Publisher's Synopsis
This work is concerned with the nature of the Sierra Leone social formation and deals particularly with the structure of the diamond industry, and is a contribution to the debate about Third World underdevelopment, concentrating on the vexed question 'why a country such as Sierra Leone, which is so blessed with rich deposits of minerals and other natural resources, could remain underdeveloped.' More specifically, it is an historical analysis of how diamond mining led to the generation of underdevelopment in Sierra Leone. In looking at the nature of the Sierra Leone social formation, it is argued that this is neither simply 'peripheral capitalist' nor simply pre-capitalist, but that it epitomizes the articulation of both capitalist and pre-capitalist modes. There are four chapters: Chapter one consists of a critical analysis of a selected number of theories on the theme of underdevelopment in the Third World; Chapter two traces the process whereby the Sierra Leone formation became dominated by merchant capital; Chapter three is related to the identification of modes of production within the non-diamond sectors of the economy, as well as the role of merchant capital within these sectors; in Chapter four, an attempt is made to locate the specific articulation of modes of production within the diamond industry; the role of merchant capital within the industry; and finally the role diamond mining has played in generating underdevelopment in Sierra Leone. With regard to this last point, attention is also drawn to the process of capital drain from Sierra Leone as a result of diamond mining and the effect mining has had on agriculture, in regard to both subsistence and cash crop production.
