Saint Martin

Daniella Jeffry

Description

The implementation of a system of economic, social and linguistic domination on the French part of Saint-Martin as of 1977 irremediably transformed the islanders' peaceful lifestyle and quality of life. The island became a type of Eldorado in which the world of business, drugs, illegality, criminality and all kinds of trafficking unfortunately prevailed. The natives are almost eliminated from the social and economic structure, and their Caribbean culture is stifled.

Informations

• Publié par: L'Harmattan
• Date de parution: 01 avril 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 32
• EAN13: 9782336280073
• Langue: Français

Extrait

© L’Harmattan, 2010
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9782296544666
EAN : 9782296544666
Saint Martin

Daniella Jeffry
To the memory of my father, Simon Jeffry, of my mother, Adela London Jeffry, and of my brother, Martial Jeffry,
To the memory of all those who knew how to impart to us the sense of historical continuity and who struggled to preserve our cultural heritage,
To all those who today understand that those Thirty Years of Pain are just the crossing of the desert …
Sommaire
Page de Copyright Page de titre Dedicace Table des Figures ACKNOWLEDGMENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION FIRST PART - THE FRENCH CARIBBEAN SOCIETY AFTER 1946
ANATOMY OF A SILENT GENOCIDE II - PSYCHE OF THE ASSIMILATED III - THE RELOCATION STRATEGY
SECOND PART - THE SAINT-MARTIN SOCIETY 1977 - 2007
BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN PERIOD II - THE SOCIETAL IMPACT OF DEVELOPMENT III - MIRAGE OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IV - DEMOGRAPHIC EXCESS V - SOCIETAL DECEPTION
CONCLUSION - THE AWAKENING OF 2009 APPENDIX 1 - THE 1648 TREATY OF CONCORDIA APPENDIX 2 - MAP OF SAINT-MARTIN/SINT-MAARTEN APPENDIX 3 - JUNE 17, 1986 ABBREVIATIONS/LOGOS NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY
Table des Figures
Figure 3
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I could not have completed this study, without the assistance of all the journalistic sources which enabled me not only to chronologically and accurately situate all the players and events that marked this active and troubled period of the history of my native island, but also to directly reveal the opinions, thoughts, and experiences of all those who rely on the newspaper as a means of communication. I would like to thank the written press for playing this role of recording the important elements of Saint-Martin’s daily life, on an island where oral expression is the most natural and privileged medium.

I wish to thank the Director of the Philipsburg Jubilee Library, Monique Alberts and in particular her assistant, Ans Koolen-Stel, and the public relations officer, Maryland Powell, who have warmly welcomed me among the staff and facilitated my access to the archived newspapers from which I extracted valuable additional information.

I thank all those with whom I have discussed and shared so many feelings, memories and experiences. There are far too many to name them individually, for fear of forgetting someone. They know who they are. Others have graciously passed on to me copies of their personal documentation, in particular, Alex Choisy, Patricia Etienne, and Omer Arrondell.

I have entrusted Oswald Francis with the critical reading of the English manuscript. I thank him for his sincere interest in this work. Professor Fred Reno of the University of the French Antilles and Guiana, who is quite knowledgeable of the situation in Saint-Martin, has agreed to write the preface and I am extremely grateful to him.

Last but not least, my son Joseph and my daughter Tiana have contributed to the fine tuning of the book’s layout by instructing me on various aspects of word processing, and, in particular, on how to make diagrams, with which I had no prior practice.
PREFACE
T his book, entitled Saint-Martin: Destabilization of the French Caribbean, is written by a daughter of the soil. It is, therefore, not surprising that the main focus is devoted to the territory of Saint-Martin, although other Caribbean societies are referenced when relevant to the subject at hand. Daniella Jeffry outlines thirty years of history in a treatise which pulls no punches. Her often biting prose, nonetheless, avoids dull controversy. Obviously, the value of the book lies in its evaluation of Saint-Martin’s recent past in an effort to better grasp a complex present, especially as characterized by the choice to obtain autonomous status separated from Guadeloupe within the French nation. “Separate Status within France” - a slogan heard during the electoral campaign on the statutory condition of Saint-Martin - effectively sums up the intention and ambiguities of the island. It conveys the local desire to reconcile Saint-Martin’s identity with French republican equality: two approaches deemed irreconcilable by the author. “The quest for sameness is incompatible with the quest for distinctiveness,” she tells us.

This book is also a critical and forward-looking examination of Saint-Martin. It situates the primary actors of local life. Beyond that, it sheds light on a system of actors in solidarity or in conflicting interactions, depending on the stakes at play. Politicians are the first targeted. Consenting victims to the pressures from the business world and from social demands, they seem to conceive their elective function, above all, as a source of symbolic and material compensation. As for the business world, the beneficiary of tax remission, it adopts the basic ideology of liberal economy in a territory where the Welfare State seems to be failing. When a political actor does not blend with an economic actor, as exemplified by the Flemings’ scenario, they are often engaged in complicit relations that produce interpersonal dependency and heavily influence the functioning of social activity. In many cases, the official decision is but a formalization of administrative arrangements, which defies the political rationale. In this game, the State, arbitrator and regulator, adapts to the system as long as its interests are preserved. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the French State is not merely the representative of the haves and the defender of local political elites who agree with the party line. Were this the case, one could neither explain the government’s decision to impeach a mayor, who was a member of the same party as the French president and the minister of overseas departments and territories in 1976; nor the introduction of Customs on August 1, 1990, in the face of strong local opposition. The State can, therefore, in certain circumstances, place itself above the concerns of social groups to impose its will. This is one of the lessons of political life in Saint-Martin underlying Daniella Jeffry’s text.

The population of Saint-Martin, though currently multicultural and a marginalized actor, is largely unequal. Statistics are unfavorable to the original inhabitants . The terms used by the author to describe the forms of their exclusion, even their elimination, are varied. If the relegation evokes the social conditions of the locals of Caribbean origin, English-speaking and often unemployed who form a minority group, the “silent genocide” recalls the process of substitution described by Aimé Césaire. The Friendly Island became all too accepting of others, to the detriment of its own. The first wave of Europeans in the seventies - the most important and outstanding period of immigration - takes place almost at the same time as that from Haiti, Guadeloupe, and elsewhere. These migratory influxes, similar to those occurring in other countries, have altered the socio-ethnic composition of the territory. This happens at the expense of the original heirs of the partition of the island between the French and the Dutch, those who have never ceased being, first and foremost, the sons and daughters of Saint-Martin, and who cross the artificial border between Marigot and Philipsburg.

If one includes Saint-Martin’s forced affiliation with Guadeloupe after its incorporation in 1946 into the continent of Guadeloupe , it becomes easy to understand the components of Saint-Martin’s desire for autonomy – a clear reaction to what Michael Hechter calls “internal colonialism.”

Similar to the case of dependent territories such as Ireland, Scotland, and Wales that were colonized by the British State, cultural differences in Saint-Martin between continental metropolitans and island natives overlap with economic disparities. Over time, these differences gradually become the basic criteria for the delineation of social roles. On the scale of social ranking, the highest standards originate from the European continental center, whereas the lowest are relegated to native islanders. In the case that is studied by Daniella Jeffry, a type of double colonialism emerges. On top of the control of local society by a distant French State, was added a direct administrative regulation, by the Department and Region of Guadeloupe. Just like Saint-Barthelemy, Desirade, Saintes, and Marie-Galante, Saint-Martin a was designated to become one of the dependencies of Guadeloupe . This phrase felt odd by those who understand the cultural implications of the Guadeloupean continent versus the calls for autonomous native identity. After the French constitutional reform on March 28, 2003, the Commune of Saint-Martin chose to separate from Guadeloupe and request the status of an autonomous overseas collectivity.
By separating from Guadeloupe, Saint-Martin chose its own terms for dependency. Similar to other Caribbean countries under French jurisdiction, Marigot tried to adjust to its French connection instead of questioning the attachment. This is the trend observed in most non independent territories of the Caribbean. Martinique and French Guiana are, currently, collectivities with a special status governed by legislative regimes identical to that of France. The case of Puerto Rico is interesting for Saint-Martin, as the American territory contemplates adding its star on the banner of the United States. Saba, St. Eustatius, and Bonaire, though autonomous, have become the equivalent of provinces in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Some of the English i