COVID-19: Intensifying the Existential Threat to the Caribbean

Michael Witter

Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, 2021, vol. 10, issue 1, 155-172

Abstract: The Caribbean has experienced an overlapping and interconnected series of challenges, including economic, social, and environmental, which pose an existential threat to the region. This article focuses on the nature of this threat as it evolved before and during the pandemic crisis. Under neoliberal globalization, Caribbean economies transformed themselves rapidly into service providers, most having resorted to developing a tourism sector, while some moved into oil production. In all cases, traditional agricultural exports declined with the loss of protected markets where they earned preferential prices. The COVID-19 pandemic has intensified the Caribbean’s existential crisis and revealed the inextricable links among the environment, economy, and public health. This article focuses on these links and suggests a way forward for public policy in the short, medium, and long term.

Keywords: COVID-19; Caribbean; dependence; sustainable development; public health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:agspub:v:10:y:2021:i:1:p:155-172

DOI: 10.1177/22779760211003540

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