How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

Author	Walter Rodney
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Genre	Essay
Publisher	Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications
Publication date	1972
Media type	Print (hardcover, paperback); e-book
Pages	312
ISBN	0-9501546-4-4

Part of a series about
Imperialism studies
Theories Dependency theory Intercommunalism Neo-Gramscianism Neocolonialism Social imperialism Super-imperialism Three Worlds Theory Ultra-imperialism World-systems theory
Concepts Ecologically unequal exchange North–South model Unequal exchange Superprofit Uneven and combined development
People Samir Amin Giovanni Arrighi Paul A. Baran Charles Bettelheim Ľuboš Blaha Nikolai Bukharin Arghiri Emmanuel John Bellamy Foster Andre Gunder Frank Michael Hardt Rudolf Hilferding J. A. Hobson Vladimir Lenin Li Minqi Rosa Luxemburg Antonio Negri Kwame Nkrumah Huey P. Newton Walter Rodney Paul Sweezy Leon Trotsky Immanuel Wallerstein
Works The Accumulation of Capital Empire How Europe Underdeveloped Africa Imperialism Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism Monopoly Capital Multitude Naked Imperialism
Related Banana republic Economic development Illicit financial flows Global North and Global South Lumpenbourgeoisie Neo-Marxism Prebisch–Singer hypothesis Primitive accumulation of capital Third worldism
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How Europe Underdeveloped Africa is a 1972 book written by Walter Rodney that describes how Africa was deliberately exploited and underdeveloped by European colonial regimes. One of his main arguments throughout the book is that Africa developed Europe at the same rate that Europe underdeveloped Africa.

Rodney argues that a combination of power politics and economic exploitation of Africa by Europeans led to the poor state of African political and economic development evident in the late 20th century. Though, he did not intend "to remove the ultimate responsibility for development from the shoulders of Africans... [He believes that] every African has a responsibility to understand the [capitalist] system and work for its overthrow."

This book, along with Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth, is a popular example of 20th century books concerning African development and post-colonial theory.