Problems & Paradoxes of the Third World

Problems & Paradoxes of the Third World

I

Let me begin this outline of the institutions of international inequity with a few definitions. That is not a matter of formalities, but it touches upon a fundamental, underlying concept: that underdevelopment is not a “thing.”

What is critical to underdevelopment is not some physical fact but a world economic structure that perpetuates backwardness. For instance, it is often said that the poor countries suffer because they are agricultural and raw-material, rather than industrial, producers. But, then, wheat is a “primary” commodity and one of the most important American exports. That business is dominated by five firms, which control 85 percent of the grain shipments ab...