The Role of the state in Dependent Capitalist Deveiopment: The Case of Brazil

Abstract

<p>This thesis explores the utility of Marxist conceptions of the state in examining the relationship between the state and development in Bra.zil. The development of the state form in Brazil is analysed as a factor of dependent development, State-class relations, with respect to the ruling class and the subordinate classes, are examined to determine the logic of state intervention in Brazil's capitalist development. State intervention is seen both in its political context eg. as a coercive apparatus to contain class antagonisms, and in its economic context eg. as the means by which capital accumulation is facilitated. Finally the thesis takes into account the crisis of the state which is the result of the contradictions of dependent development. Through the study of the material conditions of Brazil's development and the role of the state in that process, it becomes evident that Marxist theory has much more to offer than traditional development theories assume.</p>