Dependency Theory After Fifty Years: The Continuing Relevance of Latin American Critical Thought

Dependency Theory After Fifty Years is an insightful and timely review of dependency theory, its strengths, weaknesses, and how to reinvent the concept for the modern day.

Dependency theory as a framework initially included distinct forms of Marxism, liberalism, and developmentalism that should be differentiated, despite sharing the same name. In this important intervention, renowned scholar Claudio Katz argues that, while the concept has fallen out of favor, its postulates are being proven more and more true by present-day events. In Latin America, for example, the effects of dependency are more acutely felt than in the past, making it imperative to understand the logic of the region's peripheral subordination. In Dependency Theory After Fifty Years, Katz shows that in its original form Dependency Theory is incapable of providing a convincing explanation of contemporary reality; it must be updated to interpret the current modalities of dependent capitalism. This book offers analytical clues to beginning that reinvention.

Recipient of the Libertador Prize for Critical Thought (2018).