How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

Walter Rodney

Is Africa poor because of its own stagnation, or because of how European trade and colonial rule reshaped its economy?

At a glance

You will be able to answer the claim that Africa fell behind through some natural tendency to stagnate
You will question whether appeals for rich countries to give more can end poverty on their own
You will learn how African societies governed and organised themselves before Europeans arrived

Halftitle Page
Foreword
Preface
Introduction
Some Questions on Development
What Is Development?
What Is Underdevelopment?
How Africa Developed Before the Coming of the Europeans—Up to the Fifteenth Century
A General Overview
Some Concrete Examples
Conclusion
Africa’s Contribution to European Capitalist Development—The Pre-Colonial Period
How Europe Became the Dominant Section of a World-Wide Trade System
Africa’s Contribution to the Economy and Beliefs of Early Capitalist Europe
Europe and the Roots of African Underdevelopment— To 1885
The European Slave Trade as a Basic Factor in African Underdevelopment
Technical Stagnation and Distortion of the African Economy in the Pre-Colonial Epoch
Continuing Politico-Military Developments in Africa—1500 to 1885
The Coming of Imperialism and Colonialism
Africa’s Contribution to the Capitalist Development of Europe—The Colonial Period
Expatriation of African Surplus under Colonialism
The Strengthening of the Technological and Military Aspects of Capitalism
Colonialism as a System For Underdeveloping Africa
The Supposed Benefits of Colonialism to Africa
Education for Underdevelopment
Development by Contradiction
Postscript
by A. M. Babu
Guide to Further Reading
KEY ROLES and ACTIVITIES of THE WALTER RODNEY FOUNDATION