‘Articulation’ is the most distinctive and important concept to emerge from the Marxist critique of dependency theory in the so-called ‘modes of production controversy’. Making reference to the literature on the subject, the author demonstrates that, stripped of its structuralist baggage, articulation is a concept of considerable utility for understanding the dynamics of the political economy of colonialism. Insofar as it focuses on the particular modalities of the processes of accumulation and class formation, the forces and relations of production, and class struggle in the confrontation of capitalist and pre-capitalist social structures in Africa, it represents an important step beyond dependency underdevelopment theory. The primary theoretical contribution of the concept of articulation is in helping to explain more adequately the diverse patterns of the transformation, destruction, and preservation of indigenous societies in colonial Africa. Bibliogr.
