One of the central claims of dependency theory—the nearly dominate framework adopted by the entire discipline of development studies since the 1960s—was that the yoke of imperial powers, especially the United States, weighed so heavily as to preclude the possibility of nations in the Third World becoming peer competitors on the global market. But what does the growing economic might of regional superpowers like Brazil mean for these views?
In this theoretically rigorous study by the brilliant Mexican analyst Adrián Sotelo Valencia these and other enigmas of development are answered through an examination of conditions in 21st Century Latin America. Using the concept of ‘sub-imperialism’ as advanced in the pioneering work of Ruy Mauro Marini, Sotelo elucidates the explanatory power of a fully Marxist conception of imperialism and underdevelopment while providing considerable insight into other views of dependency. This timely and insightful book enables readers to appreciate why radical dependency theory remains more relevant today than ever.
Publication date: July 17, 2018
Foreword
Carlos Eduardo Martins
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1 Dependency Theory in the Post-1945 Development Literature of Latin America
2 Marini’s Marxism and Dependency Theory Today
3 Neo-imperialism and Neo-dependency: Two Sides of the Same Historical-Political Process
4 Sub-imperialism and Dependency
5 The United States and Brazil: Antagonistic Cooperation
6 Brasil Potência vs. Sub-imperialism
7 Dictatorship, Democracy and the State of the Fourth Power
8 Sub-imperialism and the Contemporary Capitalist Crisis
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index
