Underdevelopment In Africa

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In this ground-breaking book (in that it was among the first to bring a new perspective to the question of underdevelopment in Africa), Rodney’s introductory chapter deals a great deal with certain questions bothering on development. He defines at length the concept of underdevelopment, which is essential in understanding the subsequent chapters. In answering the first question, he states that development is a many sided process which appears in three distinctive forms: Individual development, community development and economic development. Individual development, though sometimes moral, is tied to the overall development of the state. At the level of social groups, development implied an increasing capacity to regulate both internal and external …show more content…

This of course represented a quantitative increase in the goods produced, and it was inter-related with qualitative changes in Chinese society. In the natural sciences, it is well known that in many instances quantitative change becomes qualitative after a certain period. Similarly, in human society it has always been the case that the expansion of the economy leads eventually to a change in the form of social relations. Rodney points out that Karl Marx was the first writer to appreciate the aforementioned, and he distinguished within European history several stages of development. The first major stage following after simple bands of hunters was Communalism followed by Slavery, Feudalism and then …show more content…

This he puts that it is obviously in a marked contrast with feudalism or capitalism, where it is the hired labourer or serf which in most situations are not related to the family of the land lord that are employed to work on the lands. Other important segments of the life before 1445 that Rodney talks about include religion, dance, art and music. He puts it that religion as an important aspect of the African culture pervaded African life in the period before the coming of the whites, just as it pervaded life in other pre-feudal societies, such as those of the Maoris of Australia or the Afghans of Afghanistan or the Vikings of

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