Benjamin Selwyn

An historical materialist appraisal of Friedrich List and his modern day followers

The purpose of this article is to discuss catch-up development as it has been conceptualised by writers operating within the Listian framework. The rationale for this is that combating global pover...

Trotsky, Gerschenkron and the political economy of late capitalist development

Abstract The study of late capitalist development is often characterized as a battle between protagonists of market-led versus state-led development. For the latter position, Alexander Gerschenkron looms large, as one of the most significant theorists of state-led development under conditions of relative backwardness. There are striking similarities between Gerschenkrons explication of the advantages of backwardness and Leon Trotskys concept of uneven and combined development and the privilege of backwardness. (These similarities have been commented upon often but rarely subject to closer comparison.) Indeed, both men share a common problematic – the comprehension of how economically backward countries could skip stages of development in order to join the ranks of economically advanced countries. This article compares their conception of this problematic and illustrates how in a number of areas the two are complementary. These are: their rejection of unilinear patterns of capitalist development, their appreciation of the role of states and institutions in facilitating late development and their understanding of development as a disruptive social process. However, in crucial areas the two diverge. These are: their comprehension of international economic and political relations, the role and position of labour in late development and, ultimately, the potential for late capitalist development to unleash social upheavals and further, non-capitalist transformations. Overall, I suggest how Trotskys and Gerschenkrons approaches can complement each other, but that ultimately they represent fundamentally opposed approaches to human development.

Class Struggle or Embedded Markets? Marx, Polanyi and the Meanings and Possibilities of Social Transformation

Marx and Polanyi both held that socialism, in one form or another, was a preferable and possible alternative to capitalism. Their ideas are seen to offer theoretical tools to understand the tensions and contradictions of capitalism, and to inform ways to overcome them. This paper discusses Polanyis work from a Marxist perspective in order to illuminate his strengths and weaknesses. Its main focus is to discuss Polanyis juxtaposing of commodification against exploitation, in diagnosing the problems of capitalist expansion. We suggest that by juxtaposing these two moments, Polanyi not only misses out on a crucial arena of capitalist activity (exploitation), but also undermines his own explication of processes of commodification. This has deleterious consequences for his understanding of the prevalence of poverty under capitalism. It also means that his vision of social transformation and of socialism is profoundly different, and potentially antithetical, to that of Marx. We suggest that for Polanyis conception of de-commodification to gain greater traction it needs to be combined with Marxs analysis of exploitation and class struggle.

Twenty-first-century International Political Economy: A class-relational perspective

The nature, subject matter and future direction of International Political Economy has been opened up for debate following interventions by Benjamin Cohen, John Hobson and special issues of the Review of International Political Economy and New Political Economy. Most contributors to the debate are dissatisfied with the current state of International Political Economy and desire to identify the ‘Big Questions’ of the 21st century. This article argues, however, that all contributors miss the ‘Really Big Question’ of the 21st century: the rise of a planetary labouring class of over 3 billion (and counting), living, for the most part, in poverty or near-poverty. While this class’s existence is not new (although its size is), International Political Economy’s ignorance of it is as old as the discipline’s institutional formation. This article shows that mainstream International Political Economy’s sidelining of class relations disables it from explaining the global systemic transformations that underpin changes in the relations between states and markets (International Political Economy’s traditional focus). It illustrates the long-term making of the global labouring class by discussing three examples of global systemic transformation: the rise of capitalism; the post-1945 embedded liberalism–development project conjuncture; and contemporary globalisation.

Elite development theory: a labour-centred critique

Abstract Much development theory is based upon elite-led conceptions of social change. Elite development theory (EDT) conceptualises ‘the poor’ as human inputs into or, at best, junior partners within elite-led development processes. This elitism contributes to the continual (re)framing of the poor as passive beneficiaries of elite policy, and legitimates economic exploitation of the poor. These claims are illustrated by discussing a number of EDT traditions – the Washington/Post-Washington Consensus, statist political economy, modernisation Marxism and varieties of pro-poor growth. As an alternative to EDT the article argues for a conception and practice of ‘labour-centred development’.

Class dynamics of development: a methodological note

Abstract This article argues that class relations are constitutive of development processes and central to understanding inequality within and between countries. Class is conceived as arising out of exploitative social relations of production, but is formulated through and expressed by multiple determinations. The article illustrates and explains the diversity of forms of class relations, and the ways in which they interplay with other social relations of dominance and subordination, such as gender and ethnicity. This is part of a wider project to revitalise class analysis in the study of development problems and experiences.

Trade unions and women's empowerment in north east Brazil

An important feature of contemporary globalisation has been the ‘feminisation of agriculture’ across the global south, as numerous new regions of export horticulture emerge to supply global retailers. Much literature details the poor conditions faced by women workers. This article details the formation and expansion of a highly globally integrated export horticulture sector in north-east Brazil, the reliance by farms on overwhelmingly female labour forces, and the role of the regions rural trade union in both representing workers generally, and, women workers in particular. It shows how women workers have become increasingly active within the trade union, and suggests that such outcomes are possible in other global regions of export horticulture.

Theory and practice of labour-centred development

Abstract This article outlines the theory and practice of labour-centred development (LCD). Much development thinking is elitist, positing states and corporations as primary agents in the development process. This article argues, by contrast, that collective actions by labouring classes can generate tangible developmental gains and therefore that, under certain circumstances, they can be considered primary development actors. Examples of LCD discussed here include shack-dwellers’ movements in South Africa, the landless labourers’ movement in Brazil, unemployed workers’ movements in Argentina and large-scale collective actions by formal sector workers across East Asia. The article also considers future prospects for LCD.

The global retail revolution, fruiticulture and economic development in north-east Brazil

ABSTRACT Rapidly expanding world fruiticulture markets provide developing country producers with new income opportunities and much development literature and policy is orientated towards facilitating export production in these countries. However, it has been widely observed that the global retail revolution is accelerating the exclusion of small producers from export markets and (increasingly) from many domestic retail chains due to rising entry barriers. Small producers are thus often only able to sell their produce on to relatively low price ‘traditional’ markets. This paper is based on data collected from a recently emerged fruiticulture sector in north-east Brazil. It shows that (a) export fruiticulture does generate significant economic benefits, (b) that modern domestic retail markets are increasingly demanding and exclusionary, but also, and counter to much of the literature concerned with export promotion, that (c) small-farms producing fruiticulture products for ‘traditional’ domestic markets do generate positive local economic impacts. Policymakers should, therefore, consider new ways of assisting smaller producers to enter these markets.

Global value chains and human development: a class-relational framework

Abstract Global Value Chain (GVC) proponents argue that regional and human development can be achieved through ‘strategic coupling’ with transnational corporations. This argument is misleading for two reasons. First, GVC abstracts firm–firm and firm–state relations from their class-relational basis, obscuring fundamental developmental processes. Second, much GVC analysis promotes linear conceptions of development. This article provides a class-relational framework for GVC analysis. The formation and functioning of GVCs and the developmental effects associated with them are products of histories of evolving, and often conflictive, class relations. A study of export fruiticulture in Northeast Brazil provides empirical support for these arguments.