Subdesenvolvimento como forma de reprodução do capital: a materialidade da dependência no Maranhão

Abstract

This dissertation analyzes the underdevelopment of the state of Maranhão from a historicalstructural perspective, grounded in historical-dialectical materialism and the Marxist Theory of Dependency (MTD). The main objective is to demonstrate that the persistent socioeconomic inequalities in the state do not constitute conjunctural anomalies, but rather express the specific form of Maranhão’s insertion into the prevailing pattern of capital reproduction in contemporary Brazil, characterized by the Export-Oriented Pattern of Productive Specialization (EOPPS). The first chapter establishes the methodological foundations of the research, discussing Marx’s method and the centrality of the ontology of social being, praxis, and the category of concrete totality. It highlights the analytical movement from apparent concreteness to thought concreteness, guided by the categories of contradiction and mediation. The second chapter develops the theoretical framework of the Marxist Theory of Dependency, addressing concepts such as value transfer, superexploitation of labor, and patterns of capital reproduction, emphasizing the consolidation of the EOPPS in the contemporary Brazilian economy. The third chapter reconstructs the socio-spatial formation of Maranhão, highlighting its historical insertion into the international division of labor, from the colonial period to the recent phase of conservative modernization, marked by the formation of productive enclaves and the intensification of dependency. The fourth chapter analyzes the materiality of the EOPPS in the state through three structuring axes, namely the mineral-logistics axis, the agribusiness expansion in the MATOPIBA region, and enclave industries, as well as the concrete mediations of the State, logistics, and financial capital. In this context, the social consequences of this pattern are examined, particularly the reproduction of poverty, socio-spatial inequality, agrarian conflicts, and contemporary forms of slave labor. The study concludes that Maranhão’s underdevelopment does not represent a residual or transitional condition, but rather a functional element of dependent capitalism, revealing the structural coexistence between wealth production and the reproduction of poverty