Dependency and Underdevelopment in Black Africa: an Empirical Test

Richard Vengroff

doi:10.1017/S0022278X00002251

Dependency and Underdevelopment in Black Africa: an Empirical Test

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 November 2008

Richard Vengroff

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In the literature of both comparative politics and international relations there exist two broad theoretical orientations towards the concept of development: capitalist and Marxist or neo-Marxist. The first emphasises the nation as the basic unit of analysis, and assumes that development is a matter of accepting and implementing western forms of political and economic organisation, and of the masses internalising ‘modern’ attitudes and values.1 The second identifies world capitalism as the key unit of analysis, and is convinced that underdevelopment is both created and maintained by this international economic system.2

Type: Africana
Information: The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 15 , Issue 4 , December 1977 , pp. 613 - 630

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022278X00002251 [Opens in a new window]
Copyright: Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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^{page 613 note 1} See, for example, Deutsch, Karl, ‘Social Mobilization and Political Development,’ in American Political Science Review (Menasha), 55, 1961, pp. 493–514Google Scholar; Huntington, Samuel, ‘Political Development and Political Decay,’ in World Politics (Princeton), 17, 1965, pp. 386–430Google Scholar; and Inkles, A. and Smith, D., Becoming Modern (Cambridge, Mass., 1974).CrossRef Google Scholar

^{page 613 note 2} Amin, Samir, Accumulation on a World Scale (New York, 1974)Google Scholar; Bodenheimer, S., ‘Dependency and Imperialism: the roots of Latin mericanA underdevelopment’, in Fann, K. T. and Hodges, D. C. (eds.), Readings in U.S. Imperialism (Boston, 1971), pp. 155–81Google Scholar; Theotonio Dos Santos, ‘The Structure of Dependence’, ibid. pp. 225–36; Frank, André Gunder, ‘The Development of Underdevelopment,’ in Rhodes, R. I. (ed.), Imperialism and Underdevelopment: a reader (New York, 1970), pp. 4–17Google Scholar; and J. O'Connor ‘The Meaning of Economic Imperialism’, ibid. pp. 101–50.

^{page 614 note 1} Kaufman, R., Chernotsky, H., and Geller, D., ‘A Preliminary Test of the Theory of Dependency,’ in Comparative Politics (Chicago), 7, 1975, pp. 303–30.Google Scholar

^{page 614 note 2} McGowan, Patrick J., ‘Economic Dependence and Economic Performance in Black Africa,’ in The Journal of Modern African Studies (Cambridge), XIV, 1, 03 1976, pp. 25–40.Google Scholar

^{page 614 note 3} Vengroff, Richard, ‘Neo-Colonialism and Policy Outputs in Africa’, in Comparative Political Studies (Beverly Hills), 8, 1975, pp. 234–49.Google Scholar

^{page 614 note 4} Walleri, R. D., ‘Economic Imperialism as a Cause for Retarded Economic Development in the Third World’, Annual Convention of the American Political Science Association, San Francisco, 1975Google Scholar.

^{page 614 note 5} Vengroff, Richard, ‘Dependency, Development and Inequality in Black Africa’, in African Studies Review (East Lansing), 20, 09 1977Google Scholar; Chase-Dunn, Christopher, ‘The Effects of International Economic Dependence on Development and Inequality: a cross national study’, in American Sociological Review (New York), 40, 1975, pp. 720–38Google Scholar; and Richard Rubinson, ‘The World Economy and the Distribution of Income within States: a cross national study’, ibid. 41, 1976, pp. 638–59.

^{page 615 note 1} Nkrumah, Kwame, Neo-Colonialism: the last stage of imperialism (New York, 1965).Google Scholar

^{page 615 note 2} Cf. Galtung, Johan, ‘A Structural Theory of Imperialism’, in Journal of Peace Research (Oslo), 13, 1971, pp. 81–118,Google Scholar and many of the other ‘dependency’ theorists already cited.

^{page 616 note 1} Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic/Empire, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Dahomey/Benin, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Upper Volta, and Zambia. Swaziland became independent in 1968, but is not included because of lack of data.

^{page 616 note 2} Log or square-root transformations were performed on the independent variables where necessary, and will be furnished on request.

^{page 616 note 3} These three basic components are suggested by Stallings, Barbara, Economic Dependency in Africa and Latin America (Beverly Hills, 1972).Google Scholar

^{page 617 note 1} Black Africa Data and Codebook (Downsview, 1973), available through the Institute for Behavioural Research, York University, Canada.

^{page 617 note 2} Agency for International Development, A.I.D. Economic Data Book for Africa (Springfield, 1973).Google Scholar

^{page 617 note 3} U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, World Military Expenditures and Arms Trade, 1963–1973 (Washington, 1974).Google Scholar

^{page 617 note 4} United Nations rearbook, 1966 to 1970 (New York, 1969–1973).

^{page 617 note 5} The author will gladly furnish this correlation matrix on request.

^{page 617 note 6} Log or square-root transformations were performed on the dependent variables where necessary, and will be furnished on request.

^{page 618 note 1} For an analysis of the relationship between dependency and inequality in Africa using the GINI coefficients, see Vengroff, ‘Dependency, Development and Inequality in Black Africa’, loc. cit.

^{page 618 note 2} Morrison, Donald and Stevenson, Hugh, ‘Integration and Instability: patterns of African political development’, in American Political Science Review, 66, 1972, pp. 902–27.CrossRef Google Scholar

^{page 619 note 1} Signs in parentheses represent predicted direction of the relationship: (-) negative (+) positive.

^{page 620 note 1} McGowan, loc. cit. p. 29.

^{page 620 note 2} These findings tend to support the conceptualisation of economic dependency by Stallings, op. cit.

^{page 621 note 1} Signs in parentheses represent predicted direction of the relationship: (-) negative, (+) positive.

^{page 623 note 1} Signs in parentheses represent predicted direction of the relationship: (-) negative, (+) positive.

^{page 624 note 1} Cf. Wallerstein, Immanuel, ‘Dependence in an Interdependent World: the limited possibilities of transformation within the capitalist world economy,’ in African Studies Review, 17, pp. 1–26.CrossRef Google Scholar

^{page 625 note 1} All figures are Pearson Product Moment correlations. Signs in parentheses represent predicted direction of the relationship: (-) negative, (+) positive. B indicates the ex-British colonies, and F the ex-French colonies.

^{page 626 note 1} Galtung, loc. cit.

^{page 626 note 2} McGowan, loc. cit. passim.

^{page 626 note 3} Vengroff, ‘Neo-Colonialism and Policy Outputs in Africa’, loc. cit.

^{page 627 note 1} See Naroll, Raoul, ‘Galton's Problem: the logic of cross cultural analysis,’ in Social Research (New York), 32, 1965, pp. 428–51.Google Scholar

^{page 627 note 2} McGowan, loc. cit. Table 3, p. 37.

^{page 627 note 3} Taylor, Charles and Hudson, Michael, World Handbook of Political and Social Indicators (New Haven, 1972), pp. 366–71.Google Scholar

^{page 627 note 4} Ibid.

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Dependency and Underdevelopment in Black Africa: an Empirical Test

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