Accumulation on a World Scale: A Critique of the Theory of Underdevelopment. (2 Volumes)

Samir Amin has undertaken an ambitious task: nothing less than an analysis of the process of capital accumulation on a global level. Drawing on a wide range of empirical material from Africa and the Middle East, Amin attempts to demonstrate, through a critique of writings on "underdevelopment," how accumulation in advanced capitalist countries prevents development, however that may be defined, within the peripheral social formations, usually referred to as "underdeveloped" countries. Samir Amin ranks among those who realize the necessity not merely to comprehend the growing crisis of world capitalism, as it manifests itself within individual nation states, but also at the world level. --From publisher's description VOLUME 1 Contents Introduction The Scope of the Analysis The Conceptual Equipment of Current Economic Theory The Current Theory of Underdevelopment From Social Science to the Art of Management Accumulation on a World Scale For a Theory of the Social Formations of Capitalism World Dimension of the Class Struggle The Conditions of Development of the Periphery ls a Socialist World Possible? Plan of the Work and Summary of Conclusions 1. Unequal International Specialization and the International Flow of Capital The Theory of International Exchange The Classical (Ricardian) Theory From Science to the Ideology of Universal Harmonies A Fundamental Contrioution: Unequal Exchange The Limits of Economism The Forms of International Specialization and the Terms of Trade Structural Features of World Trade Evolution of the Terms of Trade The Worsening of the Terms of Trade The Historical Forms of International Specialization Foreign Trade and the Question of Markets The Inherent Tendency of Capitalism to Expand Markets The Inherent Tendency of Central Capitalism to Export Capital The Functions of International Trade and of the Export of Capital The Monopolistic Nature of International Relations and the Place of Monopolies in World Trade Summary of Conclusions 2. The Formations of Peripheral Capitalism Part 1: The Transition to Peripheral Capitalism Precapitalist Modes of Production and Formations The Beginning of Commodity Relations: The Transition from Subsistence Economy to Commodity Economy The Formation of a Capitalism Based on Foreign Trade (Colonial Trade) The Formation of a Capitalism Based on the Investment of Foreign Capital The Typology of Underdevelopment Part 2: The Development of Peripheral Capitalism: The Development of Underdevelopment Unequal International Specialization and the Distortions of Development Distortion Toward Export Activities Distortion Toward Tertiary Activities and Toward Light Activities and Techniques Marginalist and Marxist Theories of Investment The Social Productivity of Investments International Specialization and the Orientation of Investment in the Periphery to Light, Industry and Techniques Internatfonal Specialization and the Transfer of Multiplier Mechanisms The Theory of the Multiplier and the Accelerator International Specialization and the Monopolies The Origin and Dynamic of Monopoly Superprofits The Concept of the Degree of Monopoly in the Economy Monopoly Superprofits and Accumulation at the Center Foreign Monopolies and Accumulation in the Periphery The Structural Characteristics of Underdevelopment Price Structures and Sectoral Unevenness in Productivity The Disarticulation of the Underdeveloped Economy Economic Domination of the Periphery by the Center The Blocking of Transition Notes to Volume 1 Bibliography VOLUME 2 Contents 2. The Formations of Peripheral Capitalism (Continued) Part 3: The Social Formations The Social Formations Peripheral Formations in America and in the East Peripheral Formations in Africa General Features of Peripheral Formations Predominance of Agrarian and Commercial Capitalism The Dependent Character of Local Capitalism Contemporary Tendencies to the Development of National Bureaucracies Summary of Conclusions 3. The Monetary Mechanisms in the Periphery and the World Monetary System The Functions of Money in the Accumulation Mechanisms "Classical" Thought Keynesian and Contemporary Thought The Passive Function of the Banking System The Active Function of the Banking System The Mechanisms of Issuing Money and Credit The Foreign Exchange Standard: The Apparent Mechanisms of Issue "Managed" Currency and the Monetary Illusion The Concrete Functioning of Bank Credit and the Limits to the Financial Market Monetary Disorders and Inflation Transmission of the Value of the Dominant Currency "Permanent Inflation" and Its Transmission to the Periphery Transmission to the Periphery of the Price Structures of the Center Monetary Disorders in Underdeveloped Countries The Distant Past: The Integration of the Periphery into the World Market for Precious Metals Present Times: The International Liquidity Crisis and the Underdevdoped Countries Summary of Conclusions 4. The Role of the Periphery in the World Conjuncture The Theory of the Cycle and of the Conjuncture in the Capitalist Mode of Production The "Pure" Theory of the Cycle: The Monetary Illusion The Theory of "Maturity" and the Theory of the Surplus in Contemporary Monopoly Capitalism The Conjuncture of the System in the Periphery The General Theory of the Cycle and of the Conjuncture Applied to the Underdeveloped Countries The Theories of Transmitted Conjuncture The Conjuncture as a World Phenomenon: The Roles of the Center and the Periphery A Short History of the World Conjuncture Toward a Theory of the Cycle and of the World Conjuncture The Role of the Periphery in the Mechanism of Recovery Structural Adjustments of the Periphery to the Requirements of the Center Summary of Conclusions 5. The Adjustment of the Periphery's Balance of External Payments The Constituent Elements of the External Balance The Theory of Mechanisms of "Spontaneous Readjustment" of the External Balance The Classical Theory of Price Effects The Theory of Exchange Effects The Theory of Income Effects Conditions and Significance of the "Natural Equilibrium Rate of Exchange" Structural Adjustment of the Periphery of the World Capitalist System to the Requirements of Accumulation at the Center The Theory of International Structural Adjustment The Thesis of R. Prebisch Kindleberger's Analysis Balance of Payments of the Capitalist Countries of the Periphery Hoarding and the Balance of Payments Reduction of the External Assets of the Periphery and Devaluation Cycles The Lesson of History: From the Foreign-Exchange Standard to the Illusion of Monetary Independence Summary of Conclusions Afterword to the Second Edition Notes to Volume 2 Bibliography V.1. Unequal International Specialization And The International Flow Of Capital -- The Formations Of Peripheral Capitalism -- V.2. The Formations Of Peripheral Capitalism -- The Monetary Mechanisms In The Periphery And The World Monetary System -- The Role Of The Periphery In The World Conjuncture -- The Adjustment Of Periphery's Balance Of External Payments. Translated By Brian Pearce. Translation Of L'accumulation à L'échelle Mondiale. Bibliography: V. 1, P. 329-358; V. 2, P. 637-666.