From Dependency To Development

Strategies To Overcome Underdevelopment And Inequality

Heraldo Munoz

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN: 9780367018450
• eBook ISBN: 9780429716089
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Although much has been written on the concept, nature, and implications of dependency in underdeveloped countries, there is a noticeable lack of comprehensive material on dependency reversal—the ways and circumstances under which dependency and underdevelopment can be overcome. Dr, Muñoz brings together in a coherent volume the alternative strategies for dependency reversal that have been posed by leading social scientists; the emphasis is on commonalities, differences, and theoretical and practical derivations. The book outlines the basic features of the dependency literature and clarifies the emergence and development of the dependency paradigm, its meaning, and its differences from other theoretical perspectives on underdevelopment. New aspects of dependency situations are also introduced. Significant alternatives to dependency are offered, taking into account varying geographical, ideological, and functional factors. Though no claim is made that all existing answers to development are included, this is clearly the most complete work available to date.

1
Introduction: The Various Roads to Development

Heraldo Muñoz

Until the early 1960s, the literature on underdevelopment in Latin America and other Third World regions suggested that progress in poor areas could take place only through the spread of "modernism" originating in the developed world. One predominant line of argument portrayed underdeveloped countries as "dual societies" with backward-feudal hinterlands and progressive-capitalist metropoles.¹ Since the countryside was seen as having stagnated in a state of feudalism due to isolation from the forces of capitalism, the prescription called for the capitalist penetration of the archaic hinterland. Progress was to be diffused from the United States and Europe to the national urban centers, from the metropoles to the regional trading centers, and from these centers to their corresponding peripheries. Eisenstadt, for example, viewed the phenomenon of modernization as "the process of change towards those types of social, economic and political systems that have developed in Western Europe and North America from the seventeenth century to the nineteenth and have then spread to other European countries, and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the South American, Asian and African continents."²

Another closely related conventional line of thought on underdevelopment argued that all societies pass through a process of economic growth involving five successive historical stages, namely, "the traditional society, the pre-conditions for the take-off, the take-off, the drive to maturity, and the age of high mass consumption."³ The process of growth was facilitated by the intrusion—usually in the form of new technology—of more advanced societies at the stage of the "pre-conditions for take-off." As a corollary, orthodox trade theorists offered the classical advice that underdeveloped nations did not need to strive for rapid industrialization, particularly in view of the "comparative advantages" that derive from producing raw materials for export.

Yet, despite the rapid scientific-technological progress that characterized the post-war period, it became increasingly clear that periphery countries remained in a state of underdevelopment. Moreover, some analysts held that there was a growing inequality among and within nation-states and, therefore, questioned the conventional wisdom on backwardness.

Raul Prebisch, one of the pioneers of the dependency approach, argued that long-term weaknesses in raw materials prices negated the beneficial results that were supposed to derive from comparative advantage. After portraying the world as divided into a developed center and an underdeveloped periphery, Prebisch stated that the centers retain the benefits of technological progress and expropriate increases in productivity in exporting sectors of periphery nations through the "deteriorating terms of trade" mechanism. The negative effects of this relationship of exchange constituted an external dependency that the periphery had to overcome in order to develop. The alternative strategy recommended by Prebisch and his associates at the UN Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA) involved three elements: industrialization through import substitution, the promotion of exports of manufactures, and institutional changes in favor of underdeveloped countries at the international level.⁴

During the mid-sixties Latin America witnessed the emergence of a wave of writings that constituted a qualitative step forward in the discussion on underdevelopment and dependency. The works of Fernando H. Cardoso, Andre Gunder Frank, Theotonio dos Santos, Osvaldo Sunkel, and others went beyond Prebisch's perspective and interpreted the phenomenon of dependencia in a holistic fashion and in terms of the capitalist mode of production. These writers saw a structural link between domestic and external factors, with transnational capitalism as the common denominator. In their works the key unit of analysis was not the nation-state alone, but also social groups, classes, and multinational corporations. Emphasis was placed on historically grounded studies and interdisciplinary research methods.⁵

More recently, there has been a massive proliferation of dependency writings, particularly in the United States and other developed countries.⁶ A great difference between many of these newer writings and the older dependencia analyses is that the former are often, though not always, more interested in explaining international relations while the latter are largely interested in explaining and solving the problem of underdevelopment. For a good number of scholars, the problem of dependency is principally an imbalance or disparity in the power relationship between two or more international actors, generally nation-states.⁷ According to Cardoso, this perspective implies that "what had been an endeavor to be critical and to maintain the continuity of previous historical, economic, sociological, and political studies in Latin America was transformed into an article for consumption in various versions that include references to the original myth but in large measure constitute the expression of a quite distinct intellectual universe from that which gave it birth."⁸ Clearly, the literature on dependency theory is far from homogeneous. Even if we considered only works by Latin Americans, disagreement would still be a feature of the dependency approach.⁹

One of the areas of major disagreement in the dependency perspective is how to overcome or reverse dependency and underdevelopment. The problem is not only that this is a highly controversial ideological issue, but also that there are different ways of conceptualizing dependency. For example, those who view dependency essentially as a problem of unequal power relations among states might consider a strategy of negotiating with the centers to capture a larger share of the world's resources sufficient, while for those who see dependency in a transnational perspective and as a function of the capitalist mode of production usually call for abandoning the capitalist system. In short, the practical issue of overcoming dependency and underdevelopment cannot be separated from the theoretical definition of dependency.

The analysis of dependency reversal is not a simple task. Specific differences among the countries involved might entail differences in the roads to follow. There are other problems. For instance, "abandoning the capitalist system" as a general strategy does not tell us much about what is sought and how: will the objective be participatory-democratic socialism or an authoritarian-bureaucratic brand of socialism? What "style of development" will prevail once dependency is overcome? Can self-reliance be both a transition strategy and a final objective? Does an effective alternative strategy involve solely changing socio-economic structures? What is the role of the individual? This volume attempts to address some of these questions through the exploration of the following broad strategies: negotiating with the centers, establishing a new world order, self-reliance at multiple levels, socialism at the national level, socialism at the world level, and another development.

These strategies are not mutually exclusive. It is perfectly conceivable that negotiating with the centers might also include the establishment of a new world order, or that socialism at the national level might be combined with a strategy of self-reliance. In other words, although for analytical purposes it is advisable to distinguish clearly among these strategies, in the real world they will most often appear in a combined form.

The first two chapters in this book deal with the basic features of the dependency perspective. They clarify the meaning of the dependency paradigm, discuss its development, and compare it to other theoretical approaches to underdevelopment.

Chapter 2 distinguishes between the modernization and dependency approaches to underdevelopment. The authors, J. Samuel Valenzuela and Arturo Valenzuela, assert that modernization and dependency are two sharply different perspectives seeking to explain the same reality: "They originated in different areas, with different evaluative judgments, different assumptions, different methodologies, and different explanations." Through a comparative analysis of dependency and modernization, Samuel and Arturo Valenzuela allow us to weigh the relative utility of these competing frameworks in explaining underdevelopment in the context of Latin America. They conclude that the dependency approach concentrates on a richer body of evidence and a broader range of phenomena and that it is also methodologically more promising than modernization.

In Chapter 3 James Caporaso and Behrouz Zare provide a general assessment of dependency theory and suggest ways in which future research might be conducted in this area. They place particular emphasis on definitional and conceptual issues and on the extent to which dependency theory has served as an adequate explanation of development. Following an argument made previously by Caporaso,¹⁰ the authors distinguish between two different intellectual traditions embodied in the terms dependence and dependency. Dependence is conceived simply as external reliance; dependency is understood as "the process by which less developed countries are incorporated into the global capitalist system." This distinction is quite critical particularly since, as has already been suggested, different interpretations of dependency entail different solutions or alternatives to the problem. Given these considerations, Caporaso and Zare offer a provisional definition of dependency as "a structural condition in which a weakly integrated system cannot complete its economic cycle except by an exclusive (or limited) reliance on an external complement."

The next two chapters discuss newer themes in dependency theory. In Chapter 4 this editor analyzes the economic relations between Latin America and the developed countries, emphasizing the phenomenon called strategic dependency— a dependency of the capitalist core on the low-priced strategic minerals, cheap labor, and markets of, principally, underdeveloped societies. From this perspective, the essay postulates that, contrary to what is often asserted, the economic importance of Latin America for the centers has continued or increased substantially, particularly after the oil crisis." The underlying assumption is that in order to evaluate the real importance of Latin America for the developed world, it is necessary to focus attention on the structural level to verify, for example, whether a decrease in the Latin American share of center trade necessarily implies a breakdown of the critical bonds that have historically existed between core and periphery economies to the advantage of the former.

In Chapter 5 Osvaldo Sunkel treats a theme not sufficiently explored in the dependency literature—the relationship between the environment, development styles¹² and the international system. His basic assumption is that different development styles have different consequences in terms of the utilization of resources, the degree of geographical concentration, and the incidence of wastes, pollution, and contamination. In Latin America, he asserts, the development pattern has consisted basically of the incorporation of the lifestyle of the Western industrial societies, particularly the United States. In the industrial sector this imported style has meant a concentration on the production of automobiles, consumer durables, electromechanic and electronic products, pulp and paper products, and petrochemicals; the utilization of capital- and energy (oil)-intensive technologies; and a heavy reliance on imports.

Sunkel asks whether the "transnational development style" of Latin America is sustainable over the long run and whether it can significantly improve the standard of living of the masses. Given the dependent nature of the prevailing development style, he reasons that this is not likely. However, in his view, there is no need for a moratorium on economic growth; growth has to continue in Latin America but as part of an alternative, more decentralized style of development. (This is essentially the same position adopted by Fernando Cardoso in Chapter 14.)

The remaining chapters outline different strategies to overcome dependency and underdevelopment. The first strategy, negotiating with the centers, is discussed in Chapter 6 by Mahbub ul Haq. In his view, the issue of dependency is largely an external problem of nation-states —or dependence, as Caporaso would say—and, hence, his preferred solution is to seek the creation of a New International Economic Order through negotiations between developed and underdeveloped countries. The author indicates that Third World countries do not seek a massive redistribution of past income and wealth, but "a redistribution of future growth opportunities."

Three fundamental elements are emphasized in ul Haq's strategy: first, that the central objective of what he calls "the emerging trade union of the poor nations" is to negotiate a new deal — similar to that of the United States in the 1930s-with the developed world "through the instrument of collective bargaining"; second, that the demand for a new global order should be seen as a long historical process rather than as a single time-limited negotiation; and third, that the deals to be achieved "must balance the interests of both the rich and the poor nations." Finally, he outlines some specific steps that would allow the north-south dialogue to progress fruitfully and discusses critical international areas in need of reform.

The next alternative strategy involves a profound alteration of the present world order. In Chapter 7 Gustavo Lagos argues that underdevelopment can be remedied only by implementing a "revolution of being," the worldwide replacement of the "anti-values" of the capitalist and socialist (Stalinist) societies by the "values" of a humanistic society embodied in a "new person." The revolution of being would be the antithesis of the historically dominant "revolution of having." The former emphasizes "living to be," while the latter stresses "living to have" and is shaped by the "religion of the GNP."

The transition to Lagos's relevant utopia would involve identifying the positive trends arising from the generalized crisis of the world of having and determining in what manner the historical agents of change or prospective actors could be supported to develop these trends. Professor Lagos also discusses some specific strategies that must supplement the grand strategy of revolution of being within the Latin American context and concludes that the preferred world would be a society in a process of permanent construction and would still undergo conflicts and change.

Chapter 8 by Jan Tmbergen also stresses the urgent need for innovation in the international socioeconomic order as the way to overcome underdevelopment and other related world problems. Professor Tinbergen suggests that the world has become increasingly interdependent and that this situation requires a management scientific approach. Consequently, he condemns proponents of national autonomy since today no...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Tables
• Preface
• The Contributors
• 1. Introduction: The Various Roads to Development
• Part One The Scope and Aim of Dependency Theory
• Part Two New Themes in Dependency Analysis
• Part Three Overcoming Dependency: Selected Strategies
• Index