INSouth

Dr. Samir Amin is an Egypt-born political author who is best known for his Neo-Marxist writings in development theory and his promotion of the conscious self-reliance of developing countries, particular for the Arab world. He has dedicated a major part of his work on studying the relationships between developed and undeveloped countries. For him, the differences between state institutions of both northern and southern countries can be found in the very basis of capitalism and globalization. One of the most important concept of his work is the “theory of the disconnection”, in which Amin explains why the undeveloped countries should disconnect themselves from the capitalistic world system and abandon northern values, in order to allow both democracy and socialism to settle in the South.

He gained a Ph.D. degree in Political Economy in Paris (1957) as well as degrees from the Institut de Statistiques and from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques. He then returned home where he was attached to the Planning bodies of Nasser's regime. He left Egypt in 1960 to work with the Ministry of Planning of the newly independent Mali (1960-63) and following this commenced an academic career. He has held the position of full Professor in France since 1966 and was for ten years (1970-80) the director of the UN African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (in Dakar). Since 1980 he has been directing the African Office of the Third World Forum, an international non-governmental association for research and debate. He is currently the President of the World Forum for Alternatives.

He has written more than 30 books including Imperialism & Unequal Development, Specters of Capitalism: A Critique of Current Intellectual Fashions, Obsolescent Capitalism: Contemporary Politics and Global Disorder and The Liberal Virus. His memoirs were published in October of 2006. He publishes mainly in French and Arabic.