Dependency Theory

Full Description

A school of thought in development economics and political science, associated with Raúl Prebisch, André Gunder Frank, and Walter Rodney, arguing that global poverty is not a stage in development but a structural consequence of the capitalist world system. Dependency theorists argued that the “core” (developed, Western nations) maintained their prosperity by systematically extracting surplus from the “periphery” (developing nations) through unequal terms of trade, debt, and the suppression of industrialisation in the Global South.

Critical Perspective

Dependency theory identified real structural inequalities in the global economy that mainstream development economics ignored, and its influence on anti-colonial political movements was enormous. Its critics argued that it provided an external explanation for underdevelopment that neglected internal factors including governance, corruption, and policy failures. The East Asian “miracle” economies (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore) appeared to refute the theory by achieving rapid industrialisation within the global capitalist system — though dependency theorists replied that their success required exceptional state direction and American strategic support that was not available to most developing nations.