(The Library: Book Review)

This article is a review for the book titled "How Europe Underdeveloped Africa" by Dr. Walter Rodney, published in 1969. It was received with worldwide acclaim in 1972. I was pointed to this title by another doctor, by the name of Michael Parenti. In one of his admirable lectures on the Darker Myths of Empire, he quoted the title of the book saying that the verb "To Underdevelop" was quite interesting and rarely used. That planted the seed of curiosity within me and thus, I read the book recommended by Dr. Parenti.

Above: How Europe Underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney, 1969

Pros and Cons

PROS

• Educational - This is not fiction

• Well researched - A lot of perspectives, references, quotes

• An Important Topic

CONS

• It is educational material, not meant as entertainment and can be boring sometimes

To Underdevelop

The title of the book suggests that Europe did not just stand by passively while Africa was slowly developing. Instead, there was a desire to keep Africa underdeveloped and to exploit its people, its land and its resources in general.

The author also is very clear and spends much time writing that it was not solely the Europeans who took advantage of the continent, but America did as well.

As Dr.Parenti mentions in his video on Empires, "Africa is Rich"! And in Dr.Rodney's book, we find out how it is that Africa's riches were taken away from it and still are today.

Rich without exploitation

The book is rich with much material regarding development and addresses the differences between terms such as developing, development and under-development. It portrays the events during the periods of slavery and first contacts with Europeans to the Industrial age. The author mentions Capitalism and Imperialism as vehicles aboard which various factions extract wealth from the underdeveloped.

The roots of continental exploitation

The author explains how the various nations of Africa were developing prior to the arrival of the Europeans. He also refers to multiple others authors who have softened the horrors caused on Africa by saying that Africans were savages in need of enlightenment. But Dr.Rodney, obviously, does not agree and argues quite convincingly that many African nations were developing vigorously and with ingenuity before the conquerors. Had they not been enslaved, stolen from and exploited, those "savages" would have fared quite well on their own.

"In this first place, the wealth created by African labour and from African resources was grabbed by capitalist countries of Europe; and in the second place, restrictions were placed upon African capacity to make maximum use of economic potential – which is what development is all about."  --Walter Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

Money is the Root of all Evil

The exploitation of Africa was not done out of pride or out of pity for the "savages" as some call the inhabitants of colonial-era Africa. No, the exploitation was done for profit motives and to insure who controlled the flow of money and goods and labour and capital. As I have written about before in LOTR, the darkness is in the heart of men.

The book does not go into details about countless atrocities of exploitation committed in Africa, such as in Congo during the reign of King Leopold II. But nonetheless, the book does a good geographical overview and touches on so many tribes, communities, nations, peoples that I quickly lost track and count. The book is rich with references and examples.

I do recommend to read How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, even if it might not be something that will you smile. It is an important book to read since it grounds your perspective on the topics of exploitation, human labour, capital, economics, geography and history much better.

Coming Up Next

In my previous article, I took a good look at the G.I.Joe's military vehicles and took flight with Top Gun to observe the attraction of the military. This article was about reviewing the all-important book by Dr. Rodney, showing us what military supremacy can achieve. The next article will be about another book or two: Mechwarriors and The Great Battles of Space (fiction). Stay tuned and subscribed so you don't miss out on upcoming articles, and most of all, thanks for reading!