GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

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                                                                                     GLOBAL

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

                                                                            Copyright © 2000 International Development Options

                                                                                               All Rights Reserved

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Volume Two                                                                      Winter 1999-Spring 2000                                                        Numbers 1-2.

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                                       THEME: CARIBBEAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES: ISSUES AND OPTIONS

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      GLOBALIZATION, RESTRUCTURING AND GEN­DER IN CARIBBEAN AGRICULTURE

 

      Laura T. Raynolds

     Department of Sociology

     Colorado State University

     Fort Collins, CO 80523

     Published Online: December 15, 2016

 

 

 

     ABSTRACT

 

This article explores the ongoing transformations in Caribbean agriculture brought on by the spread of neoliberal policies and shifting patterns of global economic competition.  A case study of the Domini­can Republic illuminates three foci of change: (1) the political redirec­tion of national agriculture toward new agro-export and domestic-agro-industrial markets; (2) the reorganization of production around more flexible plantation and contract models; and (3) the casualization of work through the increasing incorpora­tion of women into rural labor forces.  This analysis facilitates a consideration of the extent to which the forms and bases of competition in agriculture are changing and the implications of these changes for location-specific comparative advantage in the Caribbean.  The article concludes by recognizing some important openings for Caribbean regional initiatives, nation states, and popular movements to challenge agricultural price competi­tion based on the undervaluation of local populations and environ­mental resources by deepening consumer and producer links in a manner suggested by the growing "Fair Trade" movement.

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