Frank AndreGunder

Frank AndreGunder

(1929-2005) German-born economist who has held professorial posts in development studies and economics at numerous universities in Latin America, Europe and the US. Whilst by training an economist, deriving some of his key concepts on ECONOMIC SURPLUS from the Marxist political economist Paul Baran, he has been one of the most influential writers within the SOCIOLOGY OF DEVELOPMENT. Frank is best known for his theory of UNDERDEVELOPMENT which had an impact on sociology through his critique, in Sociology of Development and the Underdevelopment of Sociology (1967a), of the structural-functionalist theory of development influenced by PARSONS and Almond and Coleman (1960). His best-known substantive work is on Latin America, especially Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America (1967b) and the collection of articles in Latin America: Underdevelopment or Revolution (1969). In the 1970s and 80s his work was taken up by the WORLD SYSTEM theorists, and Frank himself continued to write on global aspects of capitalism and its effects on THIRD WORLD countries. His later writings, such as Crisis in the World Economy (1980), have been less influential in sociology than his earlier works. See also CENTRE AND PERIPHERY, METROPOLIS-SATELLITE, DEPENDENCY THEORY.