How Europe
Underdeveloped
(
AFRICA
by
Walter Rodney
with a postscript by A. M. Babu
HOWARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
W ASH I N GT O N , D. C.
19 8 2
,xxiv HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA
wounded are all around us and within us. Now, opening ourselves to all
those who recognize the brutal dialectics of underdevelopment, who ac-
knowledge the cohesive powers of our common needs, our common dan-
gers and our common possibilities, we can begin to stand in a newly
CHAPTER
grounded solidarity and reach out toward each other, facing the harsh
but beautiful fact that we must either re-develop· ourselves and our world
or be pushed together into some terrible, explosive closing of the light.
Of course, if we choose to go the way of our essential community, we
cannot go far by responding primarily to the urgency of fear (for that
I
would repeat history rather than transform it-and that would be unfaith-
ful to a courageous brother like Walter) . Instead, we must be drawn by
the fact that there is much to attract us. For instance, one of the hopeful
elements on the other side of the patterns of domination/subordination of Some Q,uestions on Development
the past 500 years has been the drawing of humankind into networks of
communication and interrelatedness that hold great possibilities for the • What Is Development? • What Is Underdevelopment?
establishment of new communities beyond the traditional, national bar-
riers. Reshaped and re-directed, the mechanisms of exploitation may actu-
ally place some vital means of re-development within our grasp.
Now it is in our hands-to overcome our history, to break the shackles
of the past, to re-develop ourselves, our people, our nation and our
world-to find humane, creative and fearless ways of dealing with those
who presently oppose such development. These are audacious visions, and
truly awesome responsibilities. But we must go forward. Indeed, it seems
clear to us that even without any guarantees of success, we must move in
the flow of humankind's best, most creative imagination, in the direction
of our most profoundly renewing dreams.
Anything less is inadequate for the perilous times. Anything less would
be unworthy of the memory of our brother, the needs of our children, or
the magnificent, untapped capacities of our own best selves.
March 1981
VINCENT HARDING
ROBERT HILL
WILLIAM STRICKLAND
, lN CONTRAST WITH THE SURGING GROWTH OF THE COUNTRIES IN THE
socialist camp and the development taking place, albeit much more slowly,
in the majority of the capitalist countries, is the unquestionable fact that a
large proportion of the so-called underdeveloped countries are in total
stagnation, and that in some of them the rate of economic growth is lower
than that of population increase.
These characteristics are not fortuitous; they correspond strictly to the
nature of the capitalist system in full expansion, which transfers to the
dependent countries the most abusive and barefaced forms of exploitation.
It must be clearly understood that the only way to solve the questions now
besetting mankind is to eliminate completely the exploitation of dependent
countries by developed capitalist countries, with all the consequences that
this implies.
-CHE GuEv ARA, 1964
What Is Development?
,,,..-- Developmentjn human society is a many-sided process. At the level of
the individual,)! implies increased skill and capacity, greater freedom,
creativity, self-discipline, responsibility, and material well-bei~!B Some of
these are virtually moral categories and are difficult to evaluate-depend-
ing as they do on the age in which one lives, one's class origins, and one's
personal code of what is wrong. However, what is indisputable is that the
achievement of any of those aspects of persona!, development is very much
$ tied in with the state of the society as a whole. From earliest times, man
found it convenient and necessary to come together in groups to hunt and
for the sake of survival. The relations which develop within any given
social group are crucial to an understanding of the society as a whole.
Freedom, responsibility, skill, have real meaning only in terms of the rela-
tions of men in society.
Of course, each social group comes into contact with others. The rela-
tions between individuals in any two societies are regulated by the form
of the two societies. Their respective political structures are important
because the ruling elements within each group are the ones that begin to
have dialogue, trade, or fight, as the case may be. At the level of social
groups, therefore, development implies an increasing capacity to regulate
both internal and external relationships. Much of human history has been
a fight for survival against natural hazards and against real and imagined
3
Underdeveloped
(
AFRICA
by
Walter Rodney
with a postscript by A. M. Babu
HOWARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
W ASH I N GT O N , D. C.
19 8 2
,xxiv HOW EUROPE UNDERDEVELOPED AFRICA
wounded are all around us and within us. Now, opening ourselves to all
those who recognize the brutal dialectics of underdevelopment, who ac-
knowledge the cohesive powers of our common needs, our common dan-
gers and our common possibilities, we can begin to stand in a newly
CHAPTER
grounded solidarity and reach out toward each other, facing the harsh
but beautiful fact that we must either re-develop· ourselves and our world
or be pushed together into some terrible, explosive closing of the light.
Of course, if we choose to go the way of our essential community, we
cannot go far by responding primarily to the urgency of fear (for that
I
would repeat history rather than transform it-and that would be unfaith-
ful to a courageous brother like Walter) . Instead, we must be drawn by
the fact that there is much to attract us. For instance, one of the hopeful
elements on the other side of the patterns of domination/subordination of Some Q,uestions on Development
the past 500 years has been the drawing of humankind into networks of
communication and interrelatedness that hold great possibilities for the • What Is Development? • What Is Underdevelopment?
establishment of new communities beyond the traditional, national bar-
riers. Reshaped and re-directed, the mechanisms of exploitation may actu-
ally place some vital means of re-development within our grasp.
Now it is in our hands-to overcome our history, to break the shackles
of the past, to re-develop ourselves, our people, our nation and our
world-to find humane, creative and fearless ways of dealing with those
who presently oppose such development. These are audacious visions, and
truly awesome responsibilities. But we must go forward. Indeed, it seems
clear to us that even without any guarantees of success, we must move in
the flow of humankind's best, most creative imagination, in the direction
of our most profoundly renewing dreams.
Anything less is inadequate for the perilous times. Anything less would
be unworthy of the memory of our brother, the needs of our children, or
the magnificent, untapped capacities of our own best selves.
March 1981
VINCENT HARDING
ROBERT HILL
WILLIAM STRICKLAND
, lN CONTRAST WITH THE SURGING GROWTH OF THE COUNTRIES IN THE
socialist camp and the development taking place, albeit much more slowly,
in the majority of the capitalist countries, is the unquestionable fact that a
large proportion of the so-called underdeveloped countries are in total
stagnation, and that in some of them the rate of economic growth is lower
than that of population increase.
These characteristics are not fortuitous; they correspond strictly to the
nature of the capitalist system in full expansion, which transfers to the
dependent countries the most abusive and barefaced forms of exploitation.
It must be clearly understood that the only way to solve the questions now
besetting mankind is to eliminate completely the exploitation of dependent
countries by developed capitalist countries, with all the consequences that
this implies.
-CHE GuEv ARA, 1964
What Is Development?
,,,..-- Developmentjn human society is a many-sided process. At the level of
the individual,)! implies increased skill and capacity, greater freedom,
creativity, self-discipline, responsibility, and material well-bei~!B Some of
these are virtually moral categories and are difficult to evaluate-depend-
ing as they do on the age in which one lives, one's class origins, and one's
personal code of what is wrong. However, what is indisputable is that the
achievement of any of those aspects of persona!, development is very much
$ tied in with the state of the society as a whole. From earliest times, man
found it convenient and necessary to come together in groups to hunt and
for the sake of survival. The relations which develop within any given
social group are crucial to an understanding of the society as a whole.
Freedom, responsibility, skill, have real meaning only in terms of the rela-
tions of men in society.
Of course, each social group comes into contact with others. The rela-
tions between individuals in any two societies are regulated by the form
of the two societies. Their respective political structures are important
because the ruling elements within each group are the ones that begin to
have dialogue, trade, or fight, as the case may be. At the level of social
groups, therefore, development implies an increasing capacity to regulate
both internal and external relationships. Much of human history has been
a fight for survival against natural hazards and against real and imagined
3
