Article



Dados vol. 27 n. 3 Rio de Janeiro 1984

Reflexões Heréticas sobre o Imperialismo e as Economias de Exportação na América Latina

Sorj, Bernardo

Abstract

This paper challenges current models that seek to explain relationships between export economies and central countries in terms of a necessary transfer of surplus from the former to the latter. The author observes that at least for certain periods and products surplus transfers proceeded the other way around. Therefore, it is argued that current explanations of underdevelopment must be reassessed, in the sense that rather than being a direct result of "imperialist exploitation" it is rooted in the peculiarities of the social and political structure of underdeveloped countries. The author also criticizes the theory of dependency on the grounds that it departs from similar assumptions regarding the role of economic determinants of development.

Full text

Reflexões Heréticas sobre o Imperialismo e as Economias de Exportação na América Latina