Does Caribbean integration have a future? Whichever configuration of the Caribbean we talk about, an economically integrated region seems to be remote. The only areas of relatively successful regional integration are functional cooperation; intra-Caribbean migration, and cultural intercourse.
The EU decision to apply ‘Differentiation’ in its aid programme has caused consternation in the Caribbean. But could this be a blessing in disguise?
My book in Spanish, El Caribe: dependencia, integración y soberanía was recently presented at the International Book Fair in Havana. Here is a report of the presentation and panel discussion and the comments of one reviewer, in English and in Spanish.
Report on Girvan book launch (English)
Prepared For IV International Seminar Africa, The Caribbean And Latin America, St. Vincent And The Grenadines, 24th- 26th November, 2012.
The contemporary Caribbean is one of the most politically fragmented regions for its size on earth; and one with the strongest remaining colonial presence… (but) slowly but surely, a pan-Caribbean consciousness is emerging, led by the vision of cultural practitioners; and containing the seeds of a future Caribbean nation….
SINCE the triumph of the Revolution in 1959, the development of Cuban medicine has been a government priority. The country is now a point of reference internationally, with Cuba, in fact, currently having the highest number of doctors per inhabitant in the world…
One of the beautiful things about events like this Festival del Caribe is the continual discovery that the things that unite us, as Caribbean people, are far more powerful than those that divide us. The barriers of language and political status virtually evaporate in the heat of music, dance and shared rituals…
In its widest conception, the Caribbean has been said to stretch from the Northeast of Brazil through most of Middle America and the Antilles to the South of the United States..
“Caribbean people are already integrated. The only people who don’t know it are the governments”, These are the words of George Beckford, He was referring to the way in which the domain of culture and of popular intercourse among Caribbean people, converges; while it diverges from the world of politics and government…
(Extract) What unites us is a common frame of reference of our historical experience. But what also unites us, in a context of diversity, has been the affirmation of what my old friend and colleague Rex Nettleford called “smaddification”…All the labor that was brought here was brought here in a condition of exploitation of one way or another and the process of creating a Caribbean identity out of those conditions is a process of resistance, of struggle and of affirmation of self, of the dignity of the human person and of the right to autonomy of our societies…
“Crisis” is one of those words that is used so much that it has practically lost its meaning. And if there were a competition among regional organisations on which of them was most often said to be “in crisis”, my bet would be on Caricom winning by a wide margin…
Over the past 50 years or so there has been a noticeable growth of a ‘Caribbean consciousness’ within the Anglophone Caribbean, encompasseing key countries of the wider Caribbean; including Cuba…My question for my Cuban colleagues is this: how does this square with the Cuban ‘conception of self’? Does Cuba accept the notion of a ‘Caribbean family’ to which it belongs?…
Proposals now on the table suggest the evolution of a kind of hybrid model of economic integration; in which elements of ‘industrial policy’ (selective interventions by means of common policies, functional cooperation and investment) are combined with elements of orthodox ‘open regionalism’ (selective implementation of single economy elements). But if Caricom is to move in this direction, there are at least three hurdles are to be overcome…
The world of today is infinitely more complex and volatile than the world in which most CARICOM countries attained statehood. Accordingly, the challenges to diplomacy are infinitely more complex and fast changing. But have our thinking, institutions and diplomatic practice kept pace?
IMF says pace of expansion in the region begins to moderate CaricomNews Sept 24 2011
World Bank says region’s long-term growth requires more than current China links (sept 24 2011)
In my C.L.R. James Memorial Lecture, I recall his arguments for Federation in 1958 and reason that they hold good for regional integration today. I argue that ‘insular independence’ has run its course; and that the regional option is both a survival imperative and the only means of realising the ‘national project’ as understood by those who dreamed and conceptualised it throughout our history.
CLR James was arguably, one of the outstanding personalities of the 20th century. In a life that spanned nine of the century’s decades he embraced most of its great social movements with passion, eloquence, and brilliant insights. His impact extended far beyond his native Trinidad and Tobago to the entire Caribbean, Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States and Africa…
You have to organise, nationally and regionally, independently of the CARICOM Secretariat, independently of the EU, independently of the EPA; even as you utilise the opportunities that may be available from these bodies….Most of the significant institutional innovations in our historical experience have not been the result of external initiative or external support…
I want to suggest that we treat this gathering as political meeting–a meeting for political consensus-building, strategising, and networking among civil society organisations; on how best to impact regional and national political decision-making.In particular, may I suggest that our aim should be no less than to restore a sense of direction, and of vitality, to the regional integration moment…
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