backward capitalism, primitive accumulation and modes of production (banaji, 1973)

8/13/2019 Backward Capitalism, Primitive Accumulation and Modes of Production (Banaji, 1973)

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Backward capitalism, primitive accumulation and

modes of productionJairus Banaji

a

aJawaharlal Nehru University

Published online: 02 May 2008.

To cite this article:Jairus Banaji (1973) Backward capitalism, primitive accumulation and modes of production, Journal of

Contemporary Asia, 3:4, 393-413To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00472337308566901

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r t i c l e sB a c k w a r d C a p i ta l is m P r im it iv e A c c -u m u l a t i o n a n d M o d e s o f P r o d u ctio nJ a i r u s a n a j i

M a r x i s m t a k e s i t s p o i n t o f d e p a r t u r e from w o r l d e c o n o m y , n o t a s a su m o f n a t i o n a lp a r t s b u t a s a m i g h t y a n d i n d e p e n d e n t r e a l i t y w h i c h h as b e e n c r e a t e d b y t h e i n t e r -n a t i o n a l d iv i s i o n o f l a b o u r a n d t h e w o r l d m a r k e t , a n d w h i c h i n o u r e p o c h i m p e r i o u s l yd o m i n a t e s t h e n a t i o n a l m a r k e t sTrotsky The Permanent Revolution

H i s t o r i c b e l a te d n e s s a n d t h e s u b j e c t i o n o r - C h i n a b y t h e i m p e r i a l i s ts d e p r i v e d t h eC h i n e s e b o u r g e o is i e o f t h a t p r o g re s s iv e r o l e w h i c h h a d b e e n p l a y e d b y i t s E u r o p e a nf o r e r u n n e r s in t h e b o u r g e o i s r e v o l u t i o n s o f t h e W e s tT r o t s k y , ' T h e W a r i n t h e F a r Ea st a n d t h e R e v o l u t i o n a r y P e r s p e c ti v es '

W h a t c an t he mos t dem agog i c pe t t y bou rg eo i s i e s e t aga i ns t c ap i t a l i s t pene t ra t i on?M e r e w o r d s ; n o t h i n g m o r e . T h e y c a n o f f e r n o m o r e t h a n a t e m p o r a r y n a t i o n a l i s to r g y . . . O u r m i s si o n is t o e x p l a i n a n d sh o w t h e m a ss es h o w o n l y t h e s o c ia l is t r e v o -l u t i o n c a n p r e se n t a re a l a n d e f f e c t iv e b a r r i e r t o t h e a d v a n c e o r i m p e r i a l i s mJ ose Ca r l os Mar i a t egu i , ' The A n t i - i m pe r i a l i s t P e rs pec t i v e '

T h e n a t i o n a l i s t m o d e l c o u l d b e n e g a t e d o n l y b y o n e o f t w o r a d i c a l m e a n s: s o c ia l is tr e v o l u t i o n o r r e i n t e g r a t io n i n t o w o r l d c a p i t a l imO c t a v i a l a n o i , Crisis in Brazil

To the bourgeois ie in the imper ia l i s t as wel l as in the dependent count r ies i t i sax i om at i c t ha t g iven ce r ta i n cond i t i ons , backw ard cap i t a li sm can sooner o r l a t e rach i eve a ra t e o f i ndus t r ia l i za ti on su f f i c i en t l y r ap i d t o absorb t he mass o f r edun dan tpeasan t l ab our i n t he v i ll ages. I F or ove r s i x t y yea r s now r evo l u t i ona ry m arx i s ts havea rgued t he opp os i t e pos i t i on : t ha t i n t he cond i t i ons w hi ch cha rac t e r is e backwardcap i t a li sm de ve l opm ent can a t bes t a s sume a pure l y sporad i c and com bi ned cha rac -ter , wi th a re la t ive and par t ia l indus t r ia l izat ion supe r imp osing i t se l f on a dis integrat -i ng peasan t ec on om y whi ch i t canno t r e i n t egra t e r ap i d l y enough . W ha t eve r i t sspeci f ic s ta ture or the degree o f it s re la t ive au ton om y vis-a-vis imper ia l i sm, and re-gardless o f i t s pol i t ical and ideological pas t , the bou rgeois ie of the ba ckw ard coun t -r ies cannot car ry through the tasks associated his tor ical ly wi th the bourgeois revo-lut ions in Europe and Japan. In par t icular , i t has no f inal solut ion to the agrar ianprob l em , whi ch r ema i ns an enorm ous burden t o backwa rd cap i ta l ism and an a i d t ot he r evo l u t i on a ry pa r t y . 2 In t h is h i st o r i c s ense t he dem ocra t i c t a sks o f t he back-ward bou rgeo i s na t i ons l ead d i r ec t l y in our epo ch t o t he d i c t a t o r sh i p o f t he p ro l e-tar ia t , th at i s, to social is t revolut ion . 31 Combined Development in World Econom yIn t he epo ch o f co l on i a l i mper ia l ism t he fo rma t i on o f a un i f i ed i n t e rna t i ona l]aims anaji t eac hes a t J awaha r l a l Neh ru Un i v e rs i t y .


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9 4 JOURN L OF CONTEMPOR R Y SI

m arke t t rans figured wor ld econ om y as the o ld sys tem of s ca t t e red na t iona l m odesof product ion dis integrated under i ts impulse . Behind the characteris t ic f igures ofth is epoch - ea r ly indus t r i a li za t ion , expans ion o f t rade , acqu i s i tion o f co lon ies andthe migrat ion s of labour and capi ta l - l ies the essential , fact tha t the na t iona l com -ponents o f wor ld econom y were inc reasing ly bou nd tog e the r th rough a h ie ra rchyof fo rm s of dependence and dom ina t ion in to a un i f i ed in te rna t iona l s t ruc tu re . Theuni ty o f wor ld econo m y, hence the re la tive dependence o f the ' pa r t s ' o f wor ldecono m y on the ' whole ' , i s the neces sary po in t o f depa r tu re in any d i s cus sion ofim per ia l i sm an d econom ic backwardnes s .But this un i ty acqu ired a specif ic his torical express ion in the fac t that w ithinwor ld econom y cap i ta li sm coex i s ted wi th non-cap i ta l i st m odes o f p rod uc t ion bo thna t iona l ly and in te rna t iona l ly , and whi le cap it a l is t deve lop m ent ove rcam e th i s un-evennes s in som e sec tors o f wor ld econ om y, in wor ld econo m y as a whole i t g rea tlyin tens i f ied it . The com bined cha rac te r o f wor ld econom ic d eve lopm en t , which wasthe essential re f lect ion o i t s unevenness , was an internal and n ecessary characteris t icof capi ta l is t expan sion on a world scale . By drawing the countries ecorlomical lycloser to one an oth er and levell ing out their stages of dev elopm ent , capi ta l ismopera te s by m e thods o f i t s own, tha t i s to s ay , by ana rch i s t ic m e tho ds which con-s tan t ly undermine i t s own work , se t one count ry aga inst ano the r , and one b ranchof ind us t ry aga ins t ano the r , deve loph~g some par t s o f wor ld econ om y whi le hamper-h~g and throwblg back the deve lopm ent o f . o ther s : hnper ia l i sm un i f i ed wor ldecon om y, bu t by such an tagonis t i c m e thods , such tige rleaps and such ra ids uponbackward count r i e s and a reas tha t the un i f i ca t ion and level ling o f wor ld eco no m ywhich i t effecte d was upset by i t even m ore violen t ly and convuls ively than in thepreced ing epochs . 4

Follow ing Lenin we could describe the major his torical forms of capi ta l is t expan-s ion as f i rs t ly the develo pme nt of capi ta l ism in depth , ie , the furthe r grow th ofcapi ta l is t agricul ture and ind ustry in the given, defini te and enclosed terr i to ry, andsecond ly - the develop men t of capi ta l ism in breadth, ie , the extens ion of thesphere of the capi ta l ist domin at ion to new te rr i to ry , s Elsewhere Lenin wrote tha tsuch a divis ion wo uld include the who le process of the his torical develo pme nt ofcapi ta l ism: on the one hand , its developm ent in the old countries , where for cen-turies the f orms o f capi ta lis t re la t ions up to and includin g large-scale mach ine indus-try have been bu i l t up: on the oth er hand , the mig hty drive of developed capi ta l ismto expand to o the r t e r ri to ri e s , to popula te and p lough up new pa r t s o f the w or ld ,to se t up co lo n i es . . . , ,. 6 But while bo th co lon i sa t ion and co lon ia l i sm were thee f fec t s o f a ce r ta in ' hor izon ta l ' deve lopm en t o f cap it a l ism , i ts deve lopm ent inbread th , the h i s to r ic t endenc ies which they em b odied were qu i t e d i f fe ren t , in thecolonies which capi ta l ism subjugated as opposed to the others which i t merely popu-la ted , the ex tens ion of the sphe re o f cap i ta l is t dom ina t ion a s sum ed a com plex andindirect aspect . In these colonies unl ike the others capi ta l ism did no t eradicate t r ibalmodes of product ion and f i l l the vacant spaces with industr ies and markets . Thepopula t ions i t encounte red cons i s ted l a rge ly o f peasan ts and fa r f rom up roo t ing the i rex i s ting fo rm s of p roduc t ion th rough the i r expropr ia t ion and convers ion in to wage-labourers , so a s to l ay the found a t ions fo r an in te rna l expans ion o f i ts own m ode o fproduc t ion , cap i ta l ism im par ted a ce r ta in sol idi ty to those fo rm s and even e x t e n d e d


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B CKW RD C PIT LISM 3 9 5

t hem to new te r r i t o r i es no t p r ev ious l y i nhab i t edB y the c l o si n g d e c a d e s o f t h e l a s t c e n t u r y t h e u n e v e n ly d e v e l o p e d w o r l d e c o n o m yc o m p r i s e d - a p a r t f r o m t h e a r e a s o f e st a b l is h e d c a p it a l is t d e v e l o p m e n t c o n c e n t r a t e din n o r th e r n E u ro p e - o n th e o n e h an d , a r eas o f n ascen t cap i t a l is t d ev e lo p m en t an do n th e o th e r , a r eas i n w h ich th e re w ere n o s ig n s o f cap i ta l i s t d ev e lo p m en t d u e to t h ec o m p l e t e p r e p o n d e r a n c e w i t h in t h e m o f a co l o ni a l m o d e o f p r o d u c t i o n . *2. Primitive A ecumulation and Forms of Developmeltt

A s w e k n o w , M arx d esc r ib ed th e i n i ti a l m ech an i sm o f cap i t a l i s t ex p an s io n a sp r i m i t i v e a c c u m u l a t i o n . H e d i d n o t , h o w e v e r , c o n s t r u c t a c o n c e p t o f p r i m i ti v e a c -

cu m u la t io n so m u ch as d esc r ib e a p a r t i cu l a r h i s to r i ca l fo rm o f i t, t h e d i s t i n c tiv ef e a t u r e o f w h i c h w a s a wholesale e x p r o p r i a t i o n o f t h e p e a s a n t r y a n d i ts c o n v e r s io nin to a c l a s s o f o u t l aw ed p ro l e t a r i an s . A g a in s t t h e p e r s i s t en t l a t e r co n fu s io n o f t h esel ev e ls o f an a ly s i s h i s o w n in d ica t io n s m ak e i t c l ea r t h a t p r im i t iv e accu m u la t io n inth e sp ec i f i c fo rm ch a rac t ed s in g cap i t a l i s t d ev e lo p m e n t i n E n g lan d i s n o t a g en e ra l -i zed m o d e l o f cap i t a l i s t in d u s t r i a l i za t io n v a l id fo r a ll s ec to r s o f w o r ld eco n o m y :

th e ch ap te r o n p r im i t iv e accu m u la t io n d o es n o t p re t en d to d o m o re th an t r acet h e p a t h b y w h i c h , in Western Europe, t h e c a p i t a li s t o r d e r o f e c o n o m y e m e r g e df r o m t h e w o m b o f t h e f e u d a l o r d e r o f e c o n o m y . I t t h e r e f o r e d e s c r i b es t h e h is -t o r ic a l m o v e m e n t s w h i c h b y d i v o r c in g t h e p r o d u c e r s f r o m t h e i r m e a n s o f p r o -d u c t i o n c o n v e r t s t h e m i n t o w a g e - w o r k e r s . . , w h i le i t c on v e r t s th o s e w h o p o s s e s st h e m e a n s o f p r o d u c t i o n i n t o c a p i t a l i s t s . . . N o w w h a t a p p li c a t i o n t o Russiaco u ld m y c r i t ic m ak e O f th i s historical sketch. Only th is : i f Russia is tend ing tob eco m e a cap i t a l i s t n a t io n after the example of the teestcrt~ Europear~ c o~c,triessh e w i l l n o t su cceed w i th o u t h av in g f i r s t t r an s fo rm ed a g o o d . p a r t o f h e rp easan t s i n to p ro l e t a r i an s | In t h e f i r s t p l ace , th en , t h e h i s to r i c p ro cess o f p r im i t iv e accu m u la t io n , t h e p ro -

cess a s i t ap p ea r s f ro m th e s t an d p o in t o f world economy, h as n ev e r a s su m ed th ea b s t r a c t a n d f i c ti t io u s f o r m o f a r e p e t i t i o n o f t h e e a r l ie r f o r m s o f d e v e l o p m e n tb y d i f f e ren t n a t io n s , b u t t h e t ru e fo rm o f a combination of the stages of develop-* A . G u n d e r F r a n k b r e a k s w i t h b o u r g e o i s t h e o r i e s o f b a c k w a r d n e s s i n a p p r o a c h i n g t h e p h e n o -m e n o n h i s t o r i c a l l y , a n d m o r e o v e r f r o m a m a r x i s t s t a n d p o i n t , b u t h i s s y s te m o f c o n c e p t s r e m a i n sc r u d e a n d c o n f u s e d , a n d n o s p e c i fi c t h e o r y o f b a c k w a r d n e s s is p r o lx ~ s e d b e y o n d t h e s i m p l e a s -s e r t i o n t h a t b a c k w a r d e c o n o m i e s h av e h i s to r i c a l l y f o r m e d p a r t o f t h e c a p it a l is t w o r l d m a r k e t .T h e c h i e f e x p r e s s io n o f t h e i n a d e q u a c y o f F ' ra n k 's w o r k is t h a t h e r e fu s e s t o e x p l o r e c o n c r e t e l yt h e f o r m s i n w h i c h i m p e r i a l is m a c h i e v e d t h i s in t e g r a t i o n ; i n o t h e r w o r d s , t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e -t w e e n ' d e v e l o p m e n t ' a n d ' u n d e r d e v e l o p m e n l ' is n o t s t r u c t u r e d s o m u c h a s m e r e l y a s s e rt e d . t h u sF r a n k c o n s t a n t l y c o n f u s e s t h e c o n c e p t s o f i n t e g r a t i o n i n t o t h e c a p i ta l is t w o r l d e c o n o m y a n d e x -p a n s i o n o f c a p i ta l is t p r o d u c t i o n r e l a t i o n s w i t h i n t h e i n t e g r a t e d u n i t. T h e p o i n t i s m a d e b r i l l i a n t l yb y E . C . L a c l a u ( 7 ) w h o s e o w n p o s i t i o n , l i k e t h e p o s i t i o n s o f t h o s e w h o m e d i a t e th e r e l a t i o n s h i pb e t w e e n i m p e r i a l i s m a n d t h e c o l o n i e s in t e r m s o f a s p e c if i c m o d e o f p r o d u c t i o n ( 8 ) e m b o d i e s am o r e r i g o r o u s m a r x i s t u n d e r s t a n d in g . E l e m e n t s o f t h i s h a l f - f o r m e d a n d s t i ll u n e l a b o r a t e d t h e o r yw e r e a l r e a d y p r e se n t a t v a r i o u s p o i n t s i n t h e w o r k o f L e n i n a n d T r o t s k y . e g i n t h e d i s t i n c t i o nL e n i n d r e w b e t w e e n i n v o | v e m e n t i n c a p i t a l is t e x c h a n g e r e l a t io n s a n d i n v o l v e m e n t i n c a p i t a l is tp r o d u c t i o n r e l a t i o n s , o r in T r o t s k y ' s v i e w t h a t i n C h i n a o f t h e 1 9 20 s t h e s o ci a l r e l a t i o n s o f s e r f -d o m a n d s e m i - s e r fd o m w e r e n o t m e r e l y h i s t o r ic a l re s i du e s b u t i n p a r t c o n s t i t u t e d a n e w f o r -ma t i on , t ha t i s , t he regene ra t i on o f t he pas t on t he bas is o f t he re ta rded dev e l opm en t o f t hep r o d u c t i v e f o r c e s, su r p lu s a g r a r i an p o p u l a t i o n , t h e a c t i v i t ie s o f m e r c h a n t s ' a n d u s e r e rs ' c a p i l a l . ( 9 )T h a t i s, t o T r o t s k y s u c h r e l a t io n s w e r e p a r t l y t h e effe ts o f i m p e r i a l i s m ' s d o m i n a t i o n o f t h eC h i n e se e c o n o m y , a d o m i n a t i o n w h i c h , a s T r o t s k y m a i n t a i n e d e l s e w h e r e , k e p t t h e c o u n t r y ' s p r o -duc t i v e f o rc es in a po l i t i c a l s t ra i t j a c k e t .


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396 JOU RNA L OF CONT EMPORA R Y ASI A

m e n t of in te r depend ent an d m utua l ly con di t ion ing proces ses o f p r im i t ive accum u-la t ion de f ined by t h ei r o w n s p e ci fi c m e t h o d s a n d r h y t h m o f a c c u m u l a ti o n . T h u sthe d i f f e r en t m odes o f p r im i tive accum u la t ion which wer e d i s t r ibu ted chr onolog ic -al ly across the his tor ies of Spain, Por tugal , Holland, France and En gland, ar r ived inEngland at the end of the 17 th cen tur y

a t a sys tem at ica l com bina t ion , em br ac ing the co lon ies, the na t iona l deb t , them ode r n m ode o f t axa t ion , and the p r o tec t ion i s t sys tem I lSeco ndly , as Preobrazhen sky ins is ted, 12 any process o f primit ive accum ulat io nim pl ie s an a r t i cu la t ion o f m odes o f p r odu c t ion . The ea r ly phases o f the p r oces sof expanded r epr oduc t ion de rive the i r dynam ism f r om ce r ta in r e la t ionsh ips be tweenthe nascen t capi ta l is t mod e of prod uctio n and an es tabl ished capita l is t or pre-capita l-i s t m ode of p r odu c t ion . H is to rica l ly the do m ina n t f o r m o f these r e la t ionsh ips wast he subord i na t i on of p r e - cap i ta l is t m odes o f p r o duc t ion to cap i ta li sm , thoug h i t

wo uld be w rong to see in this a s imple process of outr igh t des truct ion , for the la t terwas on ly one of the h i s to r ica l f o r m s of the f o r m er .On the con t r a r y , a s Be t te lhe im no tes in a b r i ll i an t deba te w i th Em m anue l 13cap i ta li sm ' s subor d ina t ion of non- cap i ta li s t m odes o f p r oduc t ion t ended n o t on lyto dissolve them but a l so to conserve them . in socia l forma tions wher .e capi ta l ismwas a l r eady the dom inan t m ode of p r odu c t ion , th i s conse r va t ion- d i s so lu t ion ofnon- cap i ta l i s t m odes o f p r oduc t ion was a s econdar y h i sto r ica l t endency . On theother ha nd, ins ide socia l forma tions in whic h capita lism was not d irect ly predom in-an t b u t w hich were subo r d ina ted to cap i ta li sm th r ough the wor ld m ar ke t , t h i s dua lprocess emerged as t he mai n t endency . In these social formations, mainly tile colo-n ie s and sem i- co lon ies , cap i ta l i st subor d ina t ion of the t r ad i tiona l m o des o f p r oduc-t ion required a cer ta in res tructuring of the la t ter , which by i ts very nature led tothe dis integrat ion of cer ta in of their character is t ic forms and to the conservat ionand in tens l f i ca t ion of o the rs . We can thus de f ine the co lon ia l m odes o f p r od uc t ion a sthe his tor ical ef fects of a wor ldwide process of subo rdina t ion of pre-capita l is t modesof p r od uc t ion to cap i ta li sm , tha t i s , o f an epoch of p r im i tive accum ula t ion , b u twher e subor d ina t ion i t s e l f l east as sumed t he s i mpl e aspec t o f a des t ruc t ion .I f we pose the q ues t ion o f colonial social form ation s in these terms, we arecom pe l led to d r aw one f u r the r conc lus ion . The m odes o f p r oduc t ion wh ich cam eto p r edom ina te in these f o r m a t ions were no t au to nom ous m odes o f p r oduc t ion inthe s ense tha t they grew or gan ica l ly ou t o f the con t r ad ic t ions o f som e f or m e r m o deand wi th l aws of deve lopm ent de te r m ined indep endent ly o f wor ld econom y. Thusthe y were no t 'non -capita l is t ' in the specif ic sense tha t their internal laws of de-ve lopm ent r em a ined iden t ica l wi th those de f in ing ea r li e r m odes o f p r od uc t ion . O nthe con t r a r y , the i r cha r ac te r as dependent m odes o f p r oduc t ion was expr es sedchief ly in the fact that the laws which governed their reproduction der ived f romthe i r subor d ina t ion to im per ia li sm . The r e s t r uc tur ing of f o r m er m odes o f p r oduc t ionthr ough w hich th i s p roces s o f subor d ina t ion was accom pl i shed im posed o n themnew laws of deve lopm ent which were bas ica lly de te r m ined by the f ac t tha t theco lon ial peasan tdes wer e d r awn in to the sphe r e o f wor ld com m o di ty c i r cu la t iono n pre-capitalist f ounda t ions - s er vi le o r f euda l r e la t ions o f exp lo i ta t ion , backw ar dtechnique and low leve ls o f p r oduc t iv i ty .


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3. Primitive Acc um ulatio n and the Sectors of Nascent Capitalist De velopm entTo grasp the real pecul iari t ies of backw ard capi ta lism or the type o f capi ta l ismwhich came t o characterize the colonial and semi-colonial socia l forma tions , weneed to carry the analys is forward on two levels . F irs t ly, to analyse the mech anismswhich s t i f led capi ta l is t developm ent in the period of the colonial m odes o f produc-t ion . S econdly , to d e te rm ine the conc re te fo rm s which the p roces s o f p r im i t ive ac -cum u la t ion a s sum ed in d i f fe ren t s ec to rs o f w or ld econom y and on th i s bas is e stab-l ish the d i f fe rences be tween backward cap i t al i sm and ea r l ie r fo rm s o f d eve lopm ent .A. Late Capital is t Developm ent

As we know , in those s ec to rs o f wor ld econom y in which indus t r i a l iza t ion wasa re la tive ly l a te ph enom enon and , pe rhaps fo r th is reason , one l a rge ly dom ina tedby the S ta te , eg . I t a ly , J apan and , to som e ex ten t , Germ any , the bourgeo i s revo lu t ionacquired and re ta in ed a semi-abort ive character due to the fact th at in them the pro-cess of primit ive accu mula t ion required a compromise be tween the capi ta l is ts andthe feuda l elem ents , one o f the ch ie f founda t ion s o f which was an enhanced rate ofexploitation o f the peasantry and agricultural proletariat, t 4 n bo th J apan and I t a lyprimit ive accu mu lat ion was direct ly l inked to sharp increases in agricul tural produc-t ivi ty which were absorbed in rents and profi ts and which the S tate channel led intoindustr ia l expa nsion throu gh fiscal mechanisms. In Ge rma ny the a l liance be tween thelandowners and indus t r i a l i s t s which Bism arck cem ented th rough the po l i cy o f p ro-tect ive tari ffs se t the f ram ewo rk for a period of rapid intens if ied accu mu lat ion charac-ter is ed by the g rowth of m onop oly and a concen t ra ted banking sys tem . J apan ' s cap i-ta list dev elopm ent was c loser to that of Germ any in that due to i ts bela ted characterand the re la t ive backw ardness o f i ts bourgeois ie , the leading personnel of the S tatecame to be c ons t i tut ed by e lemen ts of the old feudal c lasses , and the cap i ta l ist indus-tr ia l isa t ion thus preserved a certa in bureaucratic and semi-feudal integument. Js Herecapi ta l ism had to be erec ted o n the bas is of fus ion ra ther tha n con fl ic t with abso-lutism, t 6

Agains t this backgrou nd Russ ian capi ta l ism showed two specif ic peculiari ties. Insharp contras t to both Germany and Japan, the indigenous bourgeois ie of Russ ia wasoverw helmed by a mass ive inflow of foreign capi ta l into i ts nat ion al-econ om ic terra in.By 1900 fo re ign inves tm ents had com e to represen t about one h a l f o f jo in t s toc kcom pany in ves tme nt in Russ ia and were concentr a ted precisely in t i re sectors whichspearheaded primit ive accu mulat io n in this period. 17 Here the chie f basis of abso-lut ism was not the a l liance of nat ive capi ta l is ts with the old feu dal e lements , butthis re lat ive p repon deranc e o f European capi ta l . "Germ an and F rench mo ney is roll -ing to Petersburgh to feed a regime tha 't would long ago have breath ed i ts las t with-out this l ife-giving jui ce" , wrote R osa Lux emb urg in 1915. "Russ ian czarism is toda yno longer the pro duc t o f Russ ian condit ion s ; i ts root l ies in the capi ta l is t condit ionsof Western Europ e" . Is But second ly, in Russ ia far more than e i ther in I ta ly or inJapan and ce rta inly mo re so than in Germ any , France and Bri ta in, the process ofpr im i tive accum u la t ion too k on a p ro t rac ted bu t d i s con t inuous and recurrent charac-ter . Phases of intens if ied primit ive accum ulat ion were fol lowe d by periods o f re la t ives tagnat ion and decl ine . Tog ether these pecul iarit ies of Russia s capitalist develop-ment made the object ive condit ions for a prole tarian revolut ion far r iper here than


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398 JOU RNAL OF CONTEMPORAR Y ASIA

i n Ger ma ny o r B r i t a i n - a weak and comp r omi s i ng bour geo i s i e , a wor k i ng c l as sb u i lt u p i n c o n c e n t r a t e d u n i t s o f p r o d u c t i o n b y t h e f o r e i g n i n v e st m e n t b o o m , af i e r ce ly repr es si ve comp r ado r au t oc r ac y and a peasan t r y c r ush ed by t he f i sca l po l i -c i es o f p r i mi t ive accu mu l a t i on .*

I n t h e s e c to r s o f w o r l d e c o n o m y w h i c h l a c k e d a n y d o m e s t ic e c o n o m i c b a s e f o rsuch a p r oces s i n t he f o r m of a peasan t r y sub j uga t ed by n on- cap i t a li s t o r s emi - cap i t -a l is t mode s o f exp l o i t a t i on , p r i mi t ive accum ul a t i on was cha r ac t e r i zed ch i e f l y byadvan t ageous exchanges on t he cap i t a l i s t wor l d mar ke t and by t he i n t ens i f i ed i mmi -gr a t i on o f cap i t a l and l abour . Her e t he ea r l y i ndus t r i a l upsur ge was co i nc i de n t w i t hexp or t bo om s i nduced by sudden f avour ab l e sh i ft s i n t he t e r ms o f t r ade , eg. Den-mar k i n t he 1850 s and 1860s , S weden i n t he 1870s o r Canada and Ar gen t i na i nt he 1900s . T he accum ul a t i ons o r i g ina t i ng i n t hese boom s wer e sus t a i ned on anexpand i ng sca l e w i t h i n and ou t s i de t he expor t s ec t o r t h r ough t he ope r a t i on o fl i nkage e f f ec t s , whil e t he acce l e r a t ed expan s i on o f t he h o m e mar ke t whi ch t he l a t -t e r de t e r mi ned t ended t o d i sp lace t he econo mi c cen t r e o f g r av it y t o i ndus t ri e sp r o d u c i n g pr i mar i l y f or t h is marke t 2 t M or eover , t he pe r i ods o f r ap id p r i mi t i ve ac -cum ul a t i on de r i ved add i t i ona l i mpul ses f r om t he i n f l ux o f cap i ta l and l abour w hi cht he booms a t t r ac t ed f r om t he coun t r i e s o f deve l oped o r nascen t cap i t a l i sm, t hel a t t e r ma i n l y f r om t hose coun t r i e s o f E ur ope , such a s I t a l y , in whi ch cap i t a l i s t i n-dus t r y had s ti ll t o r e i n t egr a t e t he l abour exu ded by t he d i s i n tegr a t ing modes o fp r oduc t i on i n t he t owns and coun t r ys i de . ( One expr es s i on o f t he c l ose i n t e r depen-dence o f econom i c p r oces ses unde r wor l d cap i t a l ism i s t he f ac t t ha t such m i gr a t i onswer e an imp or t an t so ur ce o f p r i mi ti ve accum ul a t i on f o r t he hom e coun t r y i n t hef o r m .of emi gr an t s r emi t t ances . F or exam pl e , i n I t a l y in 1901- 1913 , aga i nst a com-mercial def ic i t of 10,23 0 mi l l ion l i re , invis ible i t em s show ed a credi t of 12,291 mi l-l i on , ove r ha l f o f wh i ch de r i ved f r om em i gr an t s s avi ngs . 22) T he r ap i d expans i on o fAr gen t i ne , Canad i an o r S wedi sh exp or t s occ ur r ed w i t h i n t he f r ame wor k o f a cap i t a l-i st econ om y, and m or eove r o f a cap i t a li s t soc ia l f o r ma t i on i n whi ch t he pe r s i s t enceof p r e - cap i ta l i st mod es o f p r o duc t i on was o f l i tt l e o r no i m por t ance even a s a s econ-da r y t end ency - a f ac t d is t ingu i sh ing t hese f o r ma t i on s f r om o t he r s whi ch wer e ex-pe r i enc i ng nascen t cap i t a l is t deve l op men t in t ha t p e r i od . On t he o t he r han d , i n t heexp or t - de pen den t co l on ia l and semi - co lon i a l soc ia l f o r ma t i ons such a s E gyp t , Bur maor l ndo ch i n a sha r p i nc reases i n p r od uc t i on f o r t he wor l d mar ke t t h r oug hou t t h i spe r i od wer e made poss ib l e and sus t a ined on t he f ou nda t i o ns o f p r e - cap i ta l i s t eco-n o m y , a n d w i th i n t h e f r a m e w o r k o f m o d e s o f p r o d u c t i o n w h o s e l aw s o f d e v e l o p-men t wer e de t e r m i ned en t i r e l y by t he subor d i na t i on o f t hose t e r r i to r i e s t o imper i a l-i sm. T h a t t he ri si ng cur ves o f comm odi t y p r od uc t i on f o r t he wor l d mar ke t f a i ledt o f i nance p r i mi t ive cap i t a li s t accum ul a t i on i n t he c o l on i es and sem i - co l on ies appea r s* The process which Peter the Great initiated early in the I 8th century within the fra meworko mercantilist policies (19) was onJy finally accomplished two centuries later by the primitivecapitalist accumulati on of the Stalinist bureaucracy. Throu gh tile programme of coUectivisationan embryonic state bourgeoisie under Stalin's leadership subordinated and totally destroyed theo r m s o produc tion coexisting among the peasantry. As nettelheim writes, 'within the space oeight years the great mass of Soviet peas ants were uprooted.from their former conditions ofe x i s t e n c e . . . But in the particular conjuncture in which the bureaucracy found itself primitivecapitalist accumulat ion also required certain political conditions: a wholesale depoliticisation othe working class and rapid destruction o f the forces inside party and state which still fought o ra proletarian class programme, mainly the Left Opposition.(20)


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B C KW R D C PIT LISM 99

prob lem at ic 23 on ly a s long a s we m is recognize the s t ruc ture o f w or ld econom y an0imagine i ts fundamental cons t i tuents to be countries ra the r than modes o f production m utu a l ly l inked in re la t ions o f h ie ra rchy , subord ina t ion an d dependence .4. Co lon ial tagnation

The c olonial mo des o f product io n 24 assumed several his torical form s whose pe-cul iari t ies were de termin ed in general by w hethe r imperia l ism restructured the for-m er m od es o f p rod uc t ion in a g iven t e r ri to ry o r h~stalled a m ode of p roduc t ionwhere none exis ted, and in part icular by the specific form o f restructuring of theprev ious m ode o f p roduc t ion . The m os t im por tan t o f these fo rm s of re s t ructur ingthe given mode of product ion were (a) incorporat ion of the peasantry into big es-ta tes such as those prevail ing in the Andes , Mexico, C ochin China, Cen tra l Luzonor parts of India , 2s (b) t ile peasant ' s rapid integrat ion into the world m arket andsubjugat ion to the domina nce of merch ant and usurer capi ta l , as in Egyp t , Burmaor Cam bo dia , 26 and (c ) rap id des t ruc t ion o f the p roduc t iv i ty o f the t rad i t iona lm ode of p rod uc t ion by econo m ic and l egal m echanism s as pa r t o f an in te rna l pro-cess o f primit ive capi ta l is t accum ulat ion, eg. Rhod esia . 2 7 The ins ta l led mo de ofproduc t ion inva r iab ly a s sum ed a servile or semi servile form, that is . it was basedchiefly on servile re la t ions of exploi ta t ion, in most cases forcibly impo rt ing i tslabour fro m outs ide the given terr i tory. 2s On the other ha nd, w here incorporat ionof the pea santry in to large esta tes was the do min ant m echanism o f imperia lis t re-s t ruc tur ing of the t rad i t iona l m ode o f p roduc t ion , the co lon ia l m ode a s sum ed ad i s t inc t ly semi feudal character . Where the bas is of imperia l is t exploi ta t io n wasthe peasant ' s re la t ion to the world market and where this re la t ion was s tructuredand sus ta ined m a in ly ou t s ide the econom ic and ju r id ica l f ram ework o f b ig p rope r tythrough the peasant ' s bondage to local merchant and usurer capi ta l , the colonialm ode of p rod uc t ion took on the cha rac te r o f a semi cohm ialism. As the exah~ple ofEgyp t sugges ts , direct ins ta l la t ion of a colonial s ta te appara tus w as not , in these in-s tances , essent ia l to the process of explo i ta t ion. F inal ly, in the set t ler colonies inAfrica the colonial mode o f product io n emerged as a purely t rans i t ional and sub-ord ina te pheno m eno n , fue l l ing an in te rnal expans ion o f the cap i ta l i st m ode of p ro-dt, ction .Due to i ts pecul iarit ies the s lave-based colonial mod e o f produ ct ion requires aseparate an d specif ic analys is of the mechanism s re tarding p rimit ive capi ta l ist accu-mula t ion 29 and for this reason the semi-feudal and semi-colonial forms of colonialpro duct ion are the o nly objects of analys is here. To begin with, b ehind the re tardedprimitive ca pitalist acct, mt, lation o f territories su bjec ted t o these specific fo rms ofimperia l is t exp loi ta t ion lay the retarded expansion o f their home markets. Such ex-pansion requ ired not primari ly a suffic ient level of personal cons um ption , as theNaro dniks argued when assessing the pro spects of capi ta l is t dev elopme nt in Russ ia ,but advances in the sphere of product ive consumption or inves tment , as Lenin em-pha t ica lly po in ted ou t . Th e re fore i t would be wrong to a rgue tha t the con t inuousimpov erishme nt of the colonial peasantries or the deterio rat ion o f their prodl ,c t ivecapaci t ies made industr ia l izat ion in the colonies and semi-colonies impo ss ible .In Len in ' s ea r ly wr i tings on the m arke t ques t ion two sphe res o f expans ion ofthe hom e m arke t a re iso la ted . On the p rob lem of in te re s t to us, tha t o f the hom e


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4 J O U R N L O F C O N T E M P O R R Y S I

marke t , t he m a i n conc l us i on f rom M arx ' s t heory o f r ea l is a t ion i s t he fo l l owi ng :c a p it al is t p r o d u c t i o n , a n d , c o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e h o m e m a r k e t , g r o w n o t s o m u c h o na c c o u n t o f a rt ic le s o f co n s u m p t i o n a s o n a c c o u n t o f m e a n s o f p r o d u c t i o n . . . F o rcap i ta l ism, t he r e fo re , t he g rowt h o f t he hom e m arke t i s t o a ce r ta i n ex t en t ' i ndepen-d e n t ' o f t h e g r o w t h o f p e rs o n a l c o n s u m p t i o n . 3 A ga in , p r o d u c t i o n d o e s i n d e e dc r e a te a m a r k e t f o r i ts e lf : p r o d u c t i o n n e e ds m e a n s o f p r o d u c t i o n . . , t o e x p a n dt h a t d e p a r t m e n t o f s o ci al p r o d u c t i o n w h i c h m a n u f a c t u r e s m e a n s o f p r o d u c t i o n , i ti s neces sa ry t o d r aw i n t o i t worke r s who i mm edi a t e l y p r esen t a dema nd fo r a r t ic l e so f c o n s u m p t i o n . 3 1 O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e ' i m p o v e r i s h m e n t o f t h e m as se s o f th ep e o p l e ' n o t o n l y d o e s n o t h i n d e r t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f c a p i ta l is m , b u t o n t h e c o n t r a r y ,i s t he expres s i on o f t ha t d eve l opm ent , is a cond i t i on o f cap i t a li sm and s t r eng t hensi t . . . t h e ' im p o v e r i s h e d ' p e a sa n t w h o f o r m e r l y li v ed b y h i s o w n f a r m in g n o w l iv esby ' ea rn i ngs ' , i e . by t he , sa l e o f h is l abour p ower ; he n ow has t o purchase e s sen t i a la r t ic l e s o f con sum pt i on . 32 Desp i t e t he i r appa ren t equ i va l ence , howev er , t hese t en -denc i es a r e o f uneq ua l we i gh t in de t e rmi n i ng t he expans i on o f the hom e mark e t f o rcap i ta l i sm: i n t he f i r s t p l ace , the ex t e n t t o whi ch d i f f e r en t i a t i on o f t he peasan t ryc rea t e s a hom e m arke t f o r cap i ta l i sm d epends fun dam ent a l l y on t he spec i f ic formwhich the proc ess of di f feren t ia t ion assumes: ( i ) on t i le chara cter of the social for -ma t i on a s a whol e - co l on i a l o r t r ans it i ona l t o cap i ta l i sm? ( i i ) on t he pa r t i cu l a r t ypeof bourgeo i s r evo l u t i on w hi ch d i f f e r en t i a t i on s ign i fi e s i n soc i a l f o rma t i ons o f t hel a t t e r t ype - l and l o rd-bourgeo i s o r peasan t -bourgeo i s r evo l u t i on? 33 S eco ndl y , t hegrowt h o f a ru 'r al marke t f o r cap i t a li sm dep ends a s much on t he fo rm a t i on o f apeasan t bourgeo i s i e and i t s demand fo r means o f p roduc t i on a s on t he peasan t ' sconver s i on i n t o a p ro l e t a r i an ; t he degree t o whi ch t h i s t endency p r edomi na t es i sde t e rm i ned m a i n l y by t he mod e o f t rans i t i on t o cap i t a l ism i n agr i cu l t u r e , i e . bywhe t h e r peasan t cap i t a li sm deve l ops au t o nom ous l y o r is com pe l l ed t o g row wi t h i nt he cons t r i c t i ng f r amework o f a l and l o rd-bourgeo i s r evo l u t i on .

Never theless , even i f we conf ine ourselves to proletar ianisat ion, i t i s c lear thatt he spec if i c co l on i a l f o rm of d i f f e r en t i a t i on o f t he peasan t ry co u l d l ead a t bes t t o asporad i c and pure l y r e l a ti ve expans i on o f t he marke t f o r a r t i cl e s o f consu mp t i on . I nt he co l on i a l and semi -co lon i a l soci al f o rma t i ons t he sepa ra t i on o f t he peasan t ry f romi ts f o rm er means o f p roduc t i on , i e . i t s expro pr i a t i on , d i d no t s i gn ify a t r ans it i onf r o m s i m p le c o m m o d i t y p r o d u c t i o n t o c a p it a li s t p r o d u c t i o n . T h e m a ss o f c o l o n ia lpeasan t s were no t t r ans fo rm ed i n t o a c la s s o f a l lo t men t -ho l d i ng wage-worke r s , andeven where a pure l y p ro l e t a r i an peasan t ry t ended t o p r edomi na t e t he spec i a l cha rac -ter i s t ics of i t s c lass s i tuat ion, eg. the low level of wages , the re la t ive preponderanceof pay m ent i n k i nd and t he , r e t en t i on 01' i t s l inks w i t h peasan t eco no m y ru l ed ou ta r ap id expans i o n o f t he ru r a l marke t f o r f oodgra i ns .

In fact , as long as the process of ccumul tion a t roph i ed , t he d i s i n t egra t ion o f co l-l ec ti ve fo rms o f p rop e r t y b e fore t he expans i on i s t t ende nc i es o f t he co l on i a l l a ti f un-d ia , t h e n u m e r o u s e p i s o d e s o f a n a b r u p t e x p r o p r i a t i o n o f t h e l o w e r p e a s a n t r y b yusure r cap i t a l o r by an em bryon i c c la s s o f b i g landow ner s a s we l l a s t he t end enc i eswhi ch i n t ens i f ied t he f r agmen t a t i on o f i ts means o f subs i s tence cou l d l ead a t mos t t osemt-proletar ianisat ion of the peasant ry, that i s , i t s convers ion into a c lass s t i l lpa r t i a ll y in posses s ion o f t he means o f p rodu c t i on . T hus t he t r ee ro l e o f t he co l on i a lp rocess o f d i f f e r e n t i a t i on i n thwar t i ng t he exp ans i on o f t he m arke t f o r cap i ta l i sm be -


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B A C K WA R D C A P I T A L IS M 4 1

com es appa ren t on ly when we cons ide r i t s e f fec t s on the d om ina n t fo rm s of tha t ex-pansion, ie . on the process of accumu lat ion i tse lf . Am ong the ma ny ' facto rs ' re tard-ing the expansion of the m arket in Russ ia Len in gave specia l impo rtance to there ten t ion o f obso le te ins t i tu t ions w hich hh~der the det~elopment o f agriculturalcapitalism , a4 In th e colon ies and semi-colonies cap i ta l ism failed to penetra te agri-cul tural produ ct ion on a ny s ignificant scale e i ther in the form o f a landlord-bourg eoisrevo lu t ion o r th rough the cap i ta l is t d i f fe ren t i a t ion o f the peasan t ry . F or the lowers tra ta of the colonial peasantry, both middle and semi-prole tarian, the mechanismswhich imperia lism ut i l ised in res tructuring the fo rmer mo des of prod uct io n ( the in-s ta ll a t ion o f b ig p rope r ty and the enforced dom inance o f m erchan t an d usure rcapi ta l) drained away the surplus which might have revolut ionised the co ndit ion sof prod uct ion . In mo st Asian colon ies few tenants-a t-wil l appear to have been in aposi t ion o fd i rec t re la t ion to the mark et , as the m ajori ty of those engaged in com-m od i ty p roduc t ion were com pe l led to con t rac t loans on the ' advance sys tem ' , tha tis, according to agreemen ts binding ti le peasant to se ll the produce of his crop tothe lende r a t a price f ix ed in advance and invariably below that obta ining in theopen m ark et , as On the oth er hand , the well- to-do s tra ta which were econo mical lyin a pos i t ion to res is t the encro achm ents of usurer capita l and of rent exploi ta t ion,on the wh ole tende d to re invest the prof i ts of com mo dity pro duc t ion in pre-capita l-is t mod es of exp loi ta t io n or to hoard them or to convert them in to gold. These ten.dencies of colonial rural econ om y imparted to the process of differe nt ia t ion i ts mainpecul iari ty, namely, that the pauperisat ion of the peasantry and i ts convers ion into asemi-proletarian class was an expression o f factors w hich retarded i ts different ia t ionalong capitalist lines and which, in general, b locked other possible mod es of t ran-sition to capitalism in agriculture.In the f inal analys is , however, the a trophy of accumulat ion on the plane ofhzdustry played a far more decisive role in constr ic t ing the expan sion o f the hom emark et and shaping the mechan ism of colonial s tagnat ion. In contras t to earl ierprocesses of primit ive capi ta l is t accu mu lat ion, the re la t ive la teness of Russ ian, Ger-man and Japanese industr ia l izat ion determined the specia l importance of the S tatein s tart ing and accelerat ing the process o f expand ed r eprodu ct ion. Th at is to say, incerta in socia l form ation s of la te capi ta l is t develop men t capi ta l ism was an o ffspringof the S tate . 36 On the other han d, the con dit ion on which the poss ibi l i ty of thistype o f interven t ion and hence o f the whole process of primit ive accum ulat ion res ted,namely, the nat ional autonomy of the S tate , was his torical ly absent in the colonies ,and semi-colonies . In socia l form ations of the la t ter type the S tate was e i ther direct lycontrol led and dominated by imperia l ism, as in India or Indochina, or indirect lydom ina ted by i t th rough m ore d i s t an t m echanism s of con t ro l , m a in ly f inanc ial anddiploma tic , as in Egyp t before the Bri tish O ccup at ion or in Peru after Independ ence.In the form ations direct ly subjugated by im peria l ism, the la t ter ' s refusal to grant pro-tect ion or fo rmu late polic ies to en courage ac cum ulat ion decis ively delayed the emer-gence of a colon ial bourgeoisie by se veral decad es, while in the semi-colonies wheredom inat ion assumed an ind irect aspect , the c lass al liance between imperia l ism andthe agrarian interes ts produ cing for the world market and de pend ent on the export-im por t house co n t ro l l ed by fo re igne rs37 crippled the early develo pme nt of bourgeoisnat ional ism. Thoug h i t wou ld be wron g to ignore a certa in ideological o verdeter-


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402 JOURN AL OF CONTEMPORA R Y ASIA

m i n a t i o n b y th e o r i e s o f f r e e t ra d e , n o t i o n s a b o u t i n t e r n a t io n a l d i v i s io n o f l a b o u r ,racia l i sm and so on, in the l ast instance i t was the re lat ive contradict ion between thec la s s i n t e r e s t s o f th e i m p e r ia li st b o u r g e o i s i e a n d a n y fu tu r e c o l o n i a l b o u r g e o i s i ew h i c h c o m p e l l e d i m p e ri a li sm to s t i fl e th e p r o c e s s o f p r im i t iv e c a p i ta li s t a c c u m u -lat ion .

T o s u m u p , w e c a n s a y th at th e e x p a n s i o n o f th e m a r k e t f o r c o l o n i a l c a p i ta l is mw a s d o u b l y c o n s tr i c t e d , f i r s t l y , b y th e c o n t i n u i n g p r e d o m i n a n c e o f p r e - c a p i ta l i s tfo r m s o f e x p l o i ta t i o n i n th e c o u n tr y s i d e , b y th e fa c t th a t d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n o f th ep e a sa n try d i d n o t r e f l e c t c h a n g e s in p r o d u c t i v e o r g a n i z a t i o n o r th e fo r m a t i o n o f ap e a sa n t b o u r g e o i s i e ; s e c o n d l y , b y th e v e r y fa c t o f im p e r ia l is t d o m i n a t i o n w h i c hc o n s c i o u s l y m a i n ta i n e d t il e c o l o n i e s i n a p o s i t i o n o f i r id u s tr ia l b a c k w a r d n e s sth r o u g h d i r e c t a n d i n d i r e c t m e c h a n i s m s o f c o n tr o l .5 I mp o r t Subs t i t u t i o n and t he Co l o n i a l Bou r geoi si e

I n c o n tr a s t t o e a r l ie r fo r m s o f d e v e l o p m e n t , p r i m i ti ve c a p i ta l is t a c c u m u l a t i o ni n th e m a jo r c o l o n i e s a n d s e m i -c o l o n i e s d e r i v e d i t s m a i n i m p u l s e f r o m c o n s e c u t i v ec r is es i n w o r l d e c o n o m y w h i c h , b y i n te r r u p t in g t h e f l o w o f c o m m o d i t i e s t o a n dfr o m th e m e tr o p o l i s , s i m u l ta n e o u s l y s h a t t e r e d th e b a s e o f th e l a n d o w n e r s p r o d u c i n gfo r th e w o r l d m a r k e t a n d l o o s e n e d th e g r ip o f f o r e i g n c a p ita l o n th e e c o n o m y . A sl o n g a s th e c o n d i t i o n s o f w o r l d e c o n o m y h a d r e m a i n e d s ta b l e , the c o l o n i a l b o u r -g e o i s i e h a d n o r o o m to m a n o u e v r e a g a iu s t e i th e r o f th e s e fo r c e s , a n d th e s m a l l* T h e e x a m p l e o f E g y p t i s o f c o n s id e r a b l e i n t e r e s t i n t h i s r e s p e c t , f o r u n d e r M u h a m m a d A l le a r l y in t h e 1 9 t h c e n t u r y , t h e S t a t e m a d e a c o n s c i o u s a t t e m p t t o e n g ag e i n p r i m i t i v e a c c u m u l a t i o n .T h i s w a s b o t h b e f o r e E g y p t h a d b e c o m e a m a j o r c o t t o n p r o d u c e r , ie . b e f o r e h e r w h o l e s a l e in t e -g r a t i o n i n t o t h e w o r l d m a r k e t i n a s u b o r d i n a t e c o l o n i a l p o s i t i o n , a n d b e f o k e i m p e r i a l i s m h a de s t a b li s h e d a n y d e c i s i v e r e l a t i o n o f d o m i n a t i o n o v e r t h e E g y p t i a n S t a t e . L i k e P e t e r t h e G r e a ta c e n t u r y e a r l i e r , M u h a m m a d A l l m a d e t h e p e a s a n t r y s h o u l d e r th e b u r d e n o f f i n a n c i n g h i s i n -d u s t r i a l s c h e m e s a n d p r o v i d i n g m a n p o w e r f o r h i s f a c t o r i e s . E x p l o i t a t i o n o f t h e p e a s a n t r yt h r o u g h h e a v y t a x a t i o n a n d t h e f i x i n g o f m o n o p o l y p r ic e s f o r a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e l e d t o ap r o g r e s s iv e s h r i n k a g e o f A l i ' s f i s c a l b a s e a s mo r e a n d m o r e p e a s a n ts f e l l i n to a r r e a r s o r f l e d t ot h e t o w n s . B y 1 8 3 / c o n d i t i o n s i n t h e c o u n t r y s i d e w e r e w o r s e t h a n t h e y h a d b e e n f o r a l o n gt i m e . T h i s d e s t i t u t i o n w a s la r g e ly t h e re s u lt o f t h e s ys t e m o f m o n o p o l i e s , w r i t e s O w e n ( 3 8 ) .T o f u r t h e r e x p a n d t h e c o u n t r y ' s i n d u s t r i a l b a s e a n d t o in c r e a se g o v e r n m e n t r e v e n u e s M u h a m m a dA l l i n t r o d u c e d t h e c u l t i v a t i o n o f c o t t o n a n d w a s e v e n t u a l l y f o r c e d , i n t h e 1 8 4 0 s , t. .~ r e i n t r o d u c es e m i - f e u d a l p r o p e r t y a n d r e l a t i o n s o f e x p l o i t a t i o n t o m a k e t h e t a s k o f c o l l e c t i n g t a x e s f a l l o nt h e n e w e st a t e h o l d e r s . I n E g y p t t h e p r o ce s s o f p r i m i t i v e a c c u m u l a t i o n w h i c h A l l s t a r t e d r a p i d l yc a m e t o a h a l t . O n h i s d e a t h h i s f a c t o r i e s w e r e d i s m a n t l e d , a n d b y t h i s s t a ge c o t t o n m o r e a n dm o r e c a m e t o d o m i n a t e t h e w h o l e o f E g y p t ' s e c o n o m i c l i f e . M o r e o v e r , t h e d i s in t e g r a t io n o f t h eS t a t e' s e c o n o m i c h e g e m o n y w a s h a st e n ed b y t h e A n g l o - T u r k i s h C o m m e r c i a l C o n v e n t i o n o f 1 8 3 8w h i c h o u t l a w e d s t a t e m o n o p o l i e s a n d e s t a b l is h e d a l o w e x t e r n a l t a r i f f o f 8 p e r c e n t . . . f u r t h e ri n d u s t r ia l i z a t io n w a s m a d e ve r y m u c h m o r e d i f f i c u l t . ( 3 9 ) U n d e r M u h a m m a d A l i s t r e n u o u se f f o r t s h a d b e e n m a d e to r e pl a c e E u r o p e a n i m p o r t s w i t h l o c a l l y m a n u f a c t u r e d g o o d s . T h i sp o l i c y c a m e t o a n e n d in t h e 1 8 4 0 s , h o w e v e r . As a resu l t o f Eu ropean po l i t i ca l p ressure f i r s ta t Is l a n b u l , t he n o n E g y p t i l se l f , t h e c o u n t r y w a s r a p i d l y o p e n e d u p t o f o re i g n t r a d e . . . I n -c r e a si n g t r a d e w i t h E u r o p e w a s f o l l o w e d b y a r a p i d g r o w t h i n t h e i m p o r t o f c a p i t a l . . . b y1 8 7$ E g y p t h a d b o r r n w e d a n o m i n a l s um o f n e a r ly 1 0 0 m i l l io n f r o m E u r o p e . ( 4 0 )I n P e r u e x a c t l y i n t h i s p e r i o d , d e s p i te t h e e m e r g e n c e o f a l i b e r a l - n a t i o n a l i s t p r o g r a m m es e e k in g a n a t i o n a l P e r u v i a n m a r k e t d e f e n d e d f r o m t h e w o r l d m a r k e t b y t a r i f f s a n d e a ge r t op r o m o t e p e a s a n t c a p i t a l is m i n a g r i c u l t u r e , i t w a s t h e s y s te m k n o w n a s c o m p r a d o r i s r n o w h i c hf i n a l l y t r i u m p h e d . T h e c r e o le le a d e r s hi p w as i n d e b t ; i t w a s d i p l o m a t i c a l l y d e p e n d e n t u p o no t h e r c o u n t r i e s ; i ts p o l i t i c a l l e g i t i m a c y a t h o m e a n d a b r o a d w a s s t i l l w e a k . I n t h e se c o n d i t i o n s i tl i te r a l ly t u r n e d o v e r t h e e c o n o m y o f t h e c o u n t r y t o t h e e x p o r t - i m p o r t b u si ne s se s c o n t r o l l e db y f o r e i g n e r s . . . W i t h c o m p r a d o r i s m o i n c e r t a i n b ra n c h e s o f t h e e x p o r t t r a d e - p r o d u c t s s u c ha s w o o l a n d g u a n o - t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f a g r i c u l t u r e w a s i n h i b i t e d , a n d t h i s in t u r n l e d th ec r e o l e e l i t e s m o r e a n d m o r e i n t o eompradorismo... (4 I .


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BA CK WAR D CAPITA LISM 4 3

industr ia l nucleus which em erged b efore World War I , main ly in Arg entina and Brazil ,was fo rced to adap t i t s s t ruc tu re to the dom inan t expor te r s ec to r . On the o the r hand ,due to the po ss ibi l i ties of impo rt-subs t i tut ion a nd to the role of the la t ter in t rans-form ing the d im ens ions o f the m arke t , even the l east d i s rup t ion in wor ld ec onom ycould sh if t the balan ce o f c lass forces in favour of colonial capi ta l ism. Regardless o fthe specif ic e lem ents determ ining the ini t ia l possibil it ies of expan sion - impo rt res-t r ic t ions , war dem and , tari ffs , the Japanese Occu ption - once lhe process of expan-ded repro duct io n was es tabl ished, i t could move forward , within certa in l imits ,th rough the dy nam ism co ns t i tu ted in te rna l ly by i t s own l inkages and the add i t iona lf low of incom e brou ght abou t b y this expansion. 4z At , most certa in pol i t ical con-di t ions were req uired to ensure a certa in re la t ive c ont inu i ty in the process of primi-t ive accum ulat ion an d these th e industr ia l bourgeoisie in the m ain colonies and semi-colonies sough t chiefly thro ugh i ts s truggle to co ntrol the s ta te appa ratus and main-ta in i ts heg em ony w ithin the rul ing c lass throu gh al liances w ith the u rban middleclass and sect ions of the peasan try India) or prole taria t Brazi l , Argen t ina).But the de te rm in ing ro le o f wor ld econom y was revealed in two oppos i t e ways:no t only in the fact that o nly in condit io ns of world cris is could the co lonial bour-geois ie f ind room fo r expansion , but equal ly in the fact that the l imits on the fur-ther progress of accum ulat ion in the backw ard countries , ie. the cond it ions whichformed the bas is for their re integrat ion into the orbi t of imperia l ism after the earlyphases o f im por t - subs t i tu t ion and fo r the em ergence o f new m odes o f in te rna t iona ldependence subjugat ing the backward countries to imperia l ism,43 were inseparablyboun d up wit h the basic characteris tics of colonial socia l forma tions - in otherwords , wi th the i r en t i re pas t h i s to r ical evo lu t ion wi th in the f ram ework o f thewor ld m arke t and w i th the inne rm os t t endenc ies o f the o ld m ode of p roduc t ion .Colonial capi ta l ism emerged within a socia l formation characterized economical lyby the fol lowin g bas ic features : i ) by a re tarded develo pme nt of capi ta l is t produc-t ion re la t ions in agricul ture , hence b y a low produ ct ivi ty of peasa nt labou r and s tag-nan t ou tpu t l eve ls ; i i ) by a s t ruc tu re o f indus t ry whose backward and one -s idedcharacter sprang direct ly from the pol ic ies o f delayed primit ive accumu lat ion; i ii )by a concen , t ra t ion o f expor t s on the p rodu c t s o f agr icu ltu re . But fa r f ro m e l im inat -ing and overco ming these features the pecul iari ties of the colonial process o f indus-tr ia l izat ion only i z tensified them. In the first place, because early industrializationdrew on more archaic sources of primit ive ac cum ulat ion in t rade Ind ia) or theprofi ts of prod uct io n for the world market Brazil ian coffee), no sharp confl ic tsopposed the nascent industr ia l bourgeoisie to the c lasses whose fortu nes were boun dup w ith colonial prod uct io n. Moreover, as long as industr ia l izat ion derived i ts maindynam isms from a divers ion o f exis t ing dem and to local prod ucers , ie . from the con-ques t o f a pre-exis t ing market by local industry , no his toric bas is exis ted fo r a radicalbourgeois assaul t on semi-feudal ism. Thus wh ile the urban m arke t for capi ta l ismexpanded rap id ly th rou ghou t th i s pe riod , the d im ens ions o f the ru ra l m arke t fo rindustr y were left unto uch ed. 44 Secon dly, as most of the h~dustria lizat ion duringthe Depress ion was confi ned to the con sumer indu str ies , the colonial bourgeois ierem ained dependent on im por t s fo r the bu lk o f i ts m achine ry , cap i ta l equ ipm ei l tand intermediate goods . At the part icular s tage of development which the most de-veloped colonial capi ta l isms had reached by the 50s , this dependence assumed two


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4 4 J O U R N L O F C O N T E M P O R R Y S I

aspec ts - due to a shor tage o f fo re ign exchange to f inance the needed cap i t a l equ ip-me nt , a f inancial depe nden ce, and due to the progressively advanced character ofsubst i tu t ion in this s tage, a teclmological depen dence . As the l imit ing force of thesee f fec t s cam e in to p lay , backw ard cap i t al i sm rap id ly ran in to sporad ic bu t in tensede f ic i ts on cur ren t account which i t cou ld o n ly f inance by dep le t ing it s pas t accum u-lat ions of foreign exchang e and by recou rse to foreign capi ta l .Thus the curve o f im po r t subs t i tu t ion was de te rm ined in the m os t gene ra l s enseby the condit ions in which capi ta l ism was forced to develop in the backward sectorsof w or ld ec onom y. D esp i te i t s in tense ly na t iona l i s t and genuine ly an ti - im per ia li s tideology and pol i t ical t radi t ions , 4s the colonial-bourgeois S ta te was driven by theobjec tive con t rad ic t ions o f i t s cl as s s i tua t ion in to deepe r and deepe r dependence onim per ia l ism . On the po l i t ica l p lane the t rans i t ion to th i s new pe r iod of accum ula t ionde te rm ined one o f two types o f evo lu t ions : e i the r a re la tive d i sp lacem ent o f theindustr ia l bourgeois ie by real ignmen ts within the rul ing c lass, eg. renewed domi-nance o f t i le l andow ners (Argen t ina ) o r a p rogress ive read jus tm ent o f the fo rm s o fi t s re la t ionsh ip wi th im per ia l ism , va ry ing f rom a t t em pts to b reak wi th the Wes t andgo over to Russ ia (Eg ypt ) or to balance betw een Russ ia and the West (Ind ia) to whol~sale capi tu la t ion to foreign mo nop oly capi ta l (Brazi l af ter Goulart) . 46 But regard-less of the specif ic type o f evolut ion, hence o f the specif ic pol i tical charac ter of theregime, mil i tary-ol igarchic , bourgeo is-democrat ic , bourgeo is-nat ional is t and so on,these shif ts in the balance of c lass forces were im por tant mainly in es tabl ishing ti lepo l i ti ca l condi t ions fo r the t rans i tion to depend ent p r im i tive accum ula t ion , o r incarrying the process to a m ore advanc ed s tage.6 Phases f Dependent Primitive Accumulation

F rom a d i f fe ren t bu t ove r lapp ing perspect ive the funda m enta l cha rac te ri s t ic o fth i s con jun c ture o f t rans i tion inaugura ted by the m ore and m ore s eve re exchangedefic i ts was the role o f imperia l ism in ut i l ising i ts programm es of offic ia l ass is tanceto restructure the forms o f its domination over the backward countries Agains tthe h i s to r ica l backgroun d o f ana logous sh if t s in w or ld eco nom y a t ea r l ie r s tages o fdeve lopm ent , th i s p rocess o f re s t ruc tur ing was e spec ia l ly rap id and l ack ing in un-evenness , fo r i t to ok im per ial i sm a t m os t t en yea rs to com p le te (1950-60) .The real causes of this pecul iari ty lie only part ly in those e lem ents of the inter-na t iona l con junc ture which concen t ra ted and cen t ra l i zed im per ia li s t dom ina t ionin the period be twe en the Wars and jus t a fter: the shif t ing balance of power infavour o f US cap i ta l and the fo rm a t ion of new f inanc ia l supe rs truc tures o f im per ia l-i sm ( IBRD, IDA, IMF ) . In pa r t the y spr ing f rom the fac t tha t expor t o f cap i t al tothe backw ard coun tries engaged in a primit ive capi ta l is t accumu lat ion is a pheno-m eno n ove rde te rm ined by two c las s st andpoin t s . F or the co lon ia l bourgeo is iecap i ta l im por t s f rom the Wes t, im por t s o f m achine ry , t ranspor t equ ipm ent , in te r -m edia te chem ica l p roduc t s and so on , becom e , a t a ce r ta in s t age , a condi t ion o f i t sown fu r the r re la tive expans ion . On the o the r hand , f rom the s t andpo in t o f im perial -ism, the renewal o f capi ta l expo rts in the specif ic form of grants , off ic ia l loans ,export credi ts , e tc . becomes a necessary prelude to a more mass ive penetra t ion ofthe backward count r i e s in the fo rm o f d i rec t inves tm ent . Thus depending on thenat ional co njun cture and i ts re la t ive weight vis -a-vis the given bo urgeois ie , e i ther


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s i m u l t a n e o u s l y w i t h o r s h o r t l y a f t e r t h e i n c e p t i o n o f o f f i c i a l a s s i st a n c e , I o re ig nm o n o p o l y c a p i ta l b e g i n s t o m o n o p o l i z e t h e m o s t d y n a m i c s e c t o i s o f i m p o r t -s u b s ti -t u t i o n : f e r t i l i s e r , p e t r o c h e m i c a l s , a n d c h e m i c a l p r o d u c t s , a u t o m o b i l e s , i r o n a n ds t e e l , m a c h i n e t o o l s , h e a v y e l e c t ri c a l g o o d s , e l e c t r o n i c s , t r a n s p o r t e q u i p m e n t a t~ dt h e l i k e . F i n a l l y , d e p e n d i n g o n t h e f o r m s a n d i n t e n s i t y o f t h i s p e n e t r a t i o n , t h a ti s, d e p e n d i n g o n w h e t h e r , i n i t s n e w r o le o f i m p o r t - s u b s t i tu t i o n , f o re i g n m o n o p o l yc a p i t a l t e n d s t o d i s p l a c e t h e o l d i n d u s t r ia l b o u r g e o i s i e w i t h i t s b a s e in e a r li e r s t a g e so f s u b s t i t u t i o n , a s i n A r g e n t i n a o r B r a zi l ( t h e p h e n o m e n o n c a l l e d d e n a t i o n a l i z a t i o n ) ,o r , o n t h e c o n t r a r y , i s k e p t w i t h i n b o u n d s a n d u t i l i s e d b y t h a t b o u r g e o i s i e f o r i t so w n e x p a n s i o n , a s i n I n d i a , t h e f ir s t p h a s e o f d e p e n d e n t p r i m i t i v e a c c u m u l a t i o nc o m e s t o b e c h a r a c t e r i z e d , t o a g r e a t e r o r le s s e r d e g r e e , b y t h e e m e r g e n c e o f n e ws o c i a l s t r a t a w i t h i n t h e r u l i n g c la s se s , c o m p o s e d o f c o m p r a d o r c a p i t a l is t s a n d am i d d l e a n d l o w e r b o u r g e o i s i e o f t e c h n i c a l , m a n a g e r ia l o r c l e ri c a l s al ar ie d s t a f fe m p l o y e d b y t h e f o r e i g n m o n o p o l i e s . *

I n t h e l a s t i n s t a n c e , a c c u m u l a t i o n b a s e d o n c o n t i n u a l i n f l o w s o f c a p i t a l t of i n a n c e c h r o n i c a n d p e r i o d i c a l l y s e v e r e e x c h a n g e d e f i c i t s r e f le c t s n e i th e r t h ep o l i t i c a l d o m i n a n c e o f t h e c o m p r a d o r s t r a t a w i t h i n t h e r u l i n g c l a s s n o r a n y p a r -t i c u l a r i d e o l o g y i n h e r i t e d b y t h e b o u r g e o i s i e f r o m i t s c o l o n i a l p a s t . I n f a c t , n e i t h e ro f t h e s e c o n d i t i o n s p r o p e r l y c o n f o r m s t o h i s t o r ic a l r e a l i ty , f o r a t b o t h l e v e l s o f t h es u p e r s t r u c t u r e c o m p r a d o r i s m i s m e r e l y a n e f f e c t o f n e o - i m p e r i a l i s t p e n e t r a t i o n . I nt h e l a s t i n s t a n c e , t h i s m o d e o f p r i m i t iv e a c c u m u l a t i o n r e f l e c t s ti l e s t r u c t u r e a n dt e n d e n c i e s o f w o r l d e c o n o m y . E v e n w h e r e i t h a s b e e n a b l e t o e s t a b l is h i t s o w n i n-d e p e n d e n t b a s e i n t h e n a t i o n a l e c o n o m y b y u t i l i s i n g t h e c r i s i s o f t h e w o r l d m a r k e t ,t h e b a c k w a r d b o u r g e o i s i e c a n n o t c a r ry i n d u s t ri a l iz a t io n b e y o n d c e r t a i n n a r r o wl i m i t s e x c e p t t h r o u g h t h e f u r t h e r c o l l a b o r a t i o n o f i m p e r i a l is t c a p i t a l. F r o m t h i ss p r i n g s t h e b a s i c d i l e m m a o f c o l o n i a l c a p i ta l i s m - w h i l e d e p e n d e n t p r i m i t i v e a c c u -m u l a t i o n b y i t s v e r y n a t u r e t h r e a te n s t h e b a c k w a r d b o u r g e o i s i e w i t h e c o n o m i c d is -i n t e g r a t i o n s h o u l d t h e f l o w o f c a p it a l c e a s e a b r u p t l y a n d f o r a l o n g p e r i o d , p er -p e t u a t i o n o f i ts b o n d s o f d e p e n d e n c e o f f e r s n o m e a n s o f e s c a p e f ro m t h e c ir cl e o fp r i m i t i v e a c c u m u l a t i o n . O n the contrary w h e n i t f e e l s s t r o n g e n o t , g h t o d o s o d u et o t h e c o n q u e s t s o f t h e f i r s t p h a s e , t h e i m p e r i a l i s t b o u r g e o i s i e i n a u g u r a t e s a n e wa n d s p e c i f ic p h a s e o f d e p e n d e n t a c c u m u l a t i o n w i t h t h e p r o g r a m m e s o f d e v al u a ti o n ,i m p o r t l i b e r a l i z a t io n a n d f u r t h e r e n c o u r a g e m e n t o f f o r e i g n ca p i t a l w h i c h i t c o m p e l st h e b a c k w a r d b o u r g e o i s i e t o a d o p t - e i t h e r th r o u g h I M F s t ab i l iz a t io n p r o g r a m m e s( A r g e n t i n a 1 9 5 8 - 6 3 , P h il i p p in e s 1 9 6 2 ) o r t h r o u g h W o r l d B a n k p r e s s u re ( I n d i a1 9 6 6 ) . 4 g A s t h e b o u r g e o i s i e e m e r g e s f r o m t h i s c o n j u n c t u r e s t u n n e d o r c r ip p l e d , i tm o v e s i n t o a p h a s e o f d e p e n d e n t a c c u m u l a t i o n c h a r a c t e ri z e d p r in c i p al ly b y t h e* One o f t he m os t c l ea r l y d i s c e rn ib le phenom ena as soc ia t ed w i t h f o re ign~dom ina t ed im por t -s ubs t i t u t i on i s t he e m e r g e n e o f a cer ta in neo endavism w i t h in t he i ndus t r i a l s ec t o r o f t heb a c k w a r d c o u n t r i e s t o w h i c h t h e b u l k o f f o r e i g n pr i v a t e c ap i t a l is a t t r ac t ed . T he t a t t e r t ends t obe c onc en t ra t ed i n t he m os t rap id l y g row ing i ndus t r i a l s ec t o rs (s uc h as t r ans po r t equ ipm en t ,e lec t r i c a l m ac h ine ry , c hem ic a l p roduc t s , e t c . ) w h i c h due t o t he i r s pec i f i c t ec hno log i c a l c ha rac -t e r i s t ic s , and t he e f fec t s t hey p roduc e , bo t h d i re c t l y and t h rou gh bac k w ard l i nk ages , b loc kt he ex pans ion o f i ndus t r i a l em p loy m en t and deepen t he v e r t i c a l s t ruc t u re o f t he m ark e t . W h i l ei t c o n d e m n s t h e m a s s o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n t o u n e m p l o y m e n t a n d u n d e r c o n s u m p t i o n , c o l o n i a lc ap i t a l i s m i s c om pe l l ed t o c u l t i v a t e t he s ec t o rs o f bou rgeo i s c ons um pt ion m ore and m oref ev e r i s h l y . (47 )


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4 6 JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORA R Y ASIA

s t r a n g l e h o l d o f d e b t s e r v i c i n g a n d t h e r a p i d c o n v e r s i o n o f f o r m e r s u r p l u s e s o nc a p i ta l a c c o u n t i n t o n e t o u t f l o w s o f c a p i ta l . T h e d i l e m m a o f c o l o n ia l c a p i ta l is mi s r e p r o d u c e d o n a h i g h e r s c a l e .

F r o m t h e s t a n d p o i n t o f t h e n e c e s s ar y t h e o r e t i c a l a n d s tr a t e g i c ta s k s o f r e v o l u t i o n a r y p a r t ie si n t he b ckw rd c o u n t r i e s t h e n o t i o n o f d e p e n d e n t p r i m i t i v e a c c u m u l a t i o n i s , o f c o u r s e , in s u f -f i c i en t because too abstract. The concrete analyses which these parties will have to make of theirown specific situations require a further, but still preliminary, step - differentiating the unity ofdependent capitalism into its concrete forms and the particular contradictions characterisingeach form. For example, imperialism's subjugation of Ceylon and her dominat ion of India couldbe reduced to a single 'model' only at the cost of eliminating precisely those peculiarities ineach of these rela tionships which are, after all, the main object of marxist analysis.The bulk of external capital for rapid industrialization has gone only t o a few countries, inwhich three groups stand out:(a) the ultra-dependent accumulation of Pakistan S. Korea Taiwan and some other coun-tries and territories. In the 1950s and the 1960s the three economies mentioned achieved thehighest rates of grow th of ma nufacturing ou tpu t, far exceeding the average for Asia. The basiccharacteristic of industrial growth in this group was an abnor mally high rate of inve stment sus-tained mainly by massive inflows of foreign, chiefly US, capital. Eg. in 1960-64, net assistanceas a proporti on of gross domestic capital formati on was 58 for S. Korea, 30 for Pakistan and2t for Taiwan. Pakistan and Taiwan experienced the highest income elasticities of demand forimports, 2.6 and 1.9 respectively, and around 1965-67 attra cted the largest flows of net foreignprivate capital in Asia as a whole - S. Korea toppe d the list with ~1409 million, Pakistan wassecond with [195m and Taiwan third with ~192m. (49)(h) the semi-dependent accumulation of Argentina Brazil and India which in 1963 accoun-led for about half the total manuf acturing outp ut of the backward economie s and were, withMexico, in the industrial vanguard of the 'third world'. This group experienced much lowerrates of growth in the 1960s. Despite lower import-elasticities, the comb ination of their muchhigher levels of industrial development (vertically integrated impor t-sub stitut ion) with stagnantor declining export levels induced chronic dependence on inflows of capital (in gross terms theyattracted the bulk o f official assistance in their respective 'regions'). In Argentina the PrebischPlan of 1955 explicitly linked any potential acquisition of machinery and equipment for expand-ing industrial capacity to the outcome of efforts to attract foreign capital; importation of mostcapital goods was prohibited unless financed by foreign capital. Due to the efforts o f theFrondizi regime, heavy imports of such goods during 1960-61 enabled many import-su bstituti ngand some export industries In expand. The bulk of foreign capital attracted to Argentina in thisperiod went into chemicals, automobil es, non-ferrous metals, oil refining and machi nery. (50) InBrazil much of the su bstitu tion in capital goods was carried throu gh by foreign subsidiaries ofGeneral Electric, Siemens, Brown-Boveri (heavy electricals), and Schneider (heavy n=achinery)etc. By 1968 foreign capital controlled 80 of the pharmaceutical industry, 39 of engineeringproduction, 62 of car component production, 48 of aluminium.(5 I) Finally, in India thebuild up of Dept. I industries was totally bou nd up with official flows. However, in this groupunlike the previous one, industrialization was already fairly advanced before the transition todependent accumulation in the 1950s: Vargas, Peron and Nehru embodied, in this sense, theuppermost limits of the potentialities of colonial capitalism.(c) the type of dependent accumulation which lran today represents with her rapid and, insome ways, quite advanced industrialization closely bound up with government receipts fromthe profits of foreign oil monopolies and with the projection of forward linkages from petro-leum to the rest of the economy. (52) To these three basic types we can add:(d) countries like Bolivia or Thailand which appear to have attracted US assistance for mili-tary or 'strategic' reasons (53)(el countries like Cuba Egypt and those in E. Europe which form or formed part of a systemof dependency dominated by Russian state capitalism. (54)A complete analysis of 'nan-colonia lism' would require a study of the compl ex relationshipsbetween the particular forms of dependen t accumulation - however we choose to determinethese - and variations in the form of state power and in the politico-ideological superstructure.One link that is immediately a pparent is the relation between mono poly capital, chiefly US, andthe neo-fascist regimes of the third world - Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and so on; but wha t arethe specific interrelations between imperialism, dependent capitalism and formations of the


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B CKW RD C PIT LISM 4 7

7 . S o c ia l is t Re v o lu t io n a n d Un e v e n De v e lo p m e n tTak en in a ll i ts major phases colonial-capi ta l ist industr ia l izat ion has the dis t inctcharacter of a recurring and cont in ual ly frus tra ted primit ive a ccum ulat ion. In theform er colonies and sem i-colonies capi ta l ism can on ly develop f i t ful ly and sporadic-al ly in depend ence on the world s tock exchanges , s6 compell ing the colonial-bourgeois s ta te to re info rce i ts links with imperia l ism, to widen i ts own sphere ofact ion in the eco no my , and f inal ly, behind a facade of pseudo-pro letarian ideologiesand fo rms of organizat ion (rural co operat ives in Peru, a u to g e s t io n in Algeria) todevelop the product ive forces of agricul ture . But in contras t to earl ier forms ofdevelopm ent or in the special his torical cond it ions of back ward capi ta l ism, the con-version o f landlord or peasant into bourgeois econ om y moves in a his torical space o fdependan t accum u la t ion and s tagnan t indus t ri a l em ploym ent . Rura l cap i t a li sm i sfo rced to im p or t i t s m eans o f p roduc t ion a t the cos t o f g rea te r ex te rna l indeb ted-ness, while the prole taria t which i t creates ou t o f the reservoir o f semi-prole tarian

peasants has no prosp ect o f being integrated in to capi ta l ist indus try as a factoryproletaria t .Backward capi ta l ism comb ines the s tages of the his toric process acco rding to i tspos i tion in wo r ld econo m y, bu t co m bined deve lopm ent i s no t i t s spec if i c pecu lia r i ty .Rathe r, what principal ly characterizes socia l form ations of this typ e is the impos-s ibi l i ty of sus ta ined capi ta l is t dev elopm ent , o f a successfi, I bourgeois revolut ionwhich can accom plish the process of primitive accunrulat ion. Not co mb ined develop-m ent bu t the im poss ib i l ity o f fu r the r deve lopm ent wi th in the f ram ework o f thecombinat ion becomes the principal feature of colonial capi ta l ism.Hence the poss ibi li ties and the necess i ty for prole tarian revolut ion, a revolut ionaiming at the overthrow of capi ta l ism and the es tabl ishment of a workers ' republicbased o n the act ive supp ort of the peasantry. The tasks of the bourgeois revolut ionwhich the bourgeoisie cannot solve, the proletariat is c o m p e l l e d to solve. To be ableto do this , i t must have i ts hand s free. I t must be conscious of i ts task, and, far fromlining up be hind the banner of 'progress ive nat ional capi ta l ism' , i t must go ou t tothe peasant masses with i ts own programme. Its class independence is the first con-di t ion o f i ts growth as an organized pol i tical force .In this respect two qu estio ns arise: a general questio n regarding the possibilitiesof prole tarian revolut ion in the back ward coun tries , and a specif ic ques t ion o f theform s of a r t i cu la t ion o f a p ro le ta r i an p rogram m e.Fir s t l y as in world eco nom y as a whole so in i ts backward sectors , due to theunevenness of capi ta l is t development the poss ib i l i t ies of a prole tarian rev olut ion (arevolut ion based on wor king c lass parties with an internat ion al is t and ant i -capi ta l is tprogram me) are not the same for a l l countries nor w il l the f o r m s of tha t revo lu tionbe ident ical . A fa i lure to unde rs tand e i ther o f these facls , that is, to grasp the com-bined and uneven cha rac te r o f the w or ld revo lu t ion , de te rm ines two types o f e r ro rss u p e r s t r u c t u r e s u c h s h o n a p a r t i s m , m i l it a r y r e f o r m i s m , ( S S ) p o p u l i s t d e m o c r a c y , c o m m u n a l i s m ,etc?In t he b r i e f n d t h e r e f o r e s c h e m l i c n l y si s o f s ec t i ons 5 and 6 wha t we hav e c a l l ed t hep h a s e s o f d e p e n d e n t a c c u m u l a t i o n s h o u l d n o t b e i n t e r p r e t e d i n a m e c h a n i c a l s e n se s r e f e r r i n gI n s h r p ly d e f i n e d n d s eq uen t i a l l y s t ruc tu red s t ages. Ra the r t hey t end t o o v e r l p n d m e r g ec c o r d i n g t o a combined d e v e l o p m e n t , t h u s g i v in g t h e r e l a t io n s b e t w e e n b a c k w a r d c a p i t a li s ma n d w o r l d e c o n o m y a p lan less n d c o m p l e x c ha rac te r .


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4 8 JOURN L OF CONTEMPOR R Y SI

on the Le f t . On the one han d , pos i t ions rem in i scen t o f tha t he ld by S e r ra ti in thedeba te on the co lon ia l ques t ion a t the S econd Congres s o f the Co m in te rn , d ism is singpeasant s t ruggles agains t imperia l ism as scarcely wo rth su ppor t , as i rre levant inter-vent ion s in a process which, l ike the m ove me nt of Hegel ' s Idea, f ias i ts only po int o fcu lm ina t ion in advanced Europe ;sT on the o the r hand , ' t h i rd wo r ld i s t ' pos i t ionswhich confe r on those s t ruggles the determ ining role , dismissing the prole taria ts o fEurope , J apan , A m er ica and the backw ard na t ions a s insuf f i c ien t ly 'r evo lu t iona ry '(m an y of the a t t i tudes which Lenin fou ght aga ins t in the Narodniks recur in thela t ter pos i t ions) . But between the workers of Birmingham, Chicago, Berl in andTo kyo and the peasan ts o f Laos , Cam bodia and Vie tnam has no t the l aw of com -bined deve lopm ent th rown up a whole s er ie s o f in te rm edia te and t rans i tiona l types ,f rom the peasan t r ie s o f sou the rn Europe to the fac to ry p ro le ta r i a t o f Cordo ba an dBom bay , the m ine rs o f Bol iv ia and the l abour ing peasan t s o f Benga l and J ava? Af te ra ll , d id the Oc tobe r Revolu t ion no t occur in a count ry tha t was ne i the r who l lyadvanced nor whol ly backward?The qu es t ion o f revo lu t ion in the backward count r i e s has to be approached f romthi s s t andpoin t , i e . o f the in te rna l d i f ferences cond i t ioned by the i r u n v n develop-m ent . Th . e backward co unt r i e s a re ne i the r un i fo rm ly backw ard nor , fo r tha t p reci sereason , o f equa l w e igh t on the wor ld s cale. In sha rp con t ra s t to (a ) the sm a l le r andm os t back ward na t ions which in m os t cases have no indus t r i a l p ro le ta r i a t and whererevo lu t ions can on ly t ake the fo rm o f a ' d ic ta to rsh ip o f the im pover i shed peasan t ry s athere are (b) the most advanced of the backward countries which, in their socia ls t ructures an d levels of dev elopm ent as well as in the form s which bourgeo is rule iscom pe l led to adopt in them , approach the m o s t backward of the advanced count r i e ssuch as Spain, I ta ly and S . Africa: the main countrie s of this group are Arg entina ,Brazil , Mexico, E gyp t , India . Between these groups l ies (c) a who le interm edia tezone of re la t ive ly indus t r i a li zed sm a l le r na t ions and t e r r ito r i e s in which depen dentaccum ula t ion has t aken ex t rem e form s , in som e ins tances d i rec t ly reduc ing the major c lass contr adict io ns to th at betw een imperia l ism and the prole taria t : Pa kis tan,S . Korea, the Phi l ippines , Indon es ia , Peru, l ran, Co lomb ia, e tc . In countries of thetwo la t ter type s revolut ion ary part ies based on w ork ing c lass and prole tarian -peasan tleadership are a concr ete poss ibi l i ty and are the on ly means of breaking ou t of thedescending spira l of frus tra ted primit ive capi ta l is t accumulat ion. Here not only hascapi ta l ism created a workin g c lass in the factories , mines and ra i lw ays bu t , in m ostcases , a large segment of the peasa ntry is com plete ly pro le tarianized, ie . forms anagricul tural prole taria t , wh ich is a part of the wo rking class ' s9 - Brazi l , Mex ico,Egy pt , India , Pakis tan, Phi l ippines , Indon es ia , Peru. Re volut ions in these coun trieswould be of far more decis ive weight in the world arena than others which can a tbes t assume the form of a dic ta torship of the poor peasantry. Prole tarian revolut ionsin Brazi l and M exico would have incalculable consequ ences fo r the revolu t ions inLa t in Am er ica , apa rt f rom sha t t e r ing the whole s t ruc ture o f Am er ican dom in a tm nof the subco ntine nt , and l ikewise the revolut ions in Egyp t , India or Indon es ia . Never-theless, precisely due to the historic al absence of wo rkin g class partie s in thesecountries , i t is revolut ions based on t i le peasantry which are current ly forced tocon fron t imperia l ism in the forms specif ic to them - protra cted s truggles sus ta inedm ain ly by the p rofo und courage , de te rm ina t ion and inexhaus t ib le m ora l ene rg ie s


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BACKWARD CAPITALISM 4 9

of tile rural masses.Secondly regarding the forms o f ar t icula t ion o f a prole tar ian programm e in t i lebackw ard countr ies - unless the w orking class consciously incorpo rates the incom-pleted tasks of the bourgeois revolut ion in to th at program me, i ts s truggle for a wor-kers ' republic will be d oo me d by i ts isola tion f roln the peasant m asses who s tandbehind the vil lage proletar ia t . De mo crat ic slogans , t rans i t ional dema nds , and theproblems o f the socia l is t revolut ion are not divided into sep arate his tor ical epochsin this s truggle , but s tem d irect ly f rom one ano ther . 6 In the consciousness of thosesocial classes and s tra ta which the par ty m ust draw into a l l iance with the workingclass the path to socialist revolution lies via tile transitional dem an ds - f o r theaboli t ion o f landlo rd eco no my and against the incurs ions of landlo

backward capitalism, primitive accumulation and modes of production (banaji, 1973)

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