Conclusion

Abstract

The study was undertaken to investigate and analyse the detailed political interactions of the Caribbean banana trade, as an important contemporary issue within the context of the international trading system. At the centre of the study was an evaluation of the relationship between the traditional actors in the trade, namely governments (and government departments), private corporate interests and producers. The study assessed the different means by which the various interest groups have responded to one another in a highly complex trading environment shaped by a number of influences. It was intended that revealing such relationships would help us to further our understanding of the nature of the political process. Within this context, there was a consideration as to why the Caribbean banana trade developed in the way it did, and why in the past thirty years the traditional actors within the trade have seen their influence and importance decline.