/29

Dcpen

dc

ncy Theory

in Transition

this more moderate attitude.

In Oc to be r of the same year, Che was killed by the Bolivian a rm y and a

month later the guerrilla theorist Regis Debray was sentenced to thirty years

in prison. This was the beginning

of

the end of the voluntarist revolutionary

strategy. Castro s support to various guerrilla groups became more selective.

After this it becomes necessary to make a

dear

distinction between Cuban

political views, which gradually grew more consistent with Soviet f or eign

policy, and Guevarism, which may be summarized as follows:

I . The people s army i.e. guerr illa ar my) is capable of winning a war against

a regular army.

2. It i s no t nec es sa ry to wai t for t he o bj ec ti ve c on di ti on s f or the re vol ut io n

to develop: t he y can be created by the guerr illa army, which thus becomes

an embryonic revolutionary centre U O insurreccionaii

3. The armed str uggle in the under developed countries should primarily take

place in the rural areas.

All of these three points were contrary to the long-established communist

line in Latin America. Al tho ug h Che Guevara in his later speeches and

writings often emphasized the impor tance

of

a Marxist-Leninist

v nt g rde

par ty, par ticularly f or the socialist construction wor k, there was a

lingering

ambivalence when it car ne to f or mulating thc theor etically cor rect r elation

b et we en t he r ura l gue rri ll a o rg an iz at io n and th e u rb an party organization.

This ambivalence has, of c our se , been the source of a n um be r of disagree-

me nt s, p urge s and s ch is ms i n - the La ti n Ame ric an c om mu ni st p ar ti es :

the

disagreement about loco and party a bo ut t he c on ti ne nt al e xt en t of

the

revolutionary struggle, the relative importance of the rural and the urban

guerr illa, and the question of s up po rt to p op ula r front go ve rn me nt s - to

m en ti on a few , Howe ve r, t he re is n o rea son f or e la bo ra ti ng o n th e furt he r

d ev el op me nt of C ue var is m in La ti n Amer ic a: it s mor e important

aspects

should now be obvious. Dur ing the late 1960s the somewhat f ossilized orn

r nunist movement in Latin America saw Guevarism as a great theor etical and

ideological challenge. Many dogmas were rejected, new questions were asked

and the conditions for a more Latin American Marxism were created.

Paul Bar an and the Rise of Neo-Marxism

This ideological development coincided with the development o

nco-Marxism at the more a ca de mi c level. It is no easy task to analyse the

r elationship between these two tendencies, However , it is obvious that

they

suppor ted each other . Let us therefore leave the brutal political r eality and

take a look at the intellectual preparations made in the usually mor e

relaxed

atmosphere of the university. Her e Paul Bar an s The Political Economy o

Growth

U

9 7 mu st be g ive n c re di t fo r c on tr ib ut in g s ig ni fi ca nt ly t o the

upsurge of the new left and neo-Marxism .

I n hi s a na ly sis o f t he p ol it ic al e co no my of development, Baran used the

c on ce pt o f economic surplus and e xa mi ne d how it had been c re ate d and

34

ackground

to

the Dependency

u ti li ze d in d if fe re nt s oc ia l sy ste ms, Th e s ur pl us wa s s impl y d ef in e

dif fere nc e b et we en p ro du ct io n an d c on su mp ti on . F ur th er mo re h

guished between actual and potential surplus, the latter defined as t

ence between the pr oduction that would be possible in a given geo

and t ec hno log ica l e nv iro nm en t, and t ha t which may be c on si de r

necessary consumption. Bar an admitted that this concept was

but it had the great advantage of being r elevant: it provided insight

irrational elements of an economic system and underlined the

an analysis of the obstacles to a mobilization of potential r esource

used the c on ce pt in his analysis both

of

developed and underd

countries but we are more inter ested in his views on the latter.

Ac co rd in g t o Ba ran , c ap it al is m h ad s pru ng from feu da li sm, wh

final stage of dissolution was characterized by increasing agricult

duction, by a more extensive division of labour and by capital accum

These processes wer e all prerequisite to capitalism. Western Eur ope

t hi s d ev el op me nt b y i ts g eo gr ap hi ca ll y a dv an ta ge ou s p os it io n a n

lack of natural resources, which stimulated trade, shipping and pilla

var ious r easons this process was not developed in the Third Wor ld.

i ng th e c ol on ie s ma y not ha ve i nc re as ed th e E ur op ea n n at io na l i n

much, but it did constitute a significant contribution to its economic

h en ce al so to i nv es tm en t an d e co no mi c g ro wt h. The c ol on ie s e

sur plus consequently diminished, their capital accumulation came t

a nd t he ir b ud di ng i nd us tr ie s wer e kil le d by c om pe ti ti on . In othe

development in the colonies was f or ced

off

i ts n at ur al c ou rs e, an d

completely dominated by imperialistic interests. The countries

of

t

orld Japan being a spectacular exception) stagnated somewhere

f eudalism and capitalism, and wer e the victims of the wor st of both

This Marxist view of the spread of capitalism differed radically from

o wn vi ews . Ba ran a ba nd on ed th e vi ew of c ap it al is m bei ng s pre ad

centre to the periphery ; instead, he introduced the idea that unde

ment was an active process following the development in the centre,

T hi s v ie w, w hic h c on st it ut ed a c le ar bre ak wit h c la ss ic al Ma rx

mor e or less hinted at, or implicit in, Bar an s analysis. I t was, aswe

br ough t t o it s l og ic al c on cl us io n i n th e works of An dre G un de r F

which the idea

of

the development

of

underdevelopment was

f or ward. The Third Wor ld seemed to be doomed to per petual under

ment. No capitalist development tendencies seemed to undermine t

social

s tr uc tu re , In fact Latin America, along with the rest of t

orld

were

de facto

capitalist from the very moment they were inco

in the c ap it al is t world e co no my . The Latin American bourgeo

par asitic and would never f ulfil its historical mission of freeing the

tiveforces. The nee-Marxist view prescribed immediate revolutionary

based on guerr illa tactics, instead of the communist two-stage s

Thisis where the Guevarist inf luence comes in. Thus. the neo-Mar xi

theor etically and practically, f avoured a new line which at that t iru

to be in b et te r a gre eme nt with the po lit ic al realities than the o


8/29

l l / d l l / t T

Th

corv il l

Transition

larx ist one. Nco-Marxism was thus the academic express ion of that for

ich the guerr il la s truggle

stood

at the p ract ical -pol it ic al level - a point

ich was

uften

emphasized . Here are some

quotes

f rom an art ic le which

ypical of the time: it was written in 1963 by the e dit ors

of

the

Monthly

Paul Swcczv and Leo Hub erman, after a

journey

through Latin

The only possible r evol ut ion in Latin Americ a today i s a social ist

revolu tion.

The

notion

that t he re is a power fu l nat iona l bou rgeo is ie in these

c oun tr ie s a nx io us to break away fro

III

US

domination . . .

is

unf or

t unutcly a myth.

There can be no

doubt

t hat Latin Ameri ca nee ds and is ripe for

socialist r evo lut ion , nut at Some di st an t date in the f ut ur e but right

n

lJ

II .

We

did not meet a single s er ious l ef ti st in Latin Ameri ca who is not

an a rden t supporter of the Cuban Revol ut io n . . . There is just one

thing that worries them, the extent to which Cuba in res is ting the U

may have fallen under the domination of the Soviet Union .

The above exp re sse s an interpretation whi ch was so d if fe re nt from the

evailing Latin American Marxism that it is not without justification to

of a change

of

paradigm vis-a-vis Marxism and, above all, in relation to

blished theories of development. The f orme r is.

of

course, the more

of the two. A par ad igma ti c cleavage between two s choo ls is

rimarily characterized by a lack

of communication;

this criterion is relatively

e}l

met in the case

of

the

modernization

perspective versus the under

evelopment perspective . The l ine between Marxism and nco-Marxism is

uch less clear and the d is ti nc tion

per se

has also been sub ject ed to some

riticism (sec e.g. Taylor, 1974 An authoritative view claims that Marxism

s whole and indivisible, and that the neo-Marxists have either misunderstood

nic basic Marxist theses (i.e. they arc poor Marxists), or that they should

u l be thought or as Marxi st s at all. 9 The concept of nco-Marxism will

robably not survive for long and we merely use it as an heu ri st ic concept to

ndicate a specific stage in the history of Marxism, during which there

were

eat gaps in the Marxist analysis of the problems of underdevelopment .

he Differences between Marxism and Nco-Marxism

At this point it might be interesting to take a closer look at an at

t

cmp t to

dent ify the

phcnomcnun of

nco-Marxism and the differences between

neo

Marxism and Marxism. Aidan Foster-Carter has brought forward a

number

of

oints which. in his opinion, contrast the two truditions.l Somewhat

modified. they arc as follows:

Imperialism

and

ationalism

Marxism (as int erpr et ed by Len in )

sees

imper ia lism in a

centre

perspective, that i s, as a s tage in the development

]l J

t

Ba

ckgroun t

to thc DCflClldt l /cy j pproact:

of cnpitalism

(monopoly

capitalism): nco-Marxism, on the other hand, sees

imperialism from the periphery s. or the vict ims. p oi nt of view, which in

turn implies that the interes t has shifted

Ir

om development to underdevelop

ment. This bre ak with what is, for the classical .vlarxism , such a typical

evolutionary perspective is

qui te impor tant

to the di st inc ti on b etwe en

Marxism and nco-Marxism. Marxist-inspired leaders

of

the Third World, such as

Mao

Zcdong or Amilcur Cabra l have often

h.i.

a nationalistic appearance

which has always be en mor e a cc ep ta bl e to nco-Marxists than orthodox

Marxists.

2 Classes:

Ilere

we

find several important differences. The Marxist analysis

of classes is based on specifically European experiences, while that

of

the

neo-Marxists is based on the revolut ionary s truggle in the Third World with

a much more generous view

of

different groups revolutionary potential.

Whereas

Marxists have difflcult ics seeing

anyone

but the industrial proletariat

asthe revolutionary class

par preference.

the nco-Marxists wil l tend to let the

peasant s play this role - c la iming tha t the indus tr ia l worke rs of the Third

Worlu

in real it y form a

labour

aristocracy , Marxists believe in the existence.

eventual emergence,

of

a nat iona l bou rgeo is ie in the Thi rd World: nco.

Marxists, on

the

other hand, see the bourgeois ie as the creat ion and tool

of

imperialism, and as such incapable

of

fulfilling its role as the liberator

of

the

forces of production.

3

Revolution

and

Ethics:

The nco-Marxists view the possibilities of starting

arevolution with greater

optimism.

even if the conditions may be uufavour

able

and in this

context

emphasize the importance of guerrilla warfare.

Marxism. on the

uther

hand. emphasizes organization and patient party work,

panicularly amongst the workers. In

other

words, the nco-Marxists emphasize

the role

of

the subjective factors, moral stimuli, the new man, etc. Marxists

retain materialism and the emphasis on objective conditions that gave Marx

his distinctive mark as a social scientist.

4 Ecology:

Marxism st il l shows traces

of

the 1 9t h Century development

optimism, and many Marxists consider the concept of s ca rc ity to be a bour

geois i nven tion for the purpose of legitimizing economic inequality. Sonic

neo-Marxists now integrate the growing ecological consciousness and the

demands

of

environmental movemen ts with the ir theory

of

development:

the bl ind fai th in indus tr ia lism as the l iberator of humanity has at the same

time

undergone sonic major rev is ions . S imilar ly , there is now a tendency to

think

of

the cit ies as being paras it ic , and to ideal ize the countryside - con

trast ing sharp ly with Marx s own comments on

th e

idiocy of rural lire .

The nco-Marxist concept has caused considerable irritation among Marxists,

part icular ly as they have been accused

of

being Palaeo-Marxists . We shall

return to this subject in connection wi th the Marxist c ri ti ci sm of the

dependency school.

Obvious ly , the dif ferences which we have pointed out above are merely

37


9/29

r

Dependen cv Theory Transition

rough indications of gener al t endenc ie s. On this bas is it might be

difficult

cl early to de fi ne two t heo ret ic al c amps with

contrasting

but internally

identical views. t might be said that neo-Marxism has accepted the changes

through which Marxism has passed a ft er its transplantation from European

to non -European soil , while the Marxists have been anxious to safeguardt

the pur ity of Marxism. Contrary to Foster-Carter, we believe, as suggested

above, that it is i nadequat e to speak of two distinct 'schools'; instead, we

are

witne ss ing a dial ec ti c, i nt el le ctua l p roce ss in which Marx i s the the si s

and

nco-Marxism the antithesis, i.e. a phase in the universalization of the Marxist

tradition. This i s the way in which we shall use the concept.' The theoretical

deficiencies in

orthodox

Marxism with r egard to i ts ana ly si s of the social

condi ti on s in the Thi rd World are now being mended and i ts gaps fi lled,

as

will be discussed later on.

E L Development Thinking

During the inter -war per iod a growing number of ideas and analyses basedli

on concrete, Latin American condi t ions, as wel l ason more systemat ic social

science r esea rch began to appea r. Unti l then soc ia l sci ence had

mainly

consisted of specula tions in socia l phi losophy, st rongly inf luenced by Euro-[

penn culture and socia l debates. The Lat in American authors were isolated[

pensadores

('thinkers' or amateur philosophers) who mechanically grafted

European, 18th-Century evolutionism, Auguste Comte's positivism and social

Darwinism on to Latin American

conditions.P

The indigenous analyses of Latin America which appea red at the end of

the l Oth Century were orgies in self-cr it ic ism and catalogues of

Latin

American weaknesses (Hirschman, 1971 l. as , for examp le , Bunge s Nuestn

merica

(1903)

and the Chilean Francisco Encina s Nuestra

il ferioridad

econoniica sus

causas

Sl S consecueucias (Our Economic Inferiority: Its

Causes

and

Consequences)

(1912).

The obvious conclusion from this type of

analysis was the idea of economic development through imitation. In 1895,

the Argentinian

B. Albcrdi

said: 'North America is South America s

great,

economic

example' (Hirschman, op. cit., p 275).

As a result of the First World War, the Mexican and the Russian Revo-

1

lutions and repeated i nt er vent ions by the US in the Latin Ameri can states ]

internal affai rs , there was a change towards f inding the faul ts in the surround

ing wor ld , rather than in Lat in America . At the same time, the socia l analysis

began to be based on more systematica lly conducted research, rather than on

the

pensadores

and their more or lesssubjective ideas influenced by European

social research and debates.

As far as the social sci ences were concerned, Chile appea red to be the

country providing the most favourable conditions for research. particularly

in the area of economics. Systematic instruction in that subject was given

as

early as R13, the economic journal

Revista Economica

was founded in 1886,

The department of economics at the Catholic University was formed in 9

38

Background

to

the Dependencv

and that

of

the Chile Unive rs it y in 1935. Led by Pre sident Agu i

the Popular

Front

government

founded

the orpor cion de

Fo

Producion (CORFO) in 19 39. This age nc y constituted the l ink

academic research and practical social planning. CORFO initiated

of emp ir ic al s tudi es which later formed the basis for a macro

analysis, which broke a number of economic taboos because of its o

towards domestic, economic problems. Chile developed

inter

alia

att itude towards central economic planning; this view was further

when the Unit ed Nat ions

located

the E con om ic Commi ss ion

America (ECLA) in Santiago.

t is interesting t not t ha t the debate on economic research r

a cer ta in polariza t ion between the economists of the ECLA and the

university on the one hand and t ho se from the Catho li c Unive rs

o ther. The latter had be en i nf lu en ce d by the Chicago Scho ol ,

known as Los Ch icago Boys . On a more theor et ic al level this con

ifested i tse lf in the famous debate between 'structuralists' and 'mo

to which we shall return below.

Raul

Prebisch

and E L

The Great Dep re ss ion in the 1930s was a great divide in economic

the indus tr ia li zed wor ld and it is also in these exper iences

that

w

roots of a specifically 'peripheral' theory of economic development

figure her e is undoubtedly Raul Prebisch who from 1935 to

Director-General of Banco Cen tr al in Argen tina . a

country

t ha t

severe ly h it by the depression. The idea of a centre-periphery struct

world economy was imp li ci t in Prebi sch s ear ly economic pol icy

concerning Argentina, in which inward-directed development and

izati on were seen as the remedy (Love, 1980, P 54) . t should, ho

noted that this industr ia l izat ion dr ive is a recur rent phenomenon. w

be structurally exp la in ed as the ideology

of

latecomers in dev

This ideology goes back to Friedrich List and the German react ion

as the

workshop of

the wor ld ,

subsequently

emerging in other indu

countries; the United States in the mid 19th Century , Russia in the

Century, Eastern and South Eastern Europe i n the int er -war pe

Brazil, Chile, Argentina and Mexico in the 1930s and 1940s. It w

periences

of

t he se count ri es which p rovided the r at iona le for th

substitution strategy recommended by ECLA in the 1950s .

The formulation of a distinctly Latin American view of underdev

and of development i s int imately r el at ed to [CLA, founded in

Santiago, Chile. In

addition

to

twenty-one

Latin American countr

Britain, France and the Netherlands also became members.

As opposed to most of the other regional UN agencies (the

commissions for Asia and Afr ica) , the ECLA soon developed i ts o

on the problems of underdevelopment and development. The on w

should be credi ted with this ach ievement is Raul Prebisch, who bec

of the ECLA in 1950. A few years befor e, P rebi sch had wri tt en a d


10/29

Th

o

rv Transition

entually to become t h e ECLA Manifest :

The Economic Development

of

t in mer ica and its

Principal

Problems

(Prebisch,

1950 .

This document

ins as follows:

In Latin Ameri ca , r ea li ty is undermining the out-dated schema of the

international division of labour, which achieved great importance in the

nineteenth

century

and , as a theor et ic al

concept, continued

to exert

considerable inf luence unti l very recently. Under t hat schema, the

specific task tha

t

fell to Lat in Ameri ca , as part of the

periphery

of the

world economic system, was that of producing food and raw materials

for the great industr ia l cen tres. There was no place wi thin it for the

industr iu liza t ion of the new countries . is nevertheless being forced

up on them h

y

events. Two wor ld wars in a sing le generat ion and a great

economic crisis between them have shown the Latin-American

countries their

opport

unit ies, c le ar ly point ing the way to indu st ri al

activity.

From this passacc it is obv ious tha t P rcbi sch sough t the causes for Latin

rican undcr

dcv

ciopment outside the

continent,

and he found them in the

stem of internat ional free trade . Consequently, his first attack was

011

the

theory of t rade . According to Prcbisch. this theory supported

e existing international division of l abo ur . in which the pe ri ph ery had

cialized in the production

of

primary products an.l the cen tr e in the pro

of

i ndus tr ia l goods , as well as the idea that this division

of

labour

u ld result in the g reat es t possibl e advan tage to all the par ti es involved.

s an e xampl e he s howed wh at . a cc ord ing to the theory. would happen if

chn ical prog re ss was more rapid in the centre s production of industrial

than

in the periphery s

production

of primary products. Assuming that

he fall in prices wou ld be inversely

proportional

to the g rowth

of

produc

ty, the prices of industrial goods would fall more rapidly than those of raw

ate rials . The pe ri phe ry wou ld then be able to pu rch as e mor e indus tri al

for the same amount of p rima ry p roduct s, and thus p rog re ss would

crue to all countr ies of the wor ld even without an industrialization of the

Prcbischs own emp ir ic al s tudi es . howeve r, showed tha t this p redi ct ion

s not general ly valid. He had found that Great Britain s terms

of

trade had

adual ly improved since I

SS

and since Great Br itain was predominant ly

importer of primary products he concluded that during this long period

he terms of trade of the primary producing countries ( i.c. the per iphery)

SCI

iously deteriorated in relat ion to Great Bri ta in (i .e , the centre).

l rcbischs

explanation

of

the deterioration of the per iphe ry s t erms of

was tha t mos t

of

the profi ts from the various increases in product iv ity

d bcucf it cd only the industrial ized countries . Il l a lso tried to show that

his had not been a u ni qu e

phenomenon,

hut a sign of underlying structural

elations which the nco-classical theory

of

t rade had not taken into account .

On t ile

production

side the

theory

had primarily neglected the true market

ackgroun

to

t

h c ependcllcy ppro ach

structures. Technical progress may favour the producer by reducing costs

(which in tu rn ma y increase profits and/or wages). Prebisch claimed that

development in t he c en tr e rarely led to price reductions, mainly because of

the high degree of monopolization of the factor and goods market there. The

fact that imperfect competition was dominating meant that price falls could

beavoided, and also that the labour unions, because of their strength, could

cla ima share in the technical progress in the form of increased wages.

In the p er iph er y, the opposite was supp os ed to be the case. Here, the

consumer received th e fruits

of

technological change via reduced prices,

mainly because p ri ma r y p ro du c er s o p er a te u nd e r competitive conditions.

However, in r ea li ty it was the consumer in the centre who was favoured,

since technical progress in the periphery primari ly occurred in the export

industry. Thus, the centre would benef it both fi om the periphery s technical

progress as well as from its own.

On the

demand

side it was

noted

t ha t the goods

produced

for expor t in

the centre and in the per iphery had dif ferent income elast ic it ies. The income

elasticity of imported primary products in the centre was considerably lower

than the income e la st ic it y of imported industr ia l goods in the per iphery .

This was a resul t, il l fer alia of Engels s Law, which states that the percentage

share s pe nt on f ood is a dimi ni shi ng fu nc ti on of income. An increase in

income in the centre would therefore lead to a lower per cent age change in

the demand for impoi ted primary products than a similar increase in income

in the per iphe ry wou ld change the demand for imported industrial goods.

Thus, even the demand side held clements that would lead to a deteriorat ion

ofthe primary producing countries t errus of trade.

Through this ana ly si s I r eb isch came to the conclus ion tha t the unde r

development of Lat in America was due to Its re li ance on exports of pruu ry

products (also called the Prcbisch-Singer thesis. since Hans Singer published

similar ideas at th e t ime (Singer . IlJ50). P rebi sch also c la imed tha t a con

tinued emphasis on the export

of

primary products would inevitably lead to

a further deterioration

or

the per iphery s terms

or

t rade . In turn. this would

affect the durucst i r uccumular ion

of

capital , However . the internat ional

mechanisms of equalization would function as predicted hy the nco-classical

theory

or

t rade if the per iphery were to expor t industr ia l goods instead . Thus,

Latin Ameri ca wou ld he able to keep the f rui ts of its ll n technical progress.

The natural solu tion to the problem was therefore

industrialization

As we shal l sec later . \V.A. lewis came to similar conclusions through his

analyses of the Caribbean. llowevcr, his development strategy Was rather the

opposite to that which emerged in latin America. lewis

proposed

an export

or ien ted indus t r ializut ion, whe reas Prcbi sch s and the

L e lA

strategy,

roughly, may be summarizcd as follows:

- The process

of

industrializatiun to be s pe ede d up by the substitutiun

ofa large part

of

current imports hy doincstic pro dur tiou. Initially, dorucst ic

industries were be

protected

from fureign

competition

hy tariffs and

other

support measures, hu t once their competitive ability had improved, the firms

4


11/29

Dcpcnd

e

n

cv

Theon Transition

s ho ul d b e a bl e t o m an ag e o n t hei r o wn .

.- The p ro du ct io n of raw mat eri al s would c ont i nue t o pla y a n important role

i n t he Latin Am er ican ec on om ic s. The i nc om e e ar ne d from e xp or ti ng

r w

mat er ial s s ho ul d be used to pay for i mp or te d ca pi ta l goods, and th us

help

i nc re ase t he rat e of e conomi c growt h.

- In it ial ly , forei gn businesses were to help speed up th e p ro ce ss of capital

a cc um ul at i o n. Ho we ver . t he re w as a c er ta in f ee li ng of reservation towards

gre at er de pe nde ncy on forei gn subsi di arie s Ca rdoso, 1977, p 29).

.- Governme nt s shoul d a ct ivel y pa rt i ci pat e a sc o-ordi na t orsof the industrial

i za ti on p ro gr am me . I ncr eas ed g ov er nm en t i nv ol ve me nt w as n ec es sa ry t o

break the chains

of

underdevelopment.

- Later t owa rd s the end

of

t he 1950s), t he ECLA bec ame t he dri vi ng

force

b eh in d t he e ff or ts a t c re at in g a L at in A me ri ca n

common

m ar ke t i n o rd er t o

facilitate further industrialization.

Programmed Industrialization

t he FCLA s t heoret i ca l e xpl a na t ion of underdevelopment and its sketches

o f a lt er na ti ve d ev el op me nt s tr at eg ie s a re ca ll ed t he f ir st p has e, t he s eco nd

p has e ma y b e s ai d t o h av e b eg un wh en t he C om mi ss io n t ri ed t o t ra ns la te t he

straicgy into practicul pol ic ie s. The i nit i al gui del i ne s for t hi s work were dra wn

up at a co nf er en ce in Rio de J an ei ro in 1953. A well -prepared policy of

i ndust ria li z at i on was sai d t o be required i f t he proce ss of underdevel opment

was to be reversed. and the

[CLA

t he re fo re tri ed to co nv in ce t he

Latin a

Ame ri ca n gove rnment s of t he nec essi ty of t hi s, o ff er in g t o as si st i n t he pre-

pa ra t ion of det a il e d devel opment progra mmes for e ac h

cOLIn

t ry. The phrase

programmed industrialization became popular.

Initially,

[CLA

st ra t egy was ra ther c ol dly rec ei ve d by t he Lat in Ame ri ca n

gove rnme nt s, whi ch i s a lso why most of the Commission s development pro-

gra mmes remai ne d pa pe r e xe rc ises. Thi s resista nc e t o i ts i de as e xpla ins why

t he EC LA c ou ld n ot , a nd s ho ul d n ot , p ro po se m eas ur es t h at w er e t oo r ad ic al ,

of af fe ct ed i nt er na l p ro bl ems . LInd r ef or ms and o th er basi c, st ru ct ur al

c ha nges never rec ei ve d a high priorit y on t he l ist of nec essa ry c ha nges.

A c ou pl e o f y ear s l at er s ev er al Lat in A me ri ca n g ov er nm en ts d id , i n f act ,

begin to collaborate more closely with the

[CLA:

Argentina, Brazil

C ol om bi a an d P er u we re a mo ng t he f ir st c ou nt r ie s t o f ol lo w

[CLA

strategy.

The Commi ssion c oul d now di re ct l y i nfl uenc e t he deve lopme nt st ra t egi es

y

offering t ec hni ca l a ssista nc e i n t hei r pl anni ng a nd a ppl i ca t ion, but , wha twas

e ve n more i mport ant , i t c oul d i nfl uenc e t he deve lopme nt proce ss i ndirec tl y

b y t ra in in g l oca l p la nn er s i n t he E CLA w ay o f t hi nk in g. T he C ommi ssi on s

doctrines were therefore quickly spread across the

continent.

Th e b el ie f t ha t i nd us tr ia li za ti on wa s t he r em ed y t o u nd er de ve lo pm en t

s pr ead not onl y to the Lati n American c ou nt ri es d ur in g the 195 05, but t o

most of t he c ou nt ri es i n t he T hi rd Wo rl d.

It

was generally assumed that the

proce ss t hrough whi ch t he i ndustri al i ze d c ount ri e s had gone was e ssenti al ly

repeatabl e, and t hat the c ur ren t c on di ti on s in these co un tr ies were the

u lt i ma te g oal o f d ev el op me nt . A w el l- de ve lo pe d i nd us tr ia l s ec to r w as

con

Background to the Dependencv

sidered to be t yp ic al of a m od er n s oc ie ty ; the various c ha ra ct er

u nd er de ve lo pe d s oc ie ty w ou ld a ut o ma ti ca ll y d is ap pe ar i n t he

i nd us tr ial iz at io n. The t ra di ti on al o li gar ch y, for e xa mp le , w o

diminishi ng rol e, whi ch would l ea d e ve ntual l y t o

both

economic a

democracy; this, in

turn

w as t ho ug ht t o b e n ec es sa ry f or t he d ev

a mode rn mass

consumption

s oc ie ty wi th a h ig h l ev el of technolo

and scientific activity.

Because

of

t he ir b el ie f i n p ro gr es s t hes e L at in A me ri ca n s c

g iv en t he n ic kn am e desarrollistas or developmentista t he B ra

F ur ta do w as o ne o f t he m. H av in g e xp er ie nc ed t he r ap id e xp an si

during t he 1950s, he wrote :

By now the Brazilian economy could

count

o n i ts o wn d yn am

i nd us tr ial i nv est men ts s up po rt ed by the i nt ern al mar k

q ui ck ly b ec am e t wo -d im en si on al . Ea ch n ew i mp ul se f or w

mea n a n i ncrea si ng di ve rsifi ca ti on, a l arge r mass of resourc e

m en t, a q ui ck er e xp an si on of t he i nt er na l m ar ke t and the

of such impulses being permanently surpassed.

quoted

f ro m H ir sc hm an , 1 96 8, p 2 )

TheE L Theory of evelopment

We

sha ll now re turn t o ECLA s t heoret i ca l work. Prebi sc h s a na ly

o f- tr ad e i s u s ua ll y t he o nl y o ne r ef er re d t o i n t hi s

context

but it i

to realize that E CLA an d P re bi sc h h ad m or e t o s ay ,

13

i n s pi te o f t

most of the i nt er es t was f ocu se d on an anal ysi s of the e xt er n

They act ua ll y t ri ed to p resent a co mp let e

theory

of developm

p ar ti cu la rl y e mp ha si ze d t he st r uc tu r al im b al an ces b et we en

p er ip he ry . T he ir a pp ro ac h n ot o nl y d eal t w it h q ue st io ns r el at ed t o

of t rade a nd t he st ra t egy of i ndustri al i za t ion, but a lso e nc ompasse

complex of development. ECLA

attempted

to s ho w that

underd

is not the same as

undevelopment

i .e . l ac k of de ve lopme nt . Un

ment was i nst ea d to be t ho ug ht of as t he r es ul t of a spe ci fi c proc

t o unde rde vel opment i n one

part

o f t he w or ld an d d ev el op me nt

ECLA, however, never did manage t o formul a te a general

theor

d ev el op me nt . I ns te ad , a n ew

method

o f an al ysi ng the c om pl ex

devel opme nt was i nt roduc e d, t he structuralist method but in sp

t he p ar ad ig m o f m od er ni za ti on w as n ev er r eal ly a ba nd on ed . Ap

rat he r unconve nti ona l t re at ment of i nte rna t ional rel at i ons, t he

was

quite

t ra di ti on al . We h av e p re vi ou sl y d is cu ss ed t he g re at o

ECLA e co no mi st s a bo ut the a bi li ty of i nd us tr ia li za ti on to put

u nder dev el opmen t. Like m an y o th er econ omis ts at the time,

t heori st s overe mphasi ze d t he rol e of c ap it al i n t he d ev el op me

A ft er a ll , t he ma in p oi nt w as that the periphery s deteriorating ter

a ff ec te d t he a cc um ul at io n of capi tal and c on seq ue nt ly also t

economic growth.

T hu s t he p ar ad ig m o f m od er ni za ti on w as st il l

pretty

a li ve , but


12/29

Theon

Transition

n ew approach fo rmed the b asis for its ev cn tual ab olitio n, Th eir structural ap

w hi ch i n C h a pt e r I w e c al le d e ar ly structuralism was extremely impor

o n ot o nl y i n t he t he or et i ca l d eb at e on d ev el o pm en t , bu t a ls o i n a number

other

theoretical contexts suchas

the

Latin American inf1ation controversy ,

Thc cau se of i nf1 at ion h ad b ee n k ee nl y d is cu ss ed i n L at in A me ri ca s in ce

early 1 95 0s . This

debate

is not as well known o ut s id e L at in A me ri ca a s

about the d evelop men t of the t er ms of t ra de . T he [CLA rarely p ar

ipatcd o fficially. b ut some

of

t he e co no mi s ts w or ki ng a t t he C om mi ss io n

. At an early point they attempted to f orm ul at e a theory

of

inf1ation

ich was to be an alter native to the prevailing nco-classical one, and

to

thc theory o r n rulat cd by the monctarists.

of

whom the

extreme c la im ed t ha t i nf1a ti on was not a r es ul t of a g iv en e co no mi c

stem. but rather a problem of

the

p ri nt i ng p re ss . I nf la ti on w as p ri m

ly due to

h e irresp on sibility of i nd iv id ua l f in an ce m in is te rs . w ho

too

m uc h m on ey to cover the g ov er nm en t s budg et d efi ci t. The

lution to the problem was t he re fo re s im pl y

to

stop the printing

e ss es . w hi ch e ss en ti al ly i s the same t hi ng as r ed uc in g g ov cr Il ll lc nt ex

urcs.

The s tr uc tu ra li st s. on the other h and , claimed that t he L at in A me ri ca n

u nt ri e s f ac ed s eve ra l structural p rob lems which automatically created

ionary pressures. Basically they were attributable to supply inelasticities:

cco n ou uc s with such p ro bl em s. l im it at io ns

of

thc quant ity of money

oul d not s top inflations except in tire very long run at the cost of, for

a mp le . a rise unemployment to unacceptable levels). The monctarists

l ut io n to the p ro bl em . w hi ch was s im pl y a proper monetary p olicy , was

rcfo rc rejected . With referen ce to the FC LAan aly sis of the general process

~ r w t in Latin A me ri ca . which p ri ma ri ly saw d ev el op me nt as a r es ul t

t he s up pl y of c ap it al , t he s t ruc t r al is ts c ri ti ci ze d t he o rg an iz at io ns t ha t

oweu the monetarists recommendations e .g. t he IMf) for h av in g far too

strictivc criteria for lending moncy.

The p olitical rccommcndations made by [CLA had a common dcnorn

at or the demand for increased govcmmcnt i nv ol ve me nt . It w as t he t as k

the g l) \< ,r nm cn t t o c or re ct a ll structural c le m en ts s t an di ng i n the way

development

However,

EeLA

always

pointed

out

vcr

c ar ef ul ly t ha t i t

i d not propose a p la nn ed economy. Thc R u ssian mo d el was as v ig orou sly

j ec te d as the

laisscz fairc

mod el. The market economy was to r em ai n, but

er the su rv eillan ce of t hc g ov er nm en t. T hi s K e yn es i an v ie w p la ye d a n

l Ip or ta nt r ol c i n L at in A mc ri ca . b ut i t w as a ls o a cc ep tc d i n a lm os t a ll of the

i rd W orl d. S inc c t he 1 95 05, g ov er nm cn ts ha vc p la yc d a mu ch m or e a ct iv e

l c i n t he sc c co no mi cs t ha n i n an y

hcr

part

of

thc capitalist worlo.

An cx tcn sivc dcbatc f ol lo wc d in t hc wakc of t hc LC LA . Attacks wcre

n chcd fro m both l ib cr al and r ad ic al c or ne rs . The d eb at c bctwccn the

b er al c co no mi st s and thc ECLA is of l it tl e i nt erc st tn thc grl)wth of the

s ch oo L a nd i s t he rc fo rc not includcd hcrc.

16

Of morc relcvance,

ow cv cr . i s t he c ri ti ci sn l

of

thc modcrnization p arad ig m co min g fro m Latin

Amcrican social scientists.

44

Background to

the

Dcpcnd cncy

ppro

a

ch

The Latin American Critique

of

the Modernization Paradigm

The econ o mic g rowth of the mo re in du strialized co un tries of Latin America

i mp le me nt in g ECLA p ol ic ie s came to a halt d ur in g t hc llJ60s_ I ns te ad of

taking of f into self-sustained growth there was general economic stagnation,

a nd , as a r es ul t of tha t, both s oc ia l a nd p ol it ic al p ro bl em s c am e t o t he f or e.

The shortcomings of the policy of import substitution were becoming obvious.

Th e p ur ch as i ng p ow er w as l im it c d t o c er ta i n s oc ia l

strata.

a nd t he d om es ti c

m ar ke t s h ow e d n o

tendency

to expand after its n eeds h ad b een fulfilled . The

import dependency had s im pl y s hi ft ed from consumption g oo ds t o c ap it al

g oo ds. The conventional export g ood s had been neg le ct ed in thc general

frenzy

of

in du strializa tion : the result was acute balance-of-payment problems

i n o ne country af ter another. T he o pt im is m of g rowth chang ed into deep

depression.

R au l I rcb isch and C clso

Furtado. two

veterans

of

Latin American develop

mcn t econ o mics, n ow both realized th at altho u gh in du strializatio n h ad b een

i ni ti at ed , i t d id n ot automatically continue by i ts el f. I Ic re i s a comment from

1966 by Fur tado: In Latin Am eri ca t he re is a general cons cious ne ss of

living t hr ou gh a period

of

decline The phase

of

easy development,

through increasing exports of primary products or through import substitu

tio n h as ev ery wh ere b een exhausted (quoted from Hirschman, 196R).

The growing consciousness

of

the fact that e c on om i c g ro wt h - - I m a s l o ng

as it las ted -- did not n ec es sa ri ly ha ve an y s oc ia l o r p ol it ic al

counterparts

also

contr

ibu t cd to the w id es pr ea d pe ss im is m. D ur in g the 1 96 0s t he ECLA

p ub li sh ed a r ep or t o n t he s oc ia l situation in Latin America, to gether with the

annual economic review. T og et he r, t he se p ub li ca ti on s o ff er ed a p ec ul ia r

picture

of

the d ev el op me nt : on the one h an d i nd us tr ia li za ti on and g ro wt h,

and on thc othcr unemployment and marg inalization . Man y students of

d ev el op me nt s aw t hi s a s confirmation of t he f act t ha t e st ab li sh ed d ev el op

men t th in k in g was g oing th ro u gh a crisis, 17

Stavenhagen

e ha ve a lr ea dy d ea lt w it h t he [CLA critique of simplified growth theories

and the vir l\

of

f or ei gn t ra de as the p ri me m ov er b eh in d d ev el op me nt . In

t hi s c on t c xt w e s ha ll d ea l w it h a m uc h b ro ad er d is cu ss io n w hi ch q ue st io ne d

t he e nt ir e, e st ab li sh ed p ar ad ig m of m od er ni za t io n. I n a n i nf lu en ti al es sa y

f rom 19 66 t he M cxi ca n s oc io lo gi st R o do lf o S ta vc nh ag en c Ii ti ci zc d w ha t h e

called Thc Scvcn Erroneous Thcses on Latin AnlCrica Stavenhagcn, 19 6).

(l )

77

Latin mericancOlintries arc dual societies

This proposition states

that two d if fc rc nt a nd , to a c er ta in cxtcnt, indepcndent societics exist within

thc L at in A mc ri ca n c ou nt ri es : one t ra di ti on al a gr ar ia n s oc ie ty and one

mod crn, u rban ized so cicty . Thc fo rmer is often associatcd with feudalisnl and

t he l at t cr w it h c ap it al is m, w hi ch a ls o i mpl ie s

that

feu dalism is an o bstacle

to

devclopmcnt that

m us t bc r cp la ce d by p ro gr cs si vc c


13/29

Dependency Theory ill Transition

2) Progress in La ti n Ame ri ca will

come

about by

the

spread industrial

products

into

the backward, archaic and traditional areas: This thesis assumes

t ha t t he m od er n e xp an si ve s ec to r a ut om at i ca ll y s ta rt s a p ro ce ss

of

develop

m en t i n t he t ra di ti on al s ec to r, t ha t t he t ra ns it io n f ro m t ra di t io na l t o m od er n

s oc ie ty i s a p ro ce ss wh ich i ne vi ta bl y i nc lu de s al l t he t ra di ti on al s oc ie ti es i n

t he w or ld t od ay , a nd t h at t he c en tr es of modernity ar e n ot h in g b ut t he r es ul t

of the propagat ion of e l ement s origi na t ing i n a lrea dy devel oped c ount ri es.

Sta ve nhagen obj ec t ed t o t hi s by c la iming inter alia t hat t he sprea di ng

out

of

modern

consumption

g oo ds d id n ot i mp ly a n i nc re as e i n w el far e per se, and

t ha t it i ns te ad m an ag ed to drive

out

l ocal i nd us tr ie s an d t ra de s, an d e ve n

t ua ll y l ed t o c la sses

of

mi ddl emen a nd usure rs. As far a sc a pit al i sc onc erned,

the s pr ead in g seemed to go i n th e opposite direction from t he bac kward

a re as t o

the

developed areas. The progress of the modern area was,in reality,

achieved at the traditional area s expense.

3 The exis tence

backward, traditional and archaic rural areas is an

obs tacle to the formation

an internal market and to the development ofa

progressive and national capitalism: In Sta ve nhageri s opini on t hi s was fal se

be cau se i n Lat in Amer ica t he re was n o p ro gr es si ve , n at io na l c ap it al is m, n or

were t he c ondi t ions suc h t ha t one might devel op.

4) The nat iona l bourgeo is ie has an inter es t in break ing the powerand the

dominion the landed oligarchy: The landowners , financiers and industrial

i st s i nt er es ts we re, i n r ea li ty , j o in ed i n t he s ame e co no mi c g ro up s, t he s ame

companies,

an d

o cc as io na ll y ev en i n t he s ame f ami li es . T he re i s n o r eas on

why the national bourgeoisies and the land oligarchy

shouldn t

get along.

5) Lati n American development is the work and creation a nationalist,

progressive, enterprising anddynamic middle class,and

the

social and economic

policy objectives

the Lat in American governments should be to s timulate

social

mobility

and the development

that

class: Those c la sses c al l ed t he

mi dd le cl as se s ar e v er y cl ose ly connected w it h t he e xi st in g e co no mi c a nd

political structure an d l ac ke d t he d yn am ic t ha t m ig ht m ak e t h em c at al ys ts i n

a process of independent economic development.

6) Nat iona l integra tion in Latin America is the product miscegenation:

Th is t he si s su gg est s t ha t t he d ev el op me nt was mo vi ng t o wa rd s so me ki nd o f

universal s oc iet y i n which the d if fe ren ce s b et we en the d om in an t whit e

m in or it y and t he mass of natives in the rural areas w ou ld d is ap pe ar . This

t hes is w as w ro ng b ec au se a b io lo gi cal an d c ul t ur al m ix in g d oes not i mpl y a

change i n the ex is ti ng s tr uc tu re per se. the internal Latin American

colonies the mestizos represent t he l oc al a nd regiona l rul ing c la sses, a nd do i n

fact suppress the natives.

7) Progress in Lat in America will only take place by means an alliance

between the workers and the peasants, as a resul t the identi ty interests

46

ackgroundto

the Dcpe

ndcncv A

of these two classes. Thi s t he si s has primari ly bee n e xamine d by t he

l eft, but t he workers and pea sa nts i nte re st s were, i n rea li ty, not i d

Latin A mer ic a i t is a fact that t he s tr on ge r t he i nt er na l c ol on ia li sm

gre at er t he di fference s be twe en t he met ropoli s a nd i ts dome st i c c o

ss

opportunities t he re a re f or a t ru e p ol it ic al a ll ia nc e b et we en w o

peasants.

Cardoso

Sta ve nhagen was here t hinki ng of t he e xp er ie nc es i n M ex ico w hi ch

were common to a n um be r of Latin American countries. Brazil was,

the country i n w hi ch t he d ev el op me nt o pt im is m of the 1950s had

most uninhi bi t ed e xpre ssion. Eve ryone. right a cross t he pol i ti ca l s

t ho ug ht t ha t Brazi l was i n the

take-off

s ta ge , an d t hat t ho se m o

sible for t hi s condition were t he growing number

of

entrepreneur

this time s oci ol og ist s i n Sao Paolo e st ab li sh ed t he C en tr e for

Soc iology whe re t he various i ndust rie s i n t he Sao Paolo a re a were st

S ch um pe te ri an p er sp ec ti ve . Th e r es ul ts w er e n ot a lway s as

e x pe

Brazilian businessmen did not turn

out

to be the b ac kb on e of t he

Lat in Ame ri ca n bourgeoi si e: t hey were found t o be t ota l ly devoi d of

a nd e ne rgy,

totally

de pen den t on the g over nmen t and foreig

Cardoso, 1967, pp 94-1 14). Doubt t here fore a rose a bout t he Lat in

bourgeoisi e. The t ho ug ht t ha t it was i nc ap ab le

of

ful fi ll ing i ts

mission - to release the p ro du ct iv e po wers and cr eat e a t ran si

f eu dal is m t o c ap it al is m - t ur ne d

out

to be a most important aspe

dependency theory.

F er na nd o Hen rique C ar do so was am on g the so ci ol og is ts wh

o ut t he s oc io lo gi ca l s tu di es of the

entrepreneurs

in Sao Paolo,

wrote a general c rit i que of the current social sciences, particularly th

of mode rni z at i on wit hin t he disci pl ine of soc iology Cardoso a nd

1969, pp 8 -1 0) . C ar do so and F al et to p oi nt ed

out

t ha t the

patte

traditional to modern wasa reincarnation of the German sociologist

old dichotomy

of

Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft.

The y rai se d t wo obj ec t ions t o t hi s: first l y, ne it herconcept i s broa

t o co ver a ll e xi st in g s oci al s it ua ti on s, n or i s i t s pe ci fi c e no ug h t o d

t he s tr uc tu re s t ha t d et er mi ne t he l if e- st yl es

of

various societies. S

t hese c on ce pt s d o n ot s ho w h ow v ar io us st age s of economic develop

li nked to the var io us t yp es of soc ia l st ruc ture c harac t eri ze d a s e i

itional or modern .

With this kind of ch aract er izat io n it co nt in ues to be imp

expl ain the t ran si ti on from one type of society to an ot her

c ha nge i n soc ia l st ruc tures, far from bei ng onl y a c umul at i ve

i ncorporat i ng new vari abl es , i nvol ve s a serie s of rel at ions a m

g ro up s, f or ces , an d cl ass es , t hr ou gh wh ich s om e o f t hem t ry

t hei r domi nat i on ove r soc ie ty. Ibi d. p 10)


14/29

Dep

endcn

C l Theory in ransition

What t he y call the historical structural method is the a lte rna tiv e to the

prevailing. schematic and mechanical analysis:

Fo r

us i t is necessary to recognise from the beginning

that

social struc

tures are the product of man's collective behaviour. Therefore, although

endur ing, social s tructures can be, and in fact are , cont inuous ly trans

f ormed by social movemen ts . Consequen tly, our app roach is both

structural and h ist ori cal : it empha si ze s not just the s tr uc tu ra l con

ditioning of social life, but also the historical

transformation

of

structures by conflict, social movements, ancl class struggles. Thus our

methodology is his t orical-st ruct ural. (Ibid., p.x).

This criticism

of

t he p reva il ing development theory and the search for

alternative approaches was obvious ly an express ion of a more widespread

intellectual climate in Latin America in the miu-I960s.

Dos Santos

Thcoronio Dos S ant os. also a Brazilian, sums up the tra dit i onal ideas on

development as follows (Dos Santos, 1968b [1973 J :

Development means advancement towards cer ta in well-defined general

objectives which corrcspond to the specific condition of man arid society to

be found in the most advanced soc ie ti es

of

the modern world . The model is

variously known asmodern society. industrial society, mass society anu so on.

L'ndcrdcvcloped countries will progress towards this modcl as soon as they

have eliminated certain social. political. cultural and institutional obstacles.

These obs tacles arc rcpresemed by 't radi t ional societies ', feudal systems,

or ' feudal residues' . depending on the particular school of thought.

Certam economic. polit ical and psychological processes can be singled out

as allowing the mus t rat ional mobil ization of nat ional resources and these

can be categor ized (or the usc of economic planners.

To a ll this is added the need to co-ordina te cer ta in socia l and politi cal

forces in support of a development pol icy and to devise an ideological b sis

which urgani/es thc will

ofvarious

nations in the ' tasks ' of development.

Once the c on vent io na l de ve lo pment t he or ie s have been proven to be

indefensible. Dos Santos goes on to provide the bas ic prerequis ites for a more

solid theory of development:

The theory of development must analyse the process of development in

its various historical and concrete manifestations.

It must ext ract . t hrough such an h is to ri ca l analysis, the general lawso f

development of the societies it chooses to investigate.

: \

ackground

to the

Dependency

p p roach

- In f ormu la ti ng t hese laws, d ev el opmen t t he or y must t ak e i nt o a cc ou nt

the international contradictions of the process , abandoning any formalist ic

att empt to re du ce it to a un ilineal t ra nsi ti on from one t yp e of so ci ety to

another. R at he r t he t he or y wou ld have to sh ow how thr oug h these very

con tr ad ic tion s s oc ie ty as a whole can reach h ighe r forms of organization.

These forces, and the social forms they imply, are better described as social

trends than as models of a future s ituat ion to which we should aspire.

Moving now (rom Bruztl to Chile (and keeping in mind that both Cardoso

and Dos S an to s wen t to Chile a ft er the Brazilian mi li ta ry c ou p in 196 ;)

wef ind the s ame phenomenon: great d is su tisfucuon at the way in which the

estab lished social sciences explain the Lat in American reali ty , and at their

inability to provide guidelines for an adequate policv of development.

unk l

e have chosen the Chilean economist Osvuldo Sunkel (Formerly with the

EeLA) as an examp le of this d is sa ti sf ac tion (sec Sunke l, 1l J69 and 1 lJ 7 ,

as well as S unk el and Paz, InO . Sunkcl claimed that the problem with the

prevailing analysis

of

the de ve lopment qu est io n was that it was based on

conventional theories

of

g rowth and mudcrniza t ion. As c la imed by other

Latin Americans, t o whom we have referred earlier. this the ory saw the

mature capitalist economy as the goa l

1

all development efforts: the under

developed nat ions were analysed in terms of a previous ami imperfect stage

011

t he way to thi s goal . Sunkc l bel ieved tha t this ideal ized and mechanica l

vision ought to be r ep laced by a more h is to ri ca l method, the result of which

would be a better understanding of the real natur e of the underdeveloped

nation's structure and i ts changes . The approach suggested by Sunkcl s imply

meant

that

the characteristics of underdevelopment should be viewed as

normal

results of the f un ct io ni ng of a specific sy st em. In the case of the

underdeveloped nations these results arc wei] known: low income. a slow rate

of g rowth. regional imbalance , inequal it y, unemployment. dependency.

monocul turc and cul tural. economic. social and pol it ical marginalizat ion.

e tc . The convent ional theory considered these symptoms to be deviations

( rom the ideal pattern which. like children's diseases, would disappear with

growth and moderniza tion . It did not rc.ili zc tha t beh ind this l ay system,

the formal functioning of which produced these resul ts , and that this would

continue fur as long as development policies attacked the symptoms of under

development rather t ha n the basic s tr uc tu ra l c lement s t ha t had c re at ed

undcrdcveIopm ent.

According to Sunkcl, once Latin America is seen in this perspec tive it

becomes obvious that considcrublc influence exercised by external tics;

howeve r, t he ir impor tance should not cove r up the exi st ence of int erna l,

s tructural problems. A realist ic analysis of l .atin American development

should therefore be based on the assumpt ion that the socioeconomic sys tem

has been sh aped by two t ype s of structural clements: external and internal.

The fo rmer have been more impor ta nt fa ctors as far as Latin American

l)


15/29

Depe

ndencv Theory

ill

Transit ion

developrncnt is concerned.

An adequate ana lytica l scheme for the

study

of underdevelopment. and

for t he formula ti on of devel opment st rat eg ies , must be based upon know.

ledge of the process. the structure and the system. Underdevelopment cannot

be seen as a stage in the d evel opmen t

of

an economically, poli t ically and

culturally autonomous society. Underdevelopment should rather be thought

of as part of the global historical process of development. Underdevelopment

and development are two sides

of

the same universal process, i .e , they inter.

act and are mutually conditional . Their geographic expression is manifested

in two pol ar iz at ions : first , t he pol ar iz at ion of t he world between the ri ch

industrialized and developed nations on the one hand and the underdeveloped

backward, POOf. periphera l and dependent nat ions on the

other;

secondly,

the interna l polar izat ion between advanced, modern industr ies and the so.

called traditional sector .

The concepts of development and underdeve lopment must there fore be

seen as part ial yet mutually dependent structures forming

one

single system,

One important character is ti c which separates the two structures i s tha t the

devel oped sys tem , mainl y because of its ab il it y to grow, t o a great ext ent

dominates whi le the underdeve loped system is dependent . par t ly because

of

the nature

of

i ts own dynamics , Al l of t his can,

of

course, be used both

between

nations, as well as between regions within a

country.

This school of

t hought focused on two types of polar iz ing processes: one at the level of

international relat ions. the other at the nationalleve So

much

for Sunkel.

rank

As far as the group of scholars who

were

soon to be known as the depen-

dentistas and t hei r c ri ti que of the prevai ling t heory

of

development is con

cerned, i t i s diffi cult to ignore Andre Gunder Frank s inf luent ia l paper The

Sociology of Development and Underdevelopment of Sociology from 1969.

In it F rank c ri ti ci zed the Research Cent re on Economic Devel opment and

Cul tu ral Change and i ts per iodi ca l

Economic evelopment and ultural

h nge

( the EDCC) t o whi ch Frank h imsel f had been a

contributor.

Frank s

Latin American experiences have obviously led him to question the paradigm

of which thi s per iodica l i s the foremost representat ive. I t should be noted

that in it F rank acknowledges his debt to Rodo lf o

Staverihagen,

amongst

others - and there are certain similari ties between Frank s and Stavenhagen s

crit ique; Frank s crit ique is, however, more theoretical while Stavcnhagen s

discussion, more concretely, is t ied to Latin American, part icularly Mexican,

empir ical s tudies . Frank s cri t ique was al so more direc tly aimed at speci fi c

scholars, par ti cula rly the group around the EDCe, e.g. Manning Nash, Bert

F. Hoselitz, Marion Levy, Everett Hagen and David McClelland. Through his

cri tiq ue F rank want ed to show t hat the moder ni zat io n persp ectiv e, as

developed by the above-mentioned scholars was

I)

empirically untenable,

(2) theoretically insufficient and (3) practically incapable of stimulating a

process of development in the Third World.

n view of the importance of his c ri tique during the late 1960s i t might be

50

Backgrou nd

to

the

Dependencv

jus ti fi ed to quote Frank s arguments about these three point s. Ho

s ll l imit ourselves to an account of one of the variants of the pa

modernization, namely the one he calls

th e

ideal-typical index

met

idea of this

method

is to compar e an under dev el op ed

countr

developed one by means of various indicators: the diffe rences thu

are t hen e st ab li shed as the subst ance of development . This ap

mani fested in two ways: by pattern variables and by stages

gr

shown in Chapt er I the tradit io n of

pattern

vari abl es goes back

classical soc iology, and was applied to the problems of underdev

by Bert Hoselitz.

n

that chapte r we a lso deal t with the foremost

tative

of

the school of stages , Walt Rostow.

Frank argues t hat many devel oped nat ions show s trong par t

tendencies,

that

ascr ibed s ta tus i s widespread and tha t the

structur

isnot as functionally specific as our official ideology might have it.

t raits of universalism , achievement and specificity might be fo

underdeveloped nations. After having destroyed the empirical ba

pattern variable analysis on the problems

of

underdevelopment Fran

to question the theoretical bases for analysis:

Hosel i tz leaves far from clear jus t which is the soc ia l whole

pat terns he would change from one set of variables to

anothe

to effect developmen t Here the theoret ical inadequacy is e

glar ing, for i t contravenes the general ly accepted rule of soc

sci en ti fi c t heory to l ook for and refer t o the sys temic whole

of which the rea li ty ( in thi s case underdeve lopment ) can be

and changed, The social sy stem which is t od ay the

determ

underdevelopment certainly is

not

the family, t ribe ,

comm

part o f a dual soc ie ty , or even, as I shall argue bel ow, any u

loped

country

or countries taken by themselves.

As an example of the l im it at ions of pat tern variable analysi s,

terms of development policy mentions the fact that the growthof th

cl ass g roups i n Lati n America has not l ed t o a hi gher l evel of dev

- qui te the contrary.

Growth stages are a fur ther development

of

the pattern variabl

inthe sense that the two ideal ized poles are uni ted through a ser ies

As the reader might recal l, Rostow

mentions

five such stages: I)

itional stage; (2) the p re-t ak e- of f st age; (3) the take-o ff; (4) th

maturity; and (5) the mass consumpt ion soc ie ty.

It

i s diffi cult to

stagesin reality.

Rostow s stages and thes is are incorrect primari ly because th

cor re spond at al l to the past or p re sent reali ty o f t he under

countries whose development they are supposed to guide. It

i n Ros tow, as it is impli ci t in Hosel it z, that underdeve lopm

original stage of what are supposedly traditional societies -


16/29

DC JCI/(ICIICl

Theory

ill

Tra nsit io n

were

110

stages prior to t he p re se nt

stage of underdevelopment. It

is

further explicit in

Rosto

w tha t the n ow

de ve lope d soc ie

ties were once

underdeveloped. But al l t hi s is quite c o nt r ar y t o fact.

According

to Frank,

underdevelopment

was

no t

an o ri gi nal s tag e, but

rather a created

condition:

to exemplify. he points to the British

dcindus

t rializ at ion of India, t he d e st r uc t iv e e f fe c ts of th e slave trade on African

societies

a nd th e obliteration of

the

Indian civilizations

in

C e nt r al a n d S o ut h

Anie ri cu . T he

greatest

problem in Rostow s

analysis

was,

h ow ev e r. t he

fact

ih.u

not all

of

t h e c o un t ri e s

which

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