Structuralist approaches to social & economic development in the English speaking Caribbean

This is a survey essay surveying the early period of Caribbean Political Economy from WA Lewis‘ Industrialization of the British West Indies (1949) to Beckford‘s (1972) and, Best & Levitt‘s Plantation Economy Models (1975). It emphasizes the structuralist origins of the body of knowledge and reunites it with the new structuralism of Jose Antonio Ocampo and the ECLAC perspective. Along the way the principal problems blocking progress towards growth and development in the English speaking Caribbean are laid out. The paper attempts to close a gap between structuralist theory from the Caribbean and that of the heterodox theory emanating from Europe and North America. Too often, these two heterodox traditions which ought to be informing each other end up talking past each other. The intent is twofold; first, to build a bridge between the two schools of thought and second, laying the building blocks for the generation of a policy capable of stopping the long term tendency towards stagnation. Key words: economic growth; economic development, political economy. JEL classification: 010; O54; P0