Caribbean Community

"For over 20 years, the developing world has been adjusting to the agendas of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In the 1990s, Structural Adjustment Programmes were repackaged and marketed as the coming of the golden age of globalisation, promising benefits to countries that adopt neo-liberal policies. Whether by convention or apparent absence of viable alternatives, Caribbean governments have been quick to implement policies of deregulation, liberalisation and privatisation. In this they have been supported by their intellectuals who have been equally quick in embracing globalisation and too ready to concede the end of national sovereignty. Kari Levitt argues that it is time to reclaim the right to development and the right of nations to engage in the international economy on their own terms. She advocates an international rule-based order which permits space for member countries to follow divergent paths to development according to their own philosophies, institutions, cultures and societal priorities. This book represents a historic sweep of Caribbean thought and personalities over the past 30 years drawn against the background of the changes in the international political economy. Whether in her collaboration with Lloyd Best on the Plantation Economy Model, her analyses of Debt and Adjustment, or her insistence on the right of sovereign nations to pursue their own development path, Kari Levitt remains consistent in her conviction that development, whether of individuals or nations, must be rooted in time and place and cannot be imposed by external prescription. "

During Phase I, results of the project were summarised in individual case studies. In Phase II, more structured exchanges produced collective writing efforts, which gave the study a stronger comparative and analytical orientation. In addition to chapters dealing with analytical and methodological issues in coastal management, the essence of the volume lies in five comparative and synthesised case studies that focus on particular management problems in diverse social contexts. Although this text is written primarily for a research audience, it should be of interest to coastal planners, decision makers, and funding agency representatives because this type of thinking needs to be shared far more widely among these groups in the Caribbean. For instance, we argue that particular attention should be given to reaching a better balance between natural and social sciences in the management of natural resources.

The papers which comprise this publication, The Caribbean Community: The Struggle for Survival represents the Editor's choice from among thousands of articles, books and other commentaries that have provided clear and reasoned responses and solutions to inform and guide Caribbean leadership and the people of the Region. They also take a comprehensive look at regional intergration and serve as a guide to those with an interest in following the development in the Carribean Community. The book offers prescriptions for our success as a Community which are predicated on advice regarding what our political leaders should do in a normal context of the evolution of the Community. These prescriptions are based on sound scholarship and competent analysis. The book is an invaluable addition to the existing literature on Caribbean integration and should be part of any compendium on the study of the subject.

This book offers a theoretical and substantive analysis of intra-Caribbean migration, perception of regionalism, and the construction of identities among Caribbean nationals. Through a multi-methods study in the 15 member countries of the Caribbean community, Oral Robinson explores how intra-Caribbean migrants experience living within different member countries, and how these experiences and perceptions influence ideas about citizenship, belonging, and identity. Responding directly to the lack of scholarship on how Caribbean nationals feel about integration and/or free movement within their own countries and other Caribbean countries, this volume attempts to understand Caribbean societies historically, theoretically, and methodologically; proposes bases of social identities in the Caribbean; and examines how intra-Caribbean migrants negotiate their identities and narrate their lived experiences as intra-Caribbean migrants. The book offers policy solutions based upon its findings, reconciling practice, theory, and migration policies in the Caribbean.