Franklin W. Knight, Teresita Martinez-Vergne, eds. Contemporary Caribbean Cultures and Societies in a Global Context. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005. 312 pp. $55.00 (cloth), ISBN 978-0-8078-2972-1.

Reviewed by Dave Ramsaran (Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Susquehanna University)
Published on H-Caribbean (July, 2006)

The Continued Globalization of the Caribbean: From Columbus to Now A "Long" History

Contemporary Caribbean Cultures and Societies in a Global Contexts is a collection of ten articles which attempts to locate the Caribbean experience, in both a historical and contemporary sense, within a broader context of global developments. Taking the view that globalization is not a modern phenomenon but rather began when Europeans set sail in the late 1400s, the various authors attempt to show that the Caribbean is shaped by both local and external processes and, particularly, in modern times, dialectical interactions with their diaspora in Europe and North America. Central to the globalization process is economics, and so one section of the collection deals with the economics of globalization. Another section examines the process of "glocalization," how external variables are mixed with local developments to come up with creolized social arrangements. The final cluster of articles looks at how some Caribbean products have affected the external world, using the examples of reggae and rum.

In one of the two articles included in the economics of globalization section, Helen McBain's piece, "The Challenges to Caribbean Economies in the Era of Globalization," is indeed a very comprehensive piece of work. Tracing the development of the Caribbean economy prior to the 1970s, through the period of structural adjustment, then into the contemporary period of globalization, she shows that the experience of the Caribbean is indeed a mixed bag, with some countries doing better than others. The picture painted of the 1990s is that, despite many attempts to diversify the economies of the region, it remains essentially "monocropped" with tourism now being the most dominant export for many countries in the Caribbean. As with past development strategies, the prescriptions of liberalization continue to produce significant deficits between imports and exports. The age old recommendation of diversification is again put on the table with respect to getting into medium- and high-tech exports. The major obstacle to developing a workforce to undertake such an enterprise, however, is the lack of investment in general, and, more specifically, the declining amount of public expenditure on education in the region; yet this issue is not addressed.

The second economic piece is Alex Dupuy's "Globalization, the World Bank, and the Haitian Economy," which shows how the flourishing of democracy does not necessarily result in more policies that benefit the majority of the population. Rather, he demonstrates how Haitian democracy was used to increase the control and leverage by external agencies at the expense of the majority. His argument is well articulated, from the dictatorships of the 1970s into the experiments with democracy in the 1990s and draws a conclusion, which policy makers in the region should pay attention to, that "though ostensibly designed to alleviate poverty by stimulating sustainable economic growth, the policies of the bank and other IFIS [international financial institutions] in fact maintained Haiti's position in the international division of labor as a supplier of cheap labor to foreign capital" (p. 46).

Six articles deal with the phenomenon of "glocalization" (the unique manifestations of global forces interaction with local forces). Antonio Benitez-Rojo writes about "Creolization in Havana: The Oldest Form of Globalization." In this piece, Benitez-Rojo looks at the negotiation between Europe and Africa, and the emergence of African influence on popular Cuban culture beginning in the 1800s. Laws that were passed to prohibit gatherings of Afro-Cuban groups led to the formation of pan-African associations that had the unintended consequence of creolization. The article follows this process all the way into the 1950s, highlighting the osmotic fusion between abakua rituals, elements of Congo wizardry, and certain secrets of Santeria and European practices, resulting in indigenous representations of Cuban dance, music and other art forms. The combination of geographic location, late development of the plantation system and economic dependence on the United States gave Cuban cultural forms their uniqueness. Though Benitez-Rojo acknowledges that power was/is important in this process, there is little exploration of this process. More interestingly, the author seems to be suggesting that the Cuban Revolution stunted the development and spread of Afro-Cubanism, which was promoted more under U.S. dominance than under the Castro government.

Frances Negron-Muntaner's article, "Showing Face: Boxing and Nation Building in Contemporary Puerto Rico," is an attempt to link the concept of the ethno-national body with the low symbolic capital available to the Puerto Rican people, in a attempt to carve out a space for confrontation in the shadow of U.S. domination. The author seems to be suggesting that Puerto Rico elevates boxing and its boxing heroes in order to articulate a symbolic fight against their ambiguous status vis-à-vis the United States. The careers of Tito Trinidad and John "Quiet Man" Ruiz are used as case studies to make the argument. It is suggested that boxing articulates the politics of difference while affirming the tenets of capitalism, individualism, hard work and upward mobility. Drawing on C. L. R. James's argument on cricket and politics in the English-speaking Caribbean, the author suggests that boxing is used to articulate boricuas culture. A few questions remain, however. Why is boxing the unique sport through which the ethno-national collective finds expression rather than say basketball or baseball? While one can understand James's connection between cricket and politics in the former English colonies, since cricket was the game invented and mastered by the English colonial master, there is nothing inherently American about boxing. One would think that baseball is more closely tied to the United States and is the more likely arena for the ethno-national collective to express its opposition to American hegemony.

Juan Flores's article, "Creolite in the Hood: Diaspora as a Source and Challenge," seeks to look at the impact of the return cultural exchange from the diaspora, namely from New York to the homeland in Puerto Rico. Salsa is seen as the remittance from the diaspora to the homeland. Moreover, Flores identifies the influence of the African-American hood on musical fusions, not only in Puerto Rico but also the Dominican Republic. The author correctly recognizes the power wielded by corporations in this process of transnational diffusion influencing taste, trend setting and hierarchies of imperial power (p. 128). Raquel Romberg's article, "Glocal Spirituality: Consumerism and Heritage in a Puerto Rican Afro-Latin Folk Religion," is extremely well articulated. She examines the practice of brujeria, beginning with its origin with Africans and Indians, then on to its fusion with Roman Catholicism. Romberg follows the continued process of creolization using the developments of contemporary modernity, namely consumerism and commodification, in the reshaping of brujeria, not by changing its uniqueness, but by highlighting it. As such globalization has resulted not in homogeneity, but rather in increasing heterogeneity. Brujos have almost become like televangelists promoting their economic success as a sign of their favorability with the spirits. They have developed "spiritual capital" and, acting as brokers between local and transnational corporations, they have become professionalized. The author then claims that this rise of professionalism has resulted in the rejection of ethnic orthodoxy; however, it is not directly addressed and further investigation of this assertion is certainly merited.

Valentina Peguero's article, "Women's Grassroots Organizations in the Dominican Republic: Real and Imagined Figures," looks at the role of women in developing grassroots organizations and how their engagement in such activism can act against social exclusion and integrate them into the development process. Interestingly, the successful case such as the rotating savings and credit association organized by Florentina Angeles Reyes, which is highlighted, was only a success because it served the interest of capital, which is at the root of poverty in the first instance. Further, the author admits that organizations such as ADOPEM (Asociación Dominicana para el Desarrollo de la Mujer, Dominican affiliate of the Women's Banking Network) have "not solved the fundamental problem of its clientele, which is entrenched poverty" (p. 179), yet goes on to claim that it contributes to the empowerment of the poor. Aline Helg's article, "Race and Politics in Cuba," looks at the interaction of race and politics in Cuba. The argument put forward is that, depending on the political party in power, various strategies have been used to deal with issues of race such as tokenism, selective integration into white organizations, limited acceptance of African-derived cultures into the main stream, and outright marginalization and repression. The argument is particularly pointed since the revolution. The strategies used by the Revolutionary Government ranged from outlawing Santeria then re-authorizing it, showing solidarity with African Americans, and becoming involved in the decolonization process in Africa. These strategies were all intended to enable the Revolutionary Government to say that they had dealt with racism in Cuba. That myth was dispelled when, during the Mariel boatlift, large numbers of Afro-Cubans for the first time began to flee the island. The author correctly points out that the new strategy of market-oriented policies to acquire U.S. dollars is inherently biased to the white Cuban population. Remittances, tourism and the self-employed sector are all dominated by white Cubans.

The final two articles focus on two exports from the Caribbean, rum and reggae. Jorge L. Giovannetti's article, entitled "Jamaican Reggae and the Articulation of Social and Historical Consciousness in Musical Discourse," seeks to show how reggae, created by Jamaicans for Jamaicans, has (in the form of consciousness lyrics) been pivotal in the struggles of other Third World people. The author concentrates his analysis up to the 1980s, highlighting the likes of Bob Marley and Burning Spear in the development of consciousness lyrics. He argues that reggae can be seen as counter-history, a way of telling the story from below, "as a popular representation of the past, one that assumes a counter narrative to colonial and Western historical accounts and, in the process, rethinks the country's history as part of its national formation" (p. 212). While this is indeed the story of early reggae, it is an unfinished and incomplete story. The international transactions of reggae can no longer be seen only as a counter narrative to western hegemony. For example, reggae, in its truly globalized form, has morphed into dancehall, which can be characterized less as a purely counter narrative to western hegemony and more as a medium for patriarchical heterosexuality. The anti-gay misogynous lyrics of large portions of contemporary reggae cannot be characterized as "consciousness lyrics."

Anthony Maingot's contribution, "Rum, Revolution and Globalization: Past, Present and Future of a Caribbean Product," seeks to show that the production and consumption of rum have always been tied to issues of political economy. His work shows the widespread consumption of rum in North America and the Caribbean. He also points out that, despite the close association that rum had to the American colonies, it never became as prestigious a drink as those produced in Europe. Prohibition in the United States attempted to "dispatch 'demon rum' to the netherworld," but neither religion nor morality could prevent it from becoming the "comfort water" for U.S. troops overseas. Further, he shows how the Cuban Revolution led to the diversification of one of the largest rum producers in the region. Finally, in the age of contemporary globalization, rum production has shifted and can be done almost anywhere. It has become fully commodified and transferable.

Overall this is a good collection of works that focus essentially on the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. While it provides much valuable information for students of political economy and globalization, it is heavy on the process of heterogeneity and correspondingly light on the process of homogeneity within the process of globalization. This is not necessarily a weakness, but rather the result of a particular theoretical orientation. These articles would be a perfect complement to studies that approach similar issues from the point of view of "grobalization," which focuses on the process of homogeneity as Caribbean countries interact with the hegemonic cultures of core capitalist countries.

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Citation: Dave Ramsaran. Review of Knight, Franklin W.; Martinez-Vergne, Teresita, eds., Contemporary Caribbean Cultures and Societies in a Global Context. H-Caribbean, H-Net Reviews. July, 2006.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=12002

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