The Caribbean Banana Trade From Colonialism to Globalization

by Clegg, Peter; Shaw, Timothy M.

• ISBN13: 9780333998496
• ISBN10: 0333998499
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-11
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The Caribbean banana trade is a controversial issue within international affairs, and this book investigates the complex political relationships between the traditional actors in the trade and how the issues of colonialism and globalization have shaped their interactions. It presents a detailed analysis of the development of the Caribbean banana trade and analyzes why the influence and importance of the traditional actors within the trade has diminished over the last thirty years.

Author Biography

Peter Clegg is on the Faculty of Economics and Social Science at the University of the West of England.

Timothy M. Shaw is Professor of Political Science and International Development Studies at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	x
List of Tables	xi
Conversion Table	xii
List of Abbreviations	xiii
Map of the Caribbean	xiv
Introduction	1	(23)
The analytical framework	2	(19)
Structure	21	(3)
The Effect of Monopoly Power and the Establishment of Imperial Preference	24	(29)
The origins of a banana export trade in Jamaica	24	(1)
The development of a large-scale UK banana trade and a challenge to American corporate power	25	(10)
The First World War: a time of retrenchment	35	(2)
The push for a new approach: the Imperial Economic Committee and further challenges to American corporate power	37	(7)
Economic difficulties for the UK and the introduction of preferential access for Colonial banana producers	44	(2)
The threat to market competition and the need for UK government action	46	(5)
Chapter conclusion	51	(2)
The Second World War and its Aftermath: Political Control and Corporate Adjustment	53	(21)
The first year of war: government action and corporate sensitivity	53	(5)
The end of banana imports into the UK	58	(2)
The resurrection of the UK banana trade	60	(3)
The return of the banana trade to private hands	63	(9)
Chapter conclusion	72	(2)
Competition and Accommodation: the Development of the Windward Islands Banana Export Trade and the Problems of Caribbean Rivalry	74	(26)
The establishment of a Windward Islands banana export trade to the UK	74	(8)
The establishment of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the issue of market liberalization	82	(3)
Changing market circumstances and increasing competition between Jamaican and Windward Islands banana supplies	85	(2)
The need for conciliation: the Tripartite Talks and the subsequent agreement	87	(2)
The beginnings of Caribbean decline and a reassessment of market needs	89	(4)
An institutionalization of the interests within the UK banana trade	93	(5)
Chapter conclusion	98	(2)
The EEC and the Lome Convention: a Weakening of the National Approach	100	(19)
The Treaty of Rome and the different national import policies	100	(2)
The prelude to EEC membership and the concerns of the traditional suppliers	102	(1)
The Lome construct: developing a new institutional relationship	103	(8)
The re-emergence of multinational corporate influence	111	(3)
Challenges to the balance of UK banana-market interests and the growing significance of dollar imports	114	(4)
Chapter conclusion	118	(1)
The Creation of a Single European Market in Bananas and the Exploiting of Networks of Influence	119	(25)
The rationale for a European single market	119	(1)
The process of policy formulation and the construction of coalitions of interest	120	(3)
The importance of the banana protocol in the Fourth Lome Convention	123	(5)
The issue of tariffication: the Dunkel Compromise and the shadow of GATT	128	(3)
The formal single market proposal and the return of tariffication	131	(4)
The final negotiations	135	(3)
The first challenges to the common market organization	138	(3)
Chapter conclusion	141	(3)
The Ultimate Challenge: the WTO and the Marginalization of Caribbean Interests	144	(30)
The second GATT challenge and the EU's attempt to co-opt the complainants	144	(4)
The increasing interest of the US in the banana dispute	148	(4)
The first WTO Panel: a challenge to the basis of the EU regime	152	(6)
The EU reforms its banana regime: an attempted accommodation between the WTO and the Lome Convention	158	(1)
The second WTO Panel: a challenge to the rule-driven framework	159	(7)
The politics of fatigue: a final settlement	166	(4)
Coda: The fracturing of Caribbean interests	170	(3)
Chapter conclusion	173	(1)
Conclusion	174	(11)
Appendix: Banana Imports to the United Kingdom and the European Union	185	(6)
Interviews	191	(3)
Bibliography	194	(14)
Index	208