The Political Economy of Underdevelopment in the Global South: The Government-Business-Media Complex (International Political Economy Series)

'This volume not only rejuvenates the classical discussion about development and underdevelopment but also develops a highly original proposition on its own, backed up by comprehensive empirical data and thorough quantitative analysis. Moreover, it is not only relevant for scholars of development but also for scholars in International Political Economy, given that the major issue areas of IPE all are covered, with regard to their implications for development.' -Andreas Nölke, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany This book presents a new theory explaining underdevelopment in the global South and tests whether financial inputs, the government-business-media (GBM) complex and spatiotemporal influences drive human development. Despite the entrance of emerging powers and new forms of aid, trade and investment, international political-economic practices still support well-established systems of capital accumulation, to the detriment of the global South. Global asymmetrical accumulation is maintained by 'affective' (consent-forming hegemonic practices) and 'infrastructural' (uneven economic exchanges) labours and by power networks. The message for developing countries is that 'robust' GBMs can facilitate human development and development is constrained by spatiotemporal limitations. This work theorizes that aid and foreign direct investment should be viewed with caution and that in the global South these investments should not automatically be assumed to be drivers of development. Justin van der Merwe is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Military Studies, Faculty of Military Science at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Nicole Dodd is Chair at the School for Human and Organisational Development, Faculty of Military Science at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa 'This volume not only rejuvenates the classical discussion about development and underdevelopment but also develops a highly original proposition on its own, backed up by comprehensive empirical data and thorough quantitative analysis. Moreover, it is not only relevant for scholars of development but also for scholars in International Political Economy, given that the major issue areas of IPE all are covered, with regard to their implications for development.' -Andreas Nölke, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany This book presents a new theory explaining underdevelopment in the global South and tests whether financial inputs, the government-business-media (GBM) complex and spatiotemporal influences drive human development. Despite the entrance of emerging powers and new forms of aid, trade and investment, international political-economic practices still support well-established systems of capital accumulation, to the detriment of the global South. Global asymmetrical accumulation is maintained by 'affective' (consent-forming hegemonic practices) and 'infrastructural' (uneven economic exchanges) labours and by power networks. The message for developing countries is that 'robust' GBMs can facilitate human development and development is constrained by spatiotemporal limitations. This work theorizes that aid and foreign direct investment should be viewed with caution and that in the global South these investments should not automatically be assumed to be drivers of development. Justin van der Merwe is Senior Researcher at the Centre for Military Studies, Faculty of Military Science at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Nicole Dodd is Chair at the School for Human and Organisational Development, Faculty of Military Science at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa Front Matter ....Pages i-xv The Roots of Dispossession (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 1-15 Different Schools, Same Problems: Development Theory in the Twentieth Century (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 17-33 From Neoliberalism to Post-development: Development Theory’s Decline and Redefinition (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 35-54 Marx, Gramsci, and Power Networks (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 55-74 Uneven Development and Capital Accumulation: The Government-Business-Media Complex (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 75-96 The Government-Business-Media Complex and Global Chains of Dispossession (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 97-113 Inputs and Outcomes: Debunking Aid, Trade, and Investment As Drivers of Development (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 115-135 The Status of Development, Aid, Trade, and Investment in the Global South (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 137-150 Modelling Development in the Global South (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 151-178 Reversing Dispossession (Justin van der Merwe, Nicole Dodd)....Pages 179-203 Back Matter ....Pages 205-209