"What was called was nothing but the extension overseas of European interests. The strategy behind international trade and the production that supported it was firmly in European hands, and specifically in the hands of the sea-going nations from the North Sea to the Mediterranean. They owned and directed the great majority of the world’s sea-going vessels, and they controlled the financing of the trade between four continents. Africans had little clue as to the tri-continental links between Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Europe had a monopoly of knowledge about the international exchange system seen as a whole, for was the only sector capable of viewing the system as a whole. Europeans used the superiority of their ships and cannon to gain control of all the world’s waterways, starting with the western Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast of North Africa. [...] Therefore, by control of the seas, Europe took the first steps towards transforming the several parts of Africa and Asia into economic satellites."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
pp. 75-76
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walter_Rodney
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Walter Rodney
Walter Rodney (23 March 1942 – 13 June 1980) was a prominent Guyanese historian, political activist and preeminent scholar, who was assassinated in Guyana in 1980.
175 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Walter Rodney →
Related Quotes
"It has been noted with irony that the principal “industry” of many underdeveloped countries is administration. Not lo…"
"Members of the privileged groups inside Africa always defend themselves by saying that they pay the taxes which keep …"
"We were told that violence in itself is evil, and that, whatever the cause, it is unjustified morally. By what standa…"
"Development in human society is a many-sided process. At the level of the individual, it implies increased skill and …"
"Development cannot be seen purely as an economic affair, but rather as an overall social process which is dependent u…"
"However, the peasants and workers of Europe (and eventually the inhabitants of the whole world) paid a huge price so …"
"Capitalism has proved incapable of transcending fundamental weaknesses such as underutilization of productive capacit…"
"All of the countries named as “underdeveloped” in the world are exploited by others; and the underdevelopment with wh…"
"In some quarters it has often been thought wise to substitute the term "developing" for "underdeveloped". One of the …"
"By paying attention to the wealth created by human labor out of nature, one can immediately appreciate that very few …"