Description

It is a redefinition of the global process of development of capitalist metropolises (Europe and the United States) and their close dependence on the process of underdevelopment of the peripheries, and of Africa in particular. Among Rodney's contributions, the following can be highlighted: his expansion of the analysis of the totality; his analysis of the superstructure, particularly of the role of religion; his chronological reordering of the history of exploitation; and his affirmation that capitalism has always been European. One of the main arguments throughout the narrative is that Africa developed Europe at the same time that Europe underdeveloped Africa. Highlighting the policies of power and economic exploitation that led Africa to the precarious state it finds itself in socially, economically and politically at the end of the 20th century. However, Rodney believed that every African has a responsibility to understand the (capitalist) system and work for its overthrow. In this new edition, Angela Davis offers a striking foreword to the book, exploring its lasting contributions to a revolutionary and feminist practice of anti-imperialism.