Our World

Notes Chapter 5

Population and Settlement: Densely Settled Islands and Rimland Frontiers
• 86% of the region’s population is concentrated on the four islands of the Greater Antilles

Demographic Trends
• Region is currently growing at a rate of 1.3%
– Fertility Decline
• Cuba and Barbados have lowest RNI (rate of natural increase)
– Education of women and out-migration responsible
– The Rise of HIV/AIDS
• Infection rate more than three times that of North America
• More than 2% of the Caribbean population between ages 15 and 49 has HIV/AIDS

Emigration
• Caribbean diaspora: the economic flight of Caribbean peoples across the globe

The Rural-Urban Continuum
• Plantation and subsistence farming shaped settlement patterns
– Farmlands owned by elite; small plots for subsistence agriculture
– No effort to develop major urban centers
• Rural-to-urban migration since 1960s
– Causes: mechanization of agriculture, offshore industrialization, and rapid population growth
» 60% of region today is classified as urban
– Housing
• Decrease in rural jobs played a major role in the surge in urbanization
• As urbanization occurred, thousands poured into the cities
– Erected shantytowns; filled informal sector
» Electricity pirated from power lines
• In Cuba, government-built apartment blocks reflect socialism

Cultural Coherence and Diversity
• Region is comprised of millions of descendants of ethnically distinct individuals (Africa, Asia, Europe)
• Creolization – process in which African and European cultures are blended in the Caribbean

The Cultural Imprint of Colonialism
• Plantation system destroyed indigenous systems and people and replaced them with different social systems and cultures through slavery
– Plantation America
• Designates a cultural region extending from midway up coast of Brazil through the Guianas and the Caribbean into southeastern U.S.
• Characteristics include European elite ruling class dependent on African labor force
– Mono-crop production: a single commodity, such as sugar
– Asian Immigration
• Result of colonial governments freeing slaves by mid 19th cent.
– Indentured labor: workers contracted for a set period of time
• Largest Asian populations in Suriname, Guyana, Trinidad, and Tobago
– More than 1/3 of Surinamese population is South Asian (from India)

• Creating a Neo-Africa
• Beginning in the 16th century, African diaspora – forced removal of Africans from their native area
– At least 10 million were brought to the Americas, and 2 million died en route
– Influx of enslaved Africans, plus elimination of most indigenous peoples
– Maroon Societies
• Communities of runaway slaves (“Maroons”)
– Many short-lived, but others survived and helped African traditions survive
– African Religions
• Most strongly associated with northeastern Brazil and the Caribbean
• Voodoo most widely practiced

• Creolization and Caribbean Identity
• Creolization: blending of African, European, Amerindian cultural elements into a unique system
– Language
• Spanish (24 million), French (8 million), English (6 million), Dutch (500,000)
• In some places, new languages have emerged
– Patois (French Creole) spoken in Haiti
– Creole languages are an expression of nationalism
– Music
• Several forms emerged in the region
– Reggae, calypso, merengue, rumba, zouk, Afro-Caribbean, others
– Steel drums

Geopolitical Framework
Monroe Doctrine: proclaimed that U.S. would not tolerate European military involvement in Western Hemisphere
– Example of neocolonialism: economic and political strategies that powerful states use to extend their control over other, weaker states.
• Life in the “American Backyard”
• U.S. maintains a controlling attitude toward the Caribbean
– Often designed to protect U.S. business interests, sometimes at the expense of local autonomy and democracy
• U.S. imposes its will via economic and military force
– Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
• Is a commonwealth of the U.S., its people are U.S. citizens
• Independence movements seek secession from U.S.

– Cuba and Regional Politics
• Cuba began as a Spanish colony
– Gained freedom in 1898
– Revolution brought Fidel Castro to power in 1959
» He nationalized economy and established ties with U.S.S.R.
– Cuban Missile Crisis challenged U.S. Caribbean dominance

• Independence and Integration
– Independence Movements
• Haiti: slaves revolted, gained independence in 1804
• Today, most Caribbean countries are independent
– Regional Integration
• Beginning in the 1960s, experiments with regional trade associations to improve economic competitiveness
– Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) – proposed regional industrialization and creation of Caribbean Development Bank to help poorer states
» 13 full members (former English colonies)

Economic and Social Development: From Cane Fields to Cruise Ships
• From Fields to Factories and Resorts
• Historically linked to world economy through agriculture
• Tourism, offshore banking, assembly plants more important now
– Sugar
• Crucial to the economic history of the Caribbean
• Importance of sugarcane has declined somewhat
– Since 1990 Cuban sugarcane harvest reduced by 50%
– The Banana Wars
• Major exporters are in Latin America (not Caribbean)
– Several states in Lesser Antilles are dependent on banana production
– Sales depend on trade agreements and consumer whims
– Experiments with other crops to reduce dependency on bananas
– Assembly-Plant Industrialization
• Foreign companies invited to build factories
– Free trade zones (FTZs): duty-free and tax-exempt industrial parks to attract foreign corporations
– Companies may benefit more than host countries
• Assembly plants found in major cities
– Offshore Banking
• Offers specialized services that are confidential and tax-exempt
• Localities make money from registration fees, not taxes
– Bahamas ranked 3rd in 1976, but now 15th
• Proximity to U.S. is appealing
• Attracts money from drug trade
• From Fields to Factories and Resorts (cont.)
– Tourism
• Cuba’s earlier role as a tourist destination stopped with rise of Castro
• Other islands now popular
– Five islands hosted 70% of the 14 million tourists who came to the region in 1999 (Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Cuba)
• Tourism is dependent on overall health of world economy and is vulnerable to natural disasters
• Capital leakage: serious problem involving huge gap between gross receipts and total tourist dollars that remain in Caribbean
– Many corporate headquarters are outside of the region, and profits flow out of the host country
• Social Development
• Overall improvements socially, but Haiti is still in bad shape
– Education
• Low illiteracy in Cuba and English colonies
• Brain drain: a large percentage of the best-educated people leave the region
– Status of Women
• Many men leave home for seasonal work
• Women control many activities, but lack the status of men
– Labor-Related Migration
• Intra-regional, seasonal migration is traditional
• Remittances – monies sent back home

posted by Mrs Hartman @ 10/17/2006 01:34:00 PM