Imperialism and Underdevelopment: A Theoretical Perspective and a Case Study of Puerto Rico

ABSTRACT: Neither orthodox development theory nor dependency theory, which emerged as a reaction to it, have been able to adequately account for the existence and persistence of underdevelopment in the Third World. As a result, there has been an attempt to construct a Marxist theory of underdevelopment that correctly understands the functioning of capitalism and the capitalist mode of production. Such attempts can be found in the work of Kay, Warren, Palloix and others. It is argued here, however, that even these theories, though an ad-vance beyond dependency theory, are still wanting in their analysis of under-development. They postulate an invariate capitalism with determined laws without recognizing the existence of stages of capitalist development, particularly imperialism. This paper attempts to develop a theory of underdevelopment of the Third World which utilizes the concept of social formation and incorporates the impact of the imperialist stage of capitalism which revolutionizes the means of production while, at the same time, it maintains and preserves precapitalist forms of production. The paper then turns to a case study of Puerto Rico in the present period to assess the impact of imperialist-dominated capitalist development. The objective of this article is to consider the im-pact of foreign capital and, more generally, U.S. imper-ialism on the socio-economic development of Puerto Rico. In the first section, the major radical perspectives on underdevelopment are reviewed and criticized for their inadequacies. An alternative framework for understanding imperialism, development and under-development in the Third World- a framework which attempts to build upon and transcend the other theories- is sketched. The second section presents a case study of Puerto Rico organized around the theoretical frame-work as developed in the first section. The third and last section draws some conclusions from the analysis in terms of strategies for radical and revolutionary change suggested by this perspective