How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

By Walter Rodney, 1972

Although written in 1972 – and the language is somewhat dated – this book seems to hold up very well and still offers a compelling explanation of the relationship between underdeveloped countries and the capitalist countries.

Walter Rodney takes the view that Africa and, by extension, other colonized countries need a radical departure from the international capitalist system to develop in a way that meets their own needs and priorities. While heavily focussed on the economic side of development, he also emphasizes the destruction of the former African social systems, and the need to create new social structures to build a fulfilling egalitarian society.

Helpfully for me, Rodney begins with a historical overview of Africa before colonialism, highlighting the continent's transition from communalism to early class-based societies. He explores various regions, such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Nubia and Zimbabwe, and describes their varied societal structures and economic activities. In his description, Africa's pre-contact state was generally transitional, moving towards more advanced class-based societies.

In looking at the impact of European contact, Rodney shows a variety of uneven consequences on political, military and ideological spheres. He describes in detail the economic and social consequences of slave capturing and trading, and how it came to an end when the needs of modernized industry required compliant, not forced, workers.

The end of the slave trade, however, marked a shift in focus to the exploitation of Africa's resources and a new form of colonialism. Rodney argues that European economic growth and dominance relied heavily on resources extracted from Africa, perpetuating a cycle of exploitation.

The late 19^th century period of colonization facilitated the export of surplus profits to Europe, leading to the expropriation of African land and minerals. The colonial period saw the establishment, aided by African intermediaries, of monopolies, extractive practices and the integration of African economies into a global capitalist system for the benefit of Europe and North America.

Rodney identifies many impacts of colonialism, including the destruction of traditional states, the undermining of women's roles, ethnic divisions, monoculture and a limited and exploitative education system. He argues that colonial development hindered Africa's progress by preventing the formation of local industries and perpetuating dependency on Western markets. He also rejects the argument that Africa benefited by colonialization through development, pointing out that education, transportation, financial structures and other developments focused solely on creating conditions for profitable development by the colonizing countries. These systems inhibited the building of vigorous indigenous societies.

In the postscript, Rodney underscores the need for Africa's true development to focus on internal needs rather than conforming to the exploitative relationships of the international capitalist market. Rodney says that Africa needs to reject Western-centric approaches in order to address its own internal priorities for genuine progress. “[Exceptional leaders] were those who either completely rejected the worldview of capitalism, or at least stuck honestly to those idealistic tenets of bourgeois ideology, such as individual freedom – and, through experience, they could come to realize that the ideals remained myths in a society based on the exploitation of man by man.”

This book gave me a much clearer view of how international development works under capitalism, with plenty of concrete examples and statements of principles. While it is based in a particular history and a Marxist analysis, it seems to apply well to contemporary situations, including the colonialism of settlers in North America. The forms of (under)development available to Indigenous peoples here in Canada continue to benefit the colonizers and small numbers of leaders who are willing to continue under capitalist economic development. As in Africa, American Indigenous peoples need to identify their own priorities.