Dependency and the Part-time Proletariat in Taiwan

Abstract

A substantial number of Western intellectuals has been convinced at least since Marx's time that imperialism is more advantageous to the imperialist than to the imperialized; dependency theorists have repeatedly proven that the poverty of poor nations is exacerbated and often caused by their economic relations with more powerful countries. A corollary of this argument is that dependent nations must be economic failures, sinking further into financial servitude, political oppression, and cultural collapse as their dependency grows. Examples of such tendencies are abundant and well known from imperialized countries. Among these, Taiwan is a paradox. Clearly dependent and heavily so, on U.S. trade, military, and financial inputs (and on Japan as well), Taiwan has industrialized reasonably rapidly, producing the second highest living standard in Asia. Taiwan's per capita GNP compares with that of Brazil or Iran; it does not