The Political Economy of Dependence and Underdevelopment in Ghana (1844-1966)

Abstract

<p>This study concerns the problems of development and underdevelopment in the Third World. It specifically examines the causes and consequences of dependence and underdevelopment. Historical data on the political economy of Ghana between 1844 to 1966 is used in testing the hypothesis that 1. the initial underdevelopment of Ghana was caused mainly by the historical expansion of capitalism into Ghana, and its subsequent integration into the world capitalist-dominated market, as well as by the negative effects of colonial rule and the oligopolization of its economy by foreign capital, and 2. that the continued dependence and underdevelopment of post-colonial Ghana can still be attributed to external intrusion and exploitation of the country by foreign capital.</p> <p>In doing so, the modernization theory of the sociology of development is reviewed and rejected as unsuitable for the purpose of analysing the phenomena of dependence and underdevelopment chiefly because it is ahistorical and it ignores external factors. Instead, the dependency conceptual framework which treats dependence and underdevelopment as historical processes is used in this study.</p> <p>The findings in this study uphold the first hypothesis but partly reject the second hypothesis on the grounds that the continued dependence and underdevelopment of post-colonial Ghana is mainly due to the unrealistic economic policies of the state. And that, the continued dominance of the economy by foreign capital is the direct creation of the internal dynamics and contradictions in the social relations of production and the mode of distribution of social wealth in Ghana. Ghana is still dependent on external capital because it is in the interest of the ruling classes to maintain the status quo.</p>