Industrialization, Poverty and Paradigmatic Thinking in the English Speaking Caribbean

Davin Ramphall Department of Geography and Anthropology

Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803

Prepared for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Caribbean Studies Association, Havana, Cuba, May 21-24, 1991

1. Introduction

There js currently a crisis in development thinking in the English speaking Caribbean (and for that matter, in the entire Caribbean area). The timeworn, top-down, macro models of industrialization, be they of the import substitution mode or, more recently, of the export promotion variety, have failed to address seriously the concerns of the region's poor, Indeed, by any measure of poverty, many countries of the English speaking Caribbean are worse off today than they were ten to fifteen years ago. The problem of endemic poverty, in turn, has led to periodic crises of legitimation for the states of the region.

In this paper I look briefly at industrialization patterns in the English speaking Caribbean over the past three decades and suggest some reasons why they have failed to ameliorate significantly the poverty problem in the region. The following section elaborates on a conceptual framework which I find useful for theorizing and evaluating the industrial patterns--the framework of dependent capitalism. This is followed in section three by an overview and assessment of the industrialization strategies themselves. Given the failure of past attempts at industrialization, does there exist a viable alternative strategy of development for the poor? In sections four and five I shall argue that a viable alternative lies in community empowerment at the grassroots level.

2. Industrialization Within Dependent Capitalism: A Conceptual Framework 2.1. The Meaning of Dependent Capitalism

Virtually all radical political economy analyses of underdevelopment in the less developed countries (LDCs) start off with the following basic theoretical proposi t ion:

....p eripheral countries as they are integrated into the world-wide capitalist economy are (for the most part) locked into a state of limited economic development.(Meeropol, 1972: 77)

This development is, furthermore, dependent in nature. Dos Santos ( 1970 ) , Fralik (1967) and others of what has come to be known as the 'dependency school' view dependence as a situation in which the economies of one group of countries are conditioned by the development and expansion of others. Furthermore, this conditio~ling has negative effects on the immediate development of the dominated countries. Within the radical political economy paradigm of underdevelopment itself dependency theory has come under attack by MarxisL theories of underdevelopment (Laclau, 1971; Rey, 1975). The former emphasises foreign domination (the international circuit) as the primary mechanism for surplus extraction from the LDCs, while the latter places emphasis on the role of internal class structures within the LDCs themselves (the domestic circuit). I do not propose to get into that debate here. Clearly, a more complete view of depetldetlt capitalism must incorporate analyses of both the international atid domestic circuits of surplus extraction.

Sutcliffe (cited in Palma, 1978: 885) identifies three distinct phases in the evolution of dependent capitalism (and , by corollary, three distinct sets of mechanisms for surplus extraction) in the LDCs. The first involved the plunder of wealth and slaves and exports of manufactured goods to the periphery. The second was characterized by the export of capital, the growth of monopoly and the competition for raw materials. The third has come to involve "a more complex, post-colonial dependency of the peripheral countries in which foreign capital (international corporations), profit repatriation, adverse changes in the terms of trade (unequal exchange) all play a role in confining, distorti~ig or halting economic development and industrialisation".

2.2. General Characteristics of Dependent Industrialization

When one considers industrialization in the LDCs, then, attention must be focused on the third phase identified above by Sutcliffe. It is here that one can locate the genesis of the two modes of industrialization within dependent capitalism -- the import substitution mode and the transnational mode. In the former imports of manufactured goods into the LDCs are replaced by domestic production. In the latter industrialization is primarily export propelled and transnational capital is integrated with domestic public and private capital in the industrial sector, albeit in different proportions in different countries. Within the transnational mode mention must be made also of the growing importance of offshore or export processing zones in the most recent stage of global capitalism characterized by Harvey (1982) as a regime of flexible accumulation.

It is possible to identify several general characteristics of depender~t industrialization. These include:

(1) A high degree of dependence on foreign capital usually supplied by transnational corporations or based on foreign loaris.

( 2 ) A net drain of monetary resources from the local economy in the form of repatriated profits, interest and dividends accruing to foreign capital invested in the domestic economy.

(3) A net drain of monetary resources from the local economy in the form of domestic surplus product appropriated by the local elite class -- bureaucrats, politicians, etc. -- whom Baran (1957: 205-218) calls the "comprador bourgeoisie". Quite often this appropriated surplus product is not used for domestic productive investment but for luxury import consumption or may be spirited away to foreign bank accounts.

( 3 ) A high degree of dependence on foreign modern technology required for the domestic industries being established, and the monopolistic control of this technology by foreign corporations as reflected in the terms at which the technology is imported by LDC governments i.e. licenses and royalties.

( 5 ) A high degree of dependence on foreign raw materials and semifinished goods for the domestic industries being established.

(6) The inability of manufactured exports from the industrializing LDC countries to penetrate metropolitan markets due to protectionist measures and demand conditions.

(7) A persistent deterioration in the terms of trade of the industrializing LDCs. This is especially so in the import substitution mode where primary commodities must be exported in order to obtain the foreign exchange needed for the importation of materials for the newly established domestic industries.

(8) Persistent balance of payments problems. This is especially true in the import substitution mode where repatriated profits, interest and dividends from foreign investment in the local economy and high levels of imports of semifinished materials, etc. siphon off scarce foreign exchange resources.

(9) Foreign loci of decisionmaking. The control of the newly established industries by transnational capital transfers all major decisionmaking to foreign metropolitan centers.

(10) A low degree of integration of the local mass economy into the development process

(a) Employment generated by the newly established industries is usually low given the capital intensive nature of the foreigri technology introduced by the foreign corporations.

(b) The forward and backward linkage coefficients of the industries are also low given the depetidetlce on foreign raw materials, semifinished goods, and machinery.

( 11 ) A low degree of diversif icatiotl of the local economy given the neK concentration on industrial activity

(a) Neglect of the agricultural sector as shorn by continually rising levels in the volume and value of imported foodstuffs.

(b) Significant changes in the contribution by sectors to GDP over time in favor of industry as other sectors are neglected.

3. Industrialization in the English Speaking Caribbean 3.1. An Historical Overview

At the end of World War I1 the territories of the English speaking Carribean were still colonial possessions of Great Britain and exhibited all the features of a typical agroexport or enclave economy. One or two agricultural products or raw materials dominated the export sector (for example, bananas and sugar in Jamaica, sugar in Barbados, and petroleum products in Trinidad-Tobago) and v i r t u a l l y all manufactures and capital goods were imported from metropolitan countries.

But all was not well in the region. Rapid decline in the sugar industry, dating from even before the Great Depression of 1919, had led to deplorable social conditions, widespread unemployment and social unrest during the 1930s. In the final analysis, of course, widespread poverty in the region could be attributed to the distorted economic structure of the enclave economy wherein output and resource use were geared towards the export market and not to the satisfaction of the basic needs of local inhabitants. Matters came to a head in 1937 when a series of strikes rocked several of the British colonies in the Caribbean. So great was imperial concern that a Royal Commission of Inquiry, the Moyne Commission, was sent out in 1937 to investigate and to make recommendations, The Commission's major recommendation was a revitalization of the sugar industry and, in effect, a perpetuation of the plantation economy structure.

The first major watershed in the region's economy came in 1950 when W.Arthur Lewis published his now classic article "The Industrialisation of the British West Indies". In this article Lewis rejected the Moyne Commission's recommendations and proposed a strategy of import substituting cum export promotion industrialization. This strategy was somewhat along the lines of the model being put forward at that same time in Puerto Rico (called "Operation Bootstrap") and in several Latin American countries by economists at the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA, 1949).

By the late 1950s virtually all the territories of the English speaking Caribbean had put in place the institutional framework required for implementing Lewis's industrialization model. The "industrialisation by invitation" strategy envisaged the creation of a modern industrial sector through the twin process of import substitution and export promotion. The initiative would itself be financed by foreign capital lured to the region by government subsidies, tax exempt ions, government provision of infrastructure , and a reservoir of cheap labor.

One decade later, however, there was tacit admission among regional economic planners that the Lewis strategy had failed. The strategy came to exhibit marly of the characteristics of dependent industrialization outlined in the previous section. The industries failed to penetrate foreign markets, emphasising import substitution for the local market over export promotion; employment seneration was low given the primarily capital intensive nature of the technologies utilized; the industries were characterized by high import coefficients and few local linkages; balance of payments problems were aggravated; and the self- generating capitalist development so eagerly sought simply did not materialize since increased industrial production was achieved at the expense of other economic sectors, in particular, agriculture.

The decade of the 1970s that followed was an exciting time in the English speaking Caribbean. It was characterized by social and political activism and economic experimentation virtually throughout the region. For one thing, the erosion of the hegemony of the dominant conservative power in the region, the United States, had begun by the early seventies and no doubt, emboldened many of the territories toward economic experimentation. i

Tlie early 1970s saw too the emergence of a new set of economic writings on Caribbean economy which were radically different, especially in their defirlition of economic development. Typified by the writings of William Demas (1970) arid George Beckford (1972), the 'new economics', an offshoot of the Latin America11 dependency school, took an historical-structural approach to the problems of

underdevelopment in the Caribbean. The open, dependent nature of the Caribbean economy was clearly identified, and it was argued that it was necessary to aim for a form of self-sustaining economic development based on the utilization of local raw materials with less dependence on foreign capital and technology.

In almost all cases the economic experimentation involved a vastly augmented role for the state in national development initiatives, and was accompanied in some cases by attempts at new types of industrialization. We witnessed the 'democratic socialist' experiment of the Manley government in Jamaica, the energy-based development strategy of the Williams regime in Trinidad-Tobago, and later in the decade the ill-fated, socialist experiment of the New Jewel Movement in Grenada.

In terms of the notion of industrialization as an engine for economic development, the energy-based strategy of Trinidad-Tobago is of particular interest. We shall review briefly the background for the strategy. In the early 1970s two events occurred that were to have a decisive impact on development planning in Trinidad-Tobago during the seventies and beyond. The first was the international oil crisis of 1973 which ultimately led to a quadrupling of internat-ional oi 1 prices. This meant that Trinidad-Tobago, endorjed with significant deposits of petroleum, had quite literally overnight received a windfall in foreign exchange reserves, reserves which would total almost 10 billion dollars (TT) by the early eighties.

The second development was the discovery of huge deposits of petroleum and natural gas off the southeast coast of Trinidad. Proven reserves of gas total 6.65 trillion cubic feet. The stage was thus set for a new type of industrialization strategy, ostensibly rooted in the economic philosophy of the 'new economists' and financed by the revenues from the petroleum sector in concert with foreign capital. The strategy envisaged the establishment of several energy-based industries engaged in the manufacture and export of industrial products -- steel and steel products, urea and metha1101 -- and using local natural gas as the energy source. The industries themselves wo~lld be joint ventures between the Trinidad-Tobago government and transnational corporations.

But other developments of a global nature were also at work in the 1970s. Fundamental transformations within global capitalism were leading to a restructuring of the international division of labor. In an effort to maximize capital accumulation, many industries began to flee the high wage advanced countries and to set up offshore operations in export processing zones of many Third World countries, exploiting the huge, unskilled and low wage reservoirs of labor found in these regions. This development was perhaps best exemplified by the maauiladora twin plant schemes on the Mexico - U.S. border. A plant on the U.S. side of the border would engage in high-skill (and hence high wage) operations while its twin on the Mexican side would be engaged in low-skill, lok wage operations, usually the final assembly of imported components.

Lured by generous tax exemptions, unrestricted profit repatriation, government provision of infrastructure and, of course, lou labor costs, several offshore iridustries were located in the territories of the English speaking Caribbean during the seventies. In the 1980s they proliferated rapidly, especially after 1984 in concert with the Reagan sponsored Caribbean Basin Initiative. The principal product groups were textiles and garments, and electronics, all produced wholly for export.

The failure of the industrialization initiatives of the 1970s -- the energy-

based strategy in Trinidad-Tobago and the export processing zones -- to generate a process of self-sustaining development in the English speaking Caribbean had becme quite evident by the mid to late eighties with the deepening of the economic crisis throughout the region. Like their predecessor, the Lewis strategy of "industrialisation by invitation", they have come to exhibit many of the structural features of dependent industrialization outlined before.

3.2. Industrialization, Economic Crisis and Poverty

Compared to the 1960s and 1970s , which were decades of relatively significant economic growth for most of the territories in the English speaking Caribbean, the decade of the eighties up to the present time has been a period of deepening economic crisis throughout the region. Growth rates of GDP have slowed down, actually becoming negative in Trinidad-Tobago and Guyanaby the late 1980s. Unemployment rates have soared, reaching 22% in Trinidad-Tobago, 21% in Jamaica and 18% in Barbados in 1987. The rate of growth of Gross Domestic Investment has also slowed significantly in most of the territories. These dismal figures have been accompanied b~~generalized balance of payments, fiscal, and debt crises throughout the region.'

But the question that remains to be answered is why has industrialization in the English speaking Caribbean persistently failed to address seriously the concerns of the region's poor. Here I draw on some of the recent work of Lakshman Yapa. In a recent article Yapa (1990) argues that the fundamental cause of poverty in the Third World lies in the current conceptualization of economic development -- what he calls the "developmentalist mode of thinking" -- and consequently in the flawed conceptualization of the nature of poverty itself.

The developmentalist mode of thinking (or what I call "paradigmatic thinking") can perhaps be best illustrated by a set of propositions:

(1) Poverty is a manifestation of underdevelopment. (2) Underdevelopment is a lack of development and results from a deficiency

in production. (3) Poverty, therefore, will be eradicated via development by increasing

production. This argument seems reasonable enough. Indeed, it constitutes the basis of development planning throughout the Third World today. Yapa (op.cit.) however, claims that poverty in the Third World, far from being eradicated by means of increased production, is a condition that continues to be created in the very{ act of product ion. Economic development, then, as it is currently conceptualized, is not the solution to the problem of Third World poverty but instead is one of its major causes.

The relationships between industrialization and poverty in the English speaking Caribbean can be traced through this process of production in the region. First, as was outlined in section two of the paper, industrialization in most of the territories of the region operates within the framework of depet~dent capitalism. Surplus extraction via the international circuit means a loss of productive resources to the local economy, resources which could be utilized for Lhe provision of basic goods to the mass economy of the poor.

At the local level surplus extraction, through corruption on the part of bureaucrats, politicians and other elements of the comprador bourgeoisie, also implies a Loss of resources to the basic goods economy of t2he poor. In the case of Trinidad-Tobago, for example, the instances of corruption were particularly

egregious during the second half of the seventies, the halcyon period of the petroleum boom, when the country was a virtual one-party state. In connection with the domestic circuit of surplus extraction, there is an important point which I think should be made. There is often a tendency to treat corruptiorl as idiosyncratic, as a characteristic of personality that is somehow inappropriate for irlclusion in a formal theory of underdevelopment. I disagree. The fact that corrupt.ion is endemic to the Third World and is a major drain on these econon~ies suggesLs to me that it is a structural feature inherent in t h e nature of depetlderi t capi tal ism.

The second set of relationships between industrialization and poverty it] the English speaking Caribbean derives from the logic of production itself. Under certain circumstances the creation of new use values which occurs in the act of production may be accompat~ied by the destruction of other preexisting use values of benefit to the poor. Yapa (op.cit.) terms this the "twin faces of productiorl" or the "creatio~l-destruction dialectic". For example, the promotion in the region of breakfast cereals, other highly processed foods, and American-owned fast food chains dealing in beef and chicken with high levels of cholesterol and saturated fat is being accompanied by a decline in healthy local diets which increasingly are being viewed as inferior. Other examples include infant formula being promoted at the expense of breast milk, and cheolical fertilizers at Lhe experlse of organic fertilizers. It is conceivable that in time the creation-destruction dialectic can lead to a "produc ti011 induced scar.city" as knowledge, technologies, etc. of benefit to the poor are neglected or evert forgotten.

1. An Alternative Strategy of Development for the Poor in the English Speaking Car ibbear~

The macro models of ir~dustrialization in the English speaking Caribbeart just reviewed are but one example of couritless development schemes throughout the Third World that have failed to solve the problem of povert.~. It is not surprisi~lg, then, thaL some Third World scttolars (admit Ledlg few in number) are begillni~lg to rethink completely their vieks on development. They argue that an a1 LerltaLive strategy of develogmenL for the poor lies in comu~un i ty eapowermen t at. tl~e 2rassrooLs level. This strategy arises from the routine, day to day acLiviLies of people as Lhey struggle to earn a living. As Yapa (op. cit. ) puts iL, " [These new] social movements ... are organized around specific subjects, have substantive goals, and are territorially based. They do not seek to capture staLe power through revolutions nor are they driven by a desire to create utopian societies starLir~g 011 a clean slate. They seek revolutionary changes in those areas of life that engage them". Given the sheer magnitude of tlie Thirrl World poverty problem and the fact that the developmer~ t es tab1 ishmen t has been indoctrinated into developmentalist thinking for such a long time, it is not surprisir~g that Lhe ma,jori ty of professional developmer~ t planners still regard grassroots iniaLives as amateur and idealistic.

.A compreherls i ve arid colieren t theory of commur~i Ly empokerrlren t has not 4 e t heen clev i sed. Yapa ( o p . ci t . ) however, discusses five components which he he 1 is1 t-; such a Lheory slrould possess. I shall review these briefly and elaboratt. or1 some

of them.

4 .1 . A S o c i a l Theory of Pover ty as a Produc t ion R e l a t i o n

T h i s argument h a s a l r e a d y been made, namely t h a t T h i r d World pover ty is n o t an o r j g i n a l s t a t e t o be e r a d i c a t e d by economic development (qua p r o d u c t i o n ) b u t is a cond i t io r l c r e a t e d i n t h e a c t o f p roduc t ion . Obviously , i t is on ly ghen a v a l i d t h e o r y o f p o v e r t y is a r t i c u l a t e d t h a t a p p r o p r i a t e s o l u t i o n s Lo pover ty can be d e v i s e d .

4 . 2 . Techniques o f Mass L i t e r a c y

I n o r d e r f o r t h e poor t o e scape from t h e g r i p o f pover ty they must unders tand t h e f o r c e s ( l o c a l , n a t i o n a l and g l o b a l ) t h a t a f f e c t t h e i r r e a l i t y . L i t e r a c y o f t h i s s o r t goes beyond t h e a b i l i t y t o merely r e a d and w r i t e . Paulo F r e i r e ' s "pedagogy o f t h e oppressed" th rough h i s t e c h n i q u e of " c o n s c i e n t i z a t i o n " is an example o f t h i s .

4 . 3 . A Program o f P e o p l e ' s S c i e n c e

A new type o f n a t u r a l s c i e n c e which is b i a s e d towards t h e poor h a s t o be c r e a t e d . The work of Michel Foucau l t (1980) on t h e genealogy of knowledge is , I b e l i e v e , q u i t e r e l e v a n t he re . Foucau l t claims t h a t t h e last t h r e e decades have w i t r iessed t h e emergence i n t h e developed world of " l o c a l i s e d knowledges" that. a r e beg inn ing t o a c t as c o u n t e r v a i l i n g f o r c e s a g a i n s t t h e c e n t r a l i z i n g power of Lhe marly hegemonic d i s c o u r s e s found w i t h i n i n d u s t r i a l c a p i talism. He c i t e s , f o r example, t h e c a s e of new developments i n p s y c h i a t r y thaL a r e d e c o n s t r u c t i t ~ g t h z t o L a l i z i r ~ g d i s c o u r s e of Freudianism. These l o c a l i z e d knowledges have, f o r a long t ime, beer1 r e g a r d e d by hegemonic d i s c o u r s e s as i l l e g i t i m a t e o r i n f e r i o r .

S i m i l a r f o r c e s , I b e l i e v e , are a t work i n tlie T h i r d World and g r a s s r o o t s movemet1 ts mus t e x p l o i t t h e s e developments. The renewed i n t e r e s t by t h e AppropriaLe Tech~lology movement i n e thnobota l iy , f o l k remedies and o t h e r forms o f ind igenous knowledge, which were c o n s i d e r e d t o be i l l e g i t i m a L e o r i n f e r i o r krlowledges d u r i n g c o l o n i a l t imes , are good examples.

4.4 . A Production-Based P o l i t i c s

Pover ty is, i n t h e f i n a l a n a l y s i s , a r e l a t i o n s h i p o f power. I t i s t h e r e f o r e i r i e x t r i c a b l y l i n k e d t o p o l i t i c s . I n h i s theory o f h i s t o r i c a l m a t e r i a l i s m Marx showed how changes i n t h e p r o d u c t i v e f o r c e s o f s o c i e t y ( i n p a r t i c u l a r , t echno logy) led t o t rar ls f o rmat ions i n s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s and, u l t i m a t e l y , t o changes i n Lhe s u p e r s t r u c t u r e F i g . ) . T h i s is p r e c i s e l y t h e t a s k o f t h e g r a s s r o o t s ruovemerit: t o c r e a t e a1 t e r n a t i v e p r o d u c t i v e f o r c e s ( b a s e d on a peop les ' s c i e n c e , eLc. a l l u d e d Lo above) which would i n L;ime r e s t r u c t u r e s o c i a l relal . ion; i n f a v o r o f Lhe poor and u l t i m a t e l y f o s t e r a r ~ o l i L i c s oS conrmur1i.t~- empokerment. Yapa ( op. z i L. ) te rms t h i s a "productiorl-based p o l i t i c s " .

Economic - Structure

Social Pelations of Production

The Productive Forces of Society

Society or - The Social

Formation

Figurei; : Marx's Materialist Conception of History

4 .5 . A Theory of t h e Organizatiori of S o c i a l Movements

F i n a l l y , we need t o understand b e t t e r how new s o c i a l movemenLs a c t u a l l y func t ion . The r e sea rche r , h imse l f , has a c r u c i a l r o l e t o p lay i n t h i s regard. The modernist development paradigms of n e o c l a s s i c a l economics and r a d i c a l p o l i t i c a l economy a r e both c h a r a c t e r i z e d by the ' c u l t of t he expe r t ' arid maintain a sub jec t -ob j ec t r e l a t i o n s h i p wi th t h e i r a r e a of s tudy. A s t r a t e g y of community empowerment, 011 t h e o t h e r hand, r e q u i r e s t h a t t h e r e sea rche r a c t i v e l y p a r t i c i p a t e i11 the a c t i o n , t ak ing i n t o cons ide ra t i on the a s p i r a t i o n s and c a p a c i t i e s of t h e people. Orlarido F a l s Borda 's i deas on " p a r t i c i p a t o r y a c t i o n research" are r e l evan t i n t h i s ins tance .

5.New S o c i a l Movements i n . t l i e Engl i sh Speaking Caribbean

Community empowerment through g r a s s r o o t s a c t i v i t y is by no means a completely recerr L pheriomenoti. Over tlte p a s t decade, however, new s o c i a l movements have p r o l i f e r a t e d r a p i d l y i n va r ious p a r t s of t he Third World (Table 1 ) . In I n d i a l o c a l groups number i t 1 the t e n s of thousands arld t h e r e a r e some twelve thousand independent development o rgan iza t ions . In B r a z i l t h e r e are about one hundred thousand Cliris tiari Base Communi ties, arid 1 ,041 irideper~den t development o rgan iza t ions . I n S r i Lanka t h e r a p i d l y growing Sarvodaya v i l l a g e awakening movenie~it i t ic ludes over 8,000 v i l l a g e s , one- th i rd of the coun t ry ' s t o t a l , arid some th ree mi l l i on people who a r e involved i n a c t i v i t i e s t h a t range from prevent ive hea l th care Lo coopera t ive c r a f t s p r o j e c t s . C lea r ly , a new form of s o c i a l and ecot~omic o rgan iza t ion is i n the making i n many c o u n t r i e s of t h e developing world.

Below I p r e sen t b r i e f l y a s e l e c t e d list of new s o c i a l moven~etlts i n soole ( ~ f Ltie t e r r i t o r i e s of the Engl ish speaking Caribbean. The obJecLive is to merely g ive a setlse of Ltle resources t h a t a r e a v a i l a b l e i t 1 the reg ion , resources t h a t could be used to fashion an a l t e r n a t i v e model of developmer~t. f o r Idhe poor.

1. BREAST IS BEST (BIB) The BIB league is a cha r t e r ed Bel izean non governmental o rgan iza t i an f o ~ ~ n d e d i ~ i 1979 by a group of B e l i z e a ~ ~ women who were co~icerried about breas t - feed ing , illfa11 t feeding p r a c t i c e s , and paren t ing .

2 . BELIZE RURAL WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION (BRWA) BRWA is a p r i v a t e , non-prof i t o rgan iza t ion of r u r a l women committed t o improving t h e i r communities. I t was e s t a b l i s h e d o f f i c i a l l y in 1987. I t has 26 member groups with a t o t a l memberstiip of some 400 r u r a l women arid men.

Table 1: Grassroots Organizations in Selected Developing Countries, Late Eighties

Country Description

Bangladah 1,200 independent develo ment organizations formed since 1971, par-

landless popuhtion. P ticubdy active in heath and income generation with large

Brazil Enormous growth m community action since democadzation in early ei htia: 100.000 Christian Base Communitin with 3 million membm; I,& nei@bahmd assodations in S o Paulo; landless peasant p u p s pmliferabng: 1,041 Independent development organhtions.

Burkina Faso Naam grassmots asant movement has 2,SOO p u p s partiapaHng in dry-season self-her similar movemenb formkg m Snegal. Mamitania, 4: Mali, Nlger, and ogo.

India 9sung Gndhian &-help tradition motes soda1 welfare, app~opriate technology, and tree planting loca P" groups number in at least the tens of thousands, independent developmmt oganiza tions estimated at tzm.

Indonesia 600 independent dev~!iopment p u p s w d in mvironmcntal p m t d o n al- peasant imgation groups muitiplying. 16,232 women's p u p s with 637.000 membm registered in 1984, quad- ruple the 1980 number (1988 a t i m a t a range up to 25.000); many start u savings clubs. Mdve arban g r a s m h movement active In squatter settlements of major c i w at least 2U) independent development organizations. Vital women's self-help muvement in Lima's bnpovcrishcd shantytowns. with 1,500 community kitchms; 300 independent development organi- zations.

Philippim 3,000-5,000 Christian Base Communities form focal points for local ac- tion.

Sri Lanka Rapidly growing Sarvodaya Shramadana village awakening movement includes over 8.000 villa a, one-third of total in country; 3 million p!o- 7 ple involved in range o efforts. particuhrly work parties, education, preventive health care. and codpcratiae crrfts projects.

Zimbabwe Small-farmer groups throughout country have estimated membenhi of 400,a30,80 pmxnt women; acthe women's community gadens mu tiplying.

P

Sourrt: Woddwatch Institute, based on numerous sources.

Dominica

1. SMALL PROJECTS ASSISTANCE TEAM (SPAT) The e f f o r t s f o r n a t i o n a l r e c o n s t r u c t i o r ~ a f t e r t h e 1979 d e v a s t a t i o n of H u r r i c a n e David l e d t o t h e fo rmat ion of a n o n - p r o f i t , non-governmental o r g a n i z a t i o n , which was r e g i s t e r e d i n 1981 as Small P r o j e c t s A s s i s t a n c e Team.

2 . MOVEMENT FOR CULTURAL AWARENESS (MCA) The o r i g i n o f t h e Movement f o r C u l t u r a l Awareness d a t e s back t o December 1978 when i t was t h e C u l t u r a l Committee of t h e Na t iona l Youth Counc i l . With t h e d i s s o l u t i o n of t h e NYC i n 1981, t h e Committee was renamed t h e Movement f o r C u l t u r a l Awareness. S i n c e 1983, MCA's work h a s focussed on popu la r t h e a t r e a ~ r d p o p u l a r r e s e a r c h .

1. GRENADA POPULAR THEATRE ORGANIZATION (GPTO) GPTO was e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1986. I t s o b j e c t i v e s a r e t o use p o p u l a r t h e a t r e t o m o b i l i z e m a r g i n a l i z e d sectors f o r a c t i o n aimed a t s o l v i n g problems t h a t h i n d e r Lhe i r development, and t o deve lop and p r e s e r v e ind igenous a r t and c u l t u r e .

2 , GRENADA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (GRENCODA) GRENCODA is a n o n - p r o f i t , non-governmental agency formed i u 1985 t o assist m a r g i n a l i z e d s o c i a l s e c t o r s -- e s p e c i a l l y i n r u r a l a r e a s -- i n d e v e l o p i n g and improv i~ lg themse lves and t h e i r communities.

Jamaica

1. PROJECTS FOR PEOPLE LIbIITED (PFP) Pro . jec ts f o r People was e s t a b l i s h e d i n November 1379. I t s o b j e c t i v e s a r e t o empower t h e poor and t o improve Lheir s t a n d a r d o f l i v i n g through p r o j e c t s t h a t car1 g e n e r a t e income and employment, and through t r a i n i n g and educa t io t i t o i l l c r e a s e awareness .

2 . SISTREN THEATRE COLLECTIVE SISTREN was e s t a b l i s h e d i n May o f 1977. I t developed from t h e i n i t i a t i v e of a g roup o f working-class women, and is b e s t kr~own f o r i ts p o p u l a r t h e a t r e work. I t s o b j e c t i v e s a r e t o u s e popular t h e a t r e t o o r g a n i z e women and t o b u i l d community groups.

S t . Luc ia - --

1. TEYAT PEP-LA E s t a b l i s h e d i n 1983, Teyat Pep-La (Popula r T h e a t r e ) grew o u t o f a need f o r a l t e r n a t i v e e d u c a t i o n t e c h n i q u e s and f o r a developmental e lement i n community r e c r e a t i o n . I t s o b j e c t i v e s are t o u s e drama as a v e h i c l e f o r f o l k communication and s o c i a l development, and t o s t i m u l a t e t h e u s e o f popula r t h e a t r e as a means o f c l a r i f y i n g and t a c k l i n g community development i s s u e s .

(The Development Gap, n. d . )

6. Conclusion

The top-down, macro models o f i n d u s t r i a l i z a t i o n i n o p e r a t i o n i n t h e Engl i sh s p e a k i n g Car ibbean o v e r t h e p a s t t h r e e decades have f a i l e d t o s o l v e t h e problem o f pover ty i n t h e reg ion . T h e i r f a i l u r e can , f i r s t ; of a l l , b e t r a c e d t o t h e r e g i o n ' s p o s i t ion as a deperlderlt e lement i n t h e g l o b a l system of c a p i ta l . Second, arid more fundamental ly , t h e i r f a i l u r e d e r i v e s from t h e p e r p e t u a t i o n of an hegemonic ecoriomic d i s c o u r s e r o o t e d i n t h e phi losophy o f developmenLalism, arid cotisequen t l y from a flawed c o n c e p t u a l i z a t i o n o f t h e n a t u r e o f pover ty i t s e l f .

Deere e t a l , (1990 : 1 4 ) e x p r e s s q u i t e s u c c i l ~ c t l y t h e development dilemma iri t h e reg ion :

Today t h e development d e b a t e i n t h e Caribbean is s e t f o r t h i n q u i t e c l e a r terms: On t h e one hand is t h e p o s i t i o n t h a t s e e k s t o f u r t l t s r t h e regio11's i n c o r p o r a t i o n t o t h e world economy, c a l l i n g f o r a r e d u c t i o n i n s t a t e i n t e r v e n t i o r ~ and l e s s s u p p o r t f o r measures t o reduce p o v e r t y o r c l a s s , race and gender i ~ ~ e q u i t i e s . 011 t h e o t h e r hand is a p o s i t i o r ~ t h a t s e e k s t o e l a b o r a t e a r e g i o n a l economic a l t e r n a L i v e t h a t r e s p o ~ ~ d s t o Ll~e s o c i a l needs o f t h e m a j o r i t y and n o t to t h e s t r u c t u r a l needs of c a p i t a l .

The argumeri t t h a t I have a t tempted t o make i n t h i s b r i e f paper is t h a t communi t,y empowerme~lt a t t h e g r a s s r o o t s l e v e l , v i a new s o c i a l movements thaL a r e s p r i n g ing up throughout t h e reg ion , can represe r i t such a regior ia l economic a1 t e r n a t i v e .

Notes

1. By t h e e a r l y 1970s Western Europe and Japan had r e s u r g e d a s major a c t o r s i n t h e g l o b a l economy, t h e r e b y t h r e a t e n i n g t h e c o m p e t i t i v e p o s i t i o n o f t h e U. S. Moreover, t h e abandonment o f t h e B r e t t o n Woods agreement i n t h e e a r l y s e v e n t i e s mearit t h a t t h e U.S. d o l l a r was 110 l o n g e r t h e b a s i s o f t;he post-war f i n a n c i a l sys tem. F i n a l l y , t h e l a t e s e v e n t i e s a l s o saw t h e e r o s i o n o f U.S. g l o b a l m i l i t a r y s u p e r i o r i t y (Deere e t a1 . ,1990: 133-134).

2 . For an e x c e l l e n t t r e a t m e n t of t h e g e n e s i s and subsequen t development of t h e economic c r i s i s i n t h e r e g i o n , see Deere at a 1 . ( 1 9 9 0 ) : 17-50.

References

Baran, Paul (1957) The Political Economy of Growth, New York, Monthly Review Press

Beckford, George (1972) Persistent Poverty: Underdevelopment in Planttation Economies of the Third World, New York, Oxford University Press

Deere, Carmen D. et al. (1990) In the Shadows of the Sun: Caribbean Develo~ment Alternatives and U.S. Policy, Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press

Demas, William (1970) _The Political-Economy of the English Speaking Caril.lbbeean, Bridgetown, Barbados, CADEC

The Development Gap (n.d.1 CNIRD Directory, The Development Gap, Washington, D.C.

Dos Santos, Theotonio (1970) "The Structure of Dependence," American-Eou~mic Review, 60(2): 231-236

ECLA (1949) Economic Study of Latin America, New York, United Nations

Foucault, Michel (1980) PowerLKnowledge, New York, Pantheon Books

Frank, Andre Gunder (1967) Capitalism and Underdevelopment in Latin America:- Historical SLudies of Chile and Brazil, New York, Monthly Review Press

Harvey, David (1982) The Limits to Capital, Oxford

Laclau, Ernesto (1971) "Feudalism and Capitalism in Latin America," New Left . Review, 67( May-June) :19-37

Lewis, W.Arthur (1950) "The Industrialisation of the British West; Indies," Caribbean Economic Review, 2(1): 1-53

Meeropol, Michael (1972) "Towards a Political Economy Analysis of Underdevelopment," Review of Radical Political Economics, 1(1): 77-108

Palma, Gabriel (1978) "Dependency: A Formal Theory of Underdevelopment or a Me thodology for the Analysis of Concrete Si tuat ions of Underdevelopment'?, " World Development, 6(July-December): 881-924

Rey, Pierre-Philippe (1975) "The Lineage Mode of Production," Critiaueof AnLhrouology, 3(Spring) :27-79

Tapa, Lakshman (1990) "Social Theorizing of Community EmpowermenL," paper presetited at the Annual Meeting of the Association of Americat~ Geographers, Toronbo, Carrada, April 19-22