A Summary of "Problems and Perspectives of Dependency Theory"

Abstract

Dependency theory has developed from two different perspectives: on the one hand it is a repudiation of bourgeois sociology and its interpretations of Latin American history, opposing such theories as that of structural dualism, functionalism in all its interpretations and, of course, the desarrollista approaches. It has served a positive critical function without which it is impossible to imagine the current orientation of academic sociology in Latin America. On the other hand it emerges in conflict with, and as an alternative to, what has been called Marxism. A certain paradox exists in that dependency theory criticizes bourgeois thinking from a perspective near to Marxism, while at the same time it criticizes Marxism-Leninism from a perspective full of concepts taken from bourgeois social sciences and the desarrollista approaches. The best example of this confusion in dependency theory is the discussion on feudalism and capitalism in Latin America: to make sense of Andre Gunder Frank's thesis that Latin America has been capitalist since the Spanish-Portuguese conquest one has to abandon Marx's notion of capitalism and equate capitalism simply with money economy. Dependency theory has in fact sought to become a neoMarxism without Marx. The ambiguity which arises from this has even weakened the criticism made of bourgeois theories of development and underdevelopment, in that the critics remain very much within their frames of reference. An example is provided by Gunder Frank's polemic on whether Parsons' universal values are more characteristic of underdeveloped than developed countries (Frank:1969b). This overlooks the main problem with Parsons' analysis which is that of substituting superficial effects and their consideration for the analysis of the underlying structures. The same could be said of Rodolfo Stavenhagen's treatment of structural dualism (1968). Although he criticizes the use of this concept, he merely transposes meanings and continues to utilize it. Thus, no longer is the traditional sector responsible for underdevelopment, but rather