"The Non-Capitalist Path" as Theory and Practice of Decolonization and Socialist Transformation

Abstract

The major contribution made by theorists of the Socialist bloc and the official Communist parties of the West to the theory and practice of decolonization and socialist transformation in the underdeveloped world is the so-called theory of non-capitalist development. Yet among Marxists and other radical writers in the capitalist world, there has been relatively little discussion of this theory and even less awareness of its rapid spread and growing influence on the practice of social revolution in the Third World. This is striking in view of the extensive literature which exists on such topics as imperialism, dependence, underdevelopment, etc.1 One of the most dramatic manifestations of the spread and influence of the theory is the recent unanimous adoption of the Declaration of Havana at the Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean, held in Cuba, in June 1975. In outlining a strategy for social and political change in this part of the world, the declaration virtually underwrites all the major propositions of the theory of non-capitalist development. This is remarkable since, for reasons which will emerge later in the discussion, the