The Civilised Horrors of Over-Work: Marxism, Imperialism & Development of Africa

In: Review of African political economy, Band 30, Heft 95, S. 33-44

Abstract

In the 21st century, a vast number of people in Africa are direct producers, working very hard on the land to gain a meager living -- they are the 'rural poor.' The condition of poverty in Africa is widely portrayed in both academic & popular discourse as a result of local factors, whether political, social, cultural, or natural. This article argues for a historical materialist approach that exposes the condition of widespread routine poverty & malnutrition in Africa to be a modern world-historical product, the outcome of five centuries of global capitalist expansion under relations of imperialism. 22 References. Adapted from the source document.