Dialéctica de la Dependencia

by Ruy Mauro Marini

Portugese

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Sociology, Nonfiction, Economics

101 pages, Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1981

About the author

Economist and sociologist. Marini is internationally known as one of the creators of Dependency Theory. He is the author of the work "Dialéctica de la Dependencia" (Dialectic of Dependency), in which, using elements of the theory of economic development of Karl Marx adapted to the study of Latin American reality, he explains the necessity of overcoming the developmentalism of ECLAC. He was an activist of the Revolutionary Left Movement of Chile, becoming a member of the Central Community in 1972 and director of his theoretical journal Marxismo y Revolución.

Reviews

[hajduk]

Usually skip introductions but the one prefacing the essay by the translator, Amanda Latimer, is great. Really grounds his conceptualisation of superexploitation and subimperialism. Both in terms of the debates of the time around development and dependency in Latin America, and his political engagement with POLOP in Brazil and MIR in Chile. Also provides a summary of his yet untranslated works.

Essay itself really clicks things into place and has me MDT pilled. To vulgarise it. It basically develops a concept of 'superexploitation' grounded in the three volumes of capital and a theory of dependency as rooted in both location in the world capitalist system (circulation) and regional class dynamics that have become embedded due to that location and reproduced themselves even as industrialisation took root (production).

[Pete Dolack]

Both financial muscle and military muscle are copiously used to elevate Global North capitalist core countries at the expense of the Global South, with the U.S. doing everything it can to maintain its place — more specifically, its multinational corporations’ place — at the apex of the pyramid. Yet it is not only these levers. Capitalism is also kept in place by structural forces. We can’t fully comprehend how the world capitalist system functions without studying its structure, which operates even when financial or military muscle is not at a given moment being directly applied.

This is where The Dialectics of Dependency intervenes, persuasively arguing that the roles of local bourgeoisies, and not only Northern imperialism (as important as that is), as well as unequal exchange resulting from a subordinate position within a global division of labor, are indispensable to understanding the fate of Global South workers and in particular Latin American underdevelopment.

Latin America was plundered throughout the colonial period, with Christopher Columbus inaugurating slavery, forcible precious-metal extraction and the genocide of native peoples. Formal independence for Latin American countries coincided with the Industrial Revolution, during which they “came to gravitate toward England” rather than each other. “Ignoring one another, the new countries would link themselves directly to the English metropole,” Professor Marini wrote, becoming suppliers of foodstuffs and raw materials while importing manufactured products. “Latin America developed in close consonance with the dynamics of international capital.” Colonial metals and “exotic goods” contributed to increased commodity flows and “paved the way” for large-scale industry in core capitalist countries.

English technological advances enabled significant increases in production and the ability to flood markets with commodities. With the displacement of farmers into cities and the creation of a modern proletariat, the incorporation of this new working class into consumption was “an essential step.” In turn, the supply of food from Latin America made it increasingly possible for English capitalism to reduce the value of labor power and thus “achieve a balance between increasing surplus value and, at the same time, increasing wages.” In contrast, “super-exploitation” — a drastic lowering of wages — was the means for Latin American capital to be competitive. Because Latin American production was largely for export, local capitalists did not have to create a local market and could keep wages at extraordinarily low levels because they did not need their workers to be able to buy the products they produce.

Unequal exchange gathered momentum and super-exploitation became the route for Latin American capitalists to maintain their profitability and their places in the global capitalist system. Rather than increase productivity or invest in new machinery, Latin American capitalists have relied on intensifying exploitation through suppressed wages, work speed-ups and increased working hours. While not discounting the very real role of imperialist capital, a key political conclusion of the Marxist theory of dependency is recognizing the “dominant classes’ [of Latin America] responsibility in reproducing dependency.” Local bourgeoisies earn substantial profits from this arrangement and have no incentive to change it.

In addition to the titular essay, the book also contains two framing essays and a biography. A reader should be forewarned that the titular essay is written in an abstract manner, which will likely lessen the potential audience. That would be a loss as the book is a valuable, and needed, addition to theory to help our collective understanding of unequal exchange and the roots of deep inequality among the countries of the world capitalist system. Anyone wishing to grasp this enduring international phenomenon would benefit from reading The Dialectics of Dependency. It is not always easy reading but working your way through sometimes difficult and abstract passages will be enriching for any activist seeking to understand how capitalism works.

The complete review of this book can be read here: Grasping dependency and under-development as structural, not simply a product of force.

[DABO1917]

Marini's work should be read by anyone interested in how capitalism functions. Here Marini makes it clear that, contrary to the notion that the First World represents "fully developed" capitalism and the Third World is somehow a "lesser version," an "anomaly" so to speak, which needs to "develop" is utterly wrong. Instead the underdevelopment and development is a two-way process of capitalism: two sides of the same coin. Specifically, the expansion of capitalism into a world system involves both development and underdevelopment. The development of one region is simultaneously the expansion and intensification of the underdevelopment of other regions. The core requires a Periphery that can be exploited. Marini also specifically criticizes orthodox Marxists, who viewed the Third World as "pre-capitalist". This view is simplistic and leads to a false analysis of capitalism itself. His criticism sparked a heated debate among orthodox Marxists, and his work was suppressed. This suppression of analyses from the Third World is unfortunately common, even among "Marxists" (who reduce Marx to a kind of bible). A book that analyzes precisely this suppression of perspectives from the Third World is "Decolonizing Economics." This book analyzes precisely how the reality of the Global South is never incorporated into economics.

But I digress.

In his analysis of dependent capitalism, he introduced the concept of "super-explotation." It describes a process in which the compensation for labor (i.e. wages) is below the value of the labor. This represents a fundamental mechanism in the capitalist world-system. Marini describes how Latin America has not generated an internal market, unlike the Global North. Furthermore he analyzes that in dependent capitalism, the dominant class (i.e. the Bourgeoisie, landowner class/latifundista) is structured to satisfy the consumption needs of the core workers. The bourgeoisie (or the dominant class) is also dependent on Western imperialism. In other words, Latin America functions as a kind of periphery for the USA, supplying the global north (i.e., USA in this specific context) with raw materials and foodstuffs. In short, the states of Latin America are economically inferior to those of imperialist capital. In this book, Marini attempts to explain how Latin America was integrated into the capitalist world system and how this leads to a specific form of reproduction.And this is where the concept of super exploitation plays an important role. Namely, it is a form of reproduction characterized by super-explotation. This means that while accumulation is limited by the Unequal Exchange, and the position of Latin American countries within the capitalist world system, the dominant class needs other forms to reproduce its profit: through super-exploitation. At the same time, Marini introduces the concept of "sub-imperialism." Historically, he is referring here to Brazil during the military dictatorship, which came to power during a coup in 1964 (that was backed by the USA). Marini attempts to explore the economic and class-based reasons of support during this military dictatorship. Here he analyzes the support for this military dictatorship by the economic dominant classes (i.e. Bourgeoisie and landowners) also occurred autonomously under the protective cloak of US imperialism. And Marini called this very strategy "sub-imperialism". At the same time, he argues that the roots of this strategy of sub-imperialism were produced by the structural contradictions of, for example, Brazil's dependent capitalism. These contradictions of dependent capitalism made Brazil unable to control its technological progress and also to build its domestic market for it. The strategy of sub-imperialism serves to compensate for this.

Overall very important work, which is not only valuable for "Marxist," but for anyone studying the functions of capitalism.

5/5

[João Paulo]

Probabilmente lo avrei apprezzato di più se non fossi una persona naturalmente avversa ai testi di economia. Essendo più abituato ad un approccio sociologico e politologo alle teorie della dipendenza, purtroppo questa lettura non è proprio “my cup of tea”, e dico purtroppo perché ne riconosco l’importanza e ne apprezzo la tesi. Resta il fatto che Marini rimane un must read su questo argomento, quindi prima o poi avrei dovuto leggerlo.

[nico flores]

While this book may have been a little bit above my theoretical level, I certainly enjoyed attempting to piece together these concepts and read such an intelligently written piece of writing. I also think it’s important that this book was translated into English because when it was only available in Spanish and Portuguese most of the English speakers that I know, including myself, had never heard of this prominent Latin American theorist. I hope to revisit this book one day when I have a more well-developed understanding of these concepts and enjoy it even more!

[Abe]

I liked it - not really sure if I “agree” with it exactly but it’s definitely one of the cleaner arguments relating to the question of super exploitation of the third world (although perhaps the ease with which I could understand this is conditioned by my having read and struggled with other texts of this sort, that and the fact that this is an intro) and considering the trajectory of some of the developmentalists and rival dependency types he is criticizing here I think his intervention proved to be quite necessary and definitely held up well. The intro was probably a little too long but some of the details were interesting. I am a little curious if he was in discussion with Fraginals as his thesis about the expansion of the Cuban sugar industry reaffirms the main argument here quite well in my opinion

[Carlos Cruz Mosquera]

One of the most important books in English for those interested in Latin American political economy.

[Carla]

Me aburrí mucho y no entendí casi nada.

[VM]

Marini ❤️ the mind that you are. You would’ve hated palantir

[Ted Garver]

I believe that this book is a specialist book written for an audience with a background in developmental economics, sociology and political systems. In particular, Marini writes to those with a familiarity with Marxist economics and international capitalism. I believe that The Dialectics of Dependency is an important book because it provides an understanding of how international trade creates and fosters worker exploitation and inequality of wealth between nations. The book is composed of three sections including two of which put the work of Marini in context. The lengthily introductory material by Amanda Latimer puts Marini's work in context of political, class, and economic struggles in Latin and South America in the 20th century. The middle part of the book is Marini's Dialéctica de la dependencia with the postscript. The third part of the book is kind of an afterward or postscript, by Jamie Osorio, that puts Marini's thoughts into a current perspective. I believe that this work deserves study, but I can also say that reading it cover-to-cover has provided me with a better perspective on how the world of international commerce works, and how difficult it is for Latin and South American countries to lift their economies in equitable ways.

[vraye]

G=P(C/V)

[Sergi]

Se podría decir que es algo así como el "Imperialismo" de Lenin (que trata a nivel global) aplicado a la realidad latinoamericana. Y a pesar de estar centrado en algo concreto, es lo suficientemente general como para que las tesis del libro abarquen a toda la región y sigan siendo del todo actuales.

Mauro Marini se desmarca de quienes señalan como culpables de las desgracias de Latinoamérica a los españoles y portugueses que llegaron hace 500 años, y de quienes de alguna manera añoran ese pasado imperial y echan bilis exclusivamente contra los países anglos. Aplicando el materialismo histórico, muestra el "papel" que el capitalismo, como sistema económico dominante, otorgó a Latinoamérica, ya desde la época de la acumulación originaria, pasando por la dependencia creada por GB y los USA, y que (aunque el libro es de los 70), si seguimos el hilo de la historia vemos lógica la situación de la región.

[Alexander Koshan]

написано сложно тяжело как капитал, но все по факту по базе так сказать. благодаря двум приложенным в российском издании статьям стало намного понятнее (и актуальнее). про сверхэксплуатацию, про независимость сфер производства и обращения в зависимой экономике, про изначальную встроенность зависимой экономики в империалистическую экономику и невозможность рассматривать одну без другой, про взаимосвязь вообще всего перечисленного выше. очень хорошо легло на прочитанную недавно книжку клода аке, и вообще стало казаться, что я стал понимать ВСЁ.....
хочется почитать его книжки про субимпериализм, но боюсь не найти их перевод, а также все больше желание прочесть сам капитал.

[Zaira]

Te cambia la forma de ver la industrialización de Latinoamérica dirigida a la dialéctica dependentista de los países

[Itzam Martínez]

Escencial para entender los procesos de desarrollo desigual en América Latina como condiciones históricas