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When the sad news came of Samir Amin鈥檚 passing on August 12th, 2018, a plethora of beautiful obituaries were published in his memory (see for example听,听,听听辞谤听). These have made it more than evident not only how important his scholarship and work through the World Social Forum听is, but also what an extraordinary person he was. We never had the privilege of meeting Samir Amin in person, but he was very kind to grant us an interview over Skype for an听听we put together in 2017 on the contemporary relevance of dependency theory (since published by the听). Now we wish to unpack his contributions to our understanding of political economy and uneven development, and explore how his ideas have been interpreted and听adopted in different contexts,听and their relevance today.

Transcending听boundaries:听scholarship听on a听world scale

Samir Amin鈥檚 work is not just relevant for Egypt, for Senegal, or for the African continent. His insights stretch beyond national and regional boundaries in tireless efforts to analyze how international capitalism manifests itself both at a global level, and in specific contexts. What is particularly impressive about Amin is that he made no attempts to conform to the 鈥渕ainstream鈥� of the profession, nor of any discipline or theoretical tradition. On the contrary, his work transcended disciplinary boundaries, combining insights from economics, politics, and history, and his Marxist analysis was deeply critical of many of his Marxist contemporaries. As he once said in听, 鈥淚 consider a Marxist as starting from Marx but not stopping at Marx.鈥� Amin argued that many听western听Marxists neither went beyond Marx nor did they acknowledge and analyze the intrinsically imperialist nature of capitalism.Amin became one of the pioneers of dependency theory (see听here), which in the听1960s and听1970s was a hotly debated theoretical framework,听with the central idea that core countries benefit from the global system at the expense of periphery countries,听which face structural barriers that make听it difficult, if not impossible, for them to develop in the same way that the core countries did. Important for Amin was the notion of unequal exchange (see听).

It is听particularly within the African continent that Amin made efforts to build institutions and foster dialogue and debate. Amin founded both听听补苍诲听. As听Issa听Shivji听听in his obituary, 鈥渉e has consciously done everything possible and seized every opportunity available to provide space, forum, and a training ground for young African scholars.鈥�

Why is Samir Amin not听reflected听in听most contemporary curricula?

When Amin published in the first issue of Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE) in 1974, the听: 鈥淚t is our hope that his work, which represents the most significant African contribution to the debate on underdevelopment, will be studied widely and discussed critically.鈥� Indeed, his work has been discussed critically and read widely. As Mahmoud Mamdani听, Samir Amin 鈥渋ntroduced an entire generation of young scholars, myself included, to think of under-development in historical terms.鈥滺owever, Amin has not been studied as widely as perhaps the ROAPE editor, and others, had hoped. Due to enduring eurocentrism in academia, few contributions by thinkers from outside of the听western听world make it to textbooks and curricula in universities around the world. Indeed, we know from our own experiences with studying political economy and development in different disciplines and in different regions, that Samir Amin is rarely required reading, regardless of the level of study. University of Zimbabwe is the exception,听as several of Amin鈥檚 key articles and books are on the curriculum in听its Economic History program.

This exclusion of non-western听scholarship has led to calls from across the world for a decolonizing of the curriculum (see听听on Economics in South Africa,听听on Economics in India and听听on UK academia more generally). In听economics听the situation is perhaps the most dire, where not only is non-western听scholarship excluded, but since the 1970s there has also been a narrowing of the field with the rising dominance of neoclassical economics. This means that all forms of theorizing about dependency, exploitation, and historical materialism have been removed from mainstream economics听teaching.

Samir Amin鈥檚听work has been a great source of inspiration to us, and we believe it is a loss to students interested in questions of uneven development if they are not confronted with Amin鈥檚 analyses. Amin鈥檚 core contributions to economic and political thought, in particular his notions of unequal exchange, the role of imperialism, eurocentrism, and the need for delinking, are still relevant to debate today, and should therefore be made accessible to students across disciplines. Nevertheless, particular new developments, such as, for instance, the intensification of听financialization听globally and the rise of China, mean that his conceptualizations听might need to be听rethought within new contexts. We also think that there is a need for greater intellectual exchange between those who are closer to Amin鈥檚 own generation, and younger scholars who grew up intellectually under different political, economic, social and (not to forget) academic circumstances.

Samir Amin and听beyond

With the desire to both celebrate Amin鈥檚 intellectual legacies and to interrogate听the relevance of his ideas today听across different contexts,听we are currently听working on an edited book听titled听Samir Amin and Beyond: Development, Dependence and Delinking in the Contemporary World.

The book will cover key themes, including the economics of imperialism, unequal exchange, crisis, decolonization and delinking, and feature chapters by a range of both senior and younger scholars. These include professors听Marisa Silva听Amaral,Sabelo听J.听Ndlovu-Gatsheni,听Jayati听Ghosh,听Kin-chi Lau,听Adebayo听Olukoshi听补苍诲听Cathrine听Scott, as well as听Ziyana听Lategan, Francesco听Macheda听and Roberto听Nadalini, Petronella听Munhenzva, Francisco Perez, Natasha听Issa听Shivji,听Ndongo听Samba听Syllaand听Salimah听Valiani.听Through this book, we are hoping to contribute to a dialogue听across generations, disciplines and regions on听the contemporary relevance of Samir Amin麓s prolific contributions to social and economic听critical thought.

Ushehwedu Kufakurinani is a Senior Lecturer in Economic History at the University of Zimbabwe. Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven is a Lecturer in International Development at the University of York. Maria Dyveke Styve is a Doctoral Student in Anthropology at the University of Bergen.听Image credit Museo Reina Sofia via听听(CC).

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