Caribbean Integration

"Ever since the collapse of the West Indies Federation in 1958, debate has raged on the subject of regional integration. In this collection, the contributors illustrate that Caribbean people s similarities far outweigh any drawbacks from their diversity. The survival and success of regional institutions in health, social services, youth empowerment, education and agriculture, among others, have served to create a common bond of understanding and appreciation of the oneness of the Caribbean people. While the regional integration movement is primarily an institutional activity, its success will depend largely on the impact on the people of the region by these institutions. The contributors argue that an approach which puts people a the centre of development is necessary for the construction and effective functioning of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy the linchpin of Caribbean survival in the new globalized dispensation. "

This collection entitled Caribbean Integration: From Crisis to Transformation and Repositioning , captures the thinking of and prescriptions offered by some of the best minds of the Caribbean and further afield at a Conference held at The University of the West Indies in 2011 under the theme The Caribbean and the Commonwealth: Collective Responsibility for the 21st Century. In examining the challenges faced by the Region in moving the Integration process forward, a number of papers boldly assess what needs to be done to avert the crisis which threatened the Caribbean as they advocate for a rethinking of the strategies currently employed by the Caribbean Community. This book is highly recommended to senior policy makers, serious academicians and a public deeply interested in the challenges and triumphs of the Caribbean peoples.

A critical part of the history of regionalism in Latin America and the Caribbean is to be found in the widening of the economic and functional relationships among the English-speaking Caribbean to embrace other countries in the Greater Caribbean. Bringing together a range of international experts to explain the broad thrusts of CARICOM’s widening project and the opportunities and challenges it presents, the book pays particular attention to CARICOM’s relations with the French Caribbean territories. Providing a review of the pan-Caribbean landscape this volume notes the impact of these new relationships on internal CARICOM affairs; inter-regional/South-South cooperation; and political and legislative changes in European metropoles of the non-independent territories. It also contemplates recent developments in the region and globally, such as political instability in Brazil and Venezuela, Britain’s decision to leave the European Union and the policies of the Donald Trump administration. This edited collection will be an important resource for students and researchers in Latin American and Caribbean politics, economics, development, history and heritage.

Over de rol van ideologie in het Caribische regionale integratieproces.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the role of regional integration in the contemporary Caribbean, challenging the value of the neoliberal ideology that permeates regionalism discourse. The book asks what value neoliberal regionalism holds for the Caribbean, when its economic goals of efficiency and competitiveness serve to actively marginalize small states within the global community. Presenting an alternative framework for assessing success, the book investigates how the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) can confront new challenges and perform a more developmental function, centring economic transformation and a more democratic process. The book also explores long-standing challenges with implementing regional decisions at the national level and the absence of avenues for citizens to influence the direction of the integration movement. It explores these themes against the backdrop of the global pandemic and the climate crisis which underscore the fragility of Caribbean economies, their high levels of indebtedness, weak social security systems, and their marginality. Bringing together decades of research from one of the world’s foremost scholars on the subject, this book will be essential reading for researchers of the Caribbean specifically, and for those with an interest in regionalism more generally, across the fields of political economy, international relations, history, geography, economics, and global development.