Abstract

Celso Furtado’s works mark both the appearance and the consolidation of the
Brazilian economic thought. His main works (like Formação Econômica do Brasil and Desenvolvimento
e Subdesenvolvimento) established the reference basis for the economic debate
that has taken place in the last thirty years in Brazil. The theory of underdevelopment,
elaborated by Celso Furtado, supplied the theoretical basis of development, the doctrine
which guided several Latin American governments’ economic policies, and asserted the establishment
of industrialization in Brazil. This article seeks to recompose the steps for the
constitution of the theory of underdevelopment, explaining the main theoretical questions
about that problem and its practical results.

JEL Classification: B22; B31.