Development and Globalization in Latin America: Theories and Practice

• Date: 01 January 2022
• Author: Ronald H. Chilcote
• Published date: 01 January 2022
• DOI: 10.1177/0094582X221074340
• Subject Matter: Book Reviews

https://doi.org/10.1177/0094582X221074340

LATIN AMERICAN PERSPECTIVES, Issue 242, Vol. 49 No. 1, January 2022, 257–261

DOI: 10.1177/0094582X221074340

© 2022 Latin American Perspectives

257

Book Reviews

Development and Globalization in Latin America

Theories and Practice

by

Ronald H. Chilcote

Carlos Eduardo Martins Dependency, Neoliberalism and Globalization in Latin

America. Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2021.

Rubens R. Sawaya Subordinated Development: Transnational Capital in the

Process of Accumulation of Latin America and Brazil. Leiden and Boston: Brill,

2021.

In Dependency, Neoliberalism and Globalization in Latin America, Carlos Eduardo

Martins systematically sets forth a Marxist theory of dependency and its relationship to

the world-system alongside a study of subordinated development that rarely references

dependency theory and succeeds in its Marxist analysis of the impact of capitalism on

Latin America, with Brazil as a case study. In his brief foreword Theotônio dos Santos,

one of the early thinkers on the idea of dependency, enthusiastically suggests that it

provides “a new chapter in the history of social ideas by looking at the connections

between dependency theory and world-systems theory.” In his prologue, Adrián Sotelo

Valencia lauds Martins as “one of the most prominent theoretical exponents of critical

thinking and Marxism,” focused on dependency theory along with such “classic” theo-

rists as Dos Santos, Vânia Bambirra, and Ruy Mauro Marini. In my view Martins is

important also because he clarifies what is Marxist and essential in the world-systems

literature and identifies the underpinnings of Marxist thought in the dependency writ-

ings of a half-century ago.

The purpose of his book, originally published in Portuguese in Brazil in 2014, is

explicit, as expressed in a preface to the English edition: “It seeks to articulate Marxist

dependency theory with world-systems analysis and thereby contribute towards a

Marxist theory of the modern world-system.” The principal theses that shape it are that

(1) conjunctures or cyclical phases occur in the longue durée, with the contemporary

period impacted by the techno-scientific revolution and U.S. hegemony in a crisis in the

capitalist world-system; (2) the current expansive cycle reflects a splintering of the

world-system—the rise of China and a decline of U.S. domination—but not a disman-

tling of the neoliberal model; (3) the crisis of U.S. hegemony is accompanied by a decline

in U.S. imperialism and an increase in social conflict within North American society; (4)

the techno-scientific revolution produces knowledge and intangible services around

health, education, leisure, and environment rather than consumer goods, thereby inter-

fering with the production of surplus value that is transferred from workers to capital;

(5) neoliberalism is the precursor of fascism and the ideology that promotes the crisis of

capital, and big capital relies on fascism to destroy working-class social and democratic

Ronald H. Chilcote is managing editor of Latin American Perspectives.

1074340LAPXXX10.1177/0094582X221074340Latin American PerspectivesChilcote/Book Review

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