Unequal exchange and the Marxist theory of dependency. Reclaiming the debate

FÉLIZ, MARIANO

Historical Materialism

Brill

Año: 2021 vol. 29 p. 1 - 39

1465-4466

The debate on the decline of the terms of trade in dependent countries was never fullyintegrated into the Marxist theory of dependency. The attempt to articulate it throughthe category of unequal exchange was not particularly systematic. This paper seeks torecover those debates and will attempt to account for the relevant articulations in thelight of a present revitalisation of studies in the field of Marxist dependency theory. Tothis end, we will recover the classical discussions around unequal exchange in order todiscuss their points of contact with the Marxist theory of dependency and some con-temporary debates around the transfer of value and the super-exploitation of labourand nature.