The Political Economy of Small Tropical Islands

The Importance of Being Small

Contributions by Robert Aldrich, John Cameron, John Connell, Fred Constant, Henrique Pinto da Costa, Mike Faber, David Hamilton-Jones, Helen M. Hintjens, Jean Houbert, David Lowenthal, David Marlow, Malyn Newitt, Gordon Titchener Edited by Helen M. Hintjens, Malyn Newitt

Publication date:

01 February 1992

Length of book:

268 pages

Publisher

University of Exeter Press

Dimensions:

234x156mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780859893725

This book is a comparative study of a number of dependent and independent tropical islands and archipelagos. Its contributors seek to answer a number of vital questions affecting the security, political status and economic development of some of the world's smallest and most remote communities.

It asks why three of France's former colonies opted for full departmental status and what range of options are open to the remaining British and Dutch island dependencies. It also looks at security issues, contrasting the privileged position of Réunion and Mauritius with the precarious survival of Comoros and São Tomé since their independence in 1975. The development strategies of various islands are critically examined-Maldives, Micronesia, Fiji, the Cook Islands and São Tomé and Príncipe coming under individual scrutiny. The legacy of colonial rule has been a high propensity to import and a dependence on a narrow range of marketable crops. The book argues that development strategies must take into account the need to support populations on remote islands, that economic development must be adapted to ecological constraints and traditional social structures, and that shipping plays and will continue to play a key role in any consideration of the future of island states.

Contents: Introduction, Malyn Newitt; small tropical islands - a general overview, David Lowenthal; Europe's overseas territories - vestiges of colonialism or windows on the worlds, John Connell and Robert Aldrich; constitutional change, external assistance and economic development in small islands - the case of Montserrat, David Marlow; alternative forms of decolonization in the East Caribbean - the comparative politics of the non-Sovereign Islands, Fred Constant; France's love children? the French overseas departments, Helen M. Hintjenns; the perils of being a microstate - Sao Tome and the Comoros Islands since independence, Malyn Newitt; the Mascareignes, the Seychelles and the Chagos, islands with a French connection - security in a decolonized Indian Ocean, Jean Houbert; towards an alternative development policy for Sao Tome and Principe, Henrique Pinto Da Costa; micro-states, increasing integration and awkward imperatives of adjustment - the case of the Republic of the Maldives, Mike Faber; the federated states of Micronesia - is there a pacific way to avoid a Mirab society?, John Cameron.