The main propositions of the dependentistas can often be counterposed point by point to Rostow's theory. Whereas he based himself on a philosophy of history, they focused on the study of real history made by men and women in definite social circumstances; whereas he treated countries as relatively autonomous entities, they approached them within the global structure of international relations; whereas he gave a favourable account of colonialism as the occasion of an 'awakening' to modernity, they saw it as synonymous with things falling apart whereas he considered that internal inequalities played a positive role