N°55, 2023 - The maritimization of the Caribbean space
With more than five million square kilometers, the sea (Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea) occupies a central place in the Caribbean space. Since the pre-Columbian period, it has played a predominant role for the riparian societies, as evidenced by the mastery of navigation, without which the Caribbean islands could not have been populated (Fitzpatrick, 2015), or the rise of coastal trade in Mesoamerica within the framework of the Aztec and Maya civilizations (Guderjan, 1989). The colonial period will accentuate this maritime centrality by setting it up as an indispensable support for the regionalization of exchanges: the sea then becomes the scene of the development of a network of hierarchical exchanges, of "bridges over the sea" (Gruzinski, 2004, p.145) within the vast empires then under construction. As François Pagney Benito Espinal recalls, "it is by the Caribbean Sea that Spanish America integrates the European economy" (Pagney Benito Espinal, 2014, p.4). With the link known as the "Pacific Galleon", it is placed on the road to Asia: "in you Spain and China meet" wrote Bernardo de Balbuena in 1627 about Mexico, showing to what extent the inter-American space was a theater and a vital cog in the deployment of the first globalization.
The development of the slave trade, from the 16th century onwards, and the creation of European colonies competing with the Spanish empire from 1627 onwards increased the importance of maritime spaces. International conflicts for the appropriation of these territories lasted until the nineteenth century and took place mainly at sea, which became the "battlefield of Europe" (Williams, 1975: 71). The post- colonial period and the rise of industrialization in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries accentuated the maritime extraversion of the territories bordering the large Caribbean space: Central America, South America and, to a lesser extent, the Caribbean archipelago provided, from the beginning of the nineteenth century, raw materials and resources necessary for the development of the states in the process of industrialization (Mahan, 1890; Pagney Bénito-Espinal, 2014). During the two world wars, the securing of this maritime space ensured an essential part of the supply of the allies, in particular in bauxite, iron and oil. If, in the second half of the twentieth century, it is the scene of two of the highest points of tension of the Cold War with the aborted landing of the Bay of Pigs and the naval blockade of Cuba, it is also one of the main places of experimentation of the container revolution (McCalla, Slack and Comtois, 2005). The official opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 and the rise of trade globalization contributed to make this space one of the main hubs of international maritime traffic (Chardon and Ranely Vergé Depré, 2009). Today, the sea is more than ever at the heart of the priorities of Caribbean societies: a food-producing area, an object of off-shore industrialization, rich in energy and possibly mining potential, it is also the privileged place for the development of mass tourism and the cruise sector.
- 1 From the Greek tomos, which cuts, separates clearly
This multi-interface between North and South America, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans is sometimes referred to as the American Mediterranean (Humboldt, 1807; Reclus, 1891; Taglioni 1999; Lacoste, 2001; Godard and Hartog, 2003; Cruse 2011), or the Inter-American Maritime Region (Domergue, 2020). Far from being "tomogenic11" (Gay, 1999), by constituting a cut between the continental riparian spaces, this sea is, on the contrary, a "transport surface" (Gay, 1995), the privileged place of internal interactions in this vast basin, while contributing to connect it to the rest of globalized trade. As a result, it remains at the heart of the cultural life of the entire region, whose coastlines are now home to more than 150 million people (UNEP and UNESCO, 2016).
A source of economic development, particularly with the rise of the "blue economy" (Clegg, Mahon, McConney and Oxenford (eds.), 2020), the sea is also a place where many security issues are expressed (Morris, 1994): 93% of regional illicit drug flows transit by sea, while brigandage and piracy are developing in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. Environmental safety issues are also becoming more and more important: the importance of traffic in this international maritime crossroads and the development of industrialization at sea increase the risks of accidental pollution (oil spills) or voluntary pollution (deballasting). Maritime spaces are also a source of major natural risks: the strong regional tectonic activity makes it a space particularly sensitive to tsunamis (Saffache, 2005), while the strong calorization of surface waters in these latitudes places the sea at the heart of the cyclogenesis process, whose violent hazards sweep through this tropical region every year (Cashman, Nurse and John, 2009; Taylor et al, 2012; Hastenrath and Polzin, 2012).
All these issues and challenges raise questions about the maritime governance of this area, in the face of resolutely transnational problems. While cooperation mechanisms are deployed at different scales and in different areas (Mahon and Fanning, 2014, Domergue, 2020, 2021), the political and legal fragmentation of maritime spaces remains a major constraint: "pulverized" (Maillard, 1999) into 45 States or trust territories, this region is fragmented into 98 maritime borders and delimitations. As such, this maritime area is by far the most fragmented in the world. The retreat of national sovereignty and the maintenance of international tensions around the numerous maritime delimitations still in latency inhibit international cooperation mechanisms (Griffith, 1997).
In the interdisciplinary tradition of the journal Études Caribéennes (Caribbean Studies), this thematic issue aims to contribute to the deepening and updating of the scientific reflection on the dynamics, tenants and effects of the maritimization at work in the Greater Caribbean. It is a continuation of previous publications on the blue economy (April 2022, forthcoming), the development of cruise tourism (December 2020), marine resources (December 2013, April 2010), protected areas (April 2009), and major natural hazards (April 2007). By embracing the contribution of history, geography, law, political science, economics or marine sciences, it intends to promote multidisciplinarity.
Preferred themes
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Political geography and geopolitics of maritime spaces (maritime borders; migratory flows by sea; international and transnational tensions/cooperation);
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Regionalization and regionalisms (regional cooperation and integration) around maritime issues; traffic, security and sovereignty issues at sea, etc.
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Societal issues and collective maritime representations (relationship of societies to the sea - social, spiritual, literary, artistic prism, etc.)
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Maritime economy and geo-economy (blue economy, maritime transport, development of marine resources, maritime and coastal tourism, port activities, etc.)
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Maritime environmental issues (pollution, degradation of the environment, climatic risks related to the maritime domain, natural risks of maritime origin, protection/sanctuary mechanisms and actions at different scales, etc.)
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Legal issues (border disputes, standardization and harmonization of legislation, international conventions, etc.)
Calendar
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April 15, 2022: Submission of paper proposals (500-word abstract)
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September 15, 2022: Deadline for submission of articles
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October 15, 2022: Return of evaluations
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November 15, 2022: Submission of finalized texts by authors
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March 2023: Publication of the thematic issue
Coordination
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Sylvain Domergue, Junior Associate Professor and PhD student in Geography, Sciences Po Bordeaux, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (Laboratoire PRODIG)/Université Laval, sylvain.domergue@scpobx.fr
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Eric Dubesset, University Professor, Director of the Centre Montesquieu de Recherches Politiques (CMRP-IRM), University of Bordeaux, dubesset@u-bordeaux.fr
Contribution
Papers can be written in French, English or Spanish. They will be subject to a double-blind evaluation before publication (see Instructions to Authors). Please send your paper proposal to: etudescaribeennes@gmail.com, sylvain.domergue@scpobx.fr and dubesset@u-bordeaux.fr
Selective bibliography
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