First published in 1984, this title discusses the emergence of both the orthodox and political economy based approaches to underdevelopment in geography , critically assessing their strengths and weaknesses, and showing the relationship between intellectual developments and changing material conditions. The work is primarily concerned with theories, though it does contain much empirical material drawn from throughout the Third World. The book examines the emergence of theories of development historically and considers the various contemporary theoretical ‘schools’, both Marxist and non-Marxist. It goes on to consider four aspects of development which are of particular interest to geographers, namely the world economy, regional imbalances, the human-nature theme and the analysis of urban space, and concludes by suggesting some directions for future research.

This book examines why the differences in comparative economic development across the world have a geographical pattern. It argues that there is a missing component in the geography versus institutions debate, namely the role of culture and its impact either directly on development or indirectly through the establishment of institutions. The impact of geographical features such as climate and natural resources is studied both across countries and within political boundaries and is supplemented by the work of social scientists in other disciplines on culture and cultural evolution. By examining the direct effects of geography on standards of living as well as its indirect effects via culture and institutions, a case is made to tie all three factors into a cohesive explanation for underdevelopment. This book will appeal to readers interested in wider perspectives on under-development that go beyond explanations resting on standard neo-classical economic theory.

Examines the issues of development and underdevelopment in different countries around the world. Suggested level: senior secondary.

A Cultural History of Underdevelopment explores the changing place of Latin America in U.S. culture from the mid-nineteenth century to the recent U.S.-Cuba détente. In doing so, it uncovers the complex ways in which Americans have imagined the global geography of poverty and progress, as the hemispheric imperialism of the nineteenth century yielded to the Cold War discourse of "underdevelopment." John Patrick Leary examines representations of uneven development in Latin America across a variety of genres and media, from canonical fiction and poetry to cinema, photography, journalism, popular song, travel narratives, and development theory. For the United States, Latin America has figured variously as good neighbor and insurgent threat, as its possible future and a remnant of its past. By illuminating the conventional ways in which Americans have imagined their place in the hemisphere, the author shows how the popular image of the United States as a modern, exceptional nation has been produced by a century of encounters that travelers, writers, radicals, filmmakers, and others have had with Latin America. Drawing on authors such as James Weldon Johnson, Willa Cather, and Ernest Hemingway, Leary argues that Latin America has figured in U.S. culture not just as an exotic "other" but as the familiar reflection of the United States’ own regional, racial, class, and political inequalities.