What is so special about Latin America that, while still taking the measures and policies that generated development in other areas and economies in the capitalist world system, is the region still suffering from backwardness and underdevelopment?

In this line, and their answers, were the ones that gave life to the Marxist theory of dependency between the sixties and the seventies of the last century, which is one of the fundamental contributions that Latin American social theory has bequeathed to development Of the social sciences in general.

Assuming Latin American dependent capitalism as a mature capitalism, its originalities do not obey capital deficiencies, but instead, which are the result of their particular development, are nodal points of the reflection that crystallized a little more than 40 years ago.

The essays gathered here seek to highlight the processes and discussions that are at the basis of the emergence of the Marxist theory of dependency (TMD), at a time of great theoretical and political controversy. Also note the main contributions to the explanation of the nature of dependent capitalism, and in particular those formulated by Ruy Mauro Marini, who gave form to proposals of greater consistency on the reasons for underdevelopment prevailing in the region.

Finally, and no less relevant, some theoretical contributions are presented, particularly around the notion of super-exploitation, as well as on the Pattern of reproduction of capital, while highlighting the heuristic role of TMD to face explanations about current problems Of the social sciences of the region.