Rejoinder #2 to Chase-Dunn and Lawrence’s Rejoinder #2

Abstract

Chase-Dunn and Lawrence’s rejoinder to my rejoinder resorts to special pleading to defend WSA. They accept my argument that colonialism was not responsible for current underdevelopment in sub-Saharan Africa but contend that the slave trade was responsible. Empirical analyses show this not to be the case. They argue that Communist projects were not entirely negative because they brought peasants into the modern world. In fact, Communist projects destroyed agricultural productivity and led to the deaths of millions of peasants. They also contend that I seek to claim the moral high ground of science and objectivity. I seek no moral high ground, just a respect for facts, uncomfortable though they may be.