Laclau, dependentistas and Eastern Europe

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper reconsiders an influential controversy within the Latin American development school and the possibilities of extrapolating it to Eastern Europe. It examines the relevance of Ernesto Laclau’s critique of Andre Gunder Frank’s theory of underdevelopment for the politics of development in Eastern Europe. The main controversy is about the processes through which capitalism generates underdevelopment in Latin America. The reframing of Laclau-Frank debate in a different historical and geographical context facilitates a different understanding of the political economy, economic history and development in the European periphery, but also throws a new light on the debate itself. This exercise of re-contextualisation helps reviving discussions about dependent and uneven development in Eastern Europe and provides important suggestions for enriching the research agenda on post-socialism. At the same time, it reveals the heuristic value of Laclau’s early work and of Frank’s theory of underdevelopment, but also their blind spots and un-reflected theoretical commitments.