Class and Nation, Historically and in the Current Crisis

by Samir Amin

English, French (translation)

Genres: History, Politics, Economics, Nonfiction

292 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Samir Amin (Arabic: سمير أمين) (3 September 1931 – 12 August 2018) was an Egyptian-French Marxian economist, political scientist and world-systems analyst. He is noted for his introduction of the term Eurocentrism in 1988 and considered a pioneer of Dependency Theory.

Reviews

[Joma Geneciran · Rating 5 out of 5]

A crucial text. This is my second time through it. I think Samir Amin is one of the most important thinkers to come out of the Arab world and this text is him at his best. My one recommendation is to be patient and stick through it. Once he gets to chapter 5 or so and onwards, the earlier reading is rewarded. To understand underdevelopment and the contradictions we're facing today (40+ years after the time of writing), you must understand the importance of the national question, the agrarian question, and its interrelation with class.

"The process of unequal development makes this question par­ticularly acute in the development of class struggles. Thus it is im­portant to distinguish between bourgeois and proletarian tendencies with regard to how the national question is posed and resolved.”

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amin proposes the Tributary mode of production. He also suggests that new capitalist centers may emerge from the periphery and/or the periphery is more likely to produce the breeding ground for movement beyond capitalism. The centers [of capitalism] are less likely to overcome the contradictions between Capital and Labor because in the Capitalist centers - while Labor is exploited - they [Labor/the Proletariat] benefit from the exploitation of the periphery and are less likely to want to give up those benefits, which is likely what it would cost to truly and effectively change the mode of production.

Amin’s analysis hits hard.