Periphery nations cannot develop because resource outflow locks them into dependency

Evidence

Critical economists have captured the dynamics described above with the concept of dependency. Dependency theory explains how the movement of primary resources from the periphery to the center and the movement of final goods from the center to the periphery locks nations on the periphery in a vicious cycle. These poorer nations are unable to develop their productive base, which increases their trade deficit and keeps them dependent on the goods market and labor market of the center. The economic structure of the periphery morphs into whatever the center demands. The result is underdevelopment. — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 297

Categorization

• DEFINE: Introduces and defines dependency theory as the mechanism behind underdevelopment.
• ADDENDUM: Supports the ‘sacrifice’ theme: the periphery’s wealth is structurally extracted so the center can flourish.
• XREF: connects to: Formal land ownership masks massive subterranean resource dispossession — Rob Nixon, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism…, 307