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Geopolitics of the Caribbean: Ministates in a wider world
396
Book reviews
concludes the chapter with a review of related work, including world-systems, the capitalist crisis, and industrialization of the periphery. The post-dependency theories are generally posited on a much smaller scale and tend to be place-specific. In treating the articulation of modes of production, Forbes argues that the dominant impulse in the theoretical geographical expansion of capitalism is the securing of cheap supplies of labour. This theory is fundamentally different from dependency theory in that it shifts the focus from exchange to the structure of production and thus is more in keeping with Marxist analysis. The theory is criticized on several counts, including its ‘mechanical materialism’, its over-reliance on the State, its failure to embrace the totality of the system, and its neglect of the process of class formation. Class analysis is viewed more favourably than previous theories, especially since it is a response to economism. Forbes argues that class analysis contributes to underdevelopment theory in that it gives recognition to the role of people, explains the method of appropriating surplus by the dominant class, explains recent political events, and may help in the fight against underdevelopment. In typical fairness, Forbes provides a critique of his ‘optimistic’ and ‘overstated’ appraisal of class analysis based on the weakness and variability of the concept of class itself. Forbes concludes his book by examining three problematic urban processes in the Third World -regional uneven development, rural-urban migration and circulation, and urban informal labour markets and urban class formation. Forbes claims that: ‘Implicit in the argument is the need to restore balance to underdevelopment research by shifting it away from political economy and towards the complex array of social processes within which underdevelopment is embedded’. In his approach to the problem of regionai uneven development, he embraces, perhaps too affectionately, the structurationist viewpoint. Structuration is seen as much more than a simple compromise between competing theories and reality. Rather it adds ‘a means of recognizing the significance of human action in space’. Whether structuration is powerful enough to achieve this ultimate goal of the geography of development and human geography in general remains to be seen. Structurationist approaches are incorporated in the chapter on migration Forbes gives support to his optimistic claims for this approach by smoothly combining diverse theories with casespecific information in his analysis. He concludes that circular migration is a reasonably ordered response to the changing material conditions in the villages and cities of Indonesia.
The ‘Conflict and class in the city’ chapter is more tentative and speculative in nature. After reviewing the inadequacies of informal sector strategies, Forbes reverts to class analysis and structuration in an attempt to explam class formation and conflict. This is an ambitious chapter which does not wholly succeed in its aims. The analysis identifies a class structure that is ‘embryonic’ and a conflict that is ‘likely’ to be ‘different’ from the ‘classic models of social conflict’. The less than conclusive results of this chapter neither invalidate nor strongly support the utility of structuration as a paradigm. In a brief concluding chapter, Forbes personalizes his approach to development and exhorts geographers to ‘look more deeply at the relationship between human agency and social structure, and, particularly, at the mediation of context-space and place-in the political process’. This book is an admirable start to that analysis. Its review chapters are the best to be found in the literature and its substantive chapters are only mildly flawed by a rare commodity in this area-enthusiasm. Gary L. Gaife University of Colorado, Boulder and Harvard University, Cambridge
Geo~ol~t~c.~of the Cu~bb~~: M~n~s~tes in a Wider World, T. D. Anderson, Praeger, New York, 1984, xiii+ 175 pp., $26.95. Geopolitics and Conflict in South America: Quarrels among Neighbors, J. Child, Praeger, New York, 1985, x+ 197 pp., $34.95. Geopolitics has been in disrepute in the United States since General Haushofer so badIy distorted it in the service of German imperialism in the 1930s and 1940s. Since then, except for a scattering of articles in newspapers and professional journals, there has been little serious geopolitical analysis outside military journals in the United States. Elsewhere in the world, and most importantly in Latin America, geopolitical thinking and writing is not only respectable, but even admired, popular and introduced in the early years of school curricula. The Hoover Institution has rendered a considerable service by bringing out these two books, the latest in their Politics in Latin America series. Regardless of one’s reactions to the viewpoints expressed in these books, geopolitics is a legitimate and useful branch of political geography and does not have to be nationalistic in tone or purpose. These books should help to stimulate a renewed interest
Book reviews
in the subject
outside Latin America. Professor Anderson has taught geography at several colleges and universities in the United States and has lectured in Venezuela. He has written on a number of topics and his broad background is reflected in this bcok on the Caribbean. The book has five chapters: an intro duction which presents varied factual information about the region; geographic setting, including location, political, physical and economic factors: historical background, from the beginning to the present; contemporary gee political issues, including maritime boundaries, petroleum trade, democracy as a geopolitical element, non-state actors, the role of Cuba and other power centers, and recent US policies toward the Caribbean; and foreign policy options in a region of change. Each chapter is followed by a list of references, which this reviewer would prefer to see grouped at the end of the book. There is an appendix, ‘Comparative press freedoms of countries of the Caribbean Rim: criteria’, taken from an unpublished geography paper from Anderson’s institution, Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. There are eight original maps, seven tables and a good index. Although Anderson discusses a wide range of situations and issues, one looks in vain for an underlying geopolitical theory that might be usefully applied in the Caribbean. His recommendations-support for President Reagan’s Caribbean Basin Initiative, cooperation with the ministates, consistent emphasis on human rights in the region-are neither original nor gee political nor graced with any suggestions for implementation. Finally, a relatively minor criticism: the manuscript could have benefitted from one more good proofreading; there are an unacceptably large number of typographical errors. Although this book is unlikely to become a classic, it is worth reading, and for specialists, worth having on the shelf. The Child book, on the other hand, is much more substantial and more truly geopolitical, perhaps because it is based largely on South American sources. Professor Child was born in Buenos Aires and lived in South America for 19 years. After retiring from the United States army as a lieutenant-colonel, he began teaching Spanish and Latin American Studies at The American University in Washington. He has three books and several articles in print, all dealing with Latin America and most stressing geopolitics. Perhaps for these reasons he has a surer grasp of geopolitical concepts than Anderson, and has produced a most useful book. Chid’s introduction consists of two chapters on geopolitics and on the geography of conflict in the Western hemisphere. Part Two analyzes in
397
detail the nature and impact of geopolitical thinking in South America, first in individual countries and then through a series of specific geopolitical concepts. Part Three consists of case studies: the Beagle Channel, Bolivia’s quest for a sovereign outlet to the sea, the Peru-Ecuador territorial dispute, the Argentine-Brazilian l+Jdl-y, tensions in the buffer states, the Falklands dispute, control over the South Atlantic and Antarctica, and the boundary and territorial disputes between Nicaragua and Colombia, Colombia and Venezuela, Venezuela and Guyana, Guyana and Suriname, and several lesser ones. The conclusions are thoughtful, clearly expressed, and most interesting. There are 19 illustrations, mostly maps and postage stamps, and more numerous and more detailed notes than in the Anderson book, an extensive bibliography and a good index. Child’s work has been of consistently high quality, and this book incorporates both much of his earlier work and considerable new material. It is well written, the analyses are skilful and the conclusions sound and confident. This book is unlikely to be superseded for a long time. Martin Ira Glassner Department of Geography Southern Connecticut Skate University
Territorial Pozuer Domains, Southeast A&, and China, Lim Joo-Jock, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Pasir, Panjang, Singapore), 1984, 234 pp. Written by a strategist, this book is about geostrategy, with the geography and strategy equally balanced. In this it is probably unique. Few serious books have attempted to discuss geostrategy or military geography and, although restricted regionally in scope, this is very much the most exciting of its kind. It is a book which provides motivation rather than an exhaustive study and it is beautifully written. Probably no other book on the subject is so finely balanced and therefore of genuine interest to scholars in a range of disciplines. In most such works, geography is accepted as a given and tends to be treated in a simplistic fashion. In the few books written by geographers, the strategic element tends to be mundane and obvious. Here, the author combines practical examples with some interesting insights into theory. In 10 chapters and a conclusion, the book considers in various ways the effects of high land on strategy. Chapter 1 examines the relationship between terrain and military affairs, concentrating on the mountain-dwelling minorities and
Book reviews
concludes the chapter with a review of related work, including world-systems, the capitalist crisis, and industrialization of the periphery. The post-dependency theories are generally posited on a much smaller scale and tend to be place-specific. In treating the articulation of modes of production, Forbes argues that the dominant impulse in the theoretical geographical expansion of capitalism is the securing of cheap supplies of labour. This theory is fundamentally different from dependency theory in that it shifts the focus from exchange to the structure of production and thus is more in keeping with Marxist analysis. The theory is criticized on several counts, including its ‘mechanical materialism’, its over-reliance on the State, its failure to embrace the totality of the system, and its neglect of the process of class formation. Class analysis is viewed more favourably than previous theories, especially since it is a response to economism. Forbes argues that class analysis contributes to underdevelopment theory in that it gives recognition to the role of people, explains the method of appropriating surplus by the dominant class, explains recent political events, and may help in the fight against underdevelopment. In typical fairness, Forbes provides a critique of his ‘optimistic’ and ‘overstated’ appraisal of class analysis based on the weakness and variability of the concept of class itself. Forbes concludes his book by examining three problematic urban processes in the Third World -regional uneven development, rural-urban migration and circulation, and urban informal labour markets and urban class formation. Forbes claims that: ‘Implicit in the argument is the need to restore balance to underdevelopment research by shifting it away from political economy and towards the complex array of social processes within which underdevelopment is embedded’. In his approach to the problem of regionai uneven development, he embraces, perhaps too affectionately, the structurationist viewpoint. Structuration is seen as much more than a simple compromise between competing theories and reality. Rather it adds ‘a means of recognizing the significance of human action in space’. Whether structuration is powerful enough to achieve this ultimate goal of the geography of development and human geography in general remains to be seen. Structurationist approaches are incorporated in the chapter on migration Forbes gives support to his optimistic claims for this approach by smoothly combining diverse theories with casespecific information in his analysis. He concludes that circular migration is a reasonably ordered response to the changing material conditions in the villages and cities of Indonesia.
The ‘Conflict and class in the city’ chapter is more tentative and speculative in nature. After reviewing the inadequacies of informal sector strategies, Forbes reverts to class analysis and structuration in an attempt to explam class formation and conflict. This is an ambitious chapter which does not wholly succeed in its aims. The analysis identifies a class structure that is ‘embryonic’ and a conflict that is ‘likely’ to be ‘different’ from the ‘classic models of social conflict’. The less than conclusive results of this chapter neither invalidate nor strongly support the utility of structuration as a paradigm. In a brief concluding chapter, Forbes personalizes his approach to development and exhorts geographers to ‘look more deeply at the relationship between human agency and social structure, and, particularly, at the mediation of context-space and place-in the political process’. This book is an admirable start to that analysis. Its review chapters are the best to be found in the literature and its substantive chapters are only mildly flawed by a rare commodity in this area-enthusiasm. Gary L. Gaife University of Colorado, Boulder and Harvard University, Cambridge
Geo~ol~t~c.~of the Cu~bb~~: M~n~s~tes in a Wider World, T. D. Anderson, Praeger, New York, 1984, xiii+ 175 pp., $26.95. Geopolitics and Conflict in South America: Quarrels among Neighbors, J. Child, Praeger, New York, 1985, x+ 197 pp., $34.95. Geopolitics has been in disrepute in the United States since General Haushofer so badIy distorted it in the service of German imperialism in the 1930s and 1940s. Since then, except for a scattering of articles in newspapers and professional journals, there has been little serious geopolitical analysis outside military journals in the United States. Elsewhere in the world, and most importantly in Latin America, geopolitical thinking and writing is not only respectable, but even admired, popular and introduced in the early years of school curricula. The Hoover Institution has rendered a considerable service by bringing out these two books, the latest in their Politics in Latin America series. Regardless of one’s reactions to the viewpoints expressed in these books, geopolitics is a legitimate and useful branch of political geography and does not have to be nationalistic in tone or purpose. These books should help to stimulate a renewed interest
Book reviews
in the subject
outside Latin America. Professor Anderson has taught geography at several colleges and universities in the United States and has lectured in Venezuela. He has written on a number of topics and his broad background is reflected in this bcok on the Caribbean. The book has five chapters: an intro duction which presents varied factual information about the region; geographic setting, including location, political, physical and economic factors: historical background, from the beginning to the present; contemporary gee political issues, including maritime boundaries, petroleum trade, democracy as a geopolitical element, non-state actors, the role of Cuba and other power centers, and recent US policies toward the Caribbean; and foreign policy options in a region of change. Each chapter is followed by a list of references, which this reviewer would prefer to see grouped at the end of the book. There is an appendix, ‘Comparative press freedoms of countries of the Caribbean Rim: criteria’, taken from an unpublished geography paper from Anderson’s institution, Bowling Green (Ohio) State University. There are eight original maps, seven tables and a good index. Although Anderson discusses a wide range of situations and issues, one looks in vain for an underlying geopolitical theory that might be usefully applied in the Caribbean. His recommendations-support for President Reagan’s Caribbean Basin Initiative, cooperation with the ministates, consistent emphasis on human rights in the region-are neither original nor gee political nor graced with any suggestions for implementation. Finally, a relatively minor criticism: the manuscript could have benefitted from one more good proofreading; there are an unacceptably large number of typographical errors. Although this book is unlikely to become a classic, it is worth reading, and for specialists, worth having on the shelf. The Child book, on the other hand, is much more substantial and more truly geopolitical, perhaps because it is based largely on South American sources. Professor Child was born in Buenos Aires and lived in South America for 19 years. After retiring from the United States army as a lieutenant-colonel, he began teaching Spanish and Latin American Studies at The American University in Washington. He has three books and several articles in print, all dealing with Latin America and most stressing geopolitics. Perhaps for these reasons he has a surer grasp of geopolitical concepts than Anderson, and has produced a most useful book. Chid’s introduction consists of two chapters on geopolitics and on the geography of conflict in the Western hemisphere. Part Two analyzes in
397
detail the nature and impact of geopolitical thinking in South America, first in individual countries and then through a series of specific geopolitical concepts. Part Three consists of case studies: the Beagle Channel, Bolivia’s quest for a sovereign outlet to the sea, the Peru-Ecuador territorial dispute, the Argentine-Brazilian l+Jdl-y, tensions in the buffer states, the Falklands dispute, control over the South Atlantic and Antarctica, and the boundary and territorial disputes between Nicaragua and Colombia, Colombia and Venezuela, Venezuela and Guyana, Guyana and Suriname, and several lesser ones. The conclusions are thoughtful, clearly expressed, and most interesting. There are 19 illustrations, mostly maps and postage stamps, and more numerous and more detailed notes than in the Anderson book, an extensive bibliography and a good index. Child’s work has been of consistently high quality, and this book incorporates both much of his earlier work and considerable new material. It is well written, the analyses are skilful and the conclusions sound and confident. This book is unlikely to be superseded for a long time. Martin Ira Glassner Department of Geography Southern Connecticut Skate University
Territorial Pozuer Domains, Southeast A&, and China, Lim Joo-Jock, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (Heng Mui Keng Terrace, Pasir, Panjang, Singapore), 1984, 234 pp. Written by a strategist, this book is about geostrategy, with the geography and strategy equally balanced. In this it is probably unique. Few serious books have attempted to discuss geostrategy or military geography and, although restricted regionally in scope, this is very much the most exciting of its kind. It is a book which provides motivation rather than an exhaustive study and it is beautifully written. Probably no other book on the subject is so finely balanced and therefore of genuine interest to scholars in a range of disciplines. In most such works, geography is accepted as a given and tends to be treated in a simplistic fashion. In the few books written by geographers, the strategic element tends to be mundane and obvious. Here, the author combines practical examples with some interesting insights into theory. In 10 chapters and a conclusion, the book considers in various ways the effects of high land on strategy. Chapter 1 examines the relationship between terrain and military affairs, concentrating on the mountain-dwelling minorities and