International capital, indigenous accumulation and the state in Papua New Guinea: the case of the Development Bank

Abstract

Much has been asserted about the comprador status of the bourgeoisie in Africa and the way it has been blackenised at the behest of old colonial powers and new international agencies such as the World Bank. Scott MacWilliam takes up this issue which has been extended to Australia's former colony of Papua New Guinea to show whether and how an indigenous bourgeoisie is capable of subverting the strategy of the World Bank in promoting small-scale production, especially in agriculture. MacWilliam argues that money capital which is advanced as loans to schemes based on peasant production can become finance to propel the accumulation propensities of indigenous capitalists. Equally, he concludes, the small-scale basis of production blocks the further acquisition of land by the local capitalist class.