For my course on CARICOM last semester I wrote an essay on why Caribbean integration is necessary but problematic. I think it provides a good snapshot of the situation facing the modern Caribbean and as such I have decided to share it with you all. Over the next couple of days I will post segments of the essay, in their natural order, for you to peruse. I hope you find them both enjoyable and edifying. Here is the first segment:
“The idea of regional integration has existed in the Caribbean for a considerable period of time,” states scholar Ian Boxill. “Since the seventeenth century, attempts at uniting territories of the region to rationalize administrative costs of running the colonies occupied the thinking of the British government.”[1] In fact, the attempt at federation in the Leeward Islands from 1674-1798 was the second such endeavor in the British Empire, following only the feeble Massachusetts Federation, which was established in 1643.[2] Clearly then, even at the very beginning of their modern existence, the West Indies were seen as prime candidates for integration (especially under the Federal model). This belief – that integration in the West Indies is necessary – has existed continuously in various forms since their founding. Yet despite the longevity of this view, and the growing list of motives propelling it, integration in the West Indies has proven problematic and largely illusive. The argument that Caribbean integration is necessary but problematic remains as true today as it was in the 17th century.
Many of the arguments in favor of integrating the Caribbean date back to the first discussions on the topic in the 17th century. The most significant of these reasons was to coordinate and consolidate the administration of the islands in order to address issues on a regional rather than individual basis and so as to promote administrative efficiency (i.e. save money by shifting administrative authority from each individual island to one regional authority). Attempts at both of these forms of regional governance can be seen in the fraught history of the early Leeward Islands Federation, where federal taxes were successfully raised and where a proposal to standardize the laws of the islands was put forth in 1683 (it was rebuffed).[3]
The issue of coordinating the administration of the islands, originally seen as a way to improve their defense against French and Spanish ambitions and remove official redundancies, gained renewed importance to West Indians as a vehicle for development during the early part of the 20th century. Radical West Indian leaders such as Cipriani, Marryshow, and Hart favored Federation because they saw it as essential “for the overall planning and development of the Caribbean area as an integral part of the larger world economy.”[4] Moreover, “it meant the means whereby West Indian social problems such as education and child labor could receive immediate attention in a way that Crown Colony government could not offer.”[5] In other words, regional integration was the best way to secure a prosperous and just future for the people of the Caribbean.
“The idea of regional integration has existed in the Caribbean for a considerable period of time,” states scholar Ian Boxill. “Since the seventeenth century, attempts at uniting territories of the region to rationalize administrative costs of running the colonies occupied the thinking of the British government.”[1] In fact, the attempt at federation in the Leeward Islands from 1674-1798 was the second such endeavor in the British Empire, following only the feeble Massachusetts Federation, which was established in 1643.[2] Clearly then, even at the very beginning of their modern existence, the West Indies were seen as prime candidates for integration (especially under the Federal model). This belief – that integration in the West Indies is necessary – has existed continuously in various forms since their founding. Yet despite the longevity of this view, and the growing list of motives propelling it, integration in the West Indies has proven problematic and largely illusive. The argument that Caribbean integration is necessary but problematic remains as true today as it was in the 17th century.
Many of the arguments in favor of integrating the Caribbean date back to the first discussions on the topic in the 17th century. The most significant of these reasons was to coordinate and consolidate the administration of the islands in order to address issues on a regional rather than individual basis and so as to promote administrative efficiency (i.e. save money by shifting administrative authority from each individual island to one regional authority). Attempts at both of these forms of regional governance can be seen in the fraught history of the early Leeward Islands Federation, where federal taxes were successfully raised and where a proposal to standardize the laws of the islands was put forth in 1683 (it was rebuffed).[3]
The issue of coordinating the administration of the islands, originally seen as a way to improve their defense against French and Spanish ambitions and remove official redundancies, gained renewed importance to West Indians as a vehicle for development during the early part of the 20th century. Radical West Indian leaders such as Cipriani, Marryshow, and Hart favored Federation because they saw it as essential “for the overall planning and development of the Caribbean area as an integral part of the larger world economy.”[4] Moreover, “it meant the means whereby West Indian social problems such as education and child labor could receive immediate attention in a way that Crown Colony government could not offer.”[5] In other words, regional integration was the best way to secure a prosperous and just future for the people of the Caribbean.
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