ABSTRACT
An examination of recent contributions to the study of economic and political realities in the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (Libya) indicate that they tend to be confined within the development/underdevelopment problematic (1). This approach. however. has been effectively questioned by many scholars working in other area studies (2) as well as by Ruth First in her contribution to the study of Libyan society (3). As Ruth First points out the inadequacy of such studies SIems from the fact that 'development is handled as an ostensibly neutral. technical. non-class process ... [and an) uncritical acceptance of the concept of "national development''' (4). Such studies fail to integrate into their analyses the diverse aspects of the socio-historical specificity of the Libyan social formation and so fail to situate structural changes in the context of an evolving international division of labour. Instead of a critical analysis of class forces and politics we are presented with indeterminate and unspecific economic evaluations of 'Islamic Socialism' and the 'critical discussion of the philosophy and recommendations of the Green Book' (S). These two elements have been analysed and criticised on the assumption that they constitute the two cornerstones of a new order which was introduced by Muammar al-Qadhafi.
