International Relations and the Shaping of State-Societal Relations - a Postcolonial Study Ernest Hilaire London School of Economics and Political Science PhD. International Relations l UMI Number: U228692 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U228692 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Library 3C flO C » TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgement 5 Abstract 6 Chapter 1: Understanding the Emergence of Postcolonial States 7 1.1: Some Preliminary Definitions 12 1.2: West Indian States in the International System 15 1.3: Formulating a Theoretical Approach 21 1.4: Thesis Outline 25 Chapter 2: Locating State and Society in International Relations Theory 29 2.1: The state of the State in IR Theory 30 2.2: Revisiting IR Theory - bringing in the ‘domestic’ 41 2.3: Reconceptualising the State 54 2.4: Moving Forward - A Critical Historical Approach 58 2.4.1: An Alternative Approach to IR Theory 58 2.4.2: Fundamentals of a Critical Historical Approach 61 Chapter 3: Understanding Postcolonial State and Society - The Caribbean Experience 67 3.1: The State - Conceptual Issues 68 3.2: The Origin of the State: the Western European Experience 72 3.3: The Origin of the State: the Caribbean Experience 82 3.4: Colonialism and the shaping of state-societal relations 92 3.5: State-societal Relations in the Postcolonial Caribbean - A Framework for Understanding in IR 101 Chapter 4: State and Society: From Imperial Domination to the establishment of the Colonial State 104 4.1: The Plantation State-society Relationship 105 4.1.1: British Colonial Expansion and the Emergence of the Plantation Economy 105 4.1.2: The Emergence of the Colonial State 112 4.1.3: The Constitution of Colonial Society 118 4.2: Emancipation as a Transformative Event 122 4.2.1: International Economic Changes and the Collapse of the Plantation Economy 123 4.2.2: Social and Political Reform in Britain and Consequences for Colonial Slavery 126 4.2.3: Domestic Influences - the Effect of Slave Resistance 131 2 4.3: Shaping of a Colonial State-society Relationship 133 4.3.1: Imperial Policy and the Framework for State-societal Relations 135 4.3.2: Free Labour and the Emergence of a New Colonial Economy 140 4.3.3: The Creation of a Free Labour Society 148 4.3.4: Governance in Colonial Society - Domestic and Imperial Government Interplay 154 4.4: Conclusion 161 Chapter 5: State and Society: From Crisis of Colonial Rule to PoliticalEnfranchisement 169 5.1: State-Societal Relations leading to Labour Unrest 171 5.1.1: Imperial Domination and the Implications for Colonial Policy 172 5.1.2: The Impact of Imperial Economic Policy on the Colonies 178 5.1.3: Political Challenge and the Failure of Colonial Policy 182 5.2: Labour Unrest as a Transformative Event 191 5.2.1: International Politics and the Anti-colonial Struggle 192 5.2.2: Labour Unrest and Political Action 194 5.2.3: Imperial State Response - the Moyne Commission 199 5.3: Reformed Colonialism and a New State-societal Relationship 202 5.3.1: International Framework as the context for British Colonial Policy in the Caribbean 203 5.3.2: A New Imperial Economic Policy and Persistent Underdevelopment in the Colonies 206 5.3.3: Social Development under Reformed Colonialism 211 5.3.4: The Labour Movement as Institutionalised Opposition 216 5.3.5: Reform of the Colonial State 220 5.4: Conclusion 225 Chapter 6: State and Society: From Associated State to International Actor 234 6.1: Imperial Policy and Decolonisation in Saint Lucia- Impact on State and Society 235 6.1.1: International Relations and the Context for Imperial Policy 235 6.1.2: Imperial Policy and the Decolonisation Process 239 6.1.3: The Granting of Associated Statehood 243 6.1.4: The Emergence of an Autonomous State 248 6.1.5: External Concerns for Economic Viability 255 6.2: Independence as a Transformative Event 259 6.2.1: Changes in Imperial Policy and the End of Imperial Rule 260 6.2.2: State-societal Conflict and the attainment of Independence 263 3 6.3: The Impact of Independence in Saint Lucia - A New State-societal Relationship 270 6.3.1: Independence and the Shaping of an International Role 272 6.3.2: National Development Policy and the Role of International Aid 274 6.3.3: International Politics of National Economic Management 279 6.3.4: Independent State and Implications for Society 283 6.3.5: Transnationalisation of Society 288 6.4: Conclusion 291 Chapter 7: State-society Relations: Providing Understanding within an IR Framework 302 7.1: Utility of a New Framework 303 7.2: The Origin of State-societal Relations - Colonialism and External Dominance 306 7.3: The Development of State-societal Relations - Rise of Internal Influences 311 7.4: State-societal Relations - Implications for Empirical Statehood 320 Bibliography 324 4 Acknowledgement This work could not have been completed without the love, support and encouragement of many people to whom success is owed. To my mother, Ann, who fathered me and provided the strength and faith which have carried me through life. Her eternal faith in me is always a source of inspiration. To Maya Jean and Anya Marie, my greatest joys, both bom during the hard work of writing this thesis, and my wife Lisa for her constant support and tolerance of my wavering moods during it all. To Callixta, who encouraged me to pursue the thesis and whose unwavering friendship, through thick and thin, is endearing. To Dr. John Kent, who was the model supervisor, for his outstanding guidance, constant availability, and insightful comments even when it was obvious that I did not always agree. To all who shared advice and opinions to make the thesis a success, I accept responsibility for any failings. 5 Abstract The thesis examined the role played by international and domestic influences in shaping the relationship between state and society in post­ colonial societies. It argued that the nature of the state in the international system is the product of the historical processes of state and societal formation and must be studied as such. Therefore, it examined the evolution of state-societal relationship from colony to independent state in Saint Lucia. The examination is premised on the view that the state acts in two dimensions - the domestic and the international. The thesis therefore critiques traditional international relations theories which treat the state in its totality as an analytic abstraction, and argued that international relations theory can best explain the nature of the state when it brings into analysis the role of the domestic in shaping the state. Therefore, the nature of the state was examined as the interplay of the ‘‘domestic” and the “international”. Three historical periods are examined to show how international and domestic influences shaped state-societal relations and generated conflicts which caused transformative events. These events in turn caused fundamental changes to the state-societal relationship. All three periods showed that the nature of state and society is rooted in the dominance of external forces over domestic forces. The early state originated in the colonial experience which lasted until independence in 1979. That state was not a product of society and did not enjoy an organic relationship with society. As the state evolved, the level of influence of the domestic was shown to increase. The independent state, though sovereign, was itself a product of external influences and remains influenced by external forces. However, the thesis showed that in the post-independence period these influences are forcing integration between state and society. 6 1 Introduction: Understanding the emergence of the Post-Colonial State and Society The ex-colonial states have been internationally enfranchised and possess the same external rights and responsibilities as all other sovereign states: juridical statehood. At the same time, however, many have not yet been authorized and empowered domestically and consequently lack the institutional features of sovereign states as also defined by classical international law. They disclose limited empirical statehood: their populations do not enjoy many of the advantages traditionally associated with independent statehood. Their governments are often deficient in the political will, institutional authority, and organised power to protect human rights or provide socioeconomic welfare. The concrete benefits which have historically justified the undeniable burdens of sovereign statehood are often limited to fairly narrow elites and not yet extended to the citizenry at large whose lives may be scarcely improved by independence or even adversely affected by it These states are primarily juridical. They are still far from complete, so to speak, and empirical statehood in large measure still remains to be built I refer to them as ‘quasi-states’.1 This thesis is an examination of the historical evolution of the state and society in post-colonial states using Saint Lucia as the case-study. In particular, it focuses on the consequences of the interplay of external and internal forces on shaping state-societal relations. The thesis starts 1 Robert Jackson,Quasi-states: Sovereignty, International Relations and the Third World (Cambridge; Cambridge University Press, 1990), p.21.