Dependence and Underdevelopment

This essay was originally intended to produce a working definition of ‘dependence’. It has ended up by being a critique of the concept of ‘dependence’ itself, at least as it is currently used in development economics. It is meant to be a sympathetic critique, since I subscribe to many of the fundamental tenets of the dependence school. I also hope that it is a constructive one, since it appears that the dependence literature has, at least in part, led to a concentration on the wrong problems and on unrealistic solutions, a serious defect which must be rectified if it is not to end up as yet another defunct branch of grand theorising.