Dependence versus Interdependence: The Great Debate that Never Was

The article reconstructs the missing debate between the Latin American theory of dependencia and the US theory of interdependence. It explores a set of central works in both schools of thought spanning 50 years of scholarship. It puts forward three main claims. First, dependencia shares a common interest with Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye’s Power and Interdependence in theorizing the consequences that stem from asymmetrical relationships. Second, this common interest fades away with the transition from Power and Interdependence toward neoliberal institutionalism. Third, following the 2008 financial crisis, interest in structural asymmetries has reemerged through a new generation of researchers who are engaging with dependencia, as well as through the critique that US scholars of “weaponized interdependence” make against neoliberal institutionalism. The paper concludes by outlining how a debate between recent scholarship on dependencia and weaponized interdependence would look against the backdrop of the “hierarchy turn” in international relations theory.