ABSTRACT
Celso Furtado’s works mark both the appearance and the consolidation of the Brazilian economic thought. His main works (like Formação Econômica do BrasilFurtado, Celso. (1972) Formação Econômica do Brasil, São Paulo, Companhia Editora Nacional. and Desenvolvimento e SubdesenvolvimentoFurtado, Celso. (1961) Desenvolvimento e Subdesenvolvimento, Rio de Janeiro, Fundo de Cultura.) 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.
KEYWORDS:
History of economic thought; Furtado; structuralism; Eclac