The Caribbean in the Changing Global Political Economy

• Author: Gale Rigobert
• Pages: 115-127

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THE CARIBBEAN IN THE CHANGING

GLOBAL POLITICAL ECONOMY

Gale Rigobert

Introduction

The paper assesses the opportunities for

and constraints to Caribbean1 development

in the current global context. The historical

antecedents that inform the socio-economic

and political conditions that have characterised

the region’s evolution are encapsulated in

its experiences of slavery, colonialism and

independence from European powers. But

more poignantly, is the fact that the Caribbean

from its very inception was inserted into the

international division of labour (IDL) to

perform a very specif‌ic economic and, latterly,

political role.

Much of the discussion that ensues is

informed by an acknowledgement of the

asymmetries inherent in the global political

economy (GPE) and the implications for

growth and development in the region. The

most recent manifestation of globalisation has

exacerbated the stark differences between the

haves and the have-nots, along a whole host

of variables, for example, income, wealth,

health, technology,2 innovation, knowledge

and information.

The paper identif‌ies the opportunities that

exist for Caribbean growth and development,

even against the backdrop of a changing global

political economic climate and deepening

disparities, both intra- and inter-nationally.

It means, therefore, that the region has to (re)

think the ways in which it interacts in the

international system. It has to re-negotiate the

terms of engagement and demand more from

its foreign (economic) relations.

How the region achieves this is contingent

on its understanding of itself, its historical and

current role in the international division of

labour (IDL). More importantly, however, is

an awareness of the emerging opportunities in

the global political economy (GPE) for small

developing states such as those of the region.

The Question of Denition:

What Caribbean?

Wide disparities in the def‌inition of the

Caribbean demand some interrogation of

the relevance of the concept “Caribbean”

as a geographically and territorially def‌ined

space. The information communications

technological (ICT) revolution has eroded

notions of physical spaces. The tentacles of

communications are far-reaching, redef‌ining

traditional conceptions of territoriality,

locality, location, distance, size and the

relations informed by the interactions across

physical spaces.

As the Caribbean region engages in a

redef‌inition of “self”, that exercise of necessity

has to incorporate that large Caribbean

population resident outside of the territorial

Caribbean, that is, the Caribbean diaspora.

Increasingly, that group is being perceived

as a major actor in Caribbean international

relations, having made inroads into the socio-

economic and political spheres of its adopted