"In this book Saul interrogates the reality of "underdevelopment" in such an unequal world, one driven principally by western power and capitalist profit-seeking and supported by inequalities of power and influence within the countries of the "Third World" themselves. Suggesting fresh ways to consider the dynamics of this situation, Saul also seeks to rethink the manner of linking a necessary class-based struggle with progressive assertions rooted in the demands of gender equality and progressive identity politics. In doing so, he looks towards a synthesis of democratic, socialist, and anti-imperialist sensibilities and invites scholars and activists alike to involve themselves in the kind of intellectual activism that can better underpin concrete and shared struggles, local, national, regional and global."--Jacket.