Abstract
The politics of stratification are part of the history of interdependence within and between human communities. Primitive or primordial interdependence concerns reciprocal reli ance among kith and kin or within face-to-face societies. Feudo-imperial interdependence includes both feudal relations in single societies and imperial relations between societies. These are based on exploitation and hierarchy. Mature interdependence comes with egalitarianism and a rational division of labor based on equity under modern conditions.
While technology helped to demoralize individual Western societies, it also consoli dated Western control of other societies. The internal democratization of the West coin cided with the stratification of the world under Western dominion.
How can the Third World escape this dominion? One approach is that of disengage ment ; another is that of counterpenetration.
The West's Achilles' heel is its need of energy from the Third World. This need could make the West at least responsive to Third World demands for greater equity. Successful energy conservation in the West would, on the other hand, be detrimental to Third World interests in the short run.
The oil-rich Third World countries may have beencast by history as temporary leaders of the oppressed in the global system. Inequality within the Third World could be a neces sary precondition for the liberation of the Third World.
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