State, Class and Underdevelopment in Nigeria and Early Meiji Japan [Paperback]

This book compares the social processes that explain Japanese development, beginning with the Meiji Restoration in 1868, with similar processes in post-independent Nigeria in its effort to achieve capitalist development. Before the Restoration and independence, both Japan and Nigeria lacked any prospects for further development. Japan, however, pursued fundamental social transformations of society leading to capitalist development, whereas Nigeria, following independence, has lacked any transforming ideals resulting in underdevelopment and social stagnation.List of Tables - Preface - Introduction - PART 1: PROBLEM, METHOD AND SCOPE OF STUDY - Explaining Underdevelopment: An Alternative Perspective - Economy, Society and the State in Pre-Independence Nigeria and Pre-Meiji Japan - PART 2: REGIME CHANGE AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION - Restoration and Social Transformation in Early Meiji Japan - Politics of Independence and Social Change Nigeria - PART 3: STATE AND CAPITALIST DEVELOPMENT - State and Capitalist Development in Early Meiji Japan - State, Class and Underdevelopment in Nigeria - Conclusions - Glossary of Terms - Bibliography - Index