ABSTRACT
The dependency theory has been one of the major products of what may be broadly termed neo-Marxist thought, or radical political economy, since World War II. On the international scene, dependency is linked to colonialism and neo-colonialism, and some writers have attributed lagging regions in economically advanced countries to a species of "internal colonialism." If the dependency theory were extended to the explanation of regional disparities, while retaining its simplest form, it would say: "The international monopoly capitalists, best represented today by the multi-national corporation, want to keep workers and farmers poor in lagging regions, and have the power to do so. As the special issue on uneven regional development of The Review of Radical Political Economics indicates, the explanation of regional gaps as a form of internal neo-colonialism seems to be rejected by most "Rads" in favour of a more complex theory of uneven development.
