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The theory of unequal combined development is interesting not only because of its contribution to a reflection on imperialism but also as one of the most significant attempts to break with the ideology of linear progress and euro-centrism. A more complex approach that is not only economic and technical but also cultural and political made it possible for Trotsky to move away from the evolutionist conception of history made up of a series of rigidly predetermined stages and to outline a dialectical vision of historical development through sudden, forward bounds and contradictory fusions.