ABSTRACT
Dependence, underdevelopment, and endemic conflict are related to the integration of mineral-export economies into a system of corporate imperialism. This chapter analyses the research work on the petroleum, aluminum, and copper industries in the Caribbean, Latin America, and North America. Conflict between the governments of mineral-export economies and the corporations is seen to be structured around three main issues. One is related to the division between company and government of the total surplus generated by the industry, that is, the revenue issue. Another arises at a more sophisticated level, when the government wishes to use the mineral industry as the basis for constructing an authentically national economic system—an objective that conflicts with the existing integration of the industry into the corporate economic system. The third issue is the issue of power itself—that is, it concerns the revolt of the government against its dependent and subordinated role.
