Brian SalmonsINR 4254OhaegbulamFall 1999

Critical review of Rodney, Walter. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Washington, D.C.: Howard University Press, 1982.

In his book, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, Walter Rodney aims at

presenting a lucid and truthful explanation of Africa’s role in world affairs

today by examining its history, from the earliest kingdoms to the colonial

period, and demonstrating the relevance of this for today. He does this with

an explicitly socialist perspective. In his preface, he states that one of his

objectives is to ‘make a small contribution towards reinforcing the conclusion

that African development is possible only on the basis of a radical break with

the international capitalist system, which has been the principal agency of

underdevelopment of Africa over the last five centuries.’1 In addition to this,

he hopes that this book will ‘reach Africans who wish to explore further the

nature of their exploitation, rather than to satisfy the “standards” set by our

oppressors and their spokesmen in the academic world.’2

It is perhaps most convenient to arrange a discussion of Rodney’s

views in correspondence to the chapters in the book. Thus, in the first

chapter he defines at length the concept of underdevelopment, which is

essential in understanding the subsequent chapters. In Chapter II, he gives

on outline of the development which took place in Africa before the coming of

the Europeans. In Chapters III and V, an analysis of Africa’s contribution to

Europe’s present “developed” state is presented, divided respectively

between the pre-colonial period (1445-1870)3 and the colonial period (roughly

1 vii2 viii3 96

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1870 to 1960.) Finally, in Chapters IV and VI, an analysis of Europe’s

contribution to Africa’s present “underdeveloped” state is given, this too

being divided between the two chapters using the same historical

chronology.

Underdevelopment, as presented in Chapter I, is characterized by a

number of things. First, Rodney emphasizes the comparative nature of the

concept of development. Africa, Asia, and Latin America are only

underdeveloped in comparison with Europe, North America, and the few

other industrialized nations of the world. Second, underdevelopment does not

simply describe the relative economic inequality of different countries or

continents; but it also implies a relationship of economic exploitation

between two or more countries, the exploiter becoming developed and the

exploited becoming underdeveloped. The underdevelopment of the countries

of Africa, Asia and Latin America is indicated by many things, including

amount of steel used (level of industrialization), agricultural output, amount

of protein-food consumed, life expectancy, death rate among children,

malnutrition, presence of diseases which are virtually non-existent in

developed countries, and illiteracy. Other characteristics of

underdevelopment are the inability to concentrate on sectors of the economy

which would generate growth, weak or no ties between different sectors of

the economy, and the frittering away or expatriation of any savings

accumulated.

In the second chapter, Rodney gives a general overview of what

“uncontaminated” African society was like south of the Sahara, as well as

specific examples the more socially complex societies in existence in Africa

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before the arrival of Europeans. In general, family and kinship were the

determining factors in the ownership of land, recruiting of labor to work the

land, and distribution of the fruits of that labor. This contrasts markedly with

feudalism or capitalism, where either serfs or hired labor are employed to

work the fields, these usually being from outside of the lord’s or employer’s

family or kinship group. Other key aspects of pre-1445 African culture which

Rodney mentions are music, dance, art, and religion. Religion ‘pervaded

African life just as it pervaded life in other pre-feudal societies, such as those

of the Maoris of Australia or the Afghans of Afghanistan or the Vikings of

Scandinavia.’4 He asserts that although Africa exhibited a great deal of

variety in social formations (hunting bands, communalism, and feudalism),

the majority of African societies prior to the coming of Europeans were ‘in a

transitional stage between the practice of agriculture (plus fishing and

herding) in family communities and the practice of the same activities within

the states and societies comparable to feudalism.’5 Particular examples of the

complexity which some African societies achieved are given by Rodney and

discussed at length. Among them are Ancient Egypt, Axum, Kush, the

empires of Ghana, Mali, Songhai, and Kanem-Bornu, as well as Bunyoro-

Kitara, Zimbabwe, Mutapa, Oyo, Benin, and Kongo.

In chapter III, Rodney points out the error in traditional scholarship,

which tends to portray the rise of modern European civilization as something

Europeans achieved by themselves, solely through their own hard work. He

argues instead that trade with non-European societies was crucial in

European hegemony. In particular, the African slave trade, which Europeans

4 35; the Maori were actually of New Zealand.5 38; hunting can probably also be added to the types of subsistence activities practiced.

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engaged in from the fifteenth century onwards, was a key factor in this

matter. For example, slave labor was used to mine gold and silver in the

Americas and in Africa, which was necessary to make coins for the growing

European economy. This new wealth created opportunities for further

exploration and capital accumulation. Many aspects of European society and

economy were affected by the slave trade, including shipping, insurance, the

formation of companies, capitalist agriculture, technology, the manufacture

of machinery, and the development of trans-national economic links within

Europe. The textile industry, regarded as a powerful factor in Europe’s

economic growth, was partly spurred on by gum imported from Africa, and

naval technology, in particular ship-building, was greatly improved upon

between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries as a result of Europe’s

monopoly of sea trade between themselves, Africa, and the rest of the world.

The rise of seaport towns such as Liverpool and Seville were a consequence

of the slave trade, and later were connected with the rise of manufacturing

centers and the onset of the Industrial Revolution. One very negative result of

the slave trade was the development of white racism towards Africans. This

came about largely as a way of rationalizing their exploitation of human slave

labor, which Europe depended on in such great measure. The colonial era,

discussed in Chapter V, was also a period in which Africa played a crucial role

in developing Europe and the international capitalist system. During this

period, many sectors of the European economy were involved in the

exploitation of African resources, including shipping and banking services, the

colonial governmental administrations, and of course trading companies, the

most notorious being CFAO, UAC, and Unilever. Monetary gains were the

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most obvious benefits derived from these enterprises, but, Rodney says, ‘the

colonial system (also) permitted the rapid development of technology and

skills within the metropolitan sectors of imperialism. It…allowed for the

elaboration of the modern organizational techniques of the capitalist firm and

of imperialism as a whole. Indeed, colonialism gave capitalism an added

lease of life and prolonged its existence in Western Europe…’6 Examples of

technological advances are to be found in the military (rivalry over colonies

encouraged new ways of making war, such as destroyers and submarines), in

scientific research, and in shipping (refrigeration, oil tankers, and new kinds

of port installations.) The international division of labor (which saw Africans

working the mines and Europeans doing the ore extraction and gem cutting,

metal casting, etc.) insured growth in both employment and the level of skills

existing in the capitalist nations in Europe. Other advantages Europeans

derived from colonial rule include the acquisition of valuable African art and

the use of African soldiers to fight in white people’s wars on African soil and

in other parts of the world.

The effect of all of this on the economy and social systems of Africa

was, of course, immense, and this is discussed in Chapters IV and VI in

Rodney’s book. In Chapter IV, he focuses on the role the slave trade played in

this. The most immediate effect of enslaving people and sending them across

the Atlantic was obviously a stagnation in population growth. This in turn

affected the availability of labor and markets within African. In addition, much

of the remaining population was engaged in slave-hunting and acquiring

other goods which the European traders wanted, thus neglecting local

agricultural and technological industries. The borrowing of new technology,

6 173

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another way in which development can occur in society, was entirely non-

existent at this time due to the nature of the contact between Europeans and

Africans, which was unfavorable to the spread of positive ideas and

technologies from “civilized” Europe to “barbarous” Africa. Another effect of

the new preoccupation with slave trading was the breakdown of

interterritorial links established before the advent of the slave trade. Rodney

also points out that right up to the period of colonialism, Africans were still

making their own history and development continued along the lines it was

following before the arrival of Europeans. This can be accounted for by the

fact that European impact was confined mainly to the coastal areas and that

the ideological systems, and political and military organization were scarcely

affected. He gives many examples of societies which continued to evolve

along independent avenues, among them the Yoruba (Oyo), Dahomey, Babito

and Buganda, Rwanda, and Ama-Zulu. Many of these societies proved

themselves forces to be reckoned with militarily. During the colonial period,

the primary mechanism for the underdevelopment of Africa (discussed in

Chapter VI) was the expatriation of surplus produced using African labor and

natural resources. In addition to this, colonialism meant the virtual

eradication of African political power, impeding the further evolution of

national solidarity, neglect of local subsistence economies, and insufficiency

of health facilities and educational opportunities, all of which go part and

parcel with underdevelopment.

It truly takes much more space than this to explain everything Rodney

did in his book. I found that he did achieve the objectives stated in his

preface. The points he makes are valid and down-to-earth. I think he may

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have stressed the socialist perspective a little too much, and his comments

about the success of the Soviet Union obviously sound strange today and do

him no credit. But otherwise, I would be inclined to agree with him. In

particular, I find interesting the argument that everyone who has partaken in

the capitalist systems of Europe and North America has tasted the fruits of

African exploitation, and is thus partly responsible. His style is very readable

and he doesn’t confine himself to any one discipline, but incorporates history

and economics as well as social and political science. In conclusion, an

excellent book, accessible to Africans and non-Africans alike, and highly

relevant to the subject matter of this course, in that it explains the historical

factors which have influenced Africa’s contemporary role in world affairs.

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