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Creole Economics: Caribbean Cunning under the French Flag. KATHERINE E. BROWNE. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004. xvii + 271 pp. (Paper US$ 22.95)
Anyone who hangs out in Martinique for any length of time will notice that a remarkable number of people are engaged in economic activities outside their regular jobs. These can range from selling produce from their gardens to importing clothing from Venezuela, remodeling kitchens, or helping build computer networks. In her very readable book, Katherine Browne examines such activities, arguing that they define a particular approach to economic life, which she calls "créole economics." Off-the-books economic life is more than a way for people with marginal or no regular employment to earn a living. In Martinique, Browne shows, working outside of the official economy is one of the central characteristics of everyday life.
This seems paradoxical. Martinique appears to have a thoroughly postindustrial economy, where people are paid regular wages for regular jobs, or receive healthy benefits from a generous French welfare state. In addition, a substantial part of the population is employed by the state itself and receives relatively decent compensation by Caribbean standards. After three centuries of colonization, six decades of full political assimilation into France, several years of membership in the European Union, and benefiting from the deployment of most goods and services available in wealthier economies, the people of Martinique might be expected to behave like workers and consumers are supposed to behave everywhere. Explaining why many Martiniquans make economic choices that befuddle economists is Browne's central objective.
At the core of the book is an idea that remains controversial...