Initially published in 1984, this book considers the contemporary condition of the Third World economy, investigating the structural factors and historical forces, mostly operating in the capitalist world, which underlie the experience of the Third World in the post-war era.

The book provides a powerful critique of many of the development strategies which have been employed during this period and suggests that the misconceptions inherent within them have done much to damage North-South relations in recent years, particularly the failure to relate analytically the so-called social factors to economic growth and productivity.