The Political Economy Of Underdevelopment

This book is a reissue of a 1982 book that discusses the theory of underdevelopment and how it relates to the external and internal aspects of the problem. The book focuses on the impact of the external on the internal as the dominant reality, and it covers the character of the dominant capital and the dominant classes in underdevelopment. The book also considers how the contemporary internationalization of capital has affected the economies of the Third World.

First published in 1982, this reissue deals with the theory of underdevelopment, as Dr. de Silva attempts a synthesis between the internal and external aspects of underdevelopment and, in the Marxist tradition, focuses on the impact of the external on the internal as the dominant reality. Viewing underdevelopment as a problem in the non-transformation to capitalism, this analysis is in terms of the character of the dominant capital and of the dominant classes. Underdevelopment thus encompasses the 'traditional' peasant economy and also the export sector where the 'modernizing' influence of colonialism was felt. The book finally considers how the contemporary internationalization of capital affected the economies of the Third World.