Lawrence R. Alschuler uses the ideas of Albert Memmi, Paulo Freire, and Jungian psychology to explain changes in the political consciousness of the oppressed. His analysis of the autobiographies of four Native people, from Guatemala and Canada, reveals how they attained "liberated consciousness" and healed their psychic wounds, inflicted by violence, exploitation, and discrimination. Their lessons and Alschuler's proposed public policies may be applicable to the oppressed in ethnically divided societies everywhere.

In order to capture the complex interaction among multinationals, development strategies and class alliances as well as their impacts on development Alschuler offers a new conceptual framework which incorporates features of dependency theory and world system analysis. This study in comparative political economy compares Argentina, the Ivory Coast and Korea to assess the adequacy of current development theories and to assess current controversies over development policies.