The nexus between vulnerabilities and violence in the Caribbean*. Issue 2 (1st February 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Knight, W. Andy
• Is Part Of: Third world quarterly. Volume 40:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 405
• Page End: 424
• Publication Date: 2019-02-01
• Subjects: Caribbean -- small states -- security threats -- violence -- vulnerabilities -- governance; Developing countries -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Developing countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; 909.09724
• DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2019.1576518
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-6597

Abstract

Abstract: This article analyses the nexus between the Caribbean's manifold vulnerabilities and the direct and structural violence evident throughout the region's history. It argues that Caribbean states are threatened not only by direct violence but also by the structural violence permeating in impoverished and marginalised sectors of the state–society complex. Both forms of violence are attributable to the historical legacy of colonisation, to US paternalism and hegemonic dominance in the post-colonial era, and to the persistence of the coloniality of power, even after Caribbean states won their independence from European imperial powers. Today, the region is, per capita, one of the most violent areas on the globe. Evidence of concatenated violence is growing across this region, demonstrating the difficulty small underdeveloped states have in addressing threats to their security, independence, economic viability, and continued existence in the intermestic environment within which they operate.