Globalization and Governance

Despite the controversial nature of globalization, there is no doubt that the pace and intensity of global interactions has been multiplied exponentially over the last few decades. Criticism of globalization is generally arranged into three camps: political, economic and cultural. Political critics point to the status of the small state and conclude either that it is in retreat, or that the state has reconstituted itself to confront the challenges posed by globalization, thereby transforming itself into a “competition state.” Economic critics hold that globalization is nothing new, that international transactions are in the logic of capitalism and that the trade along the silk route goes back centuries. Cultural critics protest that globalization is taking us headlong into the “homogenization of the world.” Others warn of new fault lines that would lead to “a clash of civilizations” and international conflicts along those lines. Others lament that cultural globalization will end with the Americanization of the world.
This collection of essays, like the debates themselves, is divided into three parts. The first section focuses on the political aspects of globalization. In one essay, “Globalization and the Caribbean,” the essayist argues that internationalization leaves no room for small countries in the Caribbean. The essays in the second section are devoted to an economic inquiry into the process and impact of globalization. In “Inequality and the Division of Gains at the Global Level,” one essayist notes that the logic of economic theory is being overwhelmed by the interests of the powerful, and that the concerns of the poor countries are important only to the point where they begin to impact the well-being of the rich. The final section explores the issue of cultural and social integration.
Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Ann Marie Bissessar is a social sciences lecturer at the University of the West Indies. She lives in St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies.

Edited by Ann Marie Bissessar
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 242
Bibliographic Info: notes, references, index
Copyright Date: 2004
pISBN: 978-0-7864-1965-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-2715-4
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

Part One: Globalization and Governance

Globalization and the Caribbean      7

The Cotonou Agreement and the ACP-EU Partnership: Towards a Reevaluation of Politics?      16

Tripartite Social Partnerships in Small States: Barbados and Jamaica in Comparative Perspective      34

Globalization, Diversity and Civil Society in the Caribbean: Integration by Design or Default?      56

The Digital Divide: A New Imperialism?      73

Governance in a Small State      87

Globalization, Governance and Integration: The Case of Health Care Service as a Predictor of Social Stability      105

Rethinking Globalization’s Discontent      117

Part Two: The Economics of Globalization

Inequality and the Division of Gains at the Global Level: Some Reflections      137

Small Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) and Export Performance of Member Countries: Trinidad and Tobago’s Experience Within CARICOM      151

Open Regionalism: The FTAA and Implications for CARICOM Development      173

Part Three: Cultural and Social Integration

Cultural Policy, Globalization and the Governance of Plural Societies      197

Caudillismo: A Framework of Resistance      212

About the Contributors      231

Index      233