Question About "Dependency Theory"

[The Intransigent Faction]

I've been trying to grapple with something today.

I understand the criticisms of the theory of "labour aristocracy" and the "three worlds model". Sure, workers in the West are exploited, too, and there are people who live in squalid or terrible conditions (tent cities, for instance, or cases like Attawapiskat). Also, sure, empirically speaking it hasn't been demonstrated that profits from exploitation in the third-world are used to literally "subsidize" first-world living standards by translating said profits into workers' wages and benefits (after all, capitalists would keep those profits in the absence of pressure from workers).

That said, I've been taught that at least part of the explanation for the lack of "development" of certain other countries' economies is Western-based multinational corporations' activities. They, apparently, foster these countries' dependency on industries that benefit said corporations, and dependency is both an effect and a cause perpetuating continued dependence. Is there not some degree of truth to this? If so, then it would seem to me that 'first-world' living standards are in this way certainly reliant on especially intense exploitation of the 'third-world'.

So, how much of a role do Western multinationals really play in perpetuating the cheap labour market that allows the sale of cheap goods in the West, and if it is a significant role, how can we deny that the West's higher (average) standard of living is directly related to worse living standards elsewhere? Thanks.

[Slavic]

I don't think it is that clear cut that multinationals need underdeveloped countries in order to make a profit. These corporations do not act as one unit and they do not seek the same development goals.

It all depends on markets. If your market requires massive amounts of cheap unskilled labor then there is an incentive to keep underdeveloped countries underdeveloped. If your market relies on an expansive consumer base, then there might be an incentive to advance underdeveloped countries to increase this base.

Lets take for example China which with its rapid growth over the past few decades has seen with it a rise in a "middle class". This may be seen as bad for western multinationals who rely on cheap Chinese labor, but it may be seen as beneficial for western multinationals who seek to sell to a Chinese middle class.

The point being, regardless of the development of a country, capitalists will seek to make a profit in any economic environment.