This is a revised edition of a seminal work on the nature of underdevelopment. It includes a new foreword and appendixes on the significance of plantations to Third World economies and the contribution that George Beckford made to Caribbean economic thought.

This volume presents papers by George Beckford which cover topics ranging from agricultural economics to political economy, to the social economy of man space, to the cultural roots of Caribbean creativity and a vision of one independent, sovereign and self-reliant Caribbean nation.

Examination of the ways in which structural characteristics of the plantation system influence the economic development process in developing countries, particularly in Asian and Caribbean countries and in Brazil - covers demographic aspects, traditional agriculture, resource allocation, the labour supply of rural workers, the impact of technological change on plantation enterprises, etc. Bibliography pp. 287 to 296, diagrams, references and statistical tables.