SOCIAL SCIENTIST element. As against this position, there are those who argue that capitalism diffuses development, that, if the fruits of this process of diffusion are not reaped in abundance by large segments of the third world, the reason lies in their pre-existing social structure, which is independent and sui generis^ having nothing to do with their integration into the world capitalist system. Indeed, on the contrary, such integration can play the role of undermining the pre-existing structures, and hence can usher in development by bending these structures themselves. While some authors of this latter group would contest the proposition that colonialism historically underlay the emergence of the phenomenon of underdevelopment, others would not necessarily contest the issue (or may even concede the point). They would however argue that the contemporary world is very different from what prevailed historically, and that only an "East India Company phobia" can blind us to this fact. A divide along these lines is present within the Marxist tradition as well. Indeed the classic Marxist texts themselves can be cited in defence of positions on either side of the divide. Thus Marx's remark that "the country that is more developed industrially only shows, to the less developed, the image of its own future" can be, and occasionally has been, cited in defence of a "diffusionist" position. One can, quite justifiably in my view, quarrel with this claim, on the grounds that both the historical context of this remark (made with reference to Germany in relation to England) as well as its theoretical context (referring to "immanent tendecies" of capitalist relations wherever they are introduced rather than to actual growth trajectories), are very different from what this claim supposes. But, in the absence of any discussion of the inequalizing effects of capitalism in the international arena in the main body of Marx's work, a "diffusionist" interpretation of this remark has tended to persist. Likewise, Marx's defence of free trade on the grounds that it would hasten capitalist development and hence accelerate progress towards socialism has tended to obscure the international dichotomies spawned by capitalism. On the other side however there are Marx's numerous remarks on colonialism, his reference to India having "to pay 5 million pounds in tribute for 'good government', interest and dividends of British capital", and his remark about "exploitation" by a "conquering industrial nation", implicit in which is the notion of one nation exploiting another. Indeed, of the three main elements that we can note, following R.P.Dutt, in Marx's writings on India (and hence by implication on the colonial question), namely the destructive role of