Article from ROAPE Volume 1 Number 1
Accumulation & Development: A Theoretical Model

Amin sets out the core of his model of the global accumulation of capital. He defines two distinct patterns: one applying to development at the centre, the other to dependent development in the periphery. Central development is characterised by the dominance of economic activity to satisfy mass consumer needs and the consequent demand for production goods. The power of the masses is enlisted in a ‘social contract’ which allows the establishment of a limited economic viability, at a national level. However, the internationalisation of productive capital increasingly threatens that stability. The peripheral systems are dominated by production of luxury goods and exports and the consequent lack of importance of internal mass markets. This leads to growing inequality, technological dependence, political weakness among the oppressed - in sum, marginalisation.