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Accumulation and Development: A Theoretical ModelAuthor(s): Samir AminReviewed work(s):Source: Review of African Political Economy, No. 1 (Aug. - Nov., 1974), pp. 9-26Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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9
Accumulation and Development:
a theoretical model
SamirAmin
In this articleSamirAminsets out the core of his modelof theglobalaccumulationf capital. nit he defines wo distinctpatterns:oneapplyingo development t the centre, he other o dependentdevelopmentn the periphery.Central evelopments characterisedby the dominance f economicactivity o satisfymassconsumer
needsand the consequentdemand orproduction oods.The powerof the masses s enlisted n a 'socialcontract'whichallows heestablishmentf a limitedeconomicviability,at a nationalevel.However, he internationalisationf productive apitalncreasinglythreatens hatstability.Theperipheralystemsare dominated yproduction f luxurygoodsand exportsand the consequentack ofimportance f internalmassmarkets.This eads o growingnequal-ity, technological ependence, oliticalweakness mong heoppressed in sum,marginalization.estructuringf these econo-miesrequires breakwiththeinternationalconomy,andself-centreddevelopmentwhichestablisheshe dominance f productionfor massneeds, hough hereare particular ifficulties or individual
countries ttemptingucha breakand ultimately solutioncan befoundonlyif suchchanges ake place nternationally. olicies orthe difficultperiodof transitionmustfirstandforemost ocus onthe need to buildthe politicalconsciousness ecessaryo completethisprocess.
The aimof thispapers to showthat there s a fundamental iffer-ence between the modelof capitalaccumulation' ndof economicandsocialdevelopmentharacteristicf a self-centredystemandthatof aperipheralystem.Inbringing ut thisdifference whichweregard sabsolutely undamental I shallattempt o situate,
within hisframeworkf generalheory,questionsof
socialstructure, nd other mportant roblems f thecontemporaryworld, ncludinghesocial amongothersunemployment, nder-developmentndmarginality),ndtheideological ndpolitical
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10
(particularlythe problems of social consciousness, class conscious-
ness, planning,mobilisation of resourcesand men, education and
its social role).
The diagrambelow sums up the difference between a sell-centred
system and a peripheralone:
Centraldeterminingrelationship
2 4
'mass' consumption of capital
exports consumption luxury goods goods1 3
Mainperipheral-dependentrelationship
The economic system is dividedinto four sectors which may be
consideredboth from the point of view of production and from
the point of view of distributionof the active population engaged
in the above-mentioniedproductive activities.
Self-centredSystemThe determiningrelationshipin a self-centred system is that whicl
links sector 2 (the production of 'mass' consumption goods) with
sector 4 (the production of capital goods intended for the produc-
tion of sector 2).
This determiningrelationshiphas been the characteristicfeature of
the historical development of capitalismat the centre of the systeimi
(in Europe, North Americaand Japan). Thus it providesan abstract
definition of the 'pure'capitalist mode of production and has been
analyzed as such in Marx'sDas Kapital.It can be shown that the
development process of the USSR, like that of China, is equally
basedon this determiningrelationship,although in the case of
Chinathe sequences of this process are original.
Marx, n fact, shows that in the capitalist mode of production there
is an objective (i.e. necessary) relation between the rate of surplusvalueand the level of development of the productive forces. The
rate of surplusvalue is the main determinantof the pattern of
social distribution of the national income (its distributionbetween
wagesand surplusvalue which takes the form of profit), and hence
that of demand (wages being the source of demnandor mass con-
sumption goods and profits being wholly or partly 'saved'for
'investment' purposes). The level of development of the productive
forces is expressed through the social division of labour: the
division of the labour force, in suitable proportions, between
sectors 2 and 4 (sectors 2 and I in Marx's reproduction model).
This objective relation, though fundamentalto DasAapital, has
often been 'forgotten', for example in the debate on the tendenlcyfor the rate of profit to fall. The argumentvery often put forward
that the increase in the organiccomposition of capital may be
offset by increasesin the rate of surplusvalue, is no longer valid
once it becomes clear that the contradiction between the productive
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11capacityof the systemand ts capacity orconsumption inherentin thecapitalistmode of production is constantlybeingovercome
and hatthis reflects he objectivenatureof the relationbetweenthe rateof surplus alueand thelevelof development f the pro-ductive orces.Aswe haveexplainedon a number f previousoccasions, his theoreticalmodelof capitalaccumulations infinite-ly more mformativehan allthe empiricalmodelssubsequentlyput forward:1) because t revealshe originof profit(whichcallsfora theoryof value)andremoves nyabsolutequality romeconomicrationality,hus oweringt to its proper tatusofrationalitywithina systemand not rationalityndependent f thesystem,asauthoritativelyhownby PieroSraffa;22) becausetshows, n thisway,that economicchoices n thissystemarenecessarilyub-optimal,evealingheideological andnon-scienti-
fic - natureof the marginalistonceptsof 'general quilibrium',and 3) because t shows hat 'realwage'cannotbe 'justanything',thusgivinganobjective tatus o relationsbetween ocial orces.
Theobjective elationn question s seenin the cyclical luctuationsof economicactivityandemployment.Anincreasen the rateofsurplus alueoverandabove ts objectivelynecessaryevel eads oadepression ue to insufficient ffectivedemand.A reduction nthis rateslows downeconomicgrowth huscreatingabourmarketconditionswhichfavour apital.As we haveshown,thepatternofthisadjustment which n factcorrespondsxactlywith thehistoryof capitalaccumulationromtheindustrialevolution f
the 1930depressiona periodcharacterisedy thetradecycle)-ismorecomplexas a resultof thesecondary ffect of wagevariations n thechoice of techniques, husreflecting he sub-optimalnatureof theeconomic ystem.A tendency owards ullemployment whichdoesnot excludeand n factimpliesa perma-nentnarrowmargin f unemployment)ndwidecyclicalvariationsinemployment recharacteristiceatures f thissystem.Theinternal hangeswhichhavetakenplace n present-day apitalismhaverenderedhisadjustmentmechanism seless.Themonopoli-sationof capitalon theone handancaheorganisation f workersatcountry evel on theothermakepossibleplanning' imedatreducingyclical luctuations. f theworking lass s preparedo
stay withinthisframework,.e. that of the system, n otherwords,if forallpractical urposes apitaland abouraccept,under heaegisof thestate, a 'socialcontract'whichrelatesncreasesn realwage o increasesn productivityin givenpercentages hichhavebeenworkedout by technocrats), state of permanent uasi ull-employment an be ascertained.Obviously-here s the exceptionthatcertain ectorsof societymaycausedisturbances y refusingto abideby the'contract': his couldbe thecase of smallandmediumirmswhichwouldbemostly nvolved n theamalga-mationprocessandwhichcould- particularlyn the relativelybackwardpheres holdsufficientpoliticalpower o blackmailsociety.There s also theexception hatexternal elationswill
escape histype of planning.However here s increasingontra-dictionbetween heworld-scale atureof productionwhich scharacterisedy theincreasingmportance t multinationalcompanies) andthe traditional ational haracter f both
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12
capital and labour institutions. Social-democraticideology, which
is expressed in this type of 'social contract', thus does not extend
beyond the national boundaries.
Despite the schematic nature of this model, which is inevitable
since it is an abstractionfrom reality, it neverthelessdescribesthecore of this system. In this model, external relationsare left out,meaning not that the development of capitalism took place within
a frameworkof national autarkybut that the main relations
within the system can be understood without includingsuch
relations. In any case, the external relationsof the developedregionsas a whole with the periphery of the world system remain
quantitativelymarginal,compared to the internal exchange within
this region. In addition, these relations,as we have shown, spring
from primitivecapital accumulation and not from extendedreproduction;hence the model is able to leave them out. The
historically relativenature of the distinction between masscon-
sumption goods and luxury goods is also clearly brought out here.In the strictest sense of the term, luxury goods are those for
which the demand originatesfrom the part of profit which is
consumed. The demand which stems from wages increaseswitheconomic growth - the improvement of productive forces.
Although in the early history of capitalismthis demand was made
up almost exclusively of necessities - food, clothing and housing- nowadays, at a more advancedstage of development, it is
increasinglyaimed at the consumption of-consumer durables(cars,
kitchen electrical appliances,etc.). However this historicalsequence of mass-producedgoods is of decisive importance for an
understandingof the problemin hand. The structureof demnand
in the early history of the system speeded the agriculturalrevo-
lution by providinga market for food products intended for
internal consumption (historically, this transformationof agri-
culture took the form of agrariancapitalism). In addition, we
know the historical role of the textile industry and of urban
development (hence the saying 'when the buildingindustry is all
right,everything is all right') in the processof capital accuilmu-
lation. On the other hand, consumer durables - whose produc-
tion is highly capital-intensiveand requiresa lot of trainedlabour
- appearlate on the market when productivity in agricultureandin the industriesproducingnon-durablegoods has already passed
the crucialstages.
PeripheralModelThe model of capital accumulationand economic and socialdevelopment at the periphery of the world system is not in any
way related to the one we have examined above.
In the peripherythe process beganwhen underan impulse from
the centre, an export sector was created. This was to play a
determiningrole in the creation and shapingof the market. Weshallnot get very far by repeatingad nauseam the platitude that
the products exported by the peripheryare mineralor agricultu-ralprimaryproducts. These are obviously products in which a
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given region of the peripheryhas a particularnaturaladvantage 13
(abundant supply of ore or tropical products). The underlying
reason which renderedpossible the creation of this export sectormust be sought in the conditions which make the establishment'profitable'. There is no pressurefor central national capital toemigrateas a result of insufficient possible outlets at the centre;it will however emigrate to the peripheryif it can obtain a betterreturn. The equalisation of the rate of profit will redistributethesurplusarising from the higher return and use the export ofcapital as a means to fight the trend of a falling profit rate. Thereason for creatingan export sector therefore lies in obtainingfrom the periphery products which are the basic elements ofconstant capital (raw material)or of variablecapital (food pro-ducts) at production costs lower than those at the centre for
similarproducts (or obviously of substitutes in the case ofspecific products such as coffee or tea).
This is therefore the frameworkfor the essential theory ofunequal exchange. The products exported by the peripheryareimportantto the extent that - ceteris paribus, meaning equalproductivity - the returnto labour will be less than what it isat the centre. And it can be less to the extent that society will,by every means -economic and non-economic, be made subjectto this new function, i.e. providing cheap labour to the exportsector.
This is not the place to go into the history of the shaping ofthe peripheryto the requirements of the centre. I have done soelsewhere, distinguishingbetween the variousstagesin thedevelopment of capitalism(stages of mercantilism,competitiveindustrialcapitalismwithout the export of capital and mono-polistic financialcapitalismwith capital exports) on the onehand, and on the other, distinguishinganalysis for the differentregionsof the 'Third World'as a whole (America, Black Africa,Asia and the East). Let me only add that once society is subjectedto this new function -becoming in this sense dependent - it losesits traditionalcharactersince it is not the function of real, tradi-tional societies (i.e. pre-capitalist)to supply cheap labour for
capitalism.All the problems related to changes in the so-calledtraditionalsocieties shotuldbe looked at afreshwithin this frame-work without reference to 'dualism',i.e. the so-calledjuxtapositionof an autononmous raditionalsociety with an expanding 'modern'society.
Although at this stage this model does not show any actual linkagebetween the export sector and 'the rest of the country', it revealssociety as bound to supply cheap labour to the export sector. Themlainink which characterisesthe processof capital accumulationatthe centre ---expressedby the objective relation between the wagerate and the level of development of the productiveforces - disap-
pearscompletely. The wage rate in the export sector will, in thiscase, be as low as the economic, social andpolitical conditions allowit to be. As regardsthe level of development of the productiveforces,it will in thiiscase be heterogeneous (whereasin the self-centred
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14model it was homogeneous), advanced(and sometimiies ery advanc-
ed) in the export sector and backward n 'the rest of the economy'.
This backwardness,which is maintainedby the system, is thecondition which allows the export sector to benefit from cheap
labour.
Underthese conditions the domestic market, born out of the
development of the export sector, will be limited and distorted.
The snmallnessf the internalmarket explains the fact that the peri-
phery attractsonly a limited amount of capital from the centre
although it offers a better return.The contradiction between the
consumption and production capacities is completely removedon
a world scale (centre and periphery) by a widening of the market at
the centre, the periphery- fully deserving ts name - merely ful-
filling a marginal,subservientand limited function. This dynamicprocessleads to an increasingpolarisationof wealth at the centre.
Howeveronce the export sector has expanded to a certain size, an
internalmarket makes its appearance.In comparison with the
imiarketmergingfrom the central process, this one is (relatively)
biasedagainstthe demnandor mass-consumptiongoods and (rela-
tively) in favourof the demand for 'luxury' goods. If all capital
invested in the export sector were foreign and if all the return on
tlhiscapital were re-exportedtowardsthe centre, the internalmarket
would in f'actbe confined to a demand for mass-consumptiongoods,
and the lower the wage rate, the smallerthe demand would be. But
a part of this capital is locally owned. In addit-ion, he methods usedto ensure a low returnto labour correspond with a strengthening
of the various parasiticinternal social classes which serveas
conveyor-belts:latifundists in some places, Kulaksin others, coni-
pradorcommtnercialourgeoisies,state bureaucracies,etc. The
internial miarkets thus mainly based on the demand for 'luxury
goods' froml hese social classes.
The peripheralnmodel f capital accumiiulationnd economiicsocial
development is thus characterisedby a specific interconnection
which is expressedby the link between the export sector and
luxury goods consumption. Industrialisation througlh mlportsub-
stitution will start fromnthe end, i.e. the manufactureof productscorrespondingto the more advancedstages of developmientof the
centre, in other words conisumiierurables.As we have already point-
ed out, such products are highly capital intensive and usersof
scarce resources(skilled labour, etc.). The result will necessarily
lead to a distortion in the allocation of resourcesin favourof these
products and to the disadvantageof sector 2. This sector will be
systematically handicapped: it will not give rise to any 'demand'
for its products and will not attract any capital or labour to ensure
its modernisation.This also explains the stagnationin subsistence
agriculture,whose potential products attract little denmandnd
which does not acquirea share in the allocation of scarce resources
to enable any seriouschanges to be imiade.Any development strat-egy basedon profitability (the structureof income distribution.the structureof relativepricesand demand being what they are)
necessarilyleads to this type of systemlaticdistortion. The few
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industriesetupin thiswayandwithinthis frameworkrenotlikelyto turn ntogrowthpolesbut willon thecontraryncrease
the inequalitywithinthe systemand mpoverishhemajorpartofthepopulation found in sector2 in theircapacityasproducers),permittingt the same ime a furtherntegration f theminoritywithin heworldsystem.
From he'social'pointof view,thismodel eadsto aspecificphenomenon: hemarginalisationf the masses.By this wemeanaseriesof mechanismseterogeneousn naturewhich mpoverishthemasses:proletarianisationf smallagricultural roducers ndcottage ndustryworkers, ural emi-proletarianisationnd mpover-ishmentwithoutproletarianisationf peasants rganisednvillagecommunities, rbanisation nd massivencrease f urbanunemploy-
mentandunderemployment,tc. Unemploymentn thiscasediffers romunemployment nder he centralmodelof develop-ment.Underemployment,n general,willhave he tendency oincreasensteadof beingrelativelyimitedandstable,cyclicalvariationspart.Unemploymentndunderemploymenthus havea role different o that under he centralmodel:thehigh evel ofunemployment nsures minimumwageratewhich s relativelyrigidand frozenboth in sectors1 and3;wagedoes not emergebothasa cost andanincomewhichcreatesa demand, ital to themodel,but on thecontraryonly as a cost, demandtself originating lse-where: romabroad rout of the incomeof the privileged ocialclasses.
The'externallypropelled' atureof thistypeof development,whichperpetuatestselfin spiteof the increasing iversificationftheeconomy, ts industrialisation,tc., is not theoriginal in, adeusex machinaoreign o thedependentperipheralmodelofcapitalaccumulationince t is a modelof reproductionf itsfunctional ocialandeconomicconditions.Themarginalisationfthe masses s theveryconditionunderlyinghe integration f theminoritywithintheworldsystem, heguarantee f increasingn-comefor thisminoritywhichensures headoption,by thisminority,of 'European' atterns f consumption.Theextensionofthispatternof consumption nsures he'profitability' f sector3
andconfirms hesocial,cultural,deological nd political ntegrationof theprivileged lass.
At this levelof diversificationndreinforcement f underdevelop-ment,thereappearnewmechanismsf the domination/dependencetype;cultural ndpoliticalmechanismss wellaseconomicones:technological ependence ndthedomination y transnationalcompanies. ector3 in factcallsforcapital-intensivenvestmentswhichonly the bigtransnationalligopolies re n a position oembark pon andwhichconstitute hematerial asis or techno-logicaldependence.
At thislevel, morecomplex ormsot thestructure f ownershipandeconomicmanagementlsomaketheirappearance. xperienceshows hattheparticipationf locally ownedcapital howeversubservient in theprocessof industrializationhrough mport
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substitution is quite common. It also-shows - at least in the big
countries - that a largeenough market createdby the development
of sectors 1 and 3 may make possible the creation ot a fourthsector. The latter is frequently brought into being by the state. But
the development of a basic industry and a public sector does not
in any way mean that the system evolves towardsa complete self-
centred type since this sector 4 is here used not for the development
of sector 2 but for that of sectors I and 3.
The analysis thus bringsus back to the fundamental question:
development for whom? To the extent that we regarddevelopment
as meaningful only in so far as it integrates the masses and serves
their interest, the model of dependent peripheralcapital accumu-
lation is a dead end. A strategy of development for the masses
should adopt as its initial basisa fundamentalreviewof prioritieswith regardto the allocation of resources, which presupposesa
rejection of the assumptionsof profitability within the system. The
meaningof a strategy for transition is to be found entirely in this.
Transitionis nothing more than the historical period of revision of
the model, of altering its priorities,of the gradualevolution from
a relationship of 1-3-4 to one of 2.4. It should be looked at from
this point of view and not simply from that of 'forms' of the eco-
nomy: industrialdiversificationversusa simple export; public
ownershipversus foreign capital, etc.
The changeoverfrom the peripheralmodel (based on sectors 1-3),
to the model of real, autonomous, self-centreddevelopment(based on sectors 2-4) constitutes the essential element of tran-
sition. The integration into the world system of countries that
have becomne nderdeveloped originatesfrom a specific contra-
diction of this system which tends to become the main one. On
the one hand it has created objective conditions of a need for
development, felt as such by the people of the periphery;on the
other it has barredthe way for these countries to attain capitalist
development which has been the historical answerto the problem
of accumulation of capital, the pre-requisitefor socialism. That is
why this specific contradiction has become the main contra-
diction. That is to say the one through which the need for a change
in direction to transcendthis system shows itself.
This is nothing more than an additional expression of the law ofunequaldevelopment accordingto which systems are destroyed
and transcendedfirst of all not at the centre but startingfrom the
peripherywhich constitutes the weak link in the chain - where the
most intense contradictions become evident. Strikingexamples of
this generallaw can be found in history, particularlythat of the
Mediterraneanand Europeanworld. The oldest Easternciviisation
(Egypt, Mesopotamia, etc.) were transcendedby forces which
started from their Greco-Roman periphery. Likewise in their turn,
the civilisationsof classicalantiquity were destroyed and transcend-
ed from their barbarianperipherywhere the civilisation of feudal
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Christian uropewas to developmorefreelyandmorefully.3 To 17
bemoreprecise, he principaiontradictions not the fundamentai
contradiction f thesystem,whichstill remains hat of the level ofdevelopment f theproductiveorcesopposing herestrictive atureof the formsof socialorganisation. he principalontradictionwouldnot exist withoutthe fundamentalne. The formeronlyexplainswheredissolution ccurs, he latter, he essenceof thesystem n the last resort.
Thetranscendingf the system akesa considerable utvariableperiod,namely heperiodof transition.This s thelengthof timewhichseparatesapitalism romcomplete ocialism.To continuethe historicalparallel,he earlycenturies f theChristian racanbeconsidered s a periodof transition romthe socialpatterns f
Mediterraneanntiquity o thoseof feudalMediaeval urope
Criteria ndStrategies f TransitionI thereforedefinetransition y thegradual hangeof given,concrete,historical onditions thoseof the presentperiphery, lready nteg-rated nto the worldsystemandstructuredsa dependentperiphery- andof the capitalistdevelopmentmodel,depending n a national,self-centred evelopmentwhichmoves ntosocialism,ranscendingcapitalism.
The historical xperience f theUSSR,althought includesusefullessons ikeallexperiencesn history,caAnotbe transposedo the
present-day hirdWorld.Not simply orreasons f 'ideological'choice: orexamplebecause heresultsobtained,.e. thenationaleconomic, ocialandpolitical tructures f thepresent-dayovietUnion,wouldbe considered on-socialist ndthat one hopedtoavoid imilar distortions'n comparisonwith a socialistplandiffer-entlydefined.If in fact the building f a national,non-dependentsociety suchas the USSR s todaywaspossiblen the ThirdWorld,powerfulobjective orceswouldact in this direction o make tperhaps n'objectivehistorical ecessity'. thinkthat this is notthecase because ucha goalis objectivelympossibleor under-developed ountriesn the last thirdof the twentiethcentury.
At thebeginning f thiscentury,Russiawasnot aperipheralcountrybut a backward entral apitalist ne. Herstructuresweredifferento thoseof underdevelopment,.e. those of dependentcapitalism;marginalisation,orexample,wasunknown.So the 1917Revolutionmerelyenabled heprocessof accumulationf capitalto acceleratewithoutfundamentallyhanging he capitalist ccumu-lation-model.Thisaccelerationook placebecauseof the abolitionof privately wnedmeansof production n favourof state owner-ship.Historyhas shown hatit waspossible,given heconditionsnRussia,o accomplish he task of accumulation f capital n thesamewayascapitalismwouldhavedonebuton a differentpropertybasis.This s reflectedn the Soviettheoryof socialist evolutionwhich
reduces t to the overturningf property elationswhich- through
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18
suppressionof privateproperty - allows their complete harmoni-
sation with the level of development of the forces of production -
i.e. the level implied by the industrialisationobjectives.This theoryleads to an economistic ideology of transition, formulatedin well-
known terms: the priority of heavy industryover light industry, of
industry over agriculture,the unrestrictedimitation of Western
technology, the definition of models of consumption with reference
to those of the Westitself, etc. The whole spectrum of dogma is
summarised n the ambiguous formula: 'catchingup in all fields
with the production of advanced countries'.
Since Englandwas the birthplaceof industrialcapitalism,all other
developedcountries have at some stage been 'backward' n compari-
son with it. But none of these countrieshad ever been peripheral n
the sense that we have defined it. Graduallythe Continent and NorthAmericacaught up, and in the case of the USA and Germany, over-
took Englandin ways largelyanalogousto those of the English
model. Japaneventually arrivedat the same model of fully develop-
ed capitalism, but alreadythe conditions of the transitionexhibited
severalinterestingcharacteristics,notably the centralrole of the
State. Russia providesthe latest example of a similarcapitalaccu-
mulation model, originalonly in the sense that state property was
not only a transitoryform but its definitive form, i.e. probably
irreversible.In this lies the basic ambiguity of its genesis(the
socialist revolution) and the special characterof its present system
of national state capitalism.
In any case, in all these models the transitionperiod has been
characterisedby the submission of the masses.They arereduced to
the passiverole of reservelabour, progressivelytransferred o the
growing'modern' sector being establishedand then expanded until
it has absorbed the whole society. The kolkhoz and administrative
oppressionhave fulfilled this function just as the EnclosureActs and
the Poor Law did in England.
Now, this road is barredto the countries of the present periphery
preciselybecause of the advanceddevelopment of marginalisation,
the considerableand increasinggap between the modern technology
set up by rulingcapital and the necessity for an immediate improve-ment in the conditions of the masses,etc. These are the alternatives:
either dependent development accordingto the model above, or
self-centreddevelopment, necessarilyoriginalin comparisonto those
countriesalreadydeveloped. It is in this direction that we discover
the law of unequal development of civilisations. The peripheryis
forced to transcendthe capitalist model (even if it is state capitalism).
It cannot catch up with it.
In fact as a result of specific imbalances(which result in marginali-
sation) and which derivefrom the periphery'sintegrationas a peri-
phery into the world system, it is forced radicallyto revise the
capitalistmodel of resource allocation.It is forced to reject the rules
of profitability. lndeed, decisions based on profitability and based
on the relative price structurenecessitated by integration into the
world system, maintainand reproducethe model of increasingly
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19
unequal income distribution(hence marginalisation)and therefore,in turn, enclose it within the peripheralresource allocation model.
The task of restructuring he system of resource allocation musttherefore be broadly considered outside the rules of the market, bya close understandingof the expression of needs in nutrition, housing,education and culture, etc. In doing this, the peripheryis forced toovertake capitalism and breakthrough to the invention of a socialistcivilisation, to end the alienation of humanity.4
All the technical problems in the strategy of transition must bere-examined from this fundamental angle. In particularthe linksbetween agricultureand industry, light industry and basic industry,labour intensive methods and capital intensivemethods, must beincludedwithin this framework.The problemhence is to combine
the most modern installations with immediate improvementsin the'poor' sector (sector 2 of the model) where the major partof thepopulation is concentrated. That means to use modern techniquesfor the immediate improvement of productivity and of the con-ditions of the masses. It is only this immediate improvementandthis alone which will enable the release of productiveforces, enter-prise and initiative and the mobilisation of the massesin the usualsense of the word. Mobilisation here obviously demands the spreadof specific forms of real democracy at every stage: in the village, theregionand the state.5
The particular combination of modern techniques and immediate
improvements in the conditions of the massesdemandswithout anydoubt a radicalreappraisalof the direction of scientific and tech-nologicalresearch.Imitatingthe technology of developed countriesis not an answer to this particularproblem in the present day under-developed world. This is the main reason for autonomous scientificand technological research n the ThirdWorld.6
Seen in this light, the concrete strategiesof transitionappearaboveall as those of self-reliance.Self-reliance,which must be understoodon different levels, and which must democratically respect the truepopularsocial groupswhich constitute the nation: the village, theregion(and especially in Africa, regions which truly correspond to
cultural and ethnic homogeneity), the state and, eventually, groupsof states. The level of development attained may force one countryfor a time to consider only the most elementary levels of concrete,transitionstrategies so that transition must be seen in very longperspective.It is within this framework that we place the questionof 'small countries'.
Vietnam is an example of how even in a small country - and at thatunder the most difficult objective conditions imposed by war - astrategy of self-reliance can be the first effective stage in the tran-sition. This long term perspective of transitiondoes not, however,merely signify the 'failure'of the rapiddevelopment that one
clearlydesires.It bears out the fact that the problem of under-development can only be definitely overcome within a radicallychangedworld system, a global socialist society. It is quite appro-priate to describethe task of transitionthus: transitionfrom the
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20)capitalistworld system, based on hierarchiesof nations, to a world
socialist system, which cannot be made up of relatively isolated and
autarkic 'socialist' nations. Here the true solidarity of the peoplesinvolved in the struggleof reshapingthe world comes to the fore,
due to the limited immediate prospects for progress n the Third
Worldwhere the conditions for transcendingadvancedcapitalism
expressnothing more than the presentweaknessof the forces of
socialismat the centre of the system.
This formulation of the problematics of transitionallows us to
understandthe restrictedframeworkof the debate before the
sixties. Transitiondemandsmuch more than the extension of public
ownershipat the expense of all privateproperty, or that of heavy
industry,etc. If such an extension of the public sector and of heavy
industry is not accompanied by a radicalchange in economicdecision-making,possibly involvinga partialsacrifice of the objec-
tive of maximum growth, it risksperpetuatingthe model of
dependent development at the periphery, albeit in new forms. As
we shall see, this is the spontaneous tendency of the present system.
The problematics of the evolving relationshipbetween tradingand
non-tradingelements within the transitionalstructureconstitute an
essential frameworkfor effective debate, as do also the problematics
of the evolving relationshipbetween centralisationand decentrali-
sation, between power and democracy, etc.
Transitionunder presentconditions of inequality between nations
remindsus that development which is not merely the developmentof underdevelopmentin its 'classical'form, or in some 'new' form,
is at one and the same time national, socialist and populardemo-
cratic,accordingto the plan throughwhich it finds expression.
Thereforea strategy can be considered one of transitfononly to
the extent that the objective of the 'maturation'and development
of socialist consciousness is not sacrificedfor that of rapidecono-
mic progressat any stage.
NewFormsof DependenceAn analysiswhich is based on the conditions of transition, defined
from this model of the growth of inequality between nations,enablesus to identify the reasons for the failureof the development
policies carriedout in the ThirdWoridand to clarify the direction
of the spontaneous tendencies of the system.
Is a different road to development possible? A superficialexamina-
tion of the results of the last twenty-five years might suggestso.
Some Third Worldcountrieshave in fact, duringvarying periods,
enjoyed high growth rates within the presentworld system. Based
on externally-orienteddevelopment, itself conditioned by the
external demand for one raw materialor another (sector 1) and the
investmentof foreign capital (sectors 1 and 3 of our model), these
'miracles'have had the adverseeffect of causingstagnationin otherThirdWorld countries, and these are the great majority. Moreoverin all these apparentlyfortunate experiences the specific characteri-
stics of underdevelopment (growing internalinequality and the
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consequent distortion of resourceallocation, marginalisationanddependence, etc.) have not been reduced but become more and
more pronounced.7
Economic 'planning'thus emptied of its content appearsas an
empty shell; a technique which reveals itself to be ineffective. Onecan in fact plan only self-centred development. Discussion of themodel of accumulation at the centre has indicated the basisonwhich national economic policy can be founded, and which isessential for 'indicative economic planning',for the 'managedeconomy' of advancedcapitalist countries. Wemust rememberthatthis basis is on the one hand an advancedstage of monopolisationand on the other the social-democratic consciousness of a highlyorganised working class. Neverthelessthe 'managed economy'
approachesits limit in the growingcontradiction between the globalnature of production and the national nature of the 'social contract'.8
The Soviet Union's model of acceleratedcapital accumulation hasdevelopedeconomic planning techniques in the specific conditionsdescribed.Here we have described the essential characteristicsof strategiesof transition which must be self-centredand whichcan form the basis of a third type of economic plan.
On the other hand, the attempt to 'plan' a dependent and externallyoriented development strategy is absolutely meaningless.For it isuseless if the conditions are 'favourable' and powerless if they are
not. Such attempts are probably a result - a minor result, ofcourse - of technocratic alienation and the slavishimitation of themethods of developed countries in a way which is most often acaricatureof these methods. The hopelessness of such planningfinds complete expression in the finding - valid for Africa, Asiaand Latin America - that results (in terms of growth) have beenalmost totally independent of 'forecasts' and 'plans'.The insuffi-ciencies of such methods and techniques and those of administration(more often called upon to explain the inability of departmentsresponsiblefor the plan to effectively direct the economic life ofthe country) are all only superficialaspects of a basic impotence.The problems originate elsewhere. The action of dominant multi-
national firms whose decision-makingcentres are outside the under-developed countries where they operate, reduceseconomic planningto the forecast of the probable behaviourof these firms and of theresponseof the 'traditional'economy and of the small and medium-sized enterprises to this. At best the plan is thus reduced to a forecastof inconsistent behaviour and of possible bottlenecks which mayresult, and is without power to act effectively. Or it is limited tobuilding traditional public sector programmes n conjunction with arate of growth which it cannot control.
The critique of the ineffectiveness of economic planning under theseconditions is common today. So much so that its abandonment has
been openly recommended in favour of the simple reintroductionof calculating profitability 'per project'. This policy, systematicallyadvocated particularly by the 1BRD does not solve the problem, itimierely oinfirms he hopelessness of the expectation.
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Canspontaneous development of this type at least create the con-
ditions of its own transcendencewithin the system? If so, it would
definitely appear to be the first and historically necessary stage. Butthereare serious grounds for doubting this since-the model onwhich it is based is a model of the reproduction of these self-same
conditions. This intensification of dependent peripheraldevelop-mnents moving in a direction alreadyapparent today, which willtomorrow undoubtedly determine the principalcharacterisiticsof
'advanced'underdevelopment. Technological domination neces-sarily results from the priority of development in sectors 1 and 3
because these sectors must be competitive on an internationallevel
no matter whether they are export or 'luxury' goods, the preferencefor which indicates the adoption of Westernforms of consumption.Such indirect domination may take the place of direct control of
industry by foreign capital.
Indeed, in the first stages of the formation of peripheraleconomies,since the techinologicalgap at that stage is still small, dominant
central capital, in order to guaranteethe efficient runningof the
systeiimor its benefit, must directly control the modern sectorswhose advanceit ensures. Meansof direct political control are
equally necessaryat this stage as under colonialism properor aswith the direct interventionsin the 'semi-colonies' of South
Americaand certain Asian countries. At an advanced stage of peri-pheral development the reproduction of the system can beguaranteedwithout directly controlled investment or direct political
interventionmerely through technological domination based on anlin-creasing echlnologicalgap and combined with the existence oflocal social classes and strata, integratedthrough their consumptionpatterinstherefore their real interests) and throughthe ideologywhiclhusually accompanies it (renunciation of patriotic nationalismll,thereduction of all ideology to consuimerismo, etc.). This is pre-
cisely the major significance of neo-colonialismand neo-imperialism.9Under these conditions the burden of investment can be borne bylocal 'savings'- private and above all public. Thus the developmentof a public sector, which may become very important and evendominant locally, is quite compatible with the continued depenidenceof the system as a whole with respect to the developed world. This
dependence is guaranteed by the interplay of local social forces,even if this occurs in a state-capitalist system claiming to be 'socialist'.
Evenat a very advanced stage, one can imagine the developmientofa sector 4, i.e. heavy industry, which acts merely as a local prop fordependent development in general. In such a case. this sectorgenerallytakesthe form of a public sector, as in Brazil for
example.
The poJiticaltheory of sub-imperialism 0 addresses a very realproblemraisedhere; that of inequality in peripheraldevelopment.For it is conceivable that in the globalhierarchycertain peripheralregionsmay 'benefit' through geographicalconcentration in their
territoriesof industriesof sectors 3 and 4, producingnot only fortheir 'national' market but also for those of neighbouring areas,sustainedprincipallyfor the purpose of providingcheap labour
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23
reserves.Such perspectivesare not only evident in some large'birdWorld stages (Brazil is the prime example, but one should examine in
this light the role that Indiamight be called upon to play) but evenon a more modern scale in the Arab world and in Black Africa. InAfrica, perhapsmore than elsewhere, direct and brutal colonizationhas broken down the whole of the pre-colonialstructures and parti-cularly the networks of African continental inland trade and hencethe complementary relationshipsbetween different regionsof thisvast continent. One can see how the re-shapingof Africa into anexternally oriented, dependent economy was carved into the verygeographyof the continent by coastal concentration and develop-ment and by the simultaneousimpoverishment of the interior. Thieresulting massivemigrationhas in its turn furtheraccentuatedregional disparities.Furthermore,political balkanisaton,rooted in
the process of unequal dependent peripheraldevelopment, hascreated the conditions for smaller'sub-imperialistunits' within asystem which, as a whole, is dependent.
Even in its embryonic 'future' forms dependent peripheraldevelop-ment, whether more or less regulatedor unregulatedby pseudo-planning, is necessarily characterisedby increasing marginalization.The population problem of the contemporary Third Worldoriginatesfrom this growingmarginalization.The population explosion, anundeniable fact, is not in any way the cause of the increasingmiseryof the masses in the Third World as is claimed in the simplisticreasoningused by the currentneo-malthusianworld campaign.The
self-centreddevelopment of the countries presently developed haslikewise been accompanied by an extraordinarypopulation explo-sion. In spite of the very real 'costs' of rapidpopulation increase,which are so much emphasized, the centre has neverthelesssolvedthis problem by a no less prodigious increase in wealth. The benefitsof such population growth. both in the strictly economic terms ofhigher population density (external economies of infrastructure, etc.)and, undoubtedly also in terms of the social psychological effectsof the energiesreleasedby the conflict between generations, hasbeen decisive. There is incidentally no example in human history ofa radical transformation in social structureswhich has not beenaccompanied by powerful demographic fluctuations. The populatior
explosion in the ThirdWorldis an expression of its maturity, that isof its need for furtherdevelopment, just as it reveals the contra-diction between this need and the strangulatingeffects of thepresentworld system. Marginalizations a manifestation of thiscontradiction, which must be ascribed to the model of externallyoriented dependent development and not to the populationexplosion. Here one finds one aspect of the problem of theinequality of development on a world scale, i.e. one of the factorswhich reveals the necessity for transcendingcapitalismand which isexperienced more strongly in the periphery than at the centre.
This objective need for transcendingthe system can obviously
become a reality only if it is accompanied by a change in socialconsciousness. Thus the problematicof transitionnecessarilyleadsto that of the developnment f social consciousness.
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24Social Consciousnessat Centreand Periphery
The problems relatingto political and social consciousness cannot be
approachedcorrectly without referenceto the generalmodel ofdevelopment proposed, which distinguishesthe centralmodel from
the peripheralmodel and allows the correct definition of the pro-
blematics of the social forces concerned.
This frameworkin fact remindsus that unemployment and under-
employment in the peripheralsystem do not take the same form and
do not fulfill the same functions as at the centre. Whileunemploy-
ment at the centre has well-defined contours and is easily
quantifiable, the same cannot be said for the periphery.Here margin-
alization manifests itself not only by identifiable urban unemploy-
ment but also by underemployment, job mobility, and self-
employment in very low productivity activities, these being the onlymeansof survivalfor many sectors of the population. The divisions
between different kinds of employment and underemployment are
blurred and changeable. Quantitativedelineation therefore implies
special definitions, different from those currentlyused in developed
countries. Variousimportant social phenomena, such as the organi-
zation of redistributiveinterdependence, cannot be analyzed in
termsof the 'relics' of traditional society (ethnic and village inter-
dependence, etc) but must on the contrarybe re-interpretedas the
means of resistance and survival n the conditions of peripheralcapi-
talism, even if they are organizedin 'traditional'ways. The same
goes for many other 'poor' economic activities, particularlycrafts,
services and small businesses.
Social, political and especially class consciousnesscannot be located
or understood in the abstractwithout any reference to the objective
social system in which the social groups in question are found. Cons-
ciousness can only be that of becoming aware of reality. Such new
awarenessenables social groups to conceive of effective action, be
it by accepting the roles allotted to them within the system, be it by
changingits structure.
In the central system, it is true that the consciousness of belonging
to a social group(the proletariat,for example) does not by itself'
define class consciousness. It can lead to a 'reformist consciousness'- social-democraticclass consciousness - which constitutes as we
have seen an objective condition for the functioning of the central
system at this time. At the periphery, on the other hand, social cons-
ciousness of this type is not possible since the objective functioning
of the system does not integrate the massesbut on the contrary
forces them out and marginalizesthem. Consequently an awareness
of the process of marginalizationmust lead to a rejection of the
system. The question posed here is thus whether in fact, in any one
country at any one time, marginalizedgroups or sub-groupsattribute
their plight to the objective functioning of the system, or on the
contraryto strangesocial or even supernatural orces. The latter
would obviously limit their capacity to act in order to changethe
system and would restrict their political action to the level of
unplannedrevolts. The answerto this, the only valid question in our
opinion, will obviously differ accordingto the group, the place and
the time.
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25It is in this theoretical ontextthat one mustplaceall the social,ideological, ultural ndpoliticalproblems f thecontemporary
ThirdWorld.
Thetraditional ersusmoderndebate, ngeneraluxtaposesn anabsolutemanner hesetwo termswhich t defines;he secondbyreducingt to its historically pecific orm(capitalistandWestern)thus ncidentally enying hepossibility f the furtherdevelopmentof a globalcapitalism,which s trulyuniversalbutnot tendingtowards omogeneity);he first,withoutreference o particularperipheralocieties, ituatinghe 'traditional'n a pre-capitalism(non-Western)hichno longerexists. For wherearethe 'traditional'societies oday?Reduced o the roleof supplying heap abour othemodern ector sectors1 and3 linked n thewaythattheyare),
the so-calledtraditionalociety,whichcomprises inajority fpeople,no longerexists n its traditionalorm.Whatdoes exist ispseudo-traditional,hat is to say,a transformedradition,deformedandoppressed.Moreover,asedon African xperience,t is clearthatsocialreformmovementswitha 'traditional'ppearance,uchas thereligious rotestmovementswith a prophetic haracter;hetheocraticmovementsorthe reorganisationf local power ikethose of the WestAfricanMuslim rotherhoodsthe MouridesnSenegal); he establishment f 'sultanates'n Nigeria, r SudaneseMahdism;he evolutionof certain entralisedmonarchiesn animi-sticAfrica uchasthe WoloforDahomean ingdoms, re all aresponseo the problems f integrationnto theexpanding lobal
system.Theyareallmovementsorreformwithintheperipheralsystem.Phenomena hichsociologistsoo oftenanalyze n termsof'relicsof the past'suchas 'tribalism'r thecloseinterdependencefthe village, amily,clan orethnicgroupsamongurbanmmigrants,aretoo rigidly lassified nddemand critiqueof thisdualisticandmechanicalpproach.Theirrigidity s understoodwhenone realisesthat thesepseudo-traditionalormsmerelyobscurea substance hatis 'modern',houghpoor,and thatthey merelyrepresentwaysofsurvivingn the dramaticonditionsof marginality.1
Theconceptof marginalizationosesvery seriousproblems: oncernover he forms t assumesand theireffect on socialconsciousness)
andconcernwith its boundariesalwaysblurred nd ll-defined).Empiricistbservationf socialphenomenan theseareashasoftenled to hurried onclusionsn ouropinion.Theconceptof the'cultureof poverty'12 andtheanalogies etween hisconceptandthatof lumpen-proletarianizationreanexampleof oversimplifi-cationwhichrequires critique.At the otherextreme, heconceptof a 'labour-aristocracy'n underdevelopedountries nvolvesanequallydebatable nalogy.
Ofcourseatelementary tagesof industrializations is widelyknowninAfrica, he 'working lass', trictlyspeaking,an appearprivileged'andcloseto the pettybourgeoisien socialstatusandawareness. he
policyof internationalorporationsccentuates hischaracteristic.3
Notably n certain ropicalAfrican egions, heretardedmpactofcolonialismthe latedevelopment f sector1)andthe persistence fcertainpre-capitalisttructures otpenetrated y the processes
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26generating peripheralociety(these structures ence continuing obe concentratedn sector2) limit the impact hat the growingmodern
sector 1 and3) can haveon sucha society n transformation.nsimpleeconomic erms, his means hat the supplyof cheap abourfor the growingmodern ector s limitedso that in the latterremu-nerationbe less badthanwouldotherwisebe thecase.But theaccelerationf theprocessof peripheralizationndicates hatatmoreadvanced tages he conditionsof this proletarianore of the'modern'ectordeterioraten relative ndoften absolute erms.Newpotentialalliances hen appearbetween his core and the marginaliz-ed mass,henceforth emi-proletarianizedn the full senseof theword,whicharebasedon an objective ommunity f interests,deeply nfluencedby the directeffectof open unemploymentn thesalaries f those withrelatively ermanent mployment. rom hat
momentobjective onditionsareripefor a realstrategyof transition,opening hewayfor a transcendencef capitalism.
FOOTNOTES
1. This model is a brief summaryof my work publishedunder the titleAccumulation on a WorldScale, (Forthcoming,Monthly Review Press).
2. In Production of Commoditiesby Meansof Commodities,Cambridge1960.3. I do not claim that this outline includesevery aspect of the problemof
'civilisations'- the theory of which remainsto be done. The work ofPelletierand Groblot(Materialismehistoriqueet histoiredes civilisations,Paris1969) is the first stimulatingopeningin this field. Likewise,tor theArabworld, see Ahmadel Kodsy, 'Nationalismand Class Struggles n theArabworld',MonthlyReview, July-August1970.
4. The universal nfluence of the Chinese culturalrevolution obviously applieshere.See PierreAmon, 'La R6volution culturelleet ie- marxisme',QueFaire, No 5, 1970.
5. All the problemsconcerningpseudo-tribalismn Africamust be revisedfrom this point of view. Necessaryauthentic democracy demandstheintegralrespectof social reality. It is only by respecting t that it can bepositively integrated nto a process which enablestranscendence.Thebureaucraticdenialof realityblocks evolution and enablesa treacherousand negativereappearanceof this reality which is officially denied.
6. See articleby UrsM.uller-PlantenbergTechnologieet dependance',Critiquesde l'economie politique, No 3, 1971, which defines precisely thekind of technology which can solve the problemsof the present-dayunder-
developedworld.7. As acknowledgedby the United NationsConferencefor Tradeand
Development(UNCTAD)at a meeting in Limaof 77 countries,October
1971.8. This is why the crisisin the system is revealed n the field of internationalmonetary relations(the current dollarcrisis,etc.). Triffin,Le systememonltaire intlrnational, Paris 1969, expressesthis awareness arguing nfavourof a utopia - that of a supranationalmonetary authority, whichassumesthe contradictionis resolved.
9. This stagehas not been reached n contemporaryAfrica where direct foreigisinvestmentremainsthe primemover.That is why the expression of neo-colonialismhas neverseemed to us a scientific one. We preferneo-imperialism for lack of a better word) which only applies to very advancedunderdevelopedcountrieslike Brazil.
10.See Ruy MauroMarini, Subdesarrolloy revolucion',Siglo XI, Mexico1969.
11.The excellent Senegalesefilm by OusmaneSemb'eneLe Mandat, is a livelyscientific demonstrationof this theory, better than many Pretentioussociologicalanalyses.
12. Oscar Lewis, The Childrenof Sanchez, startedthis school of thought.13.G. Arrighi, InternationalCorporations,LabourAristocraciesand Eco-
nomic Development in TropicalAfrica', R. I. Rhodesed. ImperialismanidUnderdevelopment,London 1970, has expandedthis theme in the mostcoherent mannerto our knowledge,with referenceto the case of Tanzaniia.
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