By George Lamming
The following statement titled “Rodney and the Concept of Labour” was delivered via skype at the re-launch of Walter Rodney’s seminal work “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” which took place on June 13, 2012 at the CLR James Auditorium at Cipriani Labour College. The new edition by Pambazuka Press was released to mark the 40th anniversary of the initial publication and the 32nd anniversary of Rodney’s assassination.
I would like to suggest that we see Walter Rodney’s book—How Europe Underdevel-oped Africa—as one critical chapter in the whole body of his work, for there is an impressive continuity from his History of the Upper Guinea Coast, through History of the Guyanese Working People, Groundings With My Brothers and the essay in New World- “Masses in Action”.
Underdevelopment was the deliberate consequence of