Caribbean History: From Colonialism to Independence
AM217
Lecture 18: Freedom or dependency?
In this lecture we will focus on questions of economic history and economic models
of history. We will consider various ideas for promoting economic change and
industrialisation across region and whether it could ever escape its historicallydependent relationship with the wider world.
Lecture structure
1. Foundations of dependency
2. Postwar industrial strategies:
i.
Industrialisation-by-invitation
ii.
Operation Bootstrap
iii.
New World dependency theory
iv.
Socialist alternatives
3. The neo-liberal present
Foundations of dependency
Colonial powers’ domination of the Caribbean bought them development and
systematically inhibited development in the islands. Through core regions’ initial
economic advantages, and mercantilist policies by core states to protect their
domestic economic interests, core regions and peripheral regions are path
dependent, meaning that they tend to stay in similar positions in the world system
over time.
R. Potter et al., The Contemporary Caribbean, p. 321.
‘Industrialisation-by-invitation’
Lewis persuasively argued that the Caribbean could not attempt to industrialise
autonomously, but must instead rely on attracting outside capital, technology and
industry. The broader lesson from the Lewis strategy is that historical dependency
has bred new forms in both theory and practice. Caribbean countries have
historically relied on imported industrial and commercial goods and on foreign capital
and expertise to feed people, service industry and finance internal capital expansion.
Lewis extended this foreign dependency and vulnerability, by establishing an
externally driven approach to industrialisation that continues until the present.
R. Potter et al., The Contemporary Caribbean, p. 328.
New world dependency theory
Never before or since has there been so much intellectual fervour in the Englishspeaking Caribbean and even extending beyond it…The most vibrant locale was
Kingston, Jamaica, where new world scholars at the University of the West Indies
(UWI) advised Michael Manley’s administration during the 1970s in its pursuit of
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Caribbean History: From Colonialism to Independence
AM217
democratic socialism…[A] range of policy priorities emerged, such as investing in
land reform for small farmers, imposing a levy on the bauxite exported by foreign
companies, empowering community councils, and committing to social welfare,
redistribution and equality.
R. Potter et al., The Contemporary Caribbean, p. 331.
Export-processing zones
Export-processing zones (EPZs) are labour-intensive manufacturing centres that
involve the import of raw materials and the export of factory products. EPZs (more
often called ‘free zones’ by their supporters) are extraterritorial sites in which
manufacturing can proceed outside local regulations. EPZs have been created to
streamline importing and exporting and to sidestep national laws that privilege some
domestic social groups over foreign industrial exporters. Most of the new exportoriented manufacturing occurs in state-designated free zones.
R. Potter et al., The Contemporary Caribbean, pp. 337-8.
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