The Civilised Horrors of Over-work: Marxsm, Imperialism & Development of Africa

In the 21 st century a vast number of people in Africa are direct producers, working very hard on the land to gain a meagre living -- they are the 'rural poor'. The condition of poverty in Africa is widely portrayed in both academic and popular discourse as a result of local factors, whether political, social, cultural or natural. This article argues for an historical materialist approach which exposes the condition of widespread routine poverty and malnutrition in Africa to be a modern world-historical product, the outcome of five centuries of global capitalist expansion under relations of imperialism.