Alternative Development Strategies and Maldevelopment

Abstract

Formulating general explanations of maldevelopment is the task of this concluding chapter. By the method of triangulation, described in the introductory chapter, we search for relationships common to our three maximally different countries in the belief that what is tenable for these countries is likely to be valid generally for much of the Third World. It is worth remembering that even our three quite different countries do not contain the full variation of the Third World. Excluded, for example, are oil exporters, city states, Middle East and Caribbean countries, and socialist states. Furthermore, our countries are examined intensively only for the period 1946–1976 (Ivory Coast and Korea since 1960). This period in the world system in many respects may be considered unique (rapid internationalisation of productive capital, accessible loan capital, low protectionism in advanced countries, oil and dollar crises, etc.) so that generalisations beyond this time period must be made with caution.