One of the dominant themes stressed in the literature on development and underdevelopment in Latin America, is that the landowners in this region have historically played a negative role. They are portrayed as having been politically reactionary, economically passive, lacking in entrepreneurial drive, and generally unconcerned with promoting the development of the productive forces in their respective countries. Further, their attitudes have been branded as “traditional,” and the policies which they pursued are seen to have been “defective.” As a consequence, the general economic underdevelopment of the area has to be understood as a product of this class' inaction and its “conscious willingness” to be subordinated to foreign capital.