First published in 1982, this reissue deals with the theory of underdevelopment, as Dr. de Silva attempts a synthesis between the internal and external aspects of underdevelopment and, in the Marxist tradition, focuses on the impact of the external on the internal as the dominant reality.Viewing underdevelopment as a problem in the non-transformation to capitalism, this analysis is in terms of the character of the dominant capital and of the dominant classes. Underdevelopment thus encompasses the 'traditional' peasant economy and also the export sector where the 'modernizing' influence of colonialism was felt. The book finally considers how the contemporary internationalization of capital affected the economies of the Third World.

1. Economic Underdevelopment: a Politico-Historical Perspective Part I: Investment Patterns in the Settler and Non-Settler Situations 2. Economic Underdevelopment and the Settler/ Nonsettle Dichotomy 3. Export Staples and their Contrasting Impact on Development - the Settler and the Nonsettler Regions 4. Economic Development in the Settler and the Nonsettler Colonies: Differences in Scope and Orientation 5. Settler Autonomy as a Basis of Growth Impulses 6. Settler Growth and the Repression of Indigenous Interests Part II: The Plantation System and Underdevelopment 7. Plantations and their Metropolitan Orientation 8. Problems of Labour Supply and the recourse to Migrant Labour: I. Labour Shortages and Non-availability of Indigenous Labour 9. Problems of Labour Supply and the recourse to Migrant Labour: II. The Response of the Indigenous Labour to the Plantation System 10. The Scale of Plantation Operations and Productive Efficiency - A Distorted Image 11. Plantations and Technological Stagnation 12. Labour Relations in Plantations Part III: Towards a Theory of Underdevelopment 13. The Framework and Mechanisms of Metropolitan Control 14. The Domination of Plantation Interests by Merchant Capital: Agency House-Plantation Relations 15. Merchant Capitalism and Underdevelopment 16. Plantations, Economic Dualism and the Colonial Mode of Production 17. The Political Economy of Underdevelopment