CAPITALISM AND THE THIRD WORLD

Development, Dependence and the World System

Wil Hout, Professor of Governance and International Political Economy, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Capitalism and the Third World is the first comprehensive assessment of dependency and world systems scholarship, and questions whether such theories offer a scientific basis for the study of international relations.

Wil Hout skilfully compares the theories of dependency and world systems with their theoretical predecessors and competitors. In the first part of the book comparisons are made with traditional economic and neo-Marxist theories of imperialism, the liberal theory of international free trade, Prebisch’s structuralism and modernisation theories. The second part analyses the writings of Andre Gunder Frank, Samir Amin, Johan Galtung and Immanuel Wallerstein, and tests three causal models derived from the writings of these scholars using quantitative macro-political and macro-economic data.

‘The book is characterized by a high degree of objectivity, systematic analysis and exactness, in short, by scientific solidity. It reflects the author's sense of originality and his capability to present a clear, consistent and well-considered argumentation. The author exhibits scholarly courage by putting to the test a theory that has been an article of faith for many scholars and policy makers. . . . this study is an extremely valuable contribution to political science in the Netherlands and abroad.’
– Recommendation by the Dutch Political Science Annual Award Jury

‘This is an important volume worthy of very careful examination.’
– Shahid Qadir, Third World Quarterly

‘. . . this is a well-constructed and valuable study of the implications of a major theoretical approach in international relations. The case presented by Hout is clear and, perhaps more importantly, accessible to those with an interest in development economics and international political economy. Undoubtedly, Capitalism and the Third World is a notable contribution to international relations literature.’
– John D. Phillips, Kyklos