In an effort to explain underdevelopment, Rodney likens Africa to an individual attempting to succeed in life. The rest of this post is a summary of what I have learned thus far in both my reading of “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa,” as well as my own experiences on my dialogue to Ghana. As someone who has always been intrigued by Africa’s unrest, and loves looking at development economics, I immediately went on a quest to find Rodney’s book. In a lecture I recently attended at University of Education, Winneba, the professor recommended us all to read “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” by Walter Rodney.

In this chapter, he also explicates on the means through which colonialism is linked to Africa's present underdevelopment.How does a country become underdeveloped? Is it geography? Environment? Exploitation? Unrest? He concludes the book with a chapter critiquing arguments that promote the 'supposed benefit of colonialism'. After an introductory chapter in which he definitionally discusses development, underdevelopment, and associated terminologies in their historical and contemporary contexts, he devotes a chapter to each of these four issues. Rodney argues that to fully appreciate and understand the effect of European exploitation on Africa, four distinct issues need to be addressed: a reconstruction of pre-European Africa’s developmental condition, that of pre-expansionist Europe, and their contributions to each other’s present condition, developed or otherwise.

Tanzanian scholar Karim F Hirji has described the work as, 'no doubt the 20th century's most important and influential book on African history.' Synopsis Rodney wrote the text during his time in Dar es Salaam, during the presidency of Julius Nyerere. This book, along with Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth, is a popular example of 20th century books concerning African development and post-colonial theory.įirst published in London by Bogle-L'Ouverture Publications in 1972 (in partnership with Tanzanian Publishing House), the book shaped the study of Africa in many disciplines. every African has a responsibility to understand the system and work for its overthrow.' Though, he did not intend 'to remove the ultimate responsibility for development from the shoulders of Africans. Rodney argues that a combination of power politics and economic exploitation of Africa by Europeans led to the poor state of African political and economic development evident in the late 20th century. One of his main arguments throughout the book is that Africa developed Europe at the same rate that Europe underdeveloped Africa. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa is a 1972 book written by Walter Rodney that describes how Africa was deliberately exploited and underdeveloped by European colonial regimes.

How europe underdeveloped africa