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As neo-colonialism continues to run rampant, some nations continue to grow rich at the expense of others. For two centuries, David Ricardo’s theory of comparative costs has dominated investigation of this problem, and has still provided no answer to the inequality that arises as a result of free trade within a global capitalist system. Emmanuel’s path-breaking study, now itself a classic, upends the conventional assumptions, subjecting the phenomena of international trade to critical scrutiny, both systematically and with logical rigor. It integrates the theory of international value (and unequal exchange) into the general theory of value as propounded by the classical economists and Marx.
Enmanuel’s theory of unequal exchange generated a widespread world debate on its first appearance, part of which, emanating from French economist Charles Bettelheim, is included in this volume. It has remained the foundation of critical analysis of international exchange relations ever since, and has gained even more importance today in the age of global value chains.
Arghiri Emmanuel
Arghiri Emmanuel was born in Patras, Greece, in 1911. He spent considerable time in the Belgian Congo in connection with a family textile firm. In 1942 he volunteered for the Greek Liberation Forces in the Middle East and was active in the April 1944 uprising against the Greek governmentin-exile in Cairo. The uprising was crushed by British troops and Emmanuel was condemned to death by a Greek court-martial in Alexandria. He was granted amnesty at the end of 1945 and freed in March 1946. After the war, and after a period in which he again worked in the Congo, he settled in Paris where he studied socialist planning. He received his doctorate in sociology from the Sorbonne. He was director of economic studies at the University of Paris VII.
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