Neoextractivism and Capitalist Development

"Neoextractivism and Capitalist Development is a brilliant synthesis of economic structures, class relations and state power embedded in a historical analysis. Canterbury provides an insightful critique of the regressive role and impact of international extractive capitalist development. His incisive discussion provides a framework for identifying a progressive and dynamic alternative development model which will be of interest to students, academics and policymakers." James Petras, Bartle Professor (Emeritus), Binghamton University, USA

"Karl Marx chronicled how human activity is essentially the interaction with nature to produce the basic needs for reproduction, and each epoch is characterized by who controls both the process and the outcome of those interactions. Capitalism, as a system of production, is predicated on private ownership of productive forces that appropriates the surplus generated by working men and women. With the expansion of capitalist development worldwide comes the appropriation of natural resources from former colonies masked as beneficial to local populations by a range of development theories. Dennis Canterbury reveals how neoextractivism is but one more iteration of development theory, one informed by neoliberal policies that does little to benefit society. His important case study of Guyana details how neoextractivism creates the false illusion that developing countries have escaped capitalist exploitation through the natural resource extraction of the past, and instead undermines the struggles of working people in their opposition to the ravages of capitalism." David Fasenfest, Department of Sociology, Wayne State University, USA

"This is a work of consummate scholarship that will be of especial interest to members and supporters of left-wing social movements in developing countries. It reveals the limits of progressive development strategies