Abstract:
This paper shows the relationship between regime and dependency theories. Its central
argument is that international regimes primarily serve the accumulation interests of
metropolitan capitalism, and hence perpetuate dependency. Using the case of the
apparel industry in sub-Saharan Africa, it brings to the fore both the dependency and
struggle in international regimes that mainstream regime theory masks. The paper
concludes that, in its struggle to embed industry, Africa will need to clearly interpret
the parameters of a more complex international political economy than that described
in the classic dependency literature of the 1970s, and respond to them with cleverness and alacrity.
