This article is a tribute to Professor Stephen Bunker, who recently passed away. The general aim of this pioece is to analyze the role played by his work in the history of studies about the Brazilian Amazon region. We discuss Prof. Bunker’s empirical and theoretical-interpretative model that was elaborated in the context of the debate on the regional development in the period from 1975 to 2005. Prof. Stephen Bunker became well known as a Brazilianist for his study of the extractive regions and for the importance and originality of his explanatory model of the under-development of areas well-endowed with raw materials.
